December 2001 - January 2002

Council Corner:

Technology Policy Committee Reports

Committee on Communications & Information Policy (CCIP):

CCIP's priority issues for 2001 included voting technologies,
Internet privacy & confidentiality, and the broadband telecommunications and information infrastructure. The Committee developed a position paper advocating a systems engineering approach to efforts to design voting technology throughout the United States. CCIP worked with IEEE Standards on this activity. Discussions were held with IEEE Standards to brief Congress on this approach. CCIP and Standards met with the Federal Election Commission and others on the need for a broad-based approach and to further support for this approach. CCIP supported a Standards response to an FEC request for comments and continued follow up on developing a national standard.

CCIP was active in developing positions supporting strong judicial processes for law enforcement's ability to intercept and monitor electronic transmissions. The events of 11 September have influenced the perspective of the nation involving such terrorist attacks. The
committee continues its strong support for a secure network and infrastructure for all information transmissions.

Energy Policy Committee (EPC):

The EPC formulated a response to the release of the Administration's
National Energy Policy and distributed the document at House and Senate hearings. Copies were also mailed to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and various news sources. The committee met in conjunction with the IEEE Power Engineering Society summer meeting in July. The committee is currently following the progress of legislation in Congress that would force the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee to establish technical standards for the interconnection of distributed energy resources to the electrical distribution system. The EPC is working to educate Congressional Members and staff about the work of the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee-21 (SCC-21) P-1547 working group in the area of interconnection standards. 

The Energy Policy Committee is also working on a position statement and corresponding white paper on the issue of bulk electrical system
reliability. On a related issue, the EPC is closely monitoring IEEE-USA-endorsed legislation that would create a self-managing electricity reliability organization.

The Committee is in the planning stages of compiling various articles written by committee members on the electricity infrastructure in
America and publishing as a book for distribution to members of
Congress, Hill staff and others. The Committee is in the process of selecting several members of the Energy Policy Committee for media contacts on the electricity issues.

The EPC completed position statements on the Benefits of Increased
Electrification, Energy Efficiency Policy, and Standards for Interconnection of Distributed Energy Resources. The Committee is also reviewing position statements on transmission policy; photovoltaics; solar and renewable energy; the role of engineers in formulating electrical energy policy; vision of engineering policy; nuclear technology; research and development; and electric-hybrid vehicles.

Research & Development Policy Committee (R&DPC):

The Research and Development Policy Committee is currently monitoring R&D budgetary programs as they go through the appropriations process. The committee submitted an action alert urging IEEE-USA members to notify their Congressional members on the budget committee to support a Senate proposal to add more funds in the budget for science and technology-related fields. The committee plans to create a new Action Alert to support science and technology research and development as Congress works on the various appropriations bills.

At the recommendation of the committee, IEEE-USA has joined the Alliance for Science and Technology in America (ASTRA). ASTRA is a coalition of industry, academic groups, and professional organizations that have come together to support research and development funding in science and technology.

The committee completed position statements on Federally Funded
Technology Transfer and the Department of Energy Nuclear Science and Engineering Act.

Medical Technology Policy Committee (MTPC):

MTPC initiated a Bioterrorism Working Group in March to consider policies necessary to assist the US public health system in the event of a bioterrorist attack. These include improvements to existing information systems and creation of a national information system that connects federal, state, and local authorities 24/7 to ensure 
coordination of efforts and the quality and accuracy of critical information. On 15 October, several members of the committee met with the offices of U.S. Senators Frist, Mikulski, and Wellstone on the need for this information infrastructure and on the needed support from the new U.S. Office of Homeland Security. This group, consequently, was among those potentially exposed to Anthrax and thereby required testing and antibiotics. The committee members are writing up their experience for use in IEEE-USA publications and others showing the need for this information system based on their personal involvement.

MTPC also initiated a Bioinformatics and Genomics Working Group to address the emerging policy issues in this new area. The committee has recruited new members with expertise to assist with these efforts. They are planning a Congressional briefing on "Beyond Stem Cells: Critical Issues," which will examine the role of engineered agents in
biotechnology.

MTPC sent a letter to the National Institutes of Health supporting the
establishment of the new National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering, which is the realization of a previously adopted position paper advocating such an Institute.

The committee wrote to the appropriation Congressional committees
supporting the ethics statements of several organizations that assign
principles for displaying medical information in the Internet. The quality of medical information on the Internet has been a priority issue for the committee for the past couple of years. They are also working on position papers on the issues of telehealth, the use of information technologies, universal access, and others.

Aerospace Policy Committee (APC):
The Aerospace Policy Committee is currently in the process of broadening its scope of activities to include policy issues related to transportation. The committee is considering a possible name change to reflect its expanded focus — which will include ground, air and space elements of transportation policy.

The committee is also working with other organizations to closely monitor NASA's Aeronautics Blueprint for their vision on the future of Aeronautics. The Blueprint will provide the basis for NASA's FY2003 budget request for aviation and aeronautics. The "Aviation Coalition," as the group is called, heard from Benjamin J. Neumann, Executive Officer in NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology, in June. While short on details, Mr. Neumann indicated that NASA considers aeronautics "a key to national security, transportation mobility and freedom, and quality of life," and promised to work with the coalition as the budget process develops. 

The Committee approved position statements on Aviation Safety, and is in the process of formulating position statements on Private Sector Involvement in the Space Program; the U.S. Civil Space Program; Satellite Communications; Upgrading the Air Traffic Control Systems; and Satellite Remote Sensing.

IEEE-USA joined the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and others in sponsoring a 5 December workshop on "The State of the Nation's Aeronautics R&T Enterprise." The all-day workshop held on Capitol Hill featured guest speakers from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), congress, federal agencies, the Department of Defense, and the aerospace industry. The keynote speaker, Commissioner F. Whitten Peters, vice chairman of the newly appointed Commission on the Future of the U.S. Space Industry, set the tone for the day by outlining the challenges facing the United States in maintaining a robust aerospace industry in the 21st century. Brant Sponberg from the Office of Management and Budget outlined President Bush's FY2002 aeronautics R&T budget and priorities for the future and noted that internal and external budgetary pressures and the demands of responding to the terrorist attacks of 11 September have squeezed available funds for aeronautics research, making it critical that existing funding be spent wisely. Charles Huettner from the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy challenged the Commission to "help the President establish the direction for the U.S. aerospace industry in this new century." Bill Adkins, Staff Director for the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, echoed the budgetary concerns outlined by Sponberg, and said that the Subcommittee is answering OMB's challenge to reassess the way existing funds are spent as well as the R&T priorities in light of 11 September.