Federal government can play a variety of roles, each lending itself to expression through a variety of mechanisms. Key roles, which are not mutually exclusive, include: Providing leadership and vision; balancing interests and airing competing perspectives, and influencing the shape of the information infrastructure. Decisions made to meet U.S. needs will bear on international connectivity, which is essential for the NII to fulfill its potential.
Predictor: National Research Council
Prediction, in context:In 1994, the NRENaissance Committee, appointed by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council, produced a special report titled “Realizing the Information Future: The Internet and Beyond.” Among the committee members were Internet pioneers Leonard Kleinrock, David Clark, David Farber, Lawrence Landweber and Robert Kahn. The committee’s goal was to “study issues raised by the shift to a larger, more truly national networking capability.” Among its statements, it says: ”The federal government has an opportunity to alter, enrich, and extend existing elements of the U.S. communications and information infrastructure and to guide their integration into a more powerful whole. The broadening of focus implicit in moving from a narrower NREN orientation to a broader NII [National Information Infrastructure] orientation suggests that the federal government can play a variety of roles, each lending itself to expression through a variety of mechanisms. Key roles, which are not mutually exclusive, include: -Providing leadership and vision, -Balancing interests and airing competing perspectives, and -Influencing the shape of the information infrastructure. ”Decisions made to meet U.S. needs will bear on international connectivity, which is essential for the NII to fulfill its potential.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: Realizing the Information Future: The Internet and Beyond
Title, headline, chapter name: The Government Role
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://stills.nap.edu/html/rtif/
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney