Technology Policy Information Infrastructure Information Superhighways And High Performance Computing

This document contains transcriptions of testimony and prepared statements on national technology policy with a focus on President Clinton and Vice President Gore's initiatives to support the development of a national information infrastructure. On the first day of the hearing testimony was received from Edward H. Salmon, Chairman, New Jersey Board of Regulatory Commissioners; Robert Pepper, Chief, Office of Plans and Policy, Federal Communications Commission; Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President, Corporation for National Research Initiatives and President, Internet Society; Richard R. Green, President and CEO, Cable Television Laboratories, Boulder, Colorado; Brian Kushner, Vice President, Corporate Development, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austin, Texas, and E. R. Kerkeslager, Vice President, Technology and Infrastructure, AT&T, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, representing the Computer Systems Policy Proejct. Witnesses testifying on the second day were Donald A. B. Lindberg, Director, National Coordination Office for High Performance Computing and Communications, and Director, National Library of Medicine; Salim A. L. Bhatia, President, Broadband Technologies, Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Sidney Karin, Director, San Diego Supercomputer Center, San Diego, California; Stephen Gage, President, Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program, Cleveland, Ohio; T. J. Rodgers, President and CEO, Cypress Semiconductor, San Jose, California; and Jeffrey Kalb, President and CEO, MASPAR Computer Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, representing the American Electronics Association. (KRN)

Maintaining the United States' strong lead in information technology will require continued federal support of research in this area, most of which is currently funded under the High Performance Computing and Communications Initiative (HPCCI). The Initiative has already accomplished a great deal and should be continued. This book provides 13 major recommendations for refining both HPCCI and support of information technology research in general. It also provides a good overview of the development of HPCC technologies.

An interconnection of computer networks, telecommunications services, and applications, the National Information Infrastructure (NII) can open up new vistas and profoundly change much of American life. This report explores some of the opportunities and obstacles to the use of the NII by people and organizations. The goal is to express how improvements in the technical foundation upon which all modern communications rests can benefit all Americans by focusing on the uses of the NII and the benefits to be derived by applications of advanced computing and communications technologies. This document describes how the evolving NII can: enhance the competitiveness of our manufacturing base; increase speed and efficiency of electronic commerce; improve health care delivery and control costs; promote development and accessibility of quality education and lifelong learning; improve effectiveness of environmental monitoring and assessing human impacts upon the earth; sustain the role of libraries as agents of democratic and equal access to information; and provide government services to the public faster, more responsively, and more efficiently. In addition to articulating a national vision that can serve as a framework for discussion and dialogue, a second goal is to improve public policy-making, to identify critical barriers, enablers, and the tools of government action most effective in each of these areas. In this way, the benefits of government activities in support of the NII can be maximized, while minimizing unintended or undesirable consequences. Several themes emerge: equity of access; pursuit of demonstrations and pilot projects; standards setting process; privacy and communications security; training and support; identification of long-term research and development priorities; and performance measurements to assess both public and private investments and experiments. It is hoped that careful consideration of the policy questions raised here will both facilitate the development of the NII and guide its evolution so that it best meets public purposes. (MAS)