National Telecommunications and Information Administration
 | |
| Founded: | 1978 |
| Headquarters: | Herbert C. Hoover Building 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. |
| Country: | USA |
| Website: | ntia.doc.gov |
| Facebook: | NTIA Facebook |
| Twitter: |  @NTIAgov
|
| Key People | |
| Lawrence Strickling, Department Head | |
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is an agency for the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) that acts as the Executive Branch, responsible for recommending the United States President on various telecommunications and information policies. NTIA was formed in 1978 with an aim to work with other Executive Branch Agencies on crucial issues regarding telecommunications and information policies and also to report on the administration’s current role and position as related to these policies and issues.
NTIA has always been at the forefront of critical issues and has played an important role in providing the guidelines to create and execute new policies to address these issues. It also represents the Executive Branch of the government in national and international telecommunications and information policy activities. NTIA oversees Federal use of the radio frequency spectrum, and does research on various telecommunications and engineering-related fields. It also manages the resolution of issues between the government and the private sector related to telecommunications and also provides grants to infrastructure and public telecommunications facilities.[1]
Goals[edit | edit source]
NTIA has many goals for the development of the Telecommunication and Information sector, including the following:
- To provide U.S. citizens with internet, phone and cable services at an affordable rate.
- To provide information infrastructure grants for the development of under-served areas within the country.
- Providing scope for international competition in the telecommunications sector.
- To promote the adequate distribution of spectrum to various fields such as national defense, public safety, and businesses according to their demands and needs.
- Providing the infrastructure for the radio and television broadcasters to efficiently maintain and expand their services.
- Negotiating with other governments across the globe to provide platform for the U.S. companies to have a global outreach and provide their services internationally.
- To perform a long term research to find new possibilities in using the higher frequency spectrum for telecommunication.
- Partnering with national, state and local public safety agencies to understand the necessities of the future spectrum on the grass root level.[2][3]
Organizational offices of NTIA[edit | edit source]
- Office of the Policy Analysis and Development (OPAD): OPAD looks after various domestic policies and is responsible for advising the Executive Branch on various issues and policies after performing adequate research and analysis.[4]
- Office of International Affairs (OIA): OIA is responsible for creating policies that help U.S. companies compete internationally in both the fields of Information Technology and Communications.[5]
- Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS): ITS is the research and engineering laboratory of the NTIA. ITS provides technical assistance in the fields of Information Technology and Telecommunications to develop and implement various updated technologies. It assists NTIA in the development of infrastructure for telecommunications and information technology, in order to provide efficient services across the country.[6]
- Office of Telecommunications and Information Application (OTIA): OTIA provides a platform for the public and non-profit organizations to collaborate and work on various telecommunications and information technologies for the benefit of the national development and prosperity.[7]
- Office of Spectrum Management (OSM): OSM is responsible for supervising the use of the radio frequency spectrum provided to the Federal Government. It is also the part of the Department of Commerce (DOC) which oversees ICANN.[8]
Relation with ICANN[edit | edit source]
Ethics Policy[edit | edit source]
Following the departure of Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush from the ICANN Board, and his immediate hiring by Minds + Machines in 2011, The U.S. Government and other Internet stakeholders began calling for greater ethics controls and a clear policy to be put in place. The European Commission, in one of its 6 non-papers of 2011, called for the USG to enforce such stipulations via its IANA contract. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden also called for ethics rules to be put in place via a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration. In September, 2011, the head of NTIA, Lawrence Strickling, responded to Wyden with assurances that it is “actively exploring how to best meet this requirement” for “a clear and enforced ethics and conflict of interest policy”. This came at a time when NTIA says it was undertaking its first comprehensive review of its IANA contract with ICANN since it was awarded in 2000.[9]