Strategic Planning for Information Technology and Telecommunications:

Exploiting Global Information Exchange in the 1990s and Beyond.

Table of Contents for this page:

• Preface.

• Strategic Planning for Information Technology and Telecommunications: Exploiting Global Information Exchange in the 1990's and Beyond.

• Executive Summary - See the Summary section below the National Strategy Initiatives.

• Background and Context.

• The Computer as a Communication Device - a key driver of the Information Revolution.
• Information Age Computer Networks.
• Communities and/or Associations of Interest.
• Intellectual Interaction.
• Speed of communication - relation to increased collaboration.
• Competitive advantage goes to those first to seize the opportunities.
• Rapidly falling unit costs; rapidly evolving changes.
• No central management or coordination.
• No catalogs or directories - the credible incompetents will be even more elusive; skills for independent analysis, evaluation, and testing for reliability are urgently needed.
• No substitute for experience in critical evaluation of information and sources.
• The revolution is sweeping over us like a tidal wave.
• Adding value to information flows and gaining a broader understanding.

• What does it mean for the Management of Municipal Government?

• Universal Guiding Democratic Principles.

• National Strategy Initiatives.
• Canada ("The Canadian Information Highway").
• Australia ("Access, Communication and Community").
• United States (U.S. Web-based Education Commission Report of December, 2000, and the U.S. National Information Infrastructure).
• Europe (Bangemann Report: "Europe and the Global Information Society"). Also, article reporting (Dec 96) how European cities were subsequently rising to the "Bangemann Challenge." Also article 6 Jan 1997 on British proposal to make wholesale shift to providing government services on-line.
• Denmark ("From Vision to Action - Info-Society 2000").
• The Netherlands ("From Metaphor to Action").
• Summary.
• Role of Government (summarized).

• Guiding Principles.

• Policy Objectives.

• Notes and Bibliography (including links to documents cited in this planning document and links to selected other documents [Note 9] significant to Information Technology and Telecommunications planning). [Note 99] contains some miscellaneous notes related to Telecommunications Strategic Planning. These items may provide useful information for some participants during the planning processes.
• Irish national strategy papers - some very good and highly readable strategy papers on what the nation should be doing to prepare its people for the digital age.
• "Critical Foundations: Thinking Differently," a report of The U.S. President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection. The report deals with measures needed to protect against the cyber tools available to terrorists and other threats to national security.

• Sources of Related Information.

Preface

It anticipates a planning process for the community as a whole. It contemplates advancing the understanding that this is a survival issue for all individuals and all institutions, and assisting with the question: "how do we encourage the community to be excited about becoming "wired" for the Information Age before it is too late?"

Strategic Planning for Information
Technology and Telecommunications:

Exploiting Global Information Exchange in the 1990s and Beyond.

Background and Context

1. the National proliferation of conventional and nuclear electric power and telephone services,
2. the emergence of network broadcast radio and television services, and
3. the internal combustion engine, the automobile and the Interstate highway system, to name only a few.

As the 21st century dawns, fundamental structural changes are becoming apparent in the way business is conducted in the developed world, in the workings of their markets and economies, and in society generally. These changes (and their unexpected boost to productivity) are attributable to the digitization and rapid, widespread creation, manipulation and exchange of knowledge, information and transactions. Together with increasing speeds and decreasing costs, they produce disruptive (sometimes near chaotic) changes in the value chains and business models in which we operate. This occurs because these are new tools for thinking, not just new tools for production (as we might view the electric motor, or mass production, for example). These new thinking tools can be applied to all of commerce, to all of recreation, to all of learning, indeed to all of life and society. This scope substantially exceeds any measure of the scope of the industrial revolution.

In February, 2000, the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE) posted among their publications, "Tools for Thought: What is New and Important About the E-conomy?" by Stephen S. Cohen, J. Bradford DeLong and John Zysman. In this excellent, though longish paper, Cohen et al make some interesting points:

• "The [revolution in information] technology story is underpinned, and measured, by the doubling of semiconductor capability and productivity every- eighteen-months -- a rate that has carried us from the room-sized vacuum-tube computers to the modern Internet -- and by the complementary surge in the capacity of the communications network to transmit digital information."

• "Changes in business organization and practice are the second driver of this transformation. The E- conomy is as much a story about changes in business organization, market structures, government regulations, and human experience as it is about new technology. ... Taken together, the business innovations represent a new business ecology that includes a prominent role for venture capital, the start-up, the spinoff, and new option-based ways of compensating skilled workers and entrepreneurs -- innovations that have unleashed a tsunami wave of new business and new technology."

• "But the economic transformation is not about soft landings, smooth growth, permanently rising stock prices, government surpluses, and low rates of interest and inflation. It is about structural transformation and developments that carry disruption and change. The policy issues are moving rapidly from the narrowly technical through the narrowly legal into fundamental questions of how to organize our markets and society. Under the best of circumstances, the risks of policy making are high."

• "Information technology builds tools to manipulate, organize, transmit, and store information in digital form. It amplifies brainpower in a way analogous to that in which the nineteenth century Industrial Revolution's technology of steam engines, metallurgy and giant power tools multiplied muscle power."

• "Information technology builds the most all-purpose tools ever, tools for thought. The capabilities created to process and distribute digital data multiply the scale and speed with which thought and information can be applied. And thought and information can be applied to almost everything, almost everywhere, [almost anytime]."

The Computer as a Communication Device

Information Age Computer Networks

1. Instantaneous global exchange of large amounts of information (text, images and sounds).
2. Provision of services through application of this exchanged information (either by collecting information, adding to it, distributing it, or a combination), such as news services, online chat and gaming groups, weblogs (blogs), social networking sites, and many others.
1. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has posted a report Social networking sites and our lives (pdf): How people’s trust, personal relationships, and civic and political involvement are connected to their use of social networking sites and other technologies (June 2011). The report, authored by Keith N. Hampton and Lauren Sessions Goulet of University of Pennsylvania and Lee Rainie and Kristen Purcell, of the Pew Internet Project, seek to answer questions "about the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Do these technologies isolate people and truncate their relationships? Or are there benefits associated with being connected to others in this way? The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project decided to examine SNS in a survey that explored people’s overall social networks and how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement." The Summary of findings is only three pages, and is a quick, informative read.
3. A natural tendency among users to copy and re-distribute, often without context, confirmation or attribution, sometimes with less-than-friendly intent, and virtually never with notification to originators.
4. The use of a variety of so-called carriers: copper wire, coaxial cable, microwaves, radio frequencies, satellite transponders, optical fibers.
5. The use of a large variety of devices: print media, broadcasting, cable TV, library archives, desk-top computers and printers, telephones, facsimile machines, scanners, cameras, compact disks, pagers, cellular phones, electronic data interchange, mobile telecommunications, the Internet, wide-area and local-area computer networks, electronic bulletin boards, e-mail, mailing lists, newsgroups, on-line forums, conferences and chat lines, weblogs or blogs, social networking sites, bulk file transfers, and the World-Wide Web with Internet- enabled wireless devices of all sorts.

1. Communities or Associations of Interest,
2. Intellectual interaction,
3. High speed of operation, providing interactive immediacy,
4. Rapidly falling costs along with rapidly evolving changes,
5. No discernible central management or coordination, and
6. The potential to revolutionize like nothing else we have ever seen or read about in history.

