Broadband Development Conference
NYLS, Director, Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute
Michael is the Director of the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School. The ACLP studies the array of local, state, and federal legal, regulatory, and public policy issues impacting the expansion of digital infrastructure and the use of digital tools. He has served on the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee, the FCC’s Removing State & Local Barriers to Broadband Deployment Working Group, and the New York State Broadband Task Force, among other initiatives. Immediately prior to joining the ACLP, Michael served as the lead staff member for the New York City Council’s Committee on Technology.
Michael received his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Tufts University, and his law degree, with honors, from New York Law School.
Mountain Connect 2026 takes on the most pressing infrastructure issue of the year — and of the next internet era: building the data center, network, and compute capacity required for rapid advances in artificial intelligence and quantum. Keynotes, panels, and roundtables throughout the conference address various aspects of this overarching theme. As an open discussion among all in attendance, this panel will take stock of these conversations, synthesize a throughline of the complementary threads, and identify next steps for leading thinkers and doers in the broader industry — to help us all get this essential private investment, public policy, and local regulation right.
This session will ground the ongoing debate over data centers in facts about the unprecedented scale and scope of disruption being caused by AI and its demands for power, water, land, and data capacity. Hear first-hand from those building this digital infrastructure about how they navigate these issues in their pursuit of responsible but rapid construction, and the interplay with and lessons for the broadband sector.
