the national information infrastructure-agenda for action.txt

1000 HOWTOs for various needs [WINDOWS]

cost, high quality services and equipment widely available. 
Policies promoting greater competition in combination with
targeted support for disadvantaged users or especially high cost
or rural areas would advance both rapid infrastructure
modernization and expanded Universal Service.

         Action:  Develop a New Concept of Universal Service.  To
         gather information on the best characteristics of an
         expanded concept of Universal Service, the Commerce
         Department's National Telecommunications and Information
         Administration (NTIA) will hold a series of public hearings
         on Universal Service and the NII, beginning by December
         1993.  The Administration will make a special effort to hear
         from public interest groups.  Building on the knowledge
         gained from these activities, the IITF will work with the
         Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure,
         as well as with state regulatory commissions, to determine
         how the Universal Service concept should be applied in the
         21st Century.

3.       Promote Technological Innovation and New Applications

         Government regulatory, antitrust, tax, and intellectual
property policies all  affect the level and timing of new
offerings in services and equipment -- including the technology
base that generates innovations for the marketplace.  But
technological innovations ultimately depend upon purposeful
investment in research and development, by both the private
sector and government.  R&D  investment helps firms to create
better products and services at lower costs.

         As noted in the Administration's February 22, 1993
technology policy statement:  "We are moving to accelerate the
development of technologies critical for long-term growth but not
receiving adequate support from private firms, either because the
returns are too distant or because the level of funding required
is too great for individual firms to bear."  Government research
support already has helped create basic information technologies
in computing, networking and electronics.  We will support
further NII-related research and technology development through
research partnerships and other mechanisms to accelerate
technologies where market mechanisms do not adequately reflect
the nation's return on investment.  In particular, these
government research and funding programs will focus on the
development of beneficial public applications in the fields of
education, health care, manufacturing, and provision of
government services.

         Action:  Continue the High-Performance Computing and
         Communications Program.  Established by the High-Performance
         Computing Act of 1991, the HPCC Program funds R&D designed
         to create more powerful computers, faster computer networks,
         and more sophisticated software.  In addition, the HPCC
         Program is providing scientists and engineers with the tools
         and training they need to solve "Grand Challenges," research
         problems -- like designing new drugs -- that cannot be
         solved without the most powerful computers.  The
         Administration has requested $1 billion for the HPCC Program
         in fiscal year 1994, and is in the process of forming a
         "High-Performance Computing Advisory Committee," to provide
         private sector input on the Program.  

         We have also requested an additional $96 million in the FY
         1994 budget to create a new component of the HPCC Program --
         Information Infrastructure Technologies and Applications
         (IITA).  The Administration is working with Congress to
         obtain authorization to fund this effort, which will develop
         and apply high-performance computing and high-speed
         networking technologies for use in the fields of health
         care, education, libraries, manufacturing, and provision of
         government information.

         Action:  Implement the NII Pilot Projects Program.  In its
         FY 94 budget, the Administration has requested funding from
         the Congress for NII networking pilot and demonstration
         projects.  Under NTIA's direction, this pilot program will
         provide matching grants to state and local governments,
         health care providers, school districts, libraries,
         universities, and other non-profit entities.  The grants
         will be awarded after a competitive merit review process and
         will be used to fund projects to connect institutions to
         existing networks, enhance communications networks that are
         currently operational, and permit users to interconnect
         among different networks.  Funded projects will demonstrate
         the potential of the NII and provide tangible benefits to
         their communities.  Equally important, they will help
         leverage the resources and creativity of the private sector
         to devise new applications and uses of the NII.  The
         successes of the these pilot projects will create an
         iterative process that will generate more innovative
         approaches each year.

         Action:  Inventory NII Applications Projects.  Many insights
         can be gained by sharing information about how government
         can effectively use the NII.  By the end of January 1994,
         the IITF will complete an inventory of current and planned
         government activities and will widely disseminate the
         results through electronic and printed means.  An electronic
         forum is being established to encourage government and
         private sector contributions and comments about government
         applications projects.

4.       Promote Seamless, Interactive, User-Driven Operation

         Because the NII will be a network of networks, information
must be transferable over the disparate networks easily,
accurately, and without compromising the content of the messages. 
Moreover, the NII will be of maximum value to users if it is
sufficiently "open" and interactive so that users can develop new
services and applications or exchange information among
themselves, without waiting for services to be offered by the
firms that operate the NII.  In this way, users will develop new
"electronic communities" and share knowledge and experiences that
can improve the way that they learn, work, play, and participate
in the American democracy.

         To assure interoperability and openness of the many
components of an efficient, high-capacity NII, standards for
voice, video, data, and multi-media services must be developed. 
Those standards also must be compatible with the large installed
base of communications technologies, and flexible and adaptable
enough to meet user needs at affordable costs.  The United States
has long relied on a consensus-based, voluntary standards-setting
process in communications.  Particularly in the area of
information and communications technology, where product cycles
are often measured in months, not years, the standards process is
critical and has not always worked to speed technological
innovation and serve end-users well.  Government can catalyze
this industry-driven process by participating more actively in
private-sector standards-writing bodies and by working with
industry to address strategic technical barriers to
interoperability and adoption of new technologies.