The exchange of e-mail messages, participation in blogs and social networking sites, use of gaming sites, mailing lists, bulletin boards and newsgroups, and the browsing of information on the World-Wide Web stimulates intellectual interaction unlike any that humankind has seen to date. Print and broadcast media have traditionally provided a degree of one-to-many intellectual transfer, but very little interactivity. Because of their large and relatively heterogeneous audiences, and because of the financial requirement to please larger and larger audiences, only relatively low levels of intellectual sophistication have been reached (witness reality TV). There are also many, who, by nature are not skilled participators in traditional social interaction. Some of these will emerge as significant participators or even leaders in these associations of intellectual interaction. When these abilities for intellectual interaction are carried out in communities of interest which are very specialized (but can contain a great many of those like-minded people from across the globe) the potential for creativity and problem solution rises substantially above what is otherwise attainable. In the foreseeable future, it may be possible to form a community of virtually all the persons on the planet who share a common intellectual interest. Global learning and understanding could be profoundly affected by the debates, conclusions and actions of such a community.

The speed with which communication can be exchanged using electronic media is also very significant. By some measures (even among those who correspond regularly using traditional media), communication increases when e-mail is available. In the professions, clear evidence exists to indicate that when a response to an electronic mail query can be in hand within minutes of the query being posed, problem-solving is enhanced considerably. It also results in more frequent exchange of views between its practitioners, presumably because of its convenience. Thus, when information is published, it can contain more current content along with the results of greater collaboration and evidence of a more comprehensive world-wide view. Learning and understanding are significantly improved for everyone under such circumstances.

There is a caveat to this speed attribute, however. There is no shortage of technologies whose benefits can be gained as soon as (or whenever) the technologies are adopted. In the case of the Information Revolution, however, there is a significant strategic competitive component that will be seized by those who take advantage of it first. Those who seize it later will have advantage of those competitive components which have not already been monopolized by others. An information society requires the ability to handle large quantities of information in many work assignments. Widespread use of information will therefore become an important factor in retaining economic growth and employment levels. In government, we need to be cognizant of the significant impairment of our citizens which will result if our constituency is kept out or left out of this revolution. Our schools, in particular, need to be aware of the significant competitive advantage that can be seized by graduates who have gained the skills and who are familiar with the tools and techniques of the Information Age. At a time when an increasing proportion of the world's enterprises can be conducted at the end of a suitable phone line anywhere in the world, governments at all levels need to adopt policies that put their constituencies in a position to compete with anybody, anywhere in the world, at any time.

The relatively small costs of improving information infrastructure (less costly than roads or utility infrastructure) make it attractive financially, especially when considered in terms of its considerable benefits. The rapidly falling costs and rapidly evolving changes of the Information Age also add urgency to the need for action. Not many of the elements of cost in government services are declining. We need to take advantage of these areas where costs are declining in order to contain overall costs of service delivery. In spite of these promises, most government budgets are very constrained. Allocations may still need to be moved from other less productive or more costly uses to those with greater promise. We also need to take full advantage of world-wide inter-networking to seek out and obtain the best ideas and the most imaginative innovations of our counterparts from all over the world. We will only be able to cope with and take advantage of the increasing pace of change (and the increasing discontinuities of these changes) if we use the very best available ideas from the most forward- thinking persons in every aspect of our work. We will need to adopt a deliberate, well-informed strategic integration of telecommunications policy with other policies and strategies in order to be sure we gain an equitable balance of its considerable benefits (both for the delivery of government services, and for the work, education and recreation of those in the community).

The global exchanges of ideas (which the Internet and other world-wide communication means are providing) are substantially spontaneous and without any central management or coordination. It is a virtual "free-for-all" in the best (and worst) sense. It is vaguely reminiscent of our capital markets, only without the benefits of much slower growth and years of regulation. As one anxious observer is reported to have said (somewhat aghast), "everybody does just as they please!"

Traditionally, we are familiar with systems in which a few authoritative information providers and their editors confirm and challenge and verify (and often catalog) before publication. The free expression modes of the Information Age have none of these in the same degree of predictability or reliability. Some of the persons who have provided these services traditionally (and whose reputations we know) will surely continue as Information Age providers, others will no doubt emerge. But many, many others are inexperienced, unknowing or just plain inept. Their contribution is and will increasingly be there too. The credible incompetents have always been a major threat in information exchange; but now (with the anonymity of the network) their discovery may be even more elusive. And fraudulent information will abound, sometimes skillfully woven into an otherwise credible context. In this milieu the skill to analyze and to independently evaluate and verify information will be essential. Good catalogs of the currently published information stocks, for example, are reasonably complete. In the free creation and publication arena of the Information Age, such catalogs are only now just beginning to emerge. Because of the explosive growth rates, however, cataloging techniques will need to be improved and speeded up substantially in order to keep abreast of increasing publication rates.

Librarians and others with these cataloging skills and disciplines will be in great demand to provide structure and order to this flood of information. Critical evaluation and analysis of the credibility of informaiton sources will become increasingly important. Until the Librarians and others are able to keep the catalogs up to date, individual experience, ability to search, knowledge of reliable sources and know- how in analysis and verification will be required by every participant. In this effort, there is no substitute for the experience of learning-by-doing; and in order to gain that experience, we need to start at once (if only to be effective and comfortable in keeping abreast of developments in our fields of greatest interest).

The Information Age is sweeping upon us like a tidal wave (whether we are prepared or not). Its potential to revolutionize ways of working, thinking, learning and living can hardly be over-stated. Its essence is not merely the connection (the ability to access and contribute to information flows); it is not even the new associations, contacts and interest groups that are formed. It is the broadened understanding of a more global point of view, the products of the analysis, assimilation and integration of more information, and the addition of this increased understanding to the information which is passed on that is the strategically important outcome of being connected to the Information Superhighway. It is this adding of value to the information flows, and the associated teaching and learning, which will position us to exploit global information exchange and collaboration in the 1990s and beyond.

• "The digital revolution is real and is starting now. Here's your chance to learn about the new technology, listen to the visionaries, peer into the future." This quote is from an historic Star Tribune article from 1996.

• it has a number of components, is easy to read and was written for the general reader. It could be a great help in conveying the urgency of getting on board for those still wondering if the Information Age is going to affect their lives. It has a good historical look-back at the importance of the motor at the beginning of the Industrial Age. Most readers can understand the fundamental importance of aligning business and work with the use of motors: likewise, telecomm networks and microcomputers are changing everything. Economic and political dislocation are rampant, and will get quite a bit worse. The best defense is to get involved, learn all you can, and participate in this information exchange that is transforming the world.

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What does it mean to Municipal Government?

 Properly connected, these networks portend great promise for municipal governments, including at least the following.

• Streamlining of internal operations by reducing dependence on paper and increasing the utilization of electronic speeds to expedite information flows.
• Reducing redundancies and overlaps by sharing equipment and by jointly accessing common sources of relevant, timely information.
• Increasing effectiveness of agencies through better coordination and quicker access to shared information.
• Stimulating the sharing of access arrangements in which the large economies of scale can be brought to all members of the community. [For example, a municipality's Internet connection costs well under $10 per month for a full-time connection at each workstation running over a very high-speed line directly to an Internet service provider. Local providers offer a limited amount of metered service over much slower lines for on the order of $30 per month. In Holland today, by way of contrast, an individual can subscribe to an Internet service for around $10 Cdn per month over a full-time line that operates at twice the speed of a municipality's current high-speed connection.]
• Providing more timely and accurate information through use of electronic bulletin boards, and through other public access to government documents and advisories.
• Providing ways for smaller businesses to participate in projects at the end of a telephone line where their presence was not practical before. The effect stimulates local levels of economic activity, even though sources of revenue may be miles away. The small rural community of Linton, North Dakota, for example, provides employment for 200 in a branch data processing office for a large travel agency in Philadelphia (1,400 air miles away).
• Promoting effective distance learning miles from centers of specialized education through the association of students and professors using interactive video, audio and data links.
• Encouraging telecommuting to exploit the opportunities in which individuals whose intellectual and information-based contributions to an enterprise can easily be conducted from the end of a telephone line anywhere in the world.

