Extending the Information Revolution

This paper lays out a series of recommendations in a number of areas from a number of experts. It is based on some shared principles:

• the critical importance of inclusion and true participation by all
• technology is, and should be, a tool - the means to an end, not the end itself
• open and competitive economic systems work best
• a more economically prosperous world is a more secure world

This set of recommendations is not, by any means, complete. Nor do all of the authors of this white paper necessarily agree with all the suggestions. What they present is, however, evocative of the range of issues that must be addressed to continue to extend the information revolution to all. The following is a summary of the recommendations.

Telecommunications Infrastructure:

Enforce the requirement of an open telephone network. Reject proposals to deregulate and lessen competition. Instead increase enforcement of the pro-competition provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Free up more of the radio spectrum for "third generation" broadband mobile wireless. Consider subsidies for certain low-income users or rural communities.

Internet Access and Community Demand:

Maintain or expand federal, state, or local programmes that provide funds for community technology, including the Technology Opportunities Programme (TOPS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Help form public-private partnerships to bring advocates of low-income people into contact with people from the technology and business sectors for community development.

IT Utilization by Non-Profits & Community Groups:

Focus on helping community groups and non-profit organisations use technology in their day-to-day operations - not just on the role of these organisations in providing access to the technology. Identify, assess and coordinate existing initiatives involving non-profits in order to eliminate duplication and encourage replication. Support innovation in technology and related means by non-traditional and/or non-commercial players, while fostering an environment of innovation that can target challenges specific to the non-profit sector. Encourage interest in and adoption of technologies and tools to facilitate public and social participation, including attacking the problems of reluctance and unfamiliarity.

Education:

Federal, state and local education departments and agencies should set up specific projects to demonstrate the practices they wish the nation's educators to accept. The use of technology should be a part of the standards that we are asking teachers to teach and test to. Schools should work with informal learning places (museums, science centers, television stations, newspapers, etc.) that have demonstrated an ability to use technology in learning.

Post Secondary Education and Training:

Create programs that help workers learn more about career opportunities in their industries and elsewhere and to support informed choices about their education and training, such as Lifelong Learning Accounts. Utilize technology in the form of self-paced learning tools and access to on-line learning to better help the unskilled. Support sectoral programmes that unite industry and educational providers in developing curriculum, internships, training programs and career pathways. Include computer literacy and problems-solving skill in the basis for funding of all literacy projects.

Economic Development:

Increase our research on how to identify and cultivate information assets as a driver of local economic development. Increase capacity building to help local organisations to identify and tap into local information assets. This should include increasing the size and number of local planning grants available from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), to create new programmes similar to the TOPS program for communities to identify and develop information assets. Also, increase the funding and analytical support by state governments and regional planning organisations to local governments in this type of planning activities. Develop a best practices data base to help communities share their experiences specifically in the development of information assets.

Entrepreneurship:

Expand the pool of capital available for new and growing firms, especially those seeking funding in the range of $250,000 to $2 million, an area where chronic capital gaps exist. Expand the pool of scientific and technology workers via training, scholarships and the like - especially for women and minority groups. Increase support for programmes that provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs and expand technical assistance for rural entrepreneurs. On the state and local level, existing programmes like incubators, entrepreneurial networks and seed capital programmes should be continued and expanded.

IT Infusion in Small Manufacturing Firms:

Expand the mission and resources of the Commerce Department's Manufacturing Extension Partnership Programme (MEP) to help small manufacturers integrate information technology effectively into production process improvements. Provide additional funding and flexibility for programmes that provide skills upgrading for workers on the job. Make H-1B training funds accessible for on-the-job training in small firms. Provide employer tax credits for skill enhancement in manufacturing and technology-dependent occupations. Improve collaboration among agencies and programmes, such as the EDA, the Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Development Centers, etc. Help industry associations and community-based organisations raise the level of "common practice" in small firms regarding technology utilization and create linkages among employers, technology vendors, and other training providers.

Financing and Community Renewal:

Assure that the federal agencies responsible for implementing and administering the New Markets Venture Capital and the New Markets Tax Credit move quickly and flexibly so capital can flow to communities that desperately need it. Expand this programme to include a loan guarantee programme to enhance private investment in large-scale economic development projects; and a tax credit to encourage financial institutions to setup "Individual Development Accounts" for low-income people.

Information Ownership:

Treat information and knowledge as a renewable resource under the concept of sustainable development. In that regard, avoid over-control of this resource so that at a minimum, no company should be able to prevent others from using non-proprietary or classified information. Assure the replenishment of the public domain pool by placing reasonable time limits on intellectual property protections.

International Aid and Development:

Focus our international development agenda on bringing all nations into the information economy - thereby increasing both economic prosperity and international security. Specifically, increase the level of funding and participation in the efforts of the Digital Opportunities Task (DOT) Force, established at previous G-8 summits.

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