[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 32993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13943]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Toward Innovative Spectrum-Sharing Technologies: A Technical 
Workshop on Coordinating Federal Government/Private Sector R&D 
Investments

AGENCY: The National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD).

ACTION: Notice.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Wigen at 703-292-4873 or 
[email protected]. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday.

DATES: July 26, 2011.

SUMMARY: Representatives from Federal research agencies, private 
industry, and academia will discuss the future research needs for 
developing innovative spectrum-sharing technologies.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Overview: This notice is issued by the National Coordination Office 
for the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development 
(NITRD) Program. Agencies of the NITRD Program are holding a technical 
workshop to bring together experts from private industry and academia 
to help ``create and implement a plan to facilitate research, 
development, experimentation, and testing by researchers to explore 
innovative spectrum-sharing technologies, including those that are 
secure and resilient.'' The workshop will take place on July 26, 2011 
from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT in Boulder, Colorado at the U.S. Department 
of Commerce (DOC) Boulder Labs, 325 Broadway, Building 1 Lobby, 
Boulder, Colorado 80305. This event will be Webcast. For the event 
agenda and information about the Webcast, go to: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/isart/WSRD/.
    Background: The dramatic rise of radio frequency-based applications 
has sparked a new sense of urgency among federal users, commercial 
service providers, equipment developers, and spectrum management 
professionals on how best to manage and use the radio spectrum. While 
near-term solutions such as spectrum re-allocations are critical to 
meeting national needs, so is the development of the next generation of 
technologies that can enable more efficient use of the radio spectrum.
    NITRD established the Wireless Spectrum Research and Development 
Senior Steering Group (WSRD-SSG) in late 2010. The committee was asked 
to identify current spectrum-related research projects funded by the 
Federal Government, and to work with the non-federal community, 
including the academic, commercial, and public safety sectors, to 
implement a plan that ``facilitates research, development, 
experimentation, and testing by researchers to explore innovative 
spectrum-sharing technologies,'' in accordance with the Presidential 
Memorandum on Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution. WSRD-SSG 
operates under the auspices of the Networking and Information 
Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program of the National 
Coordination Office (NCO), and has recently put together a preliminary 
inventory of federal R&D in the spectrum arena.
    This workshop will present an opportunity for relevant interested 
parties, including technical experts from private industry and public 
safety, together with academic researchers, to explore ongoing 
spectrum-related Federal Government R&D activities as listed in the 
WSRD-SSG inventory, and offer their expertise on developing 
recommendations for a wireless technology innovation initiative. We 
will ask private industry participants to suggest research avenues that 
they believe are presently underrepresented in federal R&D and that are 
not being pursued in private industry research laboratories. The focus 
will be on identifying R&D that may have large potential payoffs for 
wireless technologies and the nation's economy at large, which are 
consistent with the Federal Government's role in sponsoring important 
basic and applied research and development. The workshop will also 
address possible frameworks for supporting long-term research that may 
result in yet-to-be-conceived improvements in spectrum utilization.
    Submitted by the National Science Foundation for the National 
Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology 
Research and Development (NITRD) on June 2, 2011.

Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Management Analyst, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2011-13943 Filed 6-6-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P