• new emerging telecommunications capabilities,
• a big increase in telecommunications responsibility for cities, and
• the need to coordinate telecom policy with other city policy.

The Policy included provisions:

• to gain the best use of this emerging technology for city services and administrative activities,
• to assure fair information principles which would balance the objectives of open government with protection of the Privacy rights of citizens,
• to consider Privacy rights in planning and introduction of all new information systems, including limitations on data collected, limitations on secondary uses and sales of the data, rights of citizens to know what information had been collected about them, how it would be used, that the data was accurate, and that there were adequate means to correct errors,
• to assure security of data against unauthorized collection, access, use or dissemination, and
• to educate the citizens about the uses of this data, and their rights with respect to data about them.

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Universal Guiding Democratic Principles

1. Universal ability to access the information (at an affordable price). As the Internet is developed and expanded, care must be exercised at every turn to assure that economically disadvantaged and rural citizens are not excluded from access to these information flows purely because costs exceed their means, or distances are inconvenient.

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2. Universal ability to contribute new information, ideas and debate. As discussion extends to world-wide constituencies, every individual has a potential contribution to make to the welfare of the whole. Individuals suffer from a lack of information; and society suffers from the imbalance in participation if some groups are preferred over others. Governments have an obligation to adopt policies and practices which mitigate effectively against these exclusions.

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National Strategy Initiatives

Canada

• This citizen-centered approach "has embraced a vision of electronic service delivery that would offer Canadians services at the right time and place, a vision that would enable individuals and businesses to interact securely with government in a convenient, accessible way."

• "According to current projections, the information economy will surpass industrial and agrarian economies in terms of percentage of GDP by 2003."

• "In the digital economy, the creation and strategic use of knowledge - how well it is managed, shared, transmitted and stored - is growing in importance. ... Just as importantly, knowledge must be viewed as a resource to be nurtured and shared in support of broad corporate goals."

• "This vision recognizes that [electronic service delivery] channels must be easy to use and have a common look and feel, and that Canadians want to conduct their business in a secure environment that protects their privacy and the confidentiality of information."

• "Through e-government, citizens, businesses, suppliers and other organizations benefit from lower transaction costs, greater accuracy, better use of knowledge and improved communication with government. The on-line channel can create opportunities for enhanced citizen engagement. Citizens can provide instant feedback on the services they receive on-line and identify their priorities for service improvement. As government and citizens learn how to interact in an on-line environment, there is an exciting potential for greater citizen involvement in public policy making, and greater responsiveness from public figures and institutions." The report also provides links to many federal on-line resources and services, particularly in the Appendix.

 "Building on existing and planned communications networks," he continued, "this infrastructure will become a 'network of networks,' linking Canadian homes, businesses, governments, and institutions to a wide range of interactive services from entertainment, education, cultural products and social services to data banks, computers, electronic commerce, banking and business services."

 The report goes on to indicate that the enabling effects of the information highway will be felt in all industry sectors and regions of Canada.

• It will stimulate research and development (R& D) in leading-edge technologies;
• it will facilitate the diffusion of innovative technologies and information-based services;
• it will strengthen the competitiveness of large and small Canadian businesses; and
• it will provide cost-effective access to high-quality health care, educational and social services.

 The Canadian government proposes three objectives to be pursued by the national information strategy:

• to create jobs through innovation and investment,
• to reinforce Canadian sovereignty and cultural identity, and
• to ensure universal access and ability to contribute at reasonable cost.

• an interconnected and interoperable network of networks,
• collaborative public and private sector development,
• competition in facilities, products and services, and
• privacy protection and network security.

 "Public policy has long sought to ensure that all Canadians, regardless of their income or place of residence, along with schools, universities, hospitals and research institutions, have access to basic telephone services. Universal access has been supported through cross-subsidies from long-distance to local services. In a competitive environment, prices move toward the cost of providing services, and there will be increased pressure to reduce or eliminate cross-subsidies. As new and enhanced services are introduced, the widest possible customer base will be increasingly necessary for the viability of electronic delivery of commercial and essential public services. The information highway system will play a critical role in employment, economic and social well-being, and the exercise of democratic values and citizenship. Without appropriate public policies, we run the risk of creating classes of information "haves" and "have-nots," with potentially serious downstream implications."

 "In the information society, success in school, the workplace, and everyday life will depend on learning new and more efficient ways to rapidly access a variety of information- and knowledge-based resources. The information highway will stimulate the development of an enormous range of education, training and lifelong learning applications that will provide access to courses, libraries, museums, specialized databases and other people, regardless of location. Users will need to understand how to access and use the information highway effectively if they are to derive the full benefit of these services."

 "The Canadian information highway can only be achieved collaboratively through the informed participation of all stakeholders and the coordinated investment of our collective resources."

See also: The Treasury Board of Canada, which has posted a "Common Look and Feel (CLF)" initiative with a substantial "Accessibility" section. This section points out that "Some Canadians rely on assistive technologies such as text readers, audio players and voice activated devices to overcome the barriers presented by standard technologies. Others may be limited by their own technology. But old browsers, non-standard operating systems, slow connections, small screens or text-only screens should not stand in the way of obtaining information that is available to others." The Government of Canada Internet Guide contains helpful sections for departments planning and setting up an Internet presence. The guide contains lots of rationale and general principles which would apply to any Internet website. Their "Universal Accessibility" section states "It is every Canadian's right to receive government information or service in a form that can be used, and it is the Government of Canada's obligation to provide it." The Treasury Board's "Government On-line" page provides links to components of their connectivity initiative. Their "Results for Canadians: A Management Framework for the Government of Canada" paper (Table of Contents only) provides additional insight. Through multiple e-government initiatives, Canada is striving to become the world's most wired government."

• "Governments are reinventing themselves to meet new expectations and the priorities of citizens and businesses. These dynamics are compelling the federal government to create a new vision for its relationship with Canadians."

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Australia

 The report recommends that government access provisions be governed by principles of:

• Non-discriminatory access assuring that disadvantaged groups have equal access to these services.
• Cooperation between government, industry and the community and the different tiers of government.
• Access to carriers that is affordable and equitable for rural Australians, including upgrading telephone standards from voice grade to a digital standard of mid-band level functionality in the short term, and to broadband in the long term; and that all broadband service carriers be required to provide two dedicated channels: one for non-profit community cable TV service, and one for community/Internet networks.
• Involvement of the community.
• Adherence to open standards and interoperability.
• Access to content be assured, which will include keeping the public information stocks, archives and databases in public ownership.

 The principal roles of government in terms of access are:

• to ensure that a regulatory environment allows equitable access to infrastructure for creativity and within which Australian content and Australian service providers are encouraged;
• to ensure that a climate is created within which the community as a whole can participate; and
• to ensure equitable access for all Australians, with targeted assistance for disadvantaged groups.

