FCC Open Call On Tech Agenda

A couple years ago, a thing called Legislation 2.0 was getting a lot of attention as Senators and Representatives began asking for the input of bloggers in writing legislation regarding the national broadband strategy. It was a bit of an experiment, but the theory was basically, "Hey, we have the Internet and there are some really smart people out there, so why not get their input?" Thus, an open conversation was started online.

We haven't heard much about this since 2007, but there are hints here and there of resurgence in this sort of activity. Representative Mike Honda asked for public input about redesigning his website and facilitating a relationship with his community of voters. As reported by TechPresident, Senator Claire McCaskill is "asking the public for input on how to do a better job with government contracting oversight."   

It seems trends are running in our favor of a more democratic democracy where legislators not only want to hear public opinion, but are strongly encouraging them. Legislation 2.0 is even evident on the national level of law making. 

The FCC is holding an open call for comment on the role government should play in "making the country richly wired and unwired." This activity is in correspondence with a Technology paragraph in the White House agenda that aims to:

Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Work towards true broadband in every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation's wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives. America should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access.

Epicenter, a tech blog through Wired.com, is collecting comments on the topic. The "best and most popular" ideas will be shared with the FCC at their meeting on April 8th.