Converging the Visions of the Future

Although there are valid historical reasons that the entertainment- and information (i.e., Internet)-based visions have not yet been harmonized … It is in the national interest to integrate these visions into a more comprehensive model – one that will support diverse objectives and help ensure national well-being on many fronts … The infrastructure, deployment, and services of the NII can and should all be highly synergistic … It is natural to consider an architecture that can, indeed, support interoperability among these networks … New devices for telephony, for entertainment, and for information access should all interwork … It will be necessary to find specific points at which the convergence can be encouraged, to take account of the real economic issues, especially in the entertainment sector, and to take an active role in defining and fostering the overarching vision.

U.S. Networking: The Past is Prologue

A truly national information infrastructure will be much harder to shape than was the Internet … The broader the conceptualization of the information infrastructure – the farther it extends to embrace information generation and use as well as transport – the greater the planning needed to make it all work together and the broader the relevant policy framework. The scale, scope, and visibility of “wiring up” not only the education and library communities, but also every home and public entity in the United States, present an enormous challenge. Compounding domestic conditions is the fact that whatever measures are taken in the United States must anticipate and sometimes respond to conditions in the foreign networks and infrastructures to which the U.S. infrastructure is and will continue to be interconnected.

The Government Role

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.

Deploying the Open Data Network Architecture

Some researchers and educators who depend on the Internet may need some assistance in adjusting to increased infrastructure prices. Infrastructure support should be a function of the overall research funding process … The critical concerns are avoiding disruption from a sudden and sharp imposition of new user charges, minimizing administrative burdens, and assuring equitable access to public support. Over the long term, more generalized mechanisms may evolve.

Developing an Open Data Network Architecture

The international nature of infrastructure will have to be addressed in whatever technical, market, and legal measures are taken to assure smooth communication and interaction between most countries. International connectivity must be maintained and expanded as foreign networks develop and proliferate. Beyond physical access, one or more bodies may be needed to develop and monitor bilateral and multilateral agreements on standards, transborder data flow problems, and transborder legalities generally. In addition, both to assure the maximum usefulness of international connections and to support U.S. vendors, export control restrictions on the sale and deployment of U.S. infrastructure technology should continue to be reviewed and, as appropriate, revised.

The Vision of an Open Data Network

Both the Internet and the telephone network are running out of addresses for their subscribers. In the case of the Internet, a likely outcome is a major change in the protocol suite that will affect millions of computers. Providing the ability to evolve gracefully in any of a number of dimensions is essential to the successful commercialization of the Internet and its integration into a larger NII.

The Vision of an Open Data Network

The committee’s vision of the NII [is] a data network with open and evolvable interfaces. Such a network should be capable of carrying information services of all kinds, from suppliers of all kinds, to customers of all kinds, across network service providers of all kinds, in a seamless accessible fashion. Moreover, the user of an Open Data Network should be able to access this capability as he or she moves from place to place. The network should be scalable in the many dimensions of size, load, services, reach, and utility; should integrate a range of network technology and end-node devices; and should provide a framework for security.