United States

• Make powerful new Internet resources, especially broadband access, widely and equitably available and affordable for all learners.
• Provide continuous and relevant training and support for educators and administrators at all levels.
• Build a new research framework of how people learn in the Internet age.
• Develop high quality online educational content that meets the highest standards of educational excellence.
• Revise outdated regulations that impede innovation and replace them with approaches that embrace anytime, anywhere, any pace learning.
• Protect online learners and ensure their privacy.
• Sustain funding--via traditional and new sources--that is adequate to the challenge at hand.

• "The Commission believes a national mobilization is necessary, one that evokes a response similar in scope to other great American opportunities-or crises: Sputnik and the race to the moon; bringing electricity and phone service to all corners of the nation; finding a cure for polio."

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration report "Connecting the Nation" [Note 5] identified fundamental principles to guide the initiative:

1. Promoting private sector investment.
2. Providing and protecting competition [The significance here is that it will not be done via utility monopolies as it was for telephone, electric power, etc.; nor will it be done by quasi-monopolies as it was for TV networks; nor will it be done by governments, as it was for the Interstate highway system. Rather, it will be done by business investment, with help and regulation by government.]
3. Extending universal access and ability to contribute to all at affordable prices (and avoiding creation of information "haves" and "have nots").
4. Balancing open network information exchange with rights to privacy.
5. Protecting intellectual property rights. [See also Note 11 below for a list of other copyright/intellectual property resources prepared by Kevin Savetz.]
6. Acting as a catalyst to promote technological innovation and new applications.
7. Promoting seamless, interactive, user-driven operation of National Information Infrastructure.
8. Ensuring information security and network reliability.
9. Improving management of the radio frequency spectrum.
10. Coordinating with other levels of government and with other national governments.
11. Providing access to and distribution of government information; and
12. Encouraging flexibility and responsive government action.

 "Powerful and revolutionary technological and economic forces are driving a transformation of our economy and our lives as the rigors of competition increasingly supplant a system of regulated monopolies." The most dominant forces are:

• technological advances (e.g., digital compression, more powerful computers, and new wireless services);
• decreasing prices for computers and telecommunications services; and
• the convergence of information, [entertainment] and communications services and technologies.

Europe (the Bangemann report)

 This Report urges the European Union to put its faith in market mechanisms as the motive power to carry us into the Information Age. This means that actions must be taken at the European level and by Member States to strike down entrenched positions which put Europe at a competitive disadvantage:

• it means fostering an entrepreneurial mentality to enable the emergence of new dynamic sectors of the economy
• it means developing a common regulatory approach to bring forth a competitive, Europe-wide, market for information services
• it does NOT mean more public money, financial assistance, subsidies, dirigisme, or protectionism.

 "The information society has the potential to improve the quality of life of Europe's citizens, the efficiency of our social and economic organization and to reinforce cohesion. The main risk lies in the creation of a two-tier society of "haves" and "have-nots," in which only a part of the population has access to the new technology, is comfortable using it and can fully enjoy its benefits. There is a danger that individuals will reject the new information culture and its instruments."

"Why the urgency? Because competitive suppliers of networks and services from outside Europe are increasingly active in our markets. Tide waits for no man, and this is a revolutionary tide, sweeping through economic and social life. We must press on. At least we do not have the usual European worry about catching up. In some areas we are well placed, in others we do need to do more - but this is also true for the rest of the world's trading nations."

 "The Group is convinced that technological progress and the evolution of the market mean that Europe must make a break from policies based on principles which belong to a time before the advent of the information revolution. The key issue for the emergence of new markets is the need for a new regulatory environment allowing full competition. This will be a prerequisite for mobilizing the private capital necessary for innovation, growth and development."

 The report's recommendations include the following broad subject areas:

• The Group recommends the establishment at the European level of an authority whose terms of reference will require a prompt attention.
• Interconnection of networks and interoperability of services and applications are recommended as primary Union objectives.
• The Group recommends a review of the European standardization process in order to increase its speed and responsiveness to markets.
• The Group recommends as a matter of urgency the adjustment of international, long distance and leased line tariffs to bring these down into line with rates practiced in other advanced industrialized regions. Adjustment of tariffs should be accompanied by the fair sharing of public service obligations among operators.
• It is recommended to promote public awareness. Particular attention should be paid to the small and medium sized business sector, public administrations and the younger generation.
• The Group recommends that the openness of the European market should find its counterpart in markets and networks of other regions of the world. It is of paramount importance for Europe that adequate steps are taken to guarantee equal access.

• The Group believes that intellectual property protection must rise to the new challenges of globalization and multimedia and must continue to have a high priority at both European and international levels. [See also Note 11 below for a list of other copyright/intellectual property resources prepared by Kevin Savetz.]

• The Group believes that without the legal security of a Union-wide approach, lack of consumer confidence will certainly undermine the rapid development of the information society. Given the importance and sensitivity of the privacy rights issue, a fast decision from Member States is required on the Commission's proposed Directive setting out general principles of data protection.

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Denmark

"A revolution is in progress: a world-wide short-circuit of time, space, people and processes."

"This is a very precise description of the enormous impact on social life that we are witnessing at the moment: ever more sophisticated telecommunications make the world shrink. At the same time, computers become available at still cheaper prices and with their rapidly increasing capacity create entirely new potentials of information and working processes. With the fusion of the telecommunications and computer technologies this impact becomes increasingly powerful."

 "What this really means is that geographic distance tends to loose its importance altogether. Many production processes are made dramatically more efficient. Entirely new requirements to the qualifications of employees are often the consequence of these trends. The basic conditions of cultural development and education are radically changed."

 "In the global perspective, the Info-Society is certainly becoming a reality that we cannot dismiss. The only question is how we will respond to it."

 "The Primary and Lower Secondary School System calls for Ambitious Action. The development towards the Info-Society carries an inherent risk of creating a two-tier society of winners and losers as far as IT is concerned. The winners are those with a higher education who are able to master the new technology, who know the possibilities of the Info-Society and are able to learn and to develop the qualifications necessary to cope with the jobs of the future."

 "Denmark should act now. Denmark is not the only country with a conscious and proactive attitude to the challenges of the Info-Society. On the contrary, a remarkable interest and a high level of awareness are rapidly gathering momentum in other countries as well."

 "The USA was first with the Clinton-Gore plan of "The Information Super-Highway" and is leading today both technologically and in the development of the world-wide Internet. In Asia, Japan will be launching a large-scale project and Singapore has advanced plans for the introduction of a major project which contains some of the surveillance features, however, that we do not want in our society."

 "In Europe, the Info-Society was really put on the agenda with the publication of the Bangemann Report last year and with the discussions of it at the meeting of Heads of State and Heads of Government last June. Among European countries, Sweden is far advanced with preparations of large-scale initiatives. But Denmark is certainly not disqualified from this international company, at least not if we act now."

 The following are the Government's political guidelines for efforts in individual areas in 1995. [Policy elements for each area are listed with Note 7 in the Notes and Bibliography section, below.]

1. The Electronic Service Network of the Public Sector
2. Utilization of Data and Protection of Personal Data
3. Security
4. A Better Health Service Providing Faster Treatments
5. The "Global Village" of Research
6. New Ways In The Educational System
7. Cultural Network Denmark
8. The Mass Media Through New Channels
9. Disabled Persons in the Information Society
10. IT - a Means to Improve Traffic Management
11. Network of Companies
12. The World's Best And Cheapest Telecom Services
13. Open Network of Society

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The Netherlands

"Some common features of the information superhighway can be mentioned. They not only relate to the networks, but also to participation in communications and the presentation of services. Four key words describe the concept: wideband, widely accessible, multimedia and interactive. An exciting interchange is developing between information technology (IT) data storage and natural human communications, with potentially far-reaching effects on society and culture."

