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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD PAVE THE WAY FOR THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 27 May 1994 10:34:58 -0400
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD PAVE THE WAY FOR THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ Office of News and Public Information 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418 (202) 334-2138 Date: May 25, 1994 Contacts: Lee Tune, Media Relations Associate, Jennifer Cooke, Media Relations Assistant, (202) 334-2138. ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD PAVE THE WAY FOR THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY WASHINGTON -- Achieving the vision of the "information superhighway" will require that the federal government guide development of the technologies and services used to create it says a new report* from a committee of the National Research Council. The broad educational, scientific, and economic goals espoused for the superhighway are unlikely to be reached if its development is directed by the private sector alone, the report says. "The Clinton Administration has elaborated an admirable vision of the national information infrastructure that emphasizes social and economic concerns, such as ensuring universal access, improving education, and boosting economic competitiveness," said committee chair Leonard Kleinrock, chair of the computer science department at the University of California, Los Angeles. The administration now needs to address the many technical issues that in fact are critical to achieving this vision, Kleinrock said. The committee's report recommends that the federal government expand its plan for the national information infrastructure to embrace what it calls an open data network architecture. This architecture would be the technical framework for developing and deploying the information superhighway. The report also recommends that the government work with telephone and cable television companies, as well as other relevant interests, to find economic incentives for connecting homes, businesses, and public institutions to the superhighway in open and interactive ways. These hookups should allow two-way information transfer and the ability to carry information in different forms, for example in both video and data formats. These features are unlikely to be rapidly incorporated without federal involvement because they may be more costly than single-application hookups and less attractive to companies seeking a short-term competitive advantage. The open data network will not be a single monolithic technology, but a set of interconnected technologies, the committee noted. Without a framework, the pieces of the emerging communications infrastructure may not fit together and people will not be able to combine the use of different kinds of services or to switch among them with ease. As envisioned by the committee, the open data network would build on the strengths of the worldwide Internet. It would be easy to change and expand and would be open to everyone who is linked into the system through their computer, interactive television, or other device. It would also be open to all providers of information, video, and other services. These services would be carried in a seamless fashion by all kinds of network service providers, such as America Online and CompuServe. The result, the committee said, would be a smoothly interconnected web of information networks, computers, databases, and consumer electronics that could accommodate virtually any way of creating, transporting, and using digitized information. The network would eventually link together homes, workplaces, and public institutions in the United States and around the world. The potential benefits of such an open data network can be glimpsed in the experiences of the research and education communities where access to high-speed networks through the worldwide Internet has begun to radically change the way researchers work, educators teach, and students learn. However, the committee emphasized that achieving such an open network is not automatic, but will require new approaches to networking and information-handling technologies and standards. Cooperative efforts between industry and government will be needed to fully develop and deploy the kind of architecture required for this open data network. A PIVOTAL JUNCTURE 1994 is a critical time in the evolution to a national information infrastructure, the committee noted. Federal funding arrangements and management responsibilities are being defined, commercial service providers -- who ultimately will be the major funders of the information infrastructure -- are playing an increasingly significant role in the Internet, and non-academic use of the Internet is growing rapidly. "Wiring up" the nation for an open data network will depend not only on defining the purposes that the national information infrastructure should serve, but also on ensuring that critical technical issues are considered and appropriate hardware and software is put in place. Drawing on its considerable expertise, the U.S. government should act quickly to designate a federal body responsible for overseeing the technical and policy aspects of this evolution. This body should effectively blend the technical competence of the National Science and Technology Council, which oversees the administration's high-performance computing project, with the policy capabilities of the White House's Information Infrastructure Task Force. This body needs to be able to provide leadership for the extended period of time required to develop and deploy an infrastructure with an open data network architecture, the report says. A vital aspect of this body's leadership would be to spearhead continued federal involvement in the development of technical standards for the national information infrastructure. The federal government should be an advocate for the public interest and for standards that will help establish a truly open and flexible infrastructure, the report says. The federal government should not set the standards, but should participate in and support the ongoing process of standards development more effectively than it currently does. Recognizing that, like the Internet, the national information infrastructure will be fundamentally an international framework and not just a national one, the federal government should encourage the development of standards and policies that will facilitate international communication. "The government cannot build the information superhighway or dictate the architecture for the national information infrastructure, but it can guide the development of a framework and of standards that