1994-05-04 Commerce Releases of Report on NII Applications

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

                                                 May 4, 1994




            BROWN RELEASES REPORT HIGHLIGHTING BENEFITS,
              BARRIERS OF NATIONAL INFORMATION HIGHWAY




     Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown today released for public
comment a report that focuses on ways that the National
Information Infrastructure can be used to strengthen the U.S.
economy and improve quality of life.  As an interconnection of
computer networks, telecommunications services and applications,
the NII has the potential to significantly improve the way people
use information in their jobs and other aspects of their daily
lives.
     The report, Putting the Information Infrastructure to Work,
closely looks at some of the opportunities and obstacles in seven
key applications of the NII.  It is designed to spur public
discussion of how people and organizations use the information
infrastructure.


     "There's going to be a fundamental change in the way we
work, the way we learn, the way we communicate.  Knowing how the
Industrial Revolution permanently altered American life, we can
only begin to imagine how we will be transformed by becoming an
information society," Brown said.


     Brown, who chairs the Information Infrastructure Task Force,
an Administration team helping to shape a vision of the NII, also
stated that "we are releasing these papers because it is not
enough to discuss how information highways will be built; we must
also understand -- and inform Americans -- about how they will be
used."


     "These papers focus on the real-life concerns of people who
will rely on information technology," said Brown.


     The report describes a national vision for how the evolving
NII can:


:    enhance the competitiveness of our manufacturing base;


:    increase the speed and efficiency of electronic commerce,
     or business-to-business communication, to promote economic
     growth;


:    improve health-care delivery and control costs;


:    promote the development and accessibility of quality
     educational and lifelong learning for all Americans;


:    make the nation more effective at environmental monitoring
     and assessing its impact upon the Earth;


:    sustain the role of libraries as agents of democratic and
     equal access to information; and


:    provide government services to the public faster, more
     responsively and more efficiently.


     The topics presented in the document explore these areas as
a stimulus for further debate.  They are but a few of the many
topics the IITF intends to explore in subsequent papers.


     The papers were generated by the IITF's Committee on
Applications and Technology, which is chaired by Arati Prabhakar,
director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of
Standards and Technology.


     To get a copy of the report, order PB 94-163383 prepaid from
the National Technical Information Service, at Springfield, Va.
22161, (703) 487-4650, or NIST Special Publication 857 from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402, (202) 783-3238.  The document is also
available electronically on the Information Infrastructure Task
Force Gopher Server by gopher, telnet (login = gopher) or
anonymous ftp to iitf.doc.gov (via Internet).  The document can
be found in the "documents and papers" subcategory of the
"speeches, testimony and documents" category.


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