Realizing the Opportunities of the Information Age Information is a critical resource, for service industries as well as manufacturing, for economic as well as national security. By one estimate, two- thirds of U.S. workers are in information-related jobs, and the rest are in industries that rely heavily on information. The Clinton Administration has taken a leadership role in putting information technology and resources to better use in promoting U.S. economic growth. The Administration recognizes clearly that Americans have a stake in the construction of an advanced National Information Infrastructure (NII), a web of communications networks, computers, databases, and consumer elec- tronics that will put vast amounts of information at users' fingertips. The information infrastructure can be used by all Americans, not just by scientists and engineers. As entrepreneurs, factory workers, doctors, teachers, school children, users of public libraries, Federal employees, and citizens, Americans can harness this technology to: o create jobs, spur growth, and foster U.S. technological leadership; o reduce health care costs while increasing the quality of service in underserved areas; o deliver higher-quality, lower-cost government services; o prepare our children for the fast-paced workplace of the 21st century; o support lifelong learning; and o build a more open and participatory democracy at all levels of govern- ment. The NII: A High Priority for the Clinton Administration Promoting rapid, equitable, and smooth development and use of the NII is one of the Administration's highest priorities. In September, Vice President Gore and Commerce Secretary Brown released a policy statement and action agenda for speeding up full development and utilization of the NII. The policy state- ment clearly recognizes that private-sector firms are already developing and de- ploying that infrastructure today. It is the private sector that will build and own the NII of tomorrow. Nevertheless, there remain essential roles for govern- ment in complementing the efforts of the private sector and assuring the growth of an information infrastructure available to all Americans at reasonable cost. In developing our initiatives in this area, the Administration is work- ing in close partnerships with business, labor, academia, the public, Congress, and State and local government. To ensure effective coordination of government activities and full involvement of the private sector, the President: Established an interagency Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF) to work with Congress and the private sector to develop initiatives needed to accelerate deployment of a National Information Infra- structure. Chaired by Commerce Secretary Brown and composed of high- level Federal agency representatives, the IITF's three committees are now focusing on telecommunications policy, information policy, and applications. Established a private-sector Advisory Council on the National Infor- mation Infrastructure. The Council will consist of 25 members, who will be named by Secretary Brown by December 1993. Action Plan and Accomplishments The Information Infrastructure Task Force is undertaking work in nine major areas where government action is warranted. o Promoting private-sector investment, through tax and regulatory policies that encourage innovation and promote long-term investment, as well as wise procurement of services. The Administration is working with Congress to pass legislation by the end of 1994 that will increase competition and ensure universal access in communications markets particularly those, such as the cable television and local telephone markets, that have been dominated by monopolies. Such legislation will explicitly promote private-sector infrastructure investment both by companies already in the market and those seeking entry. The President has signed into law tax incentives for private-sector investment in R&D and new business formation, including a 3-year extension of the R&D credit and a targeted capital gains reduction for investments that will help spur the private-sector investment needed to develop the NII. o Extending the "universal service" concept to ensure that information resources are available to all at affordable prices. The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administra- tion (NTIA) will hold a series of public hearings on universal service and the NII, beginning by December 1993. Building on the knowledge gained from these activities, the IITF will work with the NII Advisory Council and with State regulatory commissions to determine how the universal service concept should be applied in the 21st century. o Promoting technological innovation and new applications. The Administra- tion will commit government research programs and grants to help the private sector develop technologies needed for the NII. These government programs will focus on the development of public applications in such fields as education and health care. The Administration will continue the High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program. This program funds R&D designed to create more powerful computers, faster computer networks, and more sophisticated software. It is also intended to enable scientists and engineers to tackle "Grand Challenges," such as forecasting the weather, building more energy-efficient cars, designing life-saving drugs, and designing and simulating next-generation aircraft. The Administration requested $1 billion for the HPCC Program in FY 1994 and is in the process of forming a "High-Performance Computing Advisory Committee" to provide private-sector input on the Program. The Administration requested an additional $96 million in the FY 1994 budget to create a new component of the HPCC Program Infor- mation Infrastructure Technologies and Applications (IITA). This program will develop and apply high-performance computing and high- speed networking technologies for use in the fields of health care, education, libraries, manufacturing, and provision of government information. The Administration won FY 1994 funding from the Congress for NII networking pilot and demonstration projects. Under NTIA's direction, this $26 million pilot program will provide matching grants to State and local governments, health care providers, school districts, libraries, universities, and other non-profit entities. The grants will be awarded on a competitive basis and will fund projects to connect institutions to existing networks, enhance communications networks that are currently operational, and permit users to inter- connect among different networks. Another $40 million was requested for research by the Department of Energy's national laboratories on technologies and applications related to the information infrastructure. By the end of January 1994, the IITF will complete an inventory of current and planned government activities and will widely dissemi- nate the results through electronic and printed means. The IITF applications committee is establishing an electronic forum to encourage government and private-sector contributions and comments about government applications projects. NASA recently launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), an experimental testbed bringing together industry, government, and academia to test pioneering concepts and technologies that advance on-demand, flexible communications services. Over 50 experiments are scheduled in areas such as business communications and supercomputer networking, as well as technology verification and scientific research. To date, over 21 industrial partners and 25 universities have developed experiments for ACTS and have agreed to contribute $8 million over the life of the program. o Promoting interactive, user-driven operation of the NII. As the NII evolves into a "network of networks," government will ensure that users can transfer information across networks easily and efficiently. To assure interoperability and openness of the many components of an efficient, high-capacity NII, standards for voice, video, data, and multimedia services must be developed. Those standards also must be compatible with the large installed base of communications technologies and be flexible and adaptable enough to meet user needs at affordable costs. