The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2/The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume II (Data Express)(1993).ISO/info/io1292.zip/COLUM01.TXT

Text File | 1992-11-17 | 6KB | 101 lines

                     THE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY
                          Robert Parson

     Bill Clinton and Al Gore will soon be the top elected
officials in the nation.  This presents an opportunity to examine
where the government stands in terms of a Wired Nation.
     Since they haven't even been inaugurated as yet, it's still
too early to tell what they may have planned.  However, as Senator
from Tennessee, some of Al Gore's actions may provide some clues.
Before I go any further, I'd like to thank Heidi Kukus of Senator
Gore's office for assistance in providing me with some of the
information here.
     We have all heard about the federally funded "National Data
Highway" which will link colleges, research facilities, and some
governmental agencies into one large network.  Even though the
Bush Administration started the ball rolling, Al Gore sponsored
the legislation in the Senate that expanded George Bush's plan.
The official name of the network is the National Research and
Educational Network, or NREN.
     The ultimate goal of this project is to move a gigabit of
data a second for researchers, students, educators, industry and
universities by 1996.  By the time the 1996 fiscal year rolls
around, nearly three billion dollars will have been spent on this.
     The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has
been put in charge of administering NREN.  Some of the
governmental agencies involved in NREN are the National Science
Foundation (oooooo, lots of neat acronyms!), the Department of
Defense, Department of Energy, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and NASA, just to name a few.
     DARPA will be in charge of developing the technology, the NSF
will provide access to researchers and colleges, and OSTP will
overlook interagency coordination and prepare a report on how NREN
should be funded in the future plus help private industry make
contributions to and benefit from the network.
     According to a news release from Gore's office, the nation's
economic strength, jobs and ability to compete will depend on the
ability to design, market and use high speed computers and
networks.  "If we fail to move forward now, we face a future as
second best," Gore said.
     Many people have questioned how Internet fits into all this.
Internet has an existing network with millions of users.  In
addition, the NSF and many other governmental agencies already
have strong ties to Internet.  The problem is much, if not most,
of Internet is based on older analog technology.
     Basically, analog technology means the digital signals have
to be broken down to sound, transmitted, then recoded into digital
at the receiving end.
     NREN is being built from the ground up in digital form.
There will be a lot of fiber optics and ISDN links.  I'm fairly
certain large chunks of Internet will somehow be brought into
NREN.  Internet will remain as a part of NREN, but probably won't
be a primary vendor.
     Building the Data Highway, though, is just part of the plan.
Just as with a roadway, it will have to be patched, sections
replaced and possibly rebuilt.  That is built into Gore's bill.
OSTP, as I mentioned earlier, will be continuing to look at ways
to keep the data moving efficiently and to ensure that it remains
competitive on a global scale.  That means NREN itself could at
some time be replaced by something even bigger and faster.
     We don't know what technologies will be available in the
future.  All we have to work with is what is at hand.  As
technology continues to advance, NREN will eventually become an
aging dinosaur.
     But where will the Clinton White House stand as we continue
to work toward National Connectivity?  Al Gore as Senator has
already taken a leadership role, and may very well continue to do
so.
     The regulatory bonds placed on the Regional Bell Operating
Companies may be loosened even more than they already have.  The
RBOCs now have approval to begin offering video dial tone.  Even
though they seem more interested in providing entertainment
programming on demand, they are eyeing information services.
     A fairly new company, SkyTel, is offering news, stocks and
sports on beepers.  Large beepers, admittedly, but beepers
nonetheless.
     These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg that the
government has so far been slow to act on.  In order to properly
meet the information needs of the next generation, the government
is going to have to act more quickly and anticipate as much as
possible instead of react.  NREN is just one example of that.  It
is a reaction to current trends and is an attempt at anticipating
the future.
     I am not advocating regulating emerging technologies or
possible industries.  The government has placed itself in an
important role in maintaining information freedom.  If it will not
be the standard bearer it must not impede those who will be.
     Curiously, funding for NREN comes to an end in 1996, an
Election year.  Information Access may become an issue along with
the Economy, Abortion and the Federal Deficit.

     As a side note to this:
     While on the road, the Clinton/Gore and the Jerry Brown
campaigns used Procomm to keep in touch electronically with their
Campaign Headquarters.  Brown also participated in at least one
Electronic Town Meeting on a national service (GEnie).
     I'm sure there are other notes of similar interest about the
'92 campaign, but those are the only ones that I have specific
information about.

                                         (c)1992 Robert Parson