Information and Telecommunications Protocols: Modeling and Policy Analysis/title></head><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><H1 align="center">Information and Telecommunications Protocols: Modeling and Policy Analysis</h1><p align="center"> <b><i>Instructor:<a href="http://www.ljean.net"> Jean Camp</i></b></a><b>, Associate Professor of Public Policy, JFK School of Government</b> <p> Offered Fall Semester, 2003<p> <b> </b> <p> What is a protocol in the telecommunications sense? And what is information policy? Understanding the emerging information infrastructure requires understanding the technology, the economics of the technology and the assumptions of the technology. Seemingly simple questions (e.g., which is faster, cable modem or DSL?) are presented as having simple answers. But questions of protocol, speed, price, and applicability rarely have one answer. Instead, network deployments involve technology choices that are intertwined with social, legal, economic and political considerations. Selecting appropriate deployment strategies requires the ability to identify the costs and capabilities of the infrastructure. This course offers techniques for building and analyzing models of advanced telecommunications networks and services, taking account of technology characteristics, policy issues, and socioeconomic factors. Methods for assessing economic and policy issues raised by information technology are examined. Research and publications on the ongoing development of the Internet and information infrastructure provide this class with especially timely data sets for analysis. Students will study cost models for intranets, the local loop, local access to the Internet, and Internet telephony. Policy analyses will consider the perspectives of various stakeholders in infrastructure development. Modeling method will focus on dynamic systems, e.g. systems with feedback.-- <P>Objectives<UL><LI>modeling technology for policy outcomes<LI>have a very high level understanding of the Internet<LI>understand how Internet commerce differs from traditional consumer instruments<LI>modeling technological uncertainty<LI>basic uncertainty analysis when uncertainty looms large</UL><TABLE width="43%" border=1> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="79%">Two assignments </TD> <TD width="21%">25% each</TD></TR> <TR> <TD width="79%">Final project</TD> <TD width="21%">40%</TD></TR> <TR> <TD width="79%">Class participation</TD> <TD width="21%">10%</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P> </P></BODY></HTML> </body></html>