the national information infrastructure-agenda for action.txt

1000 HOWTOs for various needs [WINDOWS]

         This is not a far-fetched prediction.  As shown below, our
current information infrastructure is already making a difference
in the lives of ordinary Americans, and we have just begun to tap
its potential.



                           ECONOMIC BENEFITS

         The National Information Infrastructure will help create
high-wage jobs, stimulate economic growth, enable new products
and services, and strengthen America's technological leadership. 
Whole new industries will be created, and the infrastructure will
be used in ways we can only begin to imagine.  Below are some of
the potential benefits to the U.S. economy:

1.       Increased economic growth and productivity

         o       The Computer Systems Policy Project estimates that the
                 NII will "create as much as $300 billion annually in
                 new sales across a range of industries."

         o       The Economic Strategy Institute concluded that
                 accelerated deployment of the NII would increase GDP by
                 $194 - $321 billion to GNP by the year 2007, and
                 increase productivity by 20 to 40 percent.

2.       Job creation

         Although there are no definitive estimates for the total
number of U.S. jobs the deployment of the NII will create, it is
clear that it has the potential to create hundreds of thousands
of jobs.  For example:

         o       Industry experts believe that the Personal
                 Communications Services industry, a new family of
                 wireless services, could create as many as 300,000 jobs
                 in the next 10-15 years.  The development of this
                 industry will be accelerated by the Emerging
                 Telecommunications Technology Act, which was signed by
                 President Clinton as part of the budget package.
         
3.       Technological leadership

         The NII will serve as the driver for a wide variety of
technologies, such as  semiconductors, high-speed networking,
advanced displays, software, and human/computer interfaces such
as speech recognition.

         This technology will be used to create exciting new products
and services, strengthening U.S. leadership in the electronics
and information technology sector.  For example, experts envision
the production of powerful computers that will be held in the
palm of our hand,  "as mobile as a watch and as personal as a
wallet, ... [they] will recognize speech, navigate streets, take
notes, keep schedules, collect mail, manage money, open the door
and start the car, among other computer functions we cannot
imagine today."4.       Regional, state, and local economic development

         In today's knowledge-based, global economy in which capital
and technology are increasingly mobile, the quality of America's
information infrastructure will help determine whether companies
invest here or overseas.  States and regions increasingly
recognize that development of their information infrastructure is
key to creating jobs and attracting new businesses:

         o       In May 1993, Governor Jim Hunt announced the creation
                 of the North Carolina Information Highway, a network of
                 fiber optics and advanced switches capable of
                 transmitting the entire 33-volume Encyclopedia
                 Britannica in 4.7 seconds.  This network, which will be
                 deployed in cooperation with BellSouth, GTE, and
                 Carolina Telephone, is a key element of North
                 Carolina's economic development strategy.

         o       In California's Silicon Valley, academics, business
                 executives, government officials, and private citizens
                 are working together to build an "advanced information
                 infrastructure and the collective ability to use it." 
                 A non-profit organization, Smart Valley Inc., will help
                 develop the information infrastructure and its
                 applications.  Many business applications are
                 envisioned, including desktop videoconferencing, rapid
                 delivery of parts designs to fabrication shops, design
                 of chips on remote supercomputers, electronic commerce,
                 and telecommuting.

         o       The Council of Great Lakes Governors has developed a
                 regional telecommunications initiative, which includes
                 creating an open data network as a first step towards
                 creation of a Great Lakes Information Highway,
                 promoting access in rural areas, developing a set of
                 telecommunications service goals and a time table for
                 achieving them, and developing a computerized inventory
                 of each state's advanced telecommunications
                 infrastructure.

5.       Electronic commerce

         Electronic commerce (e.g., on-line parts catalogues, multi-
media mail, electronic payment, brokering services, collaborative
engineering) can dramatically reduce the time required to design,
manufacture, and market new products.  "Time to market" is a
critical success factor in today's global marketplace.
commerce will also strengthen the relationships between
manufacturer, suppliers, and joint developers.  In today's
marketplace, it is not unusual to have 12 or more companies
collaborating to develop and manufacture new products.



                            HEALTH CARE

         The NII can help solve America's health care crisis.  The
Clinton Administration is committed to health care reform that
will ensure that Americans will never again lose their health
care coverage and that controls skyrocketing health care costs. 
The costs of doing nothing are prohibitive:

         o       Since 1980, our nation's health care costs have
                 quadrupled.  Between 1980 and 1992, health expenditures
                 shot up from 9 percent to 14 percent of GDP; under
                 current policies, they will hit 19 percent by the year
                 2000.  Health care cost increases will eat up more than
                 half of the new federal revenue expected over the next
                 four years.

         o       Twenty-five cents out of every dollar on a hospital
                 bill goes to administrative costs and does not buy any
                 patient care.  The number of health care administrators
                 is increasing four times faster than the number of
                 doctors.

