This item definitely falls into the ‘what took you so long’ category.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a release today that it has hired on Jon Peha as Chief Technologist to serve one year as a senior advisor on communications technology in the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.
Nope, this isn’t a new job. But it’s the first time the FCC put a warm body in the job since 2001.
Yes, it’s 2008.
In the release FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin praises Peha for his expertise in the area of communications technology:
“Jon brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the commission and I am pleased he has agreed to join us as chief technologist. I am confident that Peha’s expertise will be beneficial to the commission as it moves forward to address numerous complex, technical issues.”
Yea, I would hope so.
The question is why did it take the FCC so long to replace the last CTO — David Farber, who served from 2000 through 2001? Who was around to advice the FCC the past seven years?
Peha will “assist the commission in looking at a number of different initiatives and proposals from a technological vantage point on a going forward basis,” the FCC’s office of media relations stated.
Peha is credentialed — he is a professor in the departments of Engineering and Public Policy, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Wireless and Broadband Networking at CMU.
Prior to joining CMU’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy, heserved as the chief technical officer of three high-tech start-ups and as a member of the technical staff at SRI International, AT&T Bell Laboratories and Microsoft.