David Eckard is currently the Vice President of the Broadband Partners at Nokia overseeing the company’s response to the historical influx of capital from the various federal and state funding programs that aims to close the digital inequities in our country. Since 1999, David has been a key contributor, advocate and industry leader for the creation and adoption of fiber access in the United States and around the world. He brings a unique multi-disciplinary perspective to the industry and serves as a trusted consultant to executives, policy makers and industry decision makers on market and technology challenges. He previously has held various leadership positions in Nokia as the VP of Strategy and Technology of North America, VP of Business Strategy for the Optical Networking Product Division and the Chief Technology Officer for the Fixed Networks division. He has overseen the development and investment of key enabling technologies that has allowed Nokia to be a trusted partner for next generation fiber networks. He is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, holds many patents in optical access technologies, has represented Nokia in standardization forums for next generation optical access networks and resides on the boards of various trade associations representing Nokia.