"The US presidential team Clinton and Gore have led captains of industry in the US, and also government leaders in Japan and Europe, in a drive to translate this insight into joint action. In its analysis of the European position in the worldwide trend towards an information society, the Bangemann Group outlined a picture of constraints, but also of opportunities (June 1994). The plan also considers social and cultural aspects of the developments. It has since been discussed at various European Council meetings."

"Partly on the basis of analyses prepared for the Dutch position [at the time of the Bangemann report], the Cabinet agreed when it took office (in its Coalition Agreement) that an extra national drive is needed, in addition to the joint European policy efforts, because of the considerable importance of these developments for the creation of new economic activities and high tech employment. The development of the information superhighway also carries social and cultural significance."

There are three important aspects in the public domain for which the government holds special responsibility.

• The right to freedom of information and communication
• The right to protection of the personal living environment
• The right to rules of public order (drawn up by the government) for social and commercial interaction.

The government envisages undertaking the following tasks:

• Ensuring broad access to communications media and a wide variety of pluriform sources of information for society as a whole. This will be reflected in policy on information supply, public information and education, and in high quality, varied supply through a strong and widely recognized public broadcasting service.
• Providing scope for private sector initiatives for investment in networks and services, through a progressive approach involving liberalization and, where possible, deregulation of markets for telecommunications and electronic media. Traditionally, monopoly telephone and broadcast facilities guaranteed that the suppliers (then the controllers of the information flows) met the need for broad equitable access. Now it is the private concerns which will build the networks and individual users will be the controllers of the information flows. This portends great changes in the regulatory climate in order to assure equity.
• Creating a new framework for (self-)regulation, in order to set clear legal conditions for electronic information. Intellectual property rights and privacy rights are among the issues that play a role here. [See also Note 11 below for a list of other copyright/intellectual property resources prepared by Kevin Savetz.]
• Organizing the government's position as a major user of information (systems) and telecoms services to ensure that these exert a stimulating and guiding influence on the development of information superhighways.
• Strengthening the R& D base.
• Setting up a limited number of demonstration projects, serving as guidelines in the private and public sectors, in order to make a start and gain experience with the development of information superhighways.

 "The roots of the information business have traditionally lain in information carriers such as paper, gramophone records, film, photographs, drawings etc. Important properties such as originality and authenticity have been defined in this way. However, electronic recording, processing and information exchange eliminate this basis. The distinction between copies and the original vanishes, and the authenticity or origin of reports is hard to determine. Here lies a key function of the information business: providing access and payment for use. Security and encoding technology play a critical role in this function." [See also Note 11 below for a list of other copyright/intellectual property resources prepared by Kevin Savetz.]

 "Information appears in different forms in the economy. Data provide the raw material or support for production processes. But information can also be an end product, and can be marketed through both physical carriers and electronic networks. In a sense, information is like money: it plays an intermediate role in economic processes and between players, allowing for important spin-off effects. One spin-off for the Netherlands has been productivity gains from mobile communications, which will reach something in the order of NLG 20 billion per year by the year 2000. The introduction of a second operator for the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) alone will generate NLG 6 billion per year in efficiency gains in 2004, and more than NLG 1 billion in value added in the mobile communications sector. Employment growth is estimated at 4,000 jobs. Seen in this light, the Internet information products and processes are just a primitive forerunner of the future worldwide electronic information market. Systems and contracts must be created for payment for information services."

 "The information superhighway is inconceivable without first-class network facilities. In fact, the telecom network is the 'asphalt' of the information superhighway. This technological base is largely present in the Netherlands, but the advanced networks and technology segment is trailing the world leaders and even a number of European countries."

"The information superhighway will ultimately have sweeping social effects, and will consequently constantly raise dilemmas. For example, the availability of information will become increasingly important for the functioning of society. Electronic information systems appear to be relatively widely used by graduates, while use by women is clearly lagging. This threatens to create a gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in the information society. The education system, where use of computers is taking off to a fairly large extent, must therefore gain experience now with the new opportunities afforded by the information superhighway."

Summary

• Universal access and ability to contribute to information is a fundamental right for all citizens.
• Communities and/or Associations of Interest and intellectual interaction are expanding as never before.
• Costs are falling rapidly; changes are advancing at an even faster pace.
• Significant competitive advantage will be gained by those who are able to gain early access.
• The ability to read, write and communicate is an essential skill in exploiting information technology.
• There is no central management or even coordination of this explosion of information.
• Information flows are changing from supplier-driven dissemination to user-driven selection and evaluation [see paragraph on "reader-pull" versus "publisher-push" in the "Writing for the Information Age" section of the "Web Page Style Standards, Guidelines and Suggestions" page].
• This revolution will revolutionize ways of working, thinking, learning and living as no other change ever has.
• Government has important roles to play:
1. Ensuring universal access and ability to contribute (for rich and poor, urban and rural);
2. Balancing the aims of open government and individual rights to privacy and intellectual property ownership [See also Note 11 below for a list of other copyright/intellectual property resources prepared by Kevin Savetz.];
3. Maintaining public ownership of publicly-generated information stocks, archives and data bases;
4. Promoting and encouraging the required changes in education and learning for young and old (including education of citizens concerning their information technology rights);
5. Facilitating exploitation by industry, business and commerce;
6. Becoming partners with business and the community to assist and encourage both, and to harness significant economies of scale for the benefit of all;
7. Encouraging standards of interconnection and interoperability of networks and systems;
8. Streamlining and improving information and other service delivery to the electorate;
9. Doing its share to set an example in adding value to global flows of balanced, impartial and reliable information; and
10. Gaining essential experience in critical evaluation of information and analysis of the credibility of information sources.

See Also: The Internet Society (about), which, at their INET99 Conference in June 1999 (welcome page), hosted a session in the Social, Legal and Regulatory track entitled "Why Should a Government Invest in the Internet? The Experience of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Spain." This candid proceedings paper "analyzes the economic and social benefits derived from the presence of public administrations on the Internet. The study ... quantifies, in monetary terms, the public savings generated by a government agency that uses the Internet. In addition, the work attempts to value, in terms of utility or satisfaction, the new services received by taxpayers." Their Conclusions indicate that the on-line services provided a more "fluid relationship between public administrations and taxpayers," eliminated many bureaucratic barriers, reduced costs for both taxpayers and government, and improved social satisfaction. Other Proceedings papers from the conference, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Spain website is also available (the latter in Spanish).

See Also: The Treasury Board's Chief Information Officer Branch (CIOB), which, at their Government On-line website, posts "Government On-line: Serving Canadians in a Digital World." In that report, the "Benefits to Canadians" section points out that "through venues such as the Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable, the business community has encouraged government to show leadership in electronic service delivery to spur the growth of electronic commerce. All sectors need to take action if Canada is to capture its fair share of the global e- marketplace. Acting as a model user of technology and promoting connectivity among citizens, the government has a key role to play. Getting Government On-Line is an important part of the federal strategy to accelerate Canada's participation in the digital economy." In addition, the "Do Canadians Want Electronic Service Delivery?" section indicates that "as Canadians go on-line, they expect governments to do the same. This message has come through clearly and consistently in consultations on the information highway with a variety of clients, and in research on service delivery preferences. A majority of Canadians - individuals and businesses - support the move to electronic service delivery, and the appetite for electronic government is rapidly increasing."

