Hosted by Benton Foundation

KickStart is an initiative of the United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure. Created by President Clinton at the end of 1993, the 36-member Council comprised representatives of state and local government, and community, public interest, education, and labor groups--as well as creators and distributors of content, private industry, privacy and security advocates, and learning experts in NII-related fields. The reports were delivered to President Clinton on February 13, 1996, at which time NIIAC announced that it had selected the Benton Foundation to inherit the KickStart Legacy.

Benton Foundation -- committed to realizing the social benefits of communications -- accepted the legacy of the Council to continue the work of the KickStart Initiative, publishing the KickStart reports here on its website and helping communities realize the promise of new technologies for education, health care, and community building. For more information on the use of these new technologies in communities, schools, and public interest organizations, take a look at Benton publications such as The Learning Connection, Inventing the Future, and What's at Stake. Also check out Benton's new Best Practices web area where we share innovative uses of communications technology, lessons learned, a toolkit and related resources.

Two major KickStart publications are available on this site, in hypertext, FTP, and gopher:

	KickStart Initiative: Connecting America's Communities to the Information Superhighway helps community leaders launch KickStart Initiatives to bring their communities onto the Information Superhighway.
	A Nation of Opportunity: Realizing the Promise of the Information Superhighway sets forth the mandate and mission of the United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure.

Printed copies are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office:

• KickStart Initiative (Stock #003-000-00682-4; $12.00 per copy)
• A Nation of Opportunity (Stock #003-000-00681-6; $7.00 per copy)