the national information infrastructure-agenda for action.txt

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                 THE NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE:
                            AGENDA FOR ACTION




                             TABLE OF CONTENTS


                                                    

Executive Summary                                                    Tab A

The NII:  Agenda for Action                                          Tab B

Benefits and Application Examples                                    Tab C

Information Infrastructure Task Force                                Tab D

U.S. Advisory Council on the NII                                     Tab E

NII Accomplishments to Date                                          Tab F

Key Contacts                                                         Tab G

                             TAB A           THE NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTR
                        AGENDA FOR ACTION

                        EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

         All Americans have a stake in the construction of an
advanced National Information Infrastructure (NII), a seamless
web of communications networks, computers, databases, and
consumer electronics that will put vast amounts of information at
users' fingertips.  Development of the NII can help unleash an
information revolution that will change forever the way people
live, work, and interact with each other:

o        People could live almost anywhere they wanted, without
         foregoing opportunities for useful and fulfilling
         employment, by "telecommuting" to their offices through an
         electronic highway;

o        The best schools, teachers, and courses would be available
         to all students, without regard to geography, distance,
         resources, or disability;

o        Services that improve America's health care system and
         respond to other important social needs could be available
         on-line, without waiting in line, when and where you needed
         them.

         Private sector firms are already developing and deploying
that infrastructure today.  Nevertheless, there remain essential
roles for government in this process.  Carefully crafted
government action will complement and enhance the efforts of the
private sector and assure the growth of an information
infrastructure available to all Americans at reasonable cost.  In
developing our policy initiatives in this area, the
Administration will work in close partnership with business,
labor, academia, the public, Congress, and state and local
government.  Our efforts will be guided by the following
principles and objectives:

         o Promote private sector investment, through appropriate tax
and regulatory policies.  

         o Extend the "universal service" concept to ensure that
information resources are available to all at affordable prices. 
Because information means empowerment--and employment--the
government has a duty to ensure that all Americans have access to
the resources and job creation potential of the Information Age. 


         o Act as a catalyst to promote technological innovation and
new applications.  Commit important government research programs
and grants to help the private sector develop and demonstrate
technologies needed for the NII, and develop the applications and
services that will maximize its value to users. 

         o Promote seamless, interactive, user-driven operation of
the NII.  As the NII evolves into a "network of networks,"
government will ensure that users can transfer information across
networks easily and efficiently.  To increase the likelihood that
the NII will be both interactive and, to a large extent, user-
driven, government must reform regulations and policies that may
inadvertently hamper the development of interactive applications.

         o Ensure information security and network reliability.  The
NII must be trust- worthy and secure, protecting the privacy of
its users.  Government action will also ensure that the overall
system remains reliable, quickly repairable in the event of a
failure and, perhaps most importantly, easy to use.

         o Improve management of the radio frequency spectrum, an
increasingly critical resource. 

         o Protect intellectual property rights.  The Administration
will investigate how to strengthen domestic copyright laws and
international intellectual property treaties to prevent piracy
and to protect the integrity of intellectual property.

         o Coordinate with other levels of government and with other
nations.  Because information crosses state, regional, and
national boundaries, coordination is critical to avoid needless
obstacles and prevent unfair policies that handicap U.S.
industry.

         o Provide access to government information and improve
government procurement.  The Administration will seek to ensure
that Federal agencies, in concert with state and local
governments, use the NII to expand the information available to
the public, ensuring that the immense reservoir of government
information is available to the public easily and equitably. 
Additionally, Federal procurement policies for telecommunications
and information services and equipment will be designed to
promote important technical developments for the NII and to
provide attractive incentives for the private sector to
contribute to NII development.

         The time for action is now.  Every day brings news of
change:  new technologies, like hand-held computerized
assistants; new ventures and mergers combining businesses that
not long ago seemed discrete and insular; new legal decisions
that challenge the separation of computer, cable, and telephone
companies.  These changes promise substantial benefits for the
American people, but only if government understands fully their
implications and begins working with the private sector and other
interested parties to shape the evolution of the communications
infrastructure.

