National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council Launches Three Mega-Projects on Internet Radio

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

                                          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                    TO SEND E-MAIL TO THE NIIAC: dlewis () npr org


      National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council
         Launches Three Mega-Projects on Internet Radio


WASHINGTON, D.C., (April 25, 1994)  The National Information
Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIIAC) will launch three Mega-
Projects to drive its mission.  Work on the Mega-Projects, which
begins today, will be broadcast from National Public Radio over
the Internet by way of the Internet Multicasting Service.  The
hearings will be broadcast on the Multicast Backbone (MBONE).
More information on the MBONE is available from:


     ftp://ftp.isi.edu/mbone/faq.txt


Below is a description of the Mega-Projects and an agenda of
events as of this writing.


Questions will be taken from the Internet, in text form only,
throughout the day's proceedings and answered between
presentations.  Internet users who wish to submit a question
should send it to dlewis () npr org.  Delano Lewis, President and
CEO of National Public Radio and co-chair of the NIIAC, will
moderate the Internet question and answer sessions.


Each person on the Council has been appointed to one of the three
Mega-Projects:  1)  Vision and Goals; 2) Access to the National
Information Infrastructure (NII); and 3) Privacy, Security, and
Intellectual Property


The framework for all of the Mega-Projects will be the same, with
each addressing the following issues:


     existing technologies and services and how they will be
     affected;


     how the national interest will be served;


     intersection and accommodation of public and private
     interests; and


     international implications.


Mega-Project 1:  One of the Council's primary objectives is to
articulate a clear vision of what the NII should become and what
it can deliver.  Vice-President Gore has declared a national goal
of having schools, libraries, hospitals, and clinics on-line by
the year 2000.  Is this an appropriate goal?  Is the time frame
realistic?  Will attaining these goals make a real difference in
delivery socially beneficial services?  If not, are complementary
goals needed?  These are the questions to be examined by the
Mega-Project "Vision and Goals."  Those driving this Mega-Project
will formulate concrete, long-term goals and vision for the NII
in each of the key application areas: education, electronic
commerce, health care, and public safety.


Mega-Project 2:  For years universal service has meant providing
telephone service to all Americans at affordable prices.  The
convergence of voice, video, and computer technologies is
expanding the concept of universal service beyond telephone
service to include expanding the benefits of the information
highway to all Americans.  If universality is a legitimate goal,
there must be an analysis of how to pay for it.  The Mega-Project
"Access to the NII" goals will include examining the meaning of
universal access, recommending a means for ensuring equal access
to both users and suppliers, the feasibility of establishing a
minimum set of universal services for all Americans, and setting
funding guidelines to make universal access affordable.


Mega-Project 3:  The NII has immense implications for changing
the lives of Americans.  Some of these implications are negative
unless privacy and security of information are carefully
protected.  The producers of information and content have rights
that need to be protected as well, and current practices to
safeguard intellectual property may be inadequate in the digital
world.  The Mega-Project "Privacy, Security, and Intellectual
Property" has goals that include defining and setting guidelines
for personal privacy and intellectual property protection,
outlining methods for protecting First Amendment rights, and for
addressing national security and emergency preparedness.


AGENDA


 8:30 am - 11:00 am   Mega-Project 3:  Privacy, Security, and
                      Intellectual Property


11:00 am - 11:15 am   Break


11:15 am - 12:00 pm   All Mega-Projects Report to Council


12:00 pm - 12:30 pm   Council Business


 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm   Lunch


  1:00 pm - 2:00 pm   Press Conference to Announce Mega-Projects


  2:00 pm - 3:00 pm   Sally Katzen - "Report on Privacy and
                      Intellectual Property"


  3:00 pm - 4:00 pm   Dr. C. Everett Koop - "Health Care Privacy
                      and Information Systems"


  4:00 pm - 4:30 pm   Public Comment


            4:30 pm   Adjourn