See Also: The Connecting Canadians initiative, "a federal government vision and plan to make Canada the most connected country in the world. In an increasingly competitive and knowledge-based global economy, Canada can benefit by becoming a world leader in the development and use of advanced information and communications technologies."

See also: The British initiative, "Modern Regulation for a Modern World," a 2000 communications white paper describing the combination of regulation for public broadcasting, telephone and Internet technologies in a new Office of Communications (Executive Summary).

In essence, they propose:

• Simple, clear regulation one regulator for all electronic communications;
• A one stop shop for complaints;
• Leading the world in regulating the communications revolution;
• Balancing between light touch and commitment to quality and diversity;
• Continuing commitment to strong public service values and upholding; standards; and
• Providing protection and a clear voice for the consumer.

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Guiding Principles

Some guiding principles might be:

1. Assuring universal access and ability to contribute for all  citizens.
2. Cooperative efforts between schools, libraries, hospitals, city/county/provincial governments, and businesses to secure advantages of scale, shared leased lines, etc., for residents and businesses.
3. Concentration of effort by educators, to make global information exchange and collaboration fundamental parts of problem-solving for students starting in the earliest grades (and including education of all citizens concerning their information technology rights).
4. Significant enhancement of adult-learning opportunities as training and experience in the new way of thinking, and in development of new skills and processes for tomorrow's globally competitive markets (both for jobs, and for products and services).
5. Improvement in the management and operation of government services:
• for internal inter-departmental transaction processing, and for exchange of information between administrative and legislative levels,
• for distribution of information to the electorate, and
• for collection of opinion, reaction and direction from the electorate.

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Policy Objectives

1. Ensure Affordable Universal Access and Ability to Contribute for All Citizens.
2. Improve Democratic Governance.
• Improve the effectiveness of participation by residents in local decision making.
• Encourage regional inter-city cooperation in order to preserve local self-government.
3. Ensure Delivery of Government Services (especially to low and moderate income constituents and to those with limited mobility).
• Develop a municipal telecommunications network.
• Emphasize neighborhood access points.
• Facilitate co-production of the service by the end user (such as the neighborhood watch program of police service, or the automated teller machines of the banking industry).
4. Encourage Economic Development
• Key organizations (from small businesses to public libraries) use telecommunications to become more effective and to satisfy other objectives.
• Use telecommunications to stimulate the growth of the regional economy and effectively participate in the global economy.
5. Improve Administrative Efficiency
• Uncouple service delivery from service production, and decentralize both.
• Deliver service as close to the point of consumption as possible.
• Use network services to increase the productivity and effectiveness of the workforce.
6. Reduce Budget Deficits
• Reduce costs:
• Use telecommunications extensively in service delivery and corporate administration.
• Manage telecommunications consumption to ensure a least-cost technical solution.
• Consider joining a consumer consortium.
• Increase revenue:
• Seek fair compensation for the use of rights-of-way and other public assets such as the radio frequency spectrum.
• Consider entering semi-entrepreneurial activities such as public-private joint ventures or equity participation in a network facility or a teleconferencing network.
7. Reduce air pollution, traffic congestion and energy consumption while accommodating growth.
• Reduce vehicle miles traveled related to work, shopping and the pursuit of services - ranging from education to retail goods and access to government services and information.
8. Balance the aims of open government and individual rights to privacy and intellectual property ownership. [See also Note 11 below for a list of other copyright/intellectual property resources prepared by Kevin Savetz.]
9. Maintain public ownership of publicly-generated information stocks, archives and data bases. [The Association of Public Data Users [cookies (cookie caution)] provides a forum for discussion of public data and its management].
10. Encourage open standards of interconnection and interoperability of networks and systems.

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Notes and Bibliography

• This citizen-centered approach "has embraced a vision of electronic service delivery that would offer Canadians services at the right time and place, a vision that would enable individuals and businesses to interact securely with government in a convenient, accessible way."

• "According to current projections, the information economy will surpass industrial and agrarian economies in terms of percentage of GDP by 2003."

• "In the digital economy, the creation and strategic use of knowledge - how well it is managed, shared, transmitted and stored - is growing in importance. ... Just as importantly, knowledge must be viewed as a resource to be nurtured and shared in support of broad corporate goals."

• "This vision recognizes that [electronic service delivery] channels must be easy to use and have a common look and feel, and that Canadians want to conduct their business in a secure environment that protects their privacy and the confidentiality of information."

• "Through e-government, citizens, businesses, suppliers and other organizations benefit from lower transaction costs, greater accuracy, better use of knowledge and improved communication with government. The on-line channel can create opportunities for enhanced citizen engagement. Citizens can provide instant feedback on the services they receive on-line and identify their priorities for service improvement. As government and citizens learn how to interact in an on-line environment, there is an exciting potential for greater citizen involvement in public policy making, and greater responsiveness from public figures and institutions." The report also provides links to many federal on-line resources and services, particularly in the Appendix.

*** Note 6a (added Dec 96): See also an article "Europe's Cities are Joining the Information Age" which reports how, by late 1996, European cities were rising to the "Bangeman Challenge." This is an outstanding report of achievement in European cities. They are finding co-operative, Information Age solutions to challenges in citizen access to information, in citizen interaction with government, in distance learning, in health care and in business.

 *** Note 6a1 (added June 97): See also an article "Europeans Challenge Japan and North America" which reports an expansion of the Bangemann Challenge to the "Global Bangemann Challenge."

 *** Note 6b (added Jan 97): See also an article "UK Govt Proposes to go Completely On-line" which reports how, by November of 1996, the U.K. government was proposing a wholesale change to on-line service delivery of government services. An extremely well-written "green paper" describes the background, strategies, and implementation plans for the general reader.

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 The following are the Danish Government's political guidelines for efforts in individual areas (along with the most important policies) to be achieved in 1995. These are excerpted from the above report. ... [Or jump directly to Note 8.]

