Working Group : Overview
		The Working Group
		T he objective of the Working Group on Telecommunications Demand Aggregation is to explore the national and international dimensions of this strategy for bringing broadband to small to medium sized cities. These are communities where private sector investment could be utilized but where providers face higher uncertainties, so that it is difficult to justify public sector investment.
		Demand Aggregation
		D emand Aggregation is a strategy by which community leaders can reduce the investment risk of private sector investors. By reducing this risk, service providers may be more willing to make the investments to provide broadband services to at least a part of the community. Once the initial infrastructure is made, the incremental cost of adding users is much smaller, so that broadband can then penetrate to more marginal users (eg. residences and small businesses).
		The Approach
		D emand Aggregation is a strategy by which community leaders collect the demand for broadband from larger users in the community, and then write a business plan on behalf of potential service providers. This plan would be the basis of the service providers’ investment decisions.
		Future Work
		D emand Aggregation is an approach that has received some study in areas other than broadband telecommunications. Regional governments have used this approach for the procurement of goods and services, since they are often able to negotiate lower per-unit prices if the total purchase is large. The application of this strategy to broadband telecommunications services is relatively new, as is the notion of developing a “manual” directed specifically at community leaders.
		The Global Academic Partnership
		T he Global Academic Partnership (GAP), first launched in fall of 2001, is an initiative of the Global Studies Program at the University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh. It is designed to strengthen interdisciplinary research on and curriculum development in global themes at the University of Pittsburgh, while enhancing the international scholarly ties and raising the international profile of the institution. Specifically, the program supports interdisciplinary international research conferences or workshops at the University of Pittsburgh that result in publications and curricular enhancements. In order to be eligible for funding, projects must relate to one of the six foci of the Global Studies Program at UCIS.