         To increase the likelihood that the NII will be both
interactive and, to a large extent, user-driven, government also
must reform regulations and policies that may inadvertently
hamper the development of interactive applications.  For example,
government regulations concerning the lack of reimbursement of
health care procedures may deter the growth of distance medicine
applications. 

         Action:  Review and clarify the standards process to speed
         NII applications.  By October 15, 1993 the Commerce
         Department's National Institute for Standards and Technology
         (NIST) will establish a panel and work with other
         appropriate agencies to review the government's involvement
         in establishing network requirements and standards with
         domestic and international partners.  The panel, with input
         from the private sector and other levels of government, will
         consider the role of the government in the standards process
         and will identify opportunities for accelerating the
         deployment of the NII.

         Action:  Review and reform government regulations that
         impede development of interactive services and applications. 
         The Administration will work closely with the private
         sector, as well as state and local governments, to identify
         government policies and regulations that may hinder the
         growth of interactive services and applications.  The IITF
         will determine how those regulations should be changed.

5.       Ensure Information Security and Network Reliability

         The trustworthiness and security of communications channels
and networks are essential to the success of the NII.  Users must
be assured that information transmitted over the infrastructure
will go when and where it is intended to go.  Electronic
information systems can create new vulnerabilities.  For example,
electronic files can be broken into and copied from remote
locations, and cellular phone conversations can be monitored
easily.  Yet these same systems, if properly designed, can offer
greater security than less advanced communications channels.

         Through the use of information systems, gathering, sending,
and receiving a wide variety of personal information is now
simple, quick, and relatively inexpensive.  The use of
information technologies to access, modify, revise, repackage,
and resell information can benefit individuals, but unauthorized
use can encroach on their privacy.  While media reports often
emphasize the role of modern information technology in invading
privacy, technology advances and enhanced management oversight
also offer the opportunity for privacy protection.  This
protection is especially important to businesses that
increasingly transmit sensitive proprietary data through
electronic means.  In a climate of tough global competitiveness
to gain market advantage, the confidentiality of this information
can spell the difference between business success or failure. 

         In addition, it is essential that the Federal government
work with the communications industry to reduce the vulnerability
of the nation's information infrastructure.  The NII must be
designed and managed in a way that minimizes the impact of
accident or sabotage.  The system must also continue to function
in the event of attack or catastrophic natural disaster.

         Action:  Review privacy concerns of the NII.  The IITF has
         developed a work plan to investigate what policies are
         necessary to ensure individual privacy, while recognizing
         the legitimate societal needs for information, including
         those of law enforcement.  The IITF has also developed a
         work plan to investigate how the government will ensure that
         the infrastructure's operations are compatible with the
         legitimate privacy interests of its users.  

         Action:  Review of encryption technology.  In April, the
         President announced a thorough review of Federal policies on
         encryption technology.  In addition, Federal agencies are
         working with industry to develop new technologies that
         protect the privacy of citizens, while enabling law
         enforcement agencies to continue to use court-authorized
         wiretaps to fight terrorism, drug rings, organized crime,
         and corruption.  Federal agencies are working with industry
         to develop encryption hardware and software that can be used
         for this application.

         Action:  Work with industry to increase network reliability. 
         The National Communications System brings together 23
         Federal agencies with industry to reduce the vulnerability
         of the nation's telecommunications systems to accident,
         sabotage, natural disaster, or military attack.  And the
         Federal Communications Commission has an industry and user
         Network Reliability Council to advise it on ensuring the
         reliability of the nation's commercial telecommunications
         networks.   These efforts are increasingly important as the
         threat posed by terrorism and computing hacking grows.  The
         NCS will continue its work and will coordinate with the
         IITF.  In addition, the National Security Telecommunications
         Advisory Committee, which advises the President in
         coordination with the NCS, as well as the FCC's Network
         Reliability Council, will coordinate with and complement the
         work of the Advisory Council on the National Information
         Infrastructure.

6.       Improve Management of the Radio Frequency Spectrum
         
         Many of the dramatic changes expected from the development
of the information infrastructure will grow out of advances in
wireless technologies.  The ability to access the resources of
the NII at any time, from anywhere in the country, will be
constrained, however, if there is inadequate spectrum available. 
To ensure that spectrum scarcity does not impede the development
of the NII, the Administration places a high priority on
streamlining its procedures for the allocation and use of this
valuable resource.

         Action:  Streamline allocation and use of spectrum. The
         Administration is working with Congress to fully implement
         the spectrum management provisions of the Omnibus Budget and
         Reconciliation Act of 1993, to streamline government use of
         spectrum and to get spectrum to the public efficiently. 
         These provisions will provide greater flexibility in
         spectrum allocation, including increased sharing of spectrum
         between private sector and government users, increased