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has named an inter-agency panel to review open systems network requirements and recommend policies on the use of networking standards by the Federal Government. The panel will consider issues related to the Internet Protocol Suite and Open Systems Interconnection specifications, as well as proprietary networking protocols. The Administration also will work closely with the private sector, as well as State and local governments, to identify government policies and regulations that may hinder the growth of interactive services and applications. The IITF will determine how those regulations should be changed. o Ensuring information security and network reliability. The NII must be trustworthy and secure, protecting the privacy of its users. Government action also will aim to ensure that the overall system remains reliable, quickly repairable in the event of failure, and, perhaps most important, easy to use. The Administration is completing a Presidentially directed review of Federal policies on encryption technology. In addition, Federal agencies are seeking to work more closely with industry to develop new technologies that protect the privacy of citizens, while enabling law enforcement agencies to continue to use court- authorized wiretaps to fight terrorism, drug rings, organized crime, and corruption. The National Communications System (NCS) brings together 23 Federal agencies with industry to reduce the vulnerability of the Nation's telecommunications systems to accident, sabotage, natural disaster, or military attack. And the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has an industry and user Network Reliability Council to advise it on ensuring the reliability of the Nation's commercial telecommunica- tions networks. These efforts are increasingly important as the threat posed by terrorism and computing hacking grows. o Improving management of the radio frequency spectrum, an increasingly critical resource. Many of the dramatic changes expected from the development of the information infrastructure will grow out of advances in wireless technologies. The ability to access the resources of the NII at any time, from anywhere in the country, will be constrained, however, if there is inadequate spectrum available. The President in August 1993 signed the Emerging Telecommunications Technology Act, which directs the Secretary of Commerce to transfer, over a 10-year period, at least 200 MHz of spectrum now used by Federal agencies to the FCC for subsequent licensing to the private sector. It allows the FCC to use competitive bidding to grant new license assignments for spectrum. This will accelerate the develop- ment of new wireless industries such as Personal Communications Services and will help to create good jobs. The entire cellular industry, which has generated 100,000 jobs, was created by licensing only 50 MHz of spectrum. The Commerce Department is currently determining what frequencies should be transferred to the FCC. The Administration has pledged support for greater reliance on market principles in distributing spectrum among the widely differing wireless services that will be a part of the NII. At the same time, the Administration will promote policies to ensure that entrepreneurs and small, rural, and minority- and women-owned businesses are able to participate in spectrum auctions. The FCC is currently conducting proceedings to implement these policies. o Protecting intellectual property rights. The Administration will recom- mend ways to strengthen domestic copyright laws and international intellectual property treaties to prevent piracy and to protect the integrity of intellectual property. To ensure broad access to information via the NII, the IITF will study how traditional concepts of fair use should apply with respect to new media and new works. The IITF will explore the need for standards for the identification of copyright ownership of information products in electronic systems (e.g., electronic headers, labels, or signature techniques). o Coordinating with other levels of government and with other nations. Because information crosses State, regional, and national boundaries, coordination is important to avoid unnecessary obstacles and to prevent unfair policies that handicap U.S. industry. The IITF is planning to meet later this month with State and local officials, the private sector, and non-Federal agencies as it devises proposals for regulatory reform and other NII policy issues. The Administration will work directly on behalf of U.S. firms to open overseas markets for telecommunications-related goods and services to potential overseas customers. This includes elimination of trade barriers raised by incompatible U.S. and foreign standards or more subtly between the methods used to test conformance to standards. The Administration also is working to lift export controls that handicap U.S. manufacturers of computers and tele- communications equipment. The IITF will coordinate the Administration's examination of policy issues related to the delivery of telecommunications services to and from the United States, including claims by some U.S. companies that regulatory practices in foreign countries deny market access for U.S. carriers and impose excessive charges for completing calls from the United States, thus harming the competitiveness of U.S. industry. o Providing access to government information and improving government procurement. As described in the National Performance Review, Federal agencies, in concert with State and local governments, will use the NII to open the immense reservoir of government information to easy public access. Additionally, Federal procurement policies for tele- communications and information services and equipment will promote important technical developments for the NII and provide attractive incentives for the private sector to contribute to NII development. IITF working groups will carefully consider the problems associated with making government information broadly accessible to the public electronically. Additionally, several interagency efforts have begun to ensure that the right information is stored and available. Finally, to help the public find government information, an inter- agency project will develop a virtual card catalog to indicate the availability of government information in whatever form it takes. The Federal Government has taken a number of steps to promote wider distribution of its public reports. A number of Federal agencies are converting their public information into electronic form and disseminating it over the Internet. In September, "FedWorld," an electronic locator and gateway to government information operated by the Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service (NTIS), was made accessible via Internet. FedWorld links the public with more than 100 Federal bulletin boards and information centers. In June 1993, OMB prescribed new policies that will lower the cost to the public of acquiring information from Federal agencies. Among other things, the policies mandate that, in distributing information to the public, Federal agencies should recoup only those costs associated with the dissemination of that information, not with its creation or collection. Other efforts are also under way to afford greater public access to the government. One project would turn thousands of local and field offices of various Federal agencies into Interactive Citizen Participation Centers, at which citizens can communicate with the public affairs departments of all Federal agencies. The President and Vice President have made White House documents accessible to the public via electronic mail. The Administration is using on-line information services and the Internet to make available speeches, press briefings, executive orders, and a summary of the budget.