20/20 Vision: The Development of a National Information Infrastructure.

After the publication of the Clinton Administration's "The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action," a group of telecommunication specialists were asked to evaluate the proposals in order to broaden the policy discussion concerning the National Information Infrastructure (NII). This collection contains their visions of the nation's future information infrastructure development and their views on how the administration can best achieve its goals. The following papers are included in this volume: "Balancing the Commercial and Public-Interest Visions of the NII" (Lewis M. Branscomb); "Information Infrastructure and Economic Vitality" (Craig I. Fields); "Sustainable Democracy" (Charles M. Firestone and Katharina Kopp); "Open Sesame! How to Get to the Treasure of Electronic Information" (Francis Dummer Fisher); "Competition in Local Telecommunications (Henry Geller); "Extending Universal Service through the NII" (Susan G. Hadden, for the Alliance for Public Technology); "The National Information Infrastructure Report: A Welcome Call to Action" (Allen S. Hammond, IV); "Assembling the Pieces" (Peter W. Huber); "Toward a National Telecommunications and Information Policy: A Development-Based Vision" (Heather E. Hudson); "The Promise of the NII: Universal Service is the Key" (Mary Gardiner Jones); "Networks, Standards, and Intellectual Property: The Fabric of Information Infrastructure" (Brian Kahin); "Building Open Platforms: Public Policy for the Information Age" (Mitchell Kapor); "Public Libraries, the Public Interest, and the National Information Infrastructure (NII): Expanding the Policy Agenda" (Charles R. McClure); "Philanthropy and the Agenda for Action" (Karen Menichelli and Andrew Blau); and "Create a Corporation for Public Network Applications: Beyond the Information Superhighway" (Eli M. Noam). (JLB)