         These problems will not be solved without comprehensive
health care reform.  Better use of information technology and the
development of health care applications for the NII, however, can
make an important contribution to reform. Experts estimate that
telecommunications applications could reduce health care costs by
$36 to $100 billion each year while improving quality and
increasing access.  Below are some of the existing and potential
applications:

1.       Telemedicine:  By using telemedicine, doctors and other care
         givers can consult with specialists thousands of miles away;
         continually upgrade their education and skills; and share
         medical records and x-rays.

         Example:  In Texas, over 70 hospitals, primarily in rural
         areas, have been forced to close since 1984.  The Texas
         Telemedicine Project in Austin, Texas offers interactive
         video consultation to primary care physicians in rural
         hospitals as a way of alleviating the shortage of
         specialists in rural areas.  This trial is increasing the
         quality of care in rural areas and providing at least 14
         percent savings by cutting patient transfer costs and
         provider travel.

2.       Unified Electronic Claims:  More than 4 billion health care
         claims are submitted annually from health care providers to
         reimbursement organizations such as insurance companies,
         Medicare, Medicaid, and HMOs.  Moreover, there are 1500
         different insurance companies in the United States using
         many different claims forms.  The administrative costs of
         the U.S. health care system could be dramatically reduced by
         moving towards standardized electronic submission and
         processing of claims.

3.       Personal Health Information Systems:  The United States can
         use computers and networks to promote self care and
         prevention by making health care information available 24
         hours a day in a form that aids decision making.  Most
         people do not have the tools necessary to become an active
         and informed participant in their own health care.  As a
         result, far too many people (estimates range from 50 to 80
         percent) entering the health care system do not really need
         a physician's care.  Many improperly use the system by, for
         example, using the emergency room for a cold or back strain. 
         Many of those who end up with serious health problems enter
         the health care system too late, and thus require more
         extensive and costly therapy.  Michael McDonald, chairman of
         the Communications and Computer Applications in Public
         Health (CCAPH), estimates that even if personal health
         information systems were used only 25 to 35 percent of the
         time, $40 to $60 billion could be saved.  

         Example:  InterPractice Systems, a joint venture of Harvard
         Community Health Plan in Boston and Electronic Data Systems,
         has placed terminals in the homes of heavy users of health
         care, such as the elderly, pregnant women, and families with
         young children.  Based on a patient's symptoms and their
         medical history, an electronic advice system makes
         recommendations to HCHP's members about using self care,
         talking with a doctor, or scheduling an appointment.  In one
         instance, "an 11-year old who regularly played with the
         terminal heard his father complain one day of chest pains
         and turned to the system for help; it diagnosed the symptoms
         as a probable heart attack.  The diagnosis was correct."

4.       Computer-Based Patient Records:  The Institute of Medicine
         has concluded that Computer-Based Patient Records are
         critical to improving the quality and reducing the cost of
         health care.  Currently:

         o       11 percent of laboratory tests must be re-ordered
                 because of lost results; 

         o       30 percent of the time, the treatment ordered is not
                 documented at all;

         o       40 percent of the time a diagnosis isn't recorded; and

         o       30 percent of the time a medical record is completely
                 unavailable during patient visits.




                          CIVIC NETWORKING
                TECHNOLOGY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST


         The benefits of the NII extend far beyond economic growth. 
As the Center for Civic Networking observed, 

         "A country that works smarter; enjoys efficient, less costly
         government, guided by a well-informed citizenry; that
         produces high quality jobs and educated citizens to fill
         them; that paves a road away from poverty; that promotes
         life-long learning, public life and the cultural life of our
         communities.  This is the promise of the National
         Information Infrastructure."

         The NII could be used to create an "electronic commons" and
promote the public interest in the following ways:

1.       Community Access Networks:  Grass-roots networks are
         springing up all over the country, providing citizens with a
         wide range of information services.  The National
         Information Infrastructure should  expand a citizen's
         capacity for action in local institutions, as it must honor
         regional differences and the cultural diversity of America's
         heritage.

         Example:  The Heartland FreeNet in Peoria, Illinois provides
         a wide range of community information to the citizens of
         Central Illinois 24 hours a day.  Topics covered include 113
         areas of social services; a year long community calendar;
         the American Red Cross; current listings from the Illinois
         Job Service; resources for local businesses; and local
         government information.  Experts in all fields from law to
         the Red Cross to chemical d