Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993 TAG: 9307270117
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, seeks to fulfill President Clinton's vision for an "information superhighway" and defines the roles of government and private business in building the interactive communications network.
Boucher has said researchers at Virginia Tech should play a role in that research.
As canals were the major commercial arteries of the 19th century and railroads and interstate highways in this century, fiber-optic networks will be the major commercial artery of the 21st century, Boucher said.
Encouraged by Monday's vote, Boucher said he expects the bill to pass the Senate and be signed by Clinton before the end of the year.
In the Senate, the provisions of the bill are contained in an overall competitiveness measure sponsored by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C. If the Senate does not move on the competitiveness bill, Boucher said he is going to ask Hollings to remove the communications section from it and introduce it as separate legislation.
Support was strong for his bill during an hour of House floor debate with the only opposition coming from conservatives who consistently oppose any federal support for research, Boucher said.
Included in Boucher's measure - the National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993 - is $1.3 billion in research funding over five years to make new networking technologies widely available to the public.
Boucher explained the responsibilities of the federal and private sectors in development of the communications network during a speech Monday on the House floor.
Federal agencies will be charged with assuring that digital data is stored in compatible formats so it will be readily available to users of the network.
They also will be asked to assure complete standardization of the network nationwide and to provide research and development funding for new communications technologies, Boucher said.
But Boucher told his colleagues that the intent of the bill is not for the federal government to own or build the network. "That will be the private sector's responsibility," he said.
The measure requires the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to prepare a five-year plan to develop computer and network technologies. It directs the National Science Foundation to help institutions of higher education, public schools, museums and state and local governments connect with each other and with Internet, a kind of international scientific bulletin board.
Among the research goals outlined in the bill are:
Identification of educational uses for the high-speed network.
Development of digital libraries with common standards for the electronic storage and retrieval of information.
Digital storage of vast amounts of governmental information.
One goal of the bill, Boucher, said would be to allow medical specialists across the country to simultaneously evaluate the results of medical tests such as CAT and MRI scans.
Another use of the network mentioned by Boucher is long-distance learning, in which students in one school could be taught and communicate with a teacher miles away - something that would benefit small schools with limited resources.
The business community also would benefit by offering American industries "inexpensive access to information that will make their products more competitive," Boucher said.
by CNB