"Developing applications, promoting access and protecting privacy are fundamental to the development of a National Information Infrastructure," said Ronald H. Brown, Secretary of Commerce. "I am extremely pleased with the focus this Council has taken and look forward to receiving its recommendations.""By prioritizing our efforts into three critical areas we are enabling a highly diverse group of individuals in the public and private sectors to get real work done," said Edward R. McCracken, chairman and CEO, Silicon Graphics, Inc., and co-chair of the NIIAC. "Our goal is to pave the information superhighway to benefit every American in their pursuit of lifelong learning, high-quality health care, buying and selling goods, and personal and public safety."
"All of us involved with the Advisory Council are committed to it being an action-oriented group that deals realistically with the issues raised by the information superhighway," said Delano E. Lewis, President and CEO of National Public Radio and co-chair of the NIIAC. "Through the Mega-Projects we will focus on those issues that maximize our impact as the Clinton Administration develops policy."
The framework for all of the Mega-Projects will be the same, with each addressing the following issues:
Mega-Project I: One of the Council's primary objectives is to articulate a clear vision of what the NII should become and what it can deliver. Vice-President Gore has declared a national goal of having all schools, libraries, hospitals, and clinics on-line by the year 2000. Is this an appropriate goal? Is the time frame realistic? Will attaining these goals make a real difference in delivering socially beneficial services? If not, are complementary goals needed?
These are the issues to be examined by the Mega-Project on "Vision and Goals Driven by Specific Applications," co-chaired by Vance K. Opperman, president of West Publishing Company, and Jane Smith Patterson, Advisor to the North Carolina Governor for Policy, Budget and Technology. Those driving this Mega-Project will formulate concrete, long-term goals and vision for the NII in each of the select key application areas: education, electronic commerce, health care, and public safety.
Mega-Project II: For years, universal service has meant providing telephone service to all Americans at affordable prices. The convergence of voice, video and computer technologies is expanding the concept of universal service beyond telephone service to include extending the benefits of the information highway to all Americans. If universality is a legitimate goal, there must be an analysis of how to pay for it.
The Mega-Project "Access to the NII," is co-chaired by The Honorable Carol Fukunaga, State Senator, Hawaii State Legislature, and Bert C. Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of MCI Communications Corporation. Mega-Project II goals include examining the meaning of universal access, recommending a means for ensuring equal access to both users and suppliers, examining the feasability of a minimum set of universal services for all Americans, and setting funding guidelines to make universal service affordable.
Mega-Project III: The NII has immense implications for changing the lives of Americans. Some of those implications are negative unless privacy and security of information are carefully protected. The producers of information and content have rights that need to be protected as well, and current practices to safeguard intellectual property may be inadequate in the digital world.
The Mega-Project , "Privacy, Security and Intellectual Property," will be co-chaired by John F. Cooke, president of The Disney Channel, and Esther Dyson, president of EDventure Holdings, Inc. The project's goals include defining and setting guidelines for personal privacy and intellectual property protection, and outlining methods for protecting First Amendment rights and for addressing national security and emergency preparedness.
Work on the Mega-Projects, which begins today, is part of the overall responsibility of the Advisory Council. Analysis by the individual teams will be presented for review and consensus by the full Council at regular meetings of the NIIAC.
The National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, founded in January, 1994, is a 30-member advisory panel composed of individuals representing state and local governments, private industry, public interest, community, labor, and leading experts in related fields. The group, co-chaired by Silicon Graphics Chairman and CEO Edward R. McCracken and National Public Radio President Delano Lewis, will advise Secretary Ronald Brown of the Department of Commerce on the development of the information superhighway, with specific focus on defining the role of the public and private sectors, the impact of federal regulations and issues related to privacy and security.
