CUA Columbus School of Law

The digital broadcast panel was moderated by Richard E. Wiley (left)

partner and head of the communications group of Wiley, Rein & Fielding

Digital Technology: The Territory Ahead

The seemingly magical communications tools that Americans take for granted today would have mystified our forebears of 100 years ago. Cell phones, high definition television, wireless Internet — all would appear like so much high-tech voodoo.

By the same token, it is nearly impossible to accurately imagine or predict how the communications landscape will look a century from now. Nonetheless, it appears that whatever head-turning inventions and technologies come down the pike will be based on some kind of digital platform.

That is why government regulators and private sector innovators are trying so hard to get it right: to design strategies that permit healthy and sensible long-term growth for the broadband and digital industries.

Some of the best and most influential minds in the country gathered at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law on January 22 to offer perspectives, opinions, predictions and arguments about the challenges and opportunities of digital migration into new technologies. Co-sponsored by the CommLaw Conspectus and the Federal Communications Commission, “The Journey to Convergence” brought together an eclectic mix of people from government, private sector industry and firms that specialize in communications law. Divided into four expert panels, the daylong symposium attracted such luminaries as FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, Hogan and Hartson partner Winston Maxwell and senior officials from such companies as Disney, Panasonic, Cisco, Verizon and WorldComm, among many others.

Dense with technical terms and concepts, some of the discussion posed a challenge for a layperson to decipher. Nothing was “decided,” but participants and audience alike seemed to reach consensus on one point: Digital communications technology now runs the world. The trend is irreversible, and much rides on making choices that nurture – not hobble – the industry.

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	The digital broadcast panel was moderated by Richard E. Wiley (left) partner and head of the communications group of Wiley, Rein & Fielding Digital Technology: The Territory Ahead The seemingly magical communications tools that Americans take for granted today would have mystified our forebears of 100 years ago. Cell phones, high definition television, wireless Internet — all would appear like so much high-tech voodoo. By the same token, it is nearly impossible to accurately imagine or predict how the communications landscape will look a century from now. Nonetheless, it appears that whatever head-turning inventions and technologies come down the pike will be based on some kind of digital platform. That is why government regulators and private sector innovators are trying so hard to get it right: to design strategies that permit healthy and sensible long-term growth for the broadband and digital industries. Some of the best and most influential minds in the country gathered at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law on January 22 to offer perspectives, opinions, predictions and arguments about the challenges and opportunities of digital migration into new technologies. Co-sponsored by the CommLaw Conspectus and the Federal Communications Commission, “The Journey to Convergence” brought together an eclectic mix of people from government, private sector industry and firms that specialize in communications law. Divided into four expert panels, the daylong symposium attracted such luminaries as FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, Hogan and Hartson partner Winston Maxwell and senior officials from such companies as Disney, Panasonic, Cisco, Verizon and WorldComm, among many others. Dense with technical terms and concepts, some of the discussion posed a challenge for a layperson to decipher. Nothing was “decided,” but participants and audience alike seemed to reach consensus on one point: Digital communications technology now runs the world. The trend is irreversible, and much rides on making choices that nurture – not hobble – the industry.
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