1. The Electronic Service Network of the Public Sector
• Public administration (central, county and municipal levels) is to be connected in a comprehensive electronic service network, providing: better service to citizens, better service to trade and industry and support of their own use of IT, rationalization gains, and more open decision-making processes.
• Information already supplied by citizens and companies to one public institution and which can be transmitted electronically is not to be requested by another public institution.
• Citizens and companies wishing to communicate electronically with public authorities are to be given this possibility.
• Publication of Lovtidende (the Legal Gazette), Ministerialtidende and Statstidende (the Official Gazette) will be made in electronic form as soon as technically possible and in conformity with user requirements. The transitional period will end by the year 2000. Over a period following the transition to electronic form, there may still be a need for publishing the gazettes in printed form as well.
• Public registers with information on persons, companies or geographical data are to be interrelated to a higher degree and duplication of registration entries are to be avoided.
• Concurrently with the replacement of IT systems, public institutions are to change gradually from paper-based archives to electronic processing and filing over the coming years.
• The establishment of the electronic network of the public sector should be seen as a first step towards renewal in the functioning and interplay between citizens and companies, and institutions at central, county, and local levels. The performance of tasks and the division of labor will be reviewed with the aim to create a simpler and more efficient interplay with the public sector seen from the point of view of citizens and companies, involving maximum use of the rationalization potentials offered by the information technology ("Business Process Reengineering").
2. Utilization of Data and Protection of Personal Data
• The protection of persons and data should be secured through modern legislation that makes it possible to register, transmit and reuse data for all legal, administrative purposes without the involvement of bureaucratic procedures.
• Data in public registers should be utilized to the maximum by making them available to both the public and private sectors. Where warranted by considerations of personal protection, the passing on of data should be made subject to permission being given by the citizen concerned, e.g. by use of the electronic Citizen's Card.
3. Security
• IT and telecommunications security are to be an integral part of the use by public institutions and private companies of IT systems and telecommunications networks. Users of IT systems and telecommunications should be confident that data handled in IT systems and communicated through the telecommunications networks are at any time protected to the maximum against breach of confidence, and that the systems involve data integrity and accessibility.
4. A Better Health Service Providing Faster Treatments
• The aim must be to exploit the outstanding potentials of the Health Service to obtain better service and more efficient and faster patient care by using IT for communication and registration of medical case records and clinical data. Such a development will support the ongoing large-scale reorganization of working routines and structures within the health sector.
5. The "Global Village" of Research
• Danish research must achieve maximum benefit from the global and national electronic networks for interchange of research information
• In the allocation of Danish research funds, greater importance must be attached to the strong points within IT-relevant areas relating to both technology and application.
6. New Ways In The Educational System
• All children should be able to master modern information technology. Therefore the structure of primary and lower secondary education must be geared to make IT a natural element of teaching in the individual subjects. This unique opportunity of early introduction of IT must be seized, thus ensuring that teaching is adjusted according to the abilities of the individual pupil. This is the explicit intention behind the new legislation on primary and lower secondary schools. Comprehensive use of IT in the primary and lower secondary education system is essential to prevent the population from being split up into winners and losers.
• Possibilities of technology-supported education should be exploited fully with specific focus on adult education and supplementary vocational training.
7. Cultural Network Denmark
• The presentation of culture by electronic means is aimed at supplementing and increasing the communication of cultural experience and cultural knowledge. All cultural institutions should gradually become participants in an interconnected cultural electronic network offering the citizen electronic access to electronic cultural services.
• Even in the future - when electronic publications will be taking over the role of magazines and books - libraries must maintain a major, intermediary function as providers of public information to all citizens and they must help the public to navigate through the increasing flood of information.
8. The Mass Media Through New Channels
• In a world where the electronic media are increasingly dominated by international channels and producers, it is essential that a Danish radio and TV public service function is maintained. The continued production and transmission of Danish high-quality programs of all kinds must be secured.
9. Disabled Persons in the Information Society
• New IT applications, which may pave the way for greater integration of disabled persons in society, must be fully exploited. It should be ensured that the disabled persons' situation is given due consideration in EU policy on informatics.
10. IT - a Means to Improve Traffic Management
• The possibilities of using traffic informatics to improve traffic management, reduce the environmental impact caused by traffic and improve the service for road - users should be exploited as they gradually prove practicable.
11. Network of Companies
• Danish companies should become more skilled at using IT combined with new working routines to improve development, production, marketing and customer service. Concurrently, adult education and supplementary training should be strengthened to prevent non-skilled individuals and people with a limited education from becoming the losers of the Info-Society.
• Danish companies must be joined together by an electronic network for the interchange of business documents. Substantial rationalization gains may achieved in this way and a closer interplay may be supported.
• Together, the private and public sectors are to take initiatives to enhance the potentials of Danish companies in relation to the "spearhead" applications of IT. In this connection Danish companies and public institutions should more actively engage themselves in the international standardization work within the IT area in order to further Danish influence on standards in areas where they have not yet been carried into effect.
12. The World's Best And Cheapest Telecom Services
• During the period leading up to the year 2000, Denmark, through a proactive telecommunications policy, will realize the world's best and cheapest telecommunications services. A decisive step in this direction will be the full liberalization to be introduced by January 1, 1998 according to a decision at EU level. A gradual liberalization and a new regulatory basis will be introduced to ensure efficient competition and consumer protection.
13. Open Network of Society
• The computer and telecommunications networks together are to form a coherent "public network" which will appear to the average citizen and companies as easy to grasp and as readily accessible as the telephone system.

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• Meeting Citizens' Needs: A Vision for Information Technologies to Serve Tomorrow's Texans, State of Texas Strategic Plan for Information Resources, November 1993.
• The U.S. Federal Government's National Institute of Standards and Technology web site provides definitions, applications, roles, ways to participate and contribute, and general comments about what other nations are doing concerning the Global Information Infrastructure. The site also has links to the complete text of both infrastructure papers.
• The U.S. Federal Telecommunications System 2000 (FTS2000) has prepared an extensive report "Networking for a Reinvented Government: U.S. Federal Telecommunications Requirements and Industry Technology Assessment." It assesses current telecommunication technologies, inventories current and future needs, and projects acquisition concepts for the late 1990s and early 2000s. It also evaluates technology impacts on business process planning strategies, makes traffic forecasts (including text, voice and video), and describes two futures: an optimistic-growth future and a pessimistic-growth future. Conclusions deal with the uncertainty and diversity of requirements, budgetary constraints, the need for competitive pricing, the dynamism of the telecommunications market place, government's role, access by non-government users and citizens, integration and interoperability, reliability and performance, and finally pricing.
• The U.S. National Performance Review has published its third report to the President called Common Sense Government. It tells how many civil servants have started to make meaningful improvements in how government works. It describes the kinds of changes we all have been making for government to work as well as the best organizations. Bob Stone, Director of the National Performance Review says "this book may surprise you. ... It will make you feel good to read about the improvements that are taking place."
• Cyberspace and the American Dream: A Magna Carta for the Knowldege Age from the Progress and Freedom Foundation, Washington, D.C.
• The Minnesota Government Information Access Council web page contains draft working group reports, including one on Information Access Principles which closely parallels the national papers cited here.

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White paper topics include the following:

• Understanding The Global Information Infrastructure.
• Protecting Privacy And Securing Data.
• Assuring Access For All.
• Making Electronic Commerce Work.
• Protecting Our Health And Safety.
• Rethinking Government.
• Achieving Educational Equity With Advanced Technology.
• A New Vision For The Utility And Energy Services Industry.
• Reducing Uncertainty In Our Health Care.

The website is at:

• http://www.ibm.com/ibm/publicaffairs/

• http://www.ibm.com/ibm/publicaffairs/about.html

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• Note 13: See also: "Toward an Ethics and Etiquette for Electronic Mail," a Rand Corporation classic by Norman Z. Shapiro and Robert H. Anderson, dating from 1985. It deals with the use of e-mail, a little of what is different about it from other communications media, etc.

• See also: John Seely Brown's papers "Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice" and "Mysteries of the Region Knowledge Dynamics In silicon Valley." In the latter paper, Brown, Chief Scientist at Xerox, deals with the reasons that firms within industries tend to locate together, geographically. He observes that "Knowledge is hard to acquire in a usable form unless the people who would acquire it engage in the actual activity or practices of which the knowledge is a part. Consequently, this [knowledge] doesn't travel indifferently over digital networks ... as information does. 'Spreading the practice has not been easy.' And spreading practices [via co-located communities of practice] is the key to spreading actionable knowledge."

• See Also: the discussion and list of links at the headings "Mailing Lists - Starting Your Own" and "Emotional Content in E-mail Messages," both on the "Help with Internet E-mail and Mailing Lists" page.

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• 15% of the world population has 71% of the installed phone lines.

• South America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia are furthest behind.

