Center for Business & Public Policy

Call for Papers

The Center for Business and Public Policy (CBPP) at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business invites submissions for a workshop and related publication on “Solving the Spectrum Conundrum Through Innovation”. Accepted papers will be presented at a workshop to be held at Georgetown University on March 1, 2027, and upon completion of the peer review process, published as a special issue of Information Economics and Policy. Authors will receive travel funding and an honorarium of $10,000 upon successful completion of their papers.

Submit an extended abstract (1–2 pages) or full working paper via the following Google Form on or before Aug. 1, 2026. Submissions should clearly state research objectives, methods, and anticipated contributions. Both academic and practitioner-oriented papers are welcome.

Background

It is difficult to overstate the role that wireless technologies have played in modern economic development. Wireless telephony – once voice-only – has morphed into a robust platform for the transfer of billions of bits of communication data as voice, text, and video. This transition has fostered both new business formation and incumbent firm growth. This success, however, is not without challenges moving forward. Indeed, the lifeblood of wireless goods and services – radio spectrum – is increasingly difficult to identify and make available to commercial firms. 

Against this backdrop, renewed and intensified research into efficient spectrum allocation mechanisms is increasingly important.  CBPP welcomes submissions that provide fresh thinking and analysis regarding the economics of and policy directed toward radio spectrum. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• What data are needed to properly assess the use of encumbered spectrum bands?
• Policy design for future federal-commercial coexistence frameworks
• Empirical case studies or simulation-based evaluations and evidence of existing spectrum policies
• Economic analysis of overlay licenses
• The viability and economics of secondary markets in spectrum
• Frameworks and design principles for overlay licensing in shared bands, including assessing interactions between overlay rights, PALs, and GAA access in CBRS
• AI/ML applications for dynamic access and interference mitigation
• Spectrum Access System (SAS) adaptation and coordination requirements
• Interference protection and coexistence strategies for overlay deployments
• Transactional and legal implications of hybrid licensing models
• Comparative analyses with international shared-spectrum regimes

IMPORTANT DATES

Abstract submission deadline: Aug. 1, 2026

Notification of acceptance: Aug. 11, 2026

Full papers due: Feb. 1, 2027