CC-licensed photo from Louis Abate's Flickr stream
Try for a second to forget commercial broadband companies pushing crappy apps and think about what you might actually want to do with gigabit Internet and 4G wireless. What are some killer apps that would really drive demand for everyday access to those speeds? My old UC Berkeley colleague/friend Tom Kalil, now the Deputy Director for Policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and US CTO Aneesh Chopra, are asking that question on behalf of the US government. They'd like to launch an initiative to spur student-led innovation around next-generation broadband networks, but they'd like helping developing the idea. From the Office of Science and Technology Policy:
Now is the time to launch an initiative that would cultivate, with student involvement, such a wave of innovation (for broadband networks). Although it's impossible to predict what the next generation of applications will be, universities, companies, and students could work together under such an initiative, which would serve as a sort of "Petri dish" where new ideas could incubate and grow. This initiative could be led by the private sector, encourage multi-campus and even global collaboration, build on investments already made in high-speed research networks such as Internet2 and National LambdaRail, and take advantage of a growing number of grants from the Department of Commerce's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
The initiative could have a number of elements, including:
• Campus-based incubators for the development of broadband applications, with access to high-speed networks, cutting-edge peripherals, software development kits, and cloud computing services.
• Relevant courses that encourage multidisciplinary teams of students to design and develop broadband applications.
• Competitions that recognize compelling applications developed by students. Some existing competitions that could serve as models include Google's Android Developer Challenge, Microsoft's Imagine Cup, and the FCC-Knight Foundation's "Apps for Inclusion" competition.
"The Role of Student-Led Innovation in "Killer Apps" for Broadband Networks"