will foster common interests and approaches among the many companies and institutions that will build the superhighway," Kleinrock said. ARCHITECTURE FOR AN OPEN DATA NETWORK The key to achieving an open data network lies in reaching agreement among all providers on an appropriate architecture. The report advocates one with four levels of organization. The lower and middle levels serve to make the underlying equipment and technologies (such as switches, direct broadcast satellites, and wire-based or wireless circuits that actually form networks) support the applications level. The applications level is composed of the services individuals actually use, such as e-mail or financial transactions systems, teleconferencing, or audio and video services. A critical benefit of this framework is that the first level is defined in a way that separates network services from information services to better allow a marketplace of service providers to flourish, the committee said. Under this architecture the same company could be both a network service provider and an information service provider. However, competitors would be allowed to enter the marketplace at either level. Another advantage of this architecture is that keeping the levels of service distinct will allow for changes to be made at one level, such as replacing copper wire to homes with fiber-optic wire or introducing new kinds of services, without affecting other levels. ROLE IN EDUCATION The committee recommended that the U.S. Department of Education develop technical competence in the role of information networking in K-12 education so that the department can take a leadership role in making kids and teachers major beneficiaries of the information superhighway. The department should articulate the objectives and the benefits of information networking in schools to other federal agencies, state departments of education, and other members of the education community. It should set an aggressive agenda for research on the use of information networking technology in education and should define a national plan for the educational use of this technology that can guide efforts at the state and local level. The department should immediately begin developing the technical competence it will need for this leadership role, and in the meantime should pursue collaborations with the National Science Foundation and other research agencies. The Education Department should continue, and if possible expand, federal matching grants for local community, state, and industrial funds, to stimulate grass-roots deployment of networks in the schools, the committee said. ADDITONAL RECOMMENDATIONS The last decade has seen a powerful transformation in the work done at colleges, universities, libraries, and other institutions where information networking using the Internet has become integral. The report also recommends that the federal government consider temporary subsidies for those education and research institutions where the commercialization of the Internet generates exceptional financial hardships. "It is important to ensure that this country maintains its clear technical leadership and competitive advantage in information infrastructure and networking," the committee said. It recommended that the current federal program for research in information networks be maintained or expanded. The National Science Foundation and the other federal agencies that are currently funding this research should place a strong focus on network architecture, information management, and other emerging issues relating to large-scale, complex, and flexible networks. Such research can contribute to network development, to new concepts for network services, and to new principles and designs in key areas such as security and adaptability. The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. It is a private, non-profit institution that provides science and technology advice under a congressional charter. A committee roster is overleaf. ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ *The report, Realizing the Information Future, is expected to be available in June from the National Academy Press at the mailing address in the letterhead; tel. (202) 334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters only may obtain pre-publication copies from the Office of News and Public Information at the letterhead address (contacts listed above). ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ National Research Council Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications Computer Science and Telecommunications Board Committee on National Research and Education Network Issues: Leonard Kleinrock* (chair), Chair, Computer Science Department, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California, Los Angeles Cynthia H. Braddon, President of Washington Affairs, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Washington, D.C. David D. Clark, Senior Research Scientist, Laboratory for Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge William J. Emery, Professor, Colorado Center of Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder David J. Farber, Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems, Computer and Information Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia A.G. Fraser, Executive Director, Research Information Sciences Division, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J. Russell D. Hensley, Executive Director, Center for Telecommunications and Information Systems Management, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, Tenn. Lawrence H. Landweber, Professor, Department of Computing Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison Robert W. Lucky*, Vice President, Applied Research, Bell Communications Research, Red Bank, N.J. Susan Nutter, Director of Libraries, North Carolina State University, Raleigh Radia Perlman, Novell Corp., Acton, Mass. (current residence) Susan Schweizer, Manager, Telecommunications Strategy and Service Management, Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton, Mass. Connie D. Stout, Director, Texas Education Network, Texas Education Agency, Austin Charles E. Taylor, Co-Director, Cognitive Science Research Program, University of California, Los Angeles Thomas W. West, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Information Resources and Technology, California State University, Long Beach SPECIAL ADVISER Robert E. Kahn*, President, Corp. for National Research Initiatives, Reston, Va. * Member, National Academy of Engineering Research council Staff Marjory Blumenthal, Study Director ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ ?News from the NRC ?ONPI Home Page ?NAS Home Page
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