Revolution in the U.S. Information Infrastructure

PREFACE

Although terms like "national information infrastructure" and "information superhighway" have only recently become part of the vernacular, societies have always had information infrastructures. From mail carried by ship and Pony Express, to the telegraph, telephone and wireless, we have developed means and technologies that permit communication with others who are far from us. What is so dramatically different about today's information infrastructure, however, is its power and reach. Digital technology, optical transmission of information, and the continuing surge in the microchip's data-processing capability have spawned a spreading communications network throughout the world. These technological developments offer untold opportunities in fields as diverse as entertainment and industrial management. The public and private sectors are investing substantial sums to develop and implement the hard and soft infrastructure necessary to realize the promise of these advances.

Because of the complexity of the myriad undertakings now under way, and because the general public understands little of their implications, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) decided to focus its 1994 Annual Meeting Technical Session on the revolution in the information infrastructure. The intent of the meeting, held October 6, 1994, in Washington, D.C., was to obtain the views of a diverse set of speakers whose current activities and future plans cover a broad range of approaches to the subject. The symposium addressed three broad questions:

What technical and economic factors will determine the standards of and marketplace demand for products and services?
What roles are government and private investment, demonstration projects, and regulation and regulatory reform likely to play in the development of the infrastructure during the next decade?
What are the problems and promises for people's lives and organizations' work as video and data communications approach and surpass the interactivity of telephones?

As is reflected in the papers in this volume, the technological and market forces that are driving changes in the information infrastructure are fairly easy to identify. As is also evident in the papers, given the rapid evolution and growth in the infrastructure, there is a great diversity of opinion about how this future will come about. There is, however, agreement that rich technological capabilities and abundant market potentials will enhance the national information infrastructure and will lead ultimately, in a process already begun, to the realization of a global information infrastructure.

In addition to the authors, I would like to thank William R. Wulf for his illuminating and insightful closing remarks at the symposium. Other individuals who should be noted for their work, either in organizing the symposium or in getting this volume ready for publication, are Gerald Dinneen, Bruce Guile, Janet Hunziker, Greg Pearson, Vivienne Chin, Maribeth Keitz, and Mary Lee.

Robert M. White
President
National Academy of Engineering

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