• China has 3 lines/100 people in 1995. They are going to increase that to 8 lines/100 people by the year 2000. That will involve installing a network the size of Bell Canada every year for the next five years!

• The U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Australia have 45 or more lines/100 people installed.

• Over 50% of the world's population have never used a telephone. "If the world were a village of 100 people, only 14 would have a telephone, and just one would be on-line." - Sir Peter Bonfield, on the "Technology: boon or bane to quality of life?" page (1999).

• A single optical fiber now carries 80,000 simultaneous telephone conversations. Soon, 320,000 will be carried simultaneously by a pair of fibers.

• The printing press revolutionized society several centuries ago despite the facts that the proportion of the population that could read was smaller than it is today, and that many could not afford to own books.

• The World-Wide Web Vitrual Library, Communication and Telecommunications section, Policy and Regulation page. This page contains a list of national policy statements from Denmark, Holland, Australia, India and others.

..... Go to [ WWW Virtual Library home page for Comm. and Telecomm. ]

• The National Library of Australia, page on Government Policy and the Information Superhighway contains a good list of national policy pages from Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Sources of Related Information

• "... economies across Canada and around the world are increasingly being driven by knowledge and the ability to use ideas, information and technology to drive decisions and develop new markets, products and services. Quite simply, we are in an information age, an age where ideas and knowledge are the keys to success."
• "Albertans understand that the only sustainable advantage in today's economy comes from what you know and how fast you can put it to use."

• See also: A Nov 2000 press release from the Alberta Minister of Learning "SUPERNET to connect communities to the 21st century at warp speed," and other technology initiatives at the Innovation and Science website.

• See also: Ireland's national response to the Information Age. An Advisory Committee on Telecommunications was established by Ms. Mary O'Rourke, T.D., Minister for Public Enterprise in June, 1998. The Committee ... was charged with the task of advising the Minister, by the end of 1998, on a strategy to position Ireland as a key global centre in advanced telecommunications, the Internet and electronic commerce. It is now formally submitting comprehensive recommendations aimed at:
• creating a fully open and internationally competitive telecommunications market that will stimulate investment in advanced information infrastructure and services in Ireland;
• ensuring that Ireland becomes a global leader in the growth of information-based employment and in the formation of Internet-based industries and electronic commerce; and
• enabling all Irish citizens to have access to and to participate fully in the Information Society.
• Together, these reports are some of the very best statements of the strategic issues of the late 1990s that I have seen. They have all the right topics, many of the right emphases and is a very comprehensive description for the general reader about the importance of being ready for and involved in the digital revolution.
• Report of the Advisory Committee on Telecommunications to the Minister for Public Enterprise.
• Report TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Executive Summary
Section 1: Membership, mandate and objectives.
Section 2: The global environment
Section 3: Ireland: a knowledge intensive economy
Section 4: The Irish information infrastructure
Section 5: Enabling electronic commerce
Section 6: Entrepreneurship and skills
Section 7: Recommendations
Appendix I: Presentations to the Committee
Glossary of Terms
• A Backgrounder (a very good description of the context) for the Report of the Advisory Committee on Telecommunications.
• Backgrounder's TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Internet - a brief outline of functionalities
The convergence phenomenon
Electronic commerce - opportunities for business
Electronic commerce in practice
Policy Questions in relation to electronic commerce
Ireland-US Joint Communiqué on Electronic Commerce

• "Critical Foundations: Thinking Differently," a report of The President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection. This report points out that "the defenses and responsibilities naturally encouraged and expected as prudent business practice for owners and operators of our infrastructures are the very same measures needed to protect against the cyber tools available to terrorists and other threats to national security." It advocates new thinking to deal with the new rules the information age has fostered. "We are quite convinced that our vulnerabilities are increasing steadily while the costs associated with an effective attack continue to drop."
• A Summary of the report, including their major findings, conclusions and recommendations is on-line.
• A Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CCIP) website has been mounted.

• "Sweat About the Threat," [cookies (cookie caution)] an article in CIO Magazine [cookies (cookie caution)] covers the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC; welcome from Michael Vatis, Chief of the National Infrastructure Protection Center) in Washington, and describes "the federal government's new, first line of defense against those who would wage what has been termed "information warfare"—attacks against strategic computer systems by terrorists armed not with explosives and firearms but with PCs and modems."

• See also: an insightful article entitled "TommorowLand," [cookies (cookie caution)] in the December, 1998 issue of CIO WebBusiness Magazine, [cookies (cookie caution)] Disney's on-line guru Bran Ferren talks about CIOs, the Web and the costs of being behind the curve for business, government agencies or educational institutions. "The key decision makers have to get in the game and be on-line. If you cannot understand the behaviors, likes and needs of your customers, you're being isolated from the critically important community you need to reach," he says. "You get the arguments, 'Well, there are people spending hundreds of hours a week downloading [inappropriate] sites.' My attitude is that if their supervisor didn't notice some deterioration in their performance because they're spending a hundred hours a week on [an inappropriate] site, then there is a more fundamental management problem within the company. ... [And] at the same time, [other] arguments are, 'We have to supply all that bandwidth.' Yes, you do. And you have to supply an infrastructure that will support it and so forth, just as you do a mail system, just as you do a telephone system and just as you do heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and light."
. But, the interviewer asks, "if a company does those things, what can it expect to get in return?" . "It can expect to be in the game. Without doing that, you're not in the game. Once you're in the game, then it's going to be based upon the skills and competency of your people, how they're organized and how the leadership of the company directs and redirects the vision of the company to embrace it. You can't even begin that process unless your people are wired and are participating in that community." Of course, these days, "your people" means every member of the staff, every member of management and every member of the board. Every enterprise, Ferren continues, should be adopting an Internet-like model for how it structures its information management and knowledge management systems. In order to do that effectively, everybody needs to be very familiar with how the on-line world operates, what it expects, what works, what doesn't work, and how it all can be exploited for the business benefit of the enterprise.

• See also: "Supporting MN's Information Infrastructure," the State of Minnesota's Information Infrastructure Working Group's report to state Governor Arne H. Carlson which is also very forward-looking. To quote from its proposed vision: "By the year 2000 Minnesota Will Be the Acknowledged Leader in the Use of Information Technologies for the Benefit of All its Citizens."

• See also: the Rand Corporation's extensive research report "Universal Access to E-mail: Feasibility and Societal Implications," a summary of which is also available. Their conclusions indicate that e-mail should be made universally available in the U.S., and that such an effort would have a solid democratizing effect throughout the developed world.

• See also: the Synthesis web journal [cookies (cookie caution)] in which Robert Whyte's paper "Developing Effective Strategies in a Rapidly Changing and Highly Uncertain Global economy" identifies three fundamental trends to be considered: (1) richer and more sophisticated consumers, (2) political and economic liberalisation and deregulation and (3) rapid and widespread technological development and application. He points out that these need to be considered in three concentric environments: (1) our own corporate organizational environment, (2) our transactional environment with customers, suppliers and markets, and (3) the contextual environment of shifting demographics, globalization, etc. Also, in the Synthesis web journal [cookies (cookie caution)] Eamonn Kelly asks (and answers) "The Knowledge Age: just a fad, or fundamental change?"

• EducatorLabs (Mission and Vision) post a tonne of good leads and ideas for educators and others. They have a small team of retired educators and librarians who volunteer their time helping others. The primary role of this team is to fill resource requests that come from educators every day on a variety of topics. This website is definitely worth a stop for solid information.
  

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