[Themaintainers] infrastructure

[Tallman, Nathan]

Under coverage, I think we should advocate for reclassifying broadband as a utility, which helps ensure net neutrality and improves access to broadband. The Obama FCC did this, but it was rolled back by the Trump FCC.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/05/worst-case-scenario-why-the-cable-lobby-is-scared-of-becoming-a-utility/

From: <themaintainers-bounces at lists.stevens.edu> on behalf of Jonathan Coopersmith <j-coopersmith at tamu.edu>
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 10:46 AM
To: Themaintainers <themaintainers at lists.stevens.edu>
Subject: [Themaintainers] infrastructure

We would love to see some discussion on this list about what (and how) a Biden administration infrastructure plan should include – or not include.  Feel free to comment below or in our Google doc (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KIwcUftbbPFosuCImIgTo9Vi7efjHqwrzLPI-d32NlA/edit#heading=h.sldtfjeu8n39<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fdocument%2Fd%2F1KIwcUftbbPFosuCImIgTo9Vi7efjHqwrzLPI-d32NlA%2Fedit*heading%3Dh.sldtfjeu8n39__%3BIw!!KwNVnqRv!Wa5eXMIDkSjQh8d6_dDL_t8KFwpsj8ARrRo6fV7jE22O2cvLuuhOnuoJXbgmEGvzFaoy%24&data=04%7C01%7Cntt7%40psu.edu%7Cd01eac4e6a294792079108d8c85ad9cf%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637479639812841466%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=BbxzN5R3EqqgvxuXbQX93PSy5oU3Ia2S%2FWxkG2npEVw%3D&reserved=0>)
Here are a few ideas – thoughts?

Any good horror stories to exemplify what not to do?

Coverage
What should a federal infrastructure initiative include?
- upgrading/replacing USG and state legacy computer systems?
- upgrading/creating data collection systems for, e.g., underground asset data and similar needs (e.g., Open Geospatial Consortium)
- eliminating lead pipes?
- universal broadband
- electric car chargers?
- secure networks for AVs, IOT
- protection, robustness and resilience against extreme weather (e.g., place power and distribution lines and optical cables underground against wildfires, snow, ice)


Universal project requirements
Mandate a maintenance overview of every project with general goals.
   What are those goals?
Very important is the concept of pay more now for lower life-cycle costs – how can this tradeoff best be expressed or quantified?  What is the time frame?  This has the dual benefits of helping the economy more now when it is needed and reducing future spending by governments.

Design for easy maintenance and upgrading – are there specific examples or policies to cite?


Implementation
Reinstate the Obama ARRA compliance public tracker

What else did the Obama ARRA do right – and wrong (in some cases, “shovel-ready” meant clunkers of projects instead of good, but unfunded projects)?

Incentivize private and public sector maintenance by creating liability safe harbors for asset owners and operators (analogous to safe harbors protecting MDs from malpractice lawsuits if they practice evidence-based medicine)

Involve the public as much as possible in understanding the options and tradeoffs.  Try to obtain maximum buy-in (remembering that pain tends to be concentrated and gains diffused).

Force competing entities to create interfaces for easier data exchange (one flaw of the Obama administration promotion of electronic medical records was its failure to mandate that firms that received USG$ had to create and offer a universal interface so competing products could compete – the administration believed normal market forces would ensure that.  It was wrong).

Many thanks!

Stay sane, keep washing those hands, and practice social solidarity as well as physical distancing,

Jonathan

Jonathan Coopersmith
Professor
Department of History
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX  77843-4236
979.739.4708 (cell)
979.862.4314 (fax)

Engineering elections:  https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/security/engineering-principles-us-election<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fspectrum.ieee.org%2Ftech-talk%2Ftelecom%2Fsecurity%2Fengineering-principles-us-election&data=04%7C01%7Cntt7%40psu.edu%7Cd01eac4e6a294792079108d8c85ad9cf%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637479639812841466%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=GCEnBLZU9F9BN7p7Ohr4QuEfcR0yHuhisvvsXpIq0xU%3D&reserved=0>

Racial disparities in waiting to vote:  https://theconversation.com/it-takes-a-long-time-to-vote-141267<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fit-takes-a-long-time-to-vote-141267&data=04%7C01%7Cntt7%40psu.edu%7Cd01eac4e6a294792079108d8c85ad9cf%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C637479639812851423%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=yqbujt%2BHAYzaM1dZd5yLGLEdMogIKb%2FeZMC7evTOyp4%3D&reserved=0>

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