The electromagnetic spectrum is a finite resource that must be shared between all potential users. Emerging new technologies such as broadband mobile video access must compete with existing technologies for the finite spectrum. The way spectrum is allocated and how changes are made will be described, with emphasis on international activities.

The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) allocates bandwidth globally at a quadrennial conference called the WRC (World Radio Conference). Professor Garmire attended this conference as a delegate from the U. S. State Department.  How these negotiations were carried out and what the end results were will be discussed, based on her first-hand experience.  The ITU also develops standards for internet security and identity management and the group she works in within the State Department leads international efforts in this area, especially through the Global Internet Freedom Task Force.  Assistance with the development of telecommunications in the third world is provided both by the ITU and by the State Department through the President’s Digital Freedom Initiative.  Some implications of telecom for third world development will be reviewed.

The State Department develops policy through consensus with U.S. Stakeholders, including the FCC, NTIA, FTC, lobbying groups such as TIA, SIA, and relevant companies.  This alphabet soup will be explained, so that telecom engineers will understand how U.S. policy is set and how it informs international policy.

Technical issues and policy issues will be discussed equally, with the belief that engineers are better qualified to do their jobs if they understand how policy affects their technologies.

Short Bio:

ELSA GARMIRE is Sydney E. Junkins Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College and is spending the present year as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U. S. State Department within the Office of International Communications and Information Policy.  She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and serves on its Governing Council.  She is Fellow of the IEEE, the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America.  She received her A.B. at Harvard and her Ph.D. at M.I.T., both in physics. After post-doctoral work at Caltech, she spent 20 years at the University of Southern California where she was eventually named William Hogue Professor of EE and director of the Center for Laser Studies. She came to Dartmouth in 1995 where she served as dean of Thayer School of Engineering. In her technical field of quantum electronics, lasers and optics, she has authored over 250 journal papers, obtained nine patents, and been on the editorial board of five technical journals. She has supervised 30 PhD theses and 14 MS theses.  She teaches two courses at Dartmouth on Technology Literacy as well as EE courses.