Executive Summary
I. The Council's Vision
The United States stands today in the midst of one of the great revolutions in
recorded history: the Information Age. The Information Superhighway provides the
infrastructure that enables enormous benefits in education, economic well-being,
and quality of life.
The Council urges that the Nation adopt the following five fundamental goals.
First, let us find ways to make information technology work for us, the people of
this country, by ensuring that these wondrous new resources advance American
constitutional precepts, our diverse cultural values, and our sense of equity.
Second, let us ensure, too, that getting America online results in stronger
communities, and a stronger sense of national community.
Third, let us extend to every person in every community the opportunity to
participate in building the Information Superhighway. The Information Superhighway
must be a tool that is available to all individuals -- people of all ages, those from
a wide range of economic, social, and cultural backgrounds, and those with a wide
range of functional abilities and limitations -- not just a select few. It must be
affordable, easy to use, and accessible from even the most disadvantaged or remote
neighborhood.
Fourth, let us ensure that we Americans take responsiblity for the building of the
Superhighway -- private sector, government at all levels, and individuals.
And, fifth, let us maintain our world leadership in developing the services,
products, and an open and competitive market that lead to deployment of the
Information Superhighway. Research and development will be an essential component
of its sustained evolution.
In charting a course to meet these goals for the Information Superhighway, the
Advisory Council identified what it believes are four critical issues that must be
addressed and must be addressed early:
- What are the key areas of American life and work that will be impacted?
- What is the role of universal access in the digital age?
- What are the rules of the road regarding intellectual property, privacy, and
security?
- Who are the key stakeholders, and what are their roles?
The following recommendations reflect the Council's major proposals for addressing
those issues.
II. Recommendations
- Electronic Commerce. The Federal Government, in conjunction with others,
should take steps to identify and resolve, wherever possible, legal, regulatory,
and policy issues that restrict the development of electronic commerce on the
Information Superhighway.
- Education and Lifelong Learning. Create targeted Federal, State, and local
initiatives, in full cooperation with the private sector, to accelerate access to
the Information Superhighway and to facilitate the effective integration of
Information Superhighway technologies and resources into all lifelong learning
environments. Such initiatives should encourage the development and wide
availability of quality Information Superhighway learning resources and stimulate
the development of a viable market for Information Superhighway-related
educational products and services.
- Emergency Management and Public Safety. The Federal Government should
convene a broad-based committee composed of those entities involved in standard
setting, those involved with the development of new technology, and relevant
State, local, and Tribal agencies to meet the needs of the emergency management,
public safety, and criminal justice communities. The Federal Government also
should involve local governments in regional planning and review to ensure the
best possible coordination of resources within a region and involve
community-based organizations for more effective gathering and dissemination of
public information.
- Health. The Federal Government, in conjunction with Tribal, State, regional,
and local governments, should take steps to resolve, wherever possible,
conflicting legal or regulatory barriers to the delivery and reimbursement of
health information and health care across State borders. Such efforts should be
accompanied by government funding of evaluation of telemedicine applications in
the areas of cost, access, and quality.
Since protection of health information is a primary concern to everyone, the
Council's recommendations on privacy and security should apply to the area of
health information and should ensure both that information can be protected, and
that it is available in properly authorized treatment situations.
- Government Information and Services. All levels of government should use
information infrastructure technologies to provide basic pointers* to government
information and services, thus simplifying public access to relevant government
information; improving delivery of government services and the management and use
of government information; and enabling the private sector to develop and provide
enhanced and expanded value-added information products and services.
(* The term "pointers" in this context refers to information sources that would
enable individuals and organizations in both the public and private sectors to
identify and access government information and services. The pointers are not the
sought-after information and services themselves. Rather, they provide direct
pathways to the desired government information and services. Current examples
include the Federal Register, the Government Information Locator Services, and
legislative calendars.)
- Information Superhighway deployment. Commercial and competitive forces should
drive the development of the Information Superhighway. Regulatory disincentives to
Information Superhighway development should be removed. All subsidies should be
made explicit and applied in a competitively neutral manner.
- Universal access and service. The definition of universal service should
evolve to accommodate converging technologies. All individuals should have
affordable, ubiquitous, convenient, and functional access to Information
Superhighway services. All individuals should be able to be both consumers and
producers of information. Design of its components should accommodate the needs of
disabled individuals.
- Government's role. Government should act when commercial and competitive
forces are failing to achieve the goals of universal access and universal service.
Government should lead by example in the use of the Information Superhighway for
offering and using information and services.
- Intellectual Property
- All levels of government should promote ongoing public education about the
meaning and importance of intellectual property, including copyright and the fair
use doctrine.
- The Federal Government should strive to have other countries implement
consistent, effective, and appropriate policies and protections for intellectual
property in the digital environment.
- Privacy
- The Federal Government should follow through on privacy policy issues with the initial task of reviewing existing laws and practices to implement the Council's privacy principles and the recommendations of the IITF Privacy Working Group.
- Security
- The Federal Government should encourage private sector awareness of
security issues, initiate a public-private security consultation process, and
foster mechanisms to promote private accountability for proper use of security
measures.
- The Federal Government should not inhibit the development and deployment
of encryption by the private sector.
- Free Speech
- The government should not be in the business of regulating content on the Information Superhighway. It should defer to the use of privately provided filtering, reviewing, and rating mechanisms and parental supervision as the best means of preventing access by minors to inappropriate materials.
- The Private Sector Must Be the Builder. The private sector -- defined broadly to
include an array of nongovernmental entities -- must have the primary responsibility
for the continued design, deployment, and operation of the Information
Superhighway.
- Communities Are Key to Access and Learning. As demonstrated in the Council's
companion volume, KickStart Initiative: Connecting America's Communities to the
Information Superhighway, it is the access at local institutions, especially
schools, libraries, and community centers, that will continue to facilitate the
Superhighway at the neighborhood level and open new opportunities to young
students, working people, and older persons alike.
- Government Has a Critical Role as Catalyst. Although not the primary builders
of the Information Superhighway, all levels of government have a significant role
to play in ensuring its effective development and deployment.
- Individuals Must Take Charge. To realize the benefits of the Information
Superhighway, individuals must be its champions at the local level, learn about
and seize its opportunities, and respect the rights of others.
Return to the KickStart and Nation of Opportunity index page.