         The benefits of the NII for the nation are immense.  An
advanced information infrastructure will enable U.S. firms to
compete and win in the global economy, generating good jobs for
the American people and economic growth for the nation.  As
importantly, the NII can transform the lives of the American
people -- ameliorating the constraints of geography, disability,
and economic status -- giving all Americans a fair opportunity to
go as far as their talents and ambitions will take them.
INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE:
                  THE ADMINISTRATION'S AGENDA FOR ACTION
                             Version 1.0

I.  The Promise of the NII

         Imagine you had a device that combined a telephone, a TV, a
camcorder, and a personal computer.  No matter where you went or
what time it was, your child could see you and talk to you, you
could watch a replay of your team's last game, you could browse
the latest additions to the library, or you could find the best
prices in town on groceries, furniture, clothes -- whatever you
needed.

         Imagine further the dramatic changes in your life if:

         o       The best schools, teachers, and courses were available
                 to all students, without regard to geography, distance,
                 resources, or disability;

         o       The vast resources of art, literature, and science were
                 available everywhere, not just in large institutions or
                 big-city libraries and museums;
         
         o       Services that improve America's health care system and
                 respond to other important social needs were available
                 on-line, without waiting in line, when and where you
                 needed them;

         o       You could live in many places without foregoing
                 opportunities for useful and fulfilling employment, by
                 "telecommuting" to your office through an electronic
                 highway instead of by automobile, bus or train;

         o       Small manufacturers could get orders from all over the
                 world electronically -- with detailed specifications --
                 in a form that the machines could use to produce the
                 necessary items; 

         o       You could see the latest movies, play the hottest video
                 games, or bank and shop from the comfort of your home
                 whenever you chose;  

         o       You could obtain government information directly or
                 through local organizations like libraries, apply for
                 and receive government benefits electronically, and get
                 in touch with government officials easily; and

         o       Individual government agencies, businesses and other
                 entities all could exchange information electronically
                 -- reducing paperwork and improving service.  

         Information is one of the nation's most critical economic
resources, for service industries as well as manufacturing, for
economic as well as national security.  By one estimate, two-
thirds of U.S. workers are in information-related jobs, and the
rest are in industries that rely heavily on information.  In an
era of global markets and global competition, the technologies to
create, manipulate, manage and use information are of strategic
importance for the United States.  Those technologies will help
U.S. businesses remain competitive and create challenging, high-
paying jobs.  They also will fuel economic growth which, in turn,
will generate a steadily-increasing standard of living for all
Americans.    

          That is why the Administration has launched the National
Information Infrastructure initiative.  We are committed to
working with business, labor, academia, public interest groups,
Congress, and state and local government to ensure the
development of a national information infrastructure (NII) that
enables all Americans to access information and communicate with
each other using voice, data, image or video at anytime,
anywhere.  By encouraging private sector investment in the NII's
development, and through government programs to improve access to
essential services, we will promote U.S. competitiveness, job
creation and solutions to pressing social problems.

II.  What Is the NII?

         The phrase "information infrastructure" has an expansive
meaning.  The NII includes more than just the physical facilities
used to transmit, store, process, and display voice, data, and
images.  It encompasses:  

         o       A wide range and ever-expanding range of equipment
                 including cameras, scanners, keyboards, telephones, fax
                 machines, computers, switches, compact disks, video and
                 audio tape, cable, wire, satellites, optical fiber
                 transmission lines, microwave nets, switches,
                 televisions, monitors, printers, and much more.

  The NII will integrate and interconnect these physical
components in a technologically neutral manner so that no one
industry will be favored over any other.  Most importantly, the
NII requires building foundations for living in the Information
Age and for making these technological advances useful to the
public, business, libraries, and other nongovernmental entities. 
That is why, beyond the physical components of the
infrastructure, the value of the National Information
Infrastructure to users and the nation will depend in large part
on the quality of its other elements:

         o       The information itself, which may be in the form of
                 video programming, scientific or business databases,
                 images, sound recordings, library archives, and other
                 media.  Vast quantities of that information exist today
                 in government agencies and even more valuable
                 information is produced every day in our laboratories,
                 studios, publishing houses, and elsewhere.

         o       Applications and software that allow users to access,
                 manipulate, organize, and digest the proliferating mass
                 of information that the NII's facilities will put at
                 their fingertips.