The prediction, in brief:

No private player has the wherewithal to finance the research and development into the new generation of switches, software and algorithms that are necessary to produce the very high-capacity network that we’re talking about. You would see the emergence of interim steps, but you would not see the country as a whole hurdle the entry barrier to a broad-band network without government leadership.

Predictor: Gore, Al

Prediction, in context:

On March 23, 1993, a writer for Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report interviewed Al Gore about his responsibility as President Bill Clinton’s crafter of Internet policy. In the interview, Gore says:”One could argue that eventually, many decades from now, you would have the prospect of something like this emerging [without federal involvement]. But it’s unlikely, simply because no private participant has the wherewithal to arrive at a common set of standards to enable a nationwide network to be created. Similarly, no private player has the wherewithal to finance the research and development into the new generation of switches, software and algorithms that are necessary to produce the very high-capacity network that we’re talking about. You would see the emergence of interim steps, but you would not see the country as a whole hurdle the entry barrier to a broad-band network without government leadership.” 

Date of prediction: March 23, 1993

Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure

Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry

Name of publication: Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report

Title, headline, chapter name: Gore: Confident the U.S. Can Become ‘A Premiere Information Marketplace’

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web14.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=dbs+0+ln+en%2Dus+sid+71ED3F2E%2DB019%2D4020%2DA3A5%2DF9FBA06473FD%40Sessionmgr4%2DSessionmgr3+CBE5&_us=bs+%22Gore%3A++Confident++the++U%2ES%2E++can++become%2E%2E%2E%22+cst+0%3B1+ds+%22Gore%3A++Confident++the++U%2ES%2E++can++become%2E%2E%2E%22+dstb+KS+hd+0+hs+%2D1+or+Date+ri+KAAACBWB00037840+sl+0+sm+KS+so+b+ss+SO+769F&fn=1&rn=1

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Burnham, Jay