Elon University
The prediction, in brief:

Just as every home in America is now linked to the rest of the country by a driveway that goes to a street, that goes to a highway, that goes to an interstate, we want every home and business in America to be linked by an information highway into a national network that will ultimately be … invisible to the user in the sense that the information will be there at the desktop terminal.

Predictor: Gore, Al

Prediction, in context:

In an 1992 article for The Washington Post, Cindy Skrzycki quotes Al Gore. She writes: ”Al Gore, technology czar? … If he is elected, Gore would be the nation’s first second-in-command to be a true tekkie … In an interview, Gore described the [Clinton-Gore] ticket’s commitment to ‘expanding the nation’s information infrastructure and doing so aggressively … While we’re very sensitive to any distortion of the marketplace by an unseemly government role, we will not hesitate to provide any missing links when the marketplace seems to be ignoring the essential facts of the infrastructure,’ he said … He also said the government should try to sort out the technical standards necessary to build such a network and eliminate regulatory barriers … ‘Just as every home in America is now linked to the rest of the country by a driveway that goes to a street, that goes to a highway, that goes to an interstate, we want every home and business in America to be linked by an information highway into a national network that will ultimately be … invisible to the user in the sense that the information will be there at the desktop terminal,’ he said.”

Biography:

Al Gore, a former U.S. senator and vice president, made the future of technology an important part of his political agenda and was a leader in technology policymaking in the years before and during the Clinton Administration. Internet pioneers said his support had significant impact in the building of the U.S. network. (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1992

Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure

Subtopic: General

Name of publication: Washington Post

Title, headline, chapter name: The Tekkie on the Ticket: Having Made Science a Specialty, Gore Would Reshape Federal Role in Technology

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=93ba266d0eaab96a8366112fb19ad7ef&_docnum=13&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlAl&_md5=ae14be1183772c30ccb5b20e74a001cf

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Fedders, Peter J.