Modeling the dynamic interactions of agents in the provision of network infrastructure

Although next-generation information network infrastructure is prerequisite for continued economic growth, the United States is losing ground in important areas relative to peer countries. Businesses and regulators have grown concerned that the U.S. lacks the correct regulatory and business incentives to upgrade the existing network. Due to the complex and dynamic nature of the interdependencies in the ICT value network, traditional methods of public policy and management analysis have proven inadequate to fully understand the issues and possible solutions. This paper discusses a novel Genetic Programming (GP) approach to the problem. Although only a first step towards addressing the problem, the GP discovered several interesting results stemming from the complex interactions. For example, telecommunications companies would actually be hurt by the option to charge discriminatory prices but application providers would benefit.