THE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY
                          Robert Parson

     Bill Clinton and Al Gore will soon be the top elected 
officials in the nation.  This presents an opportunity to examine 
where the government stands in terms of a Wired Nation.
     Since they haven't even been inaugurated as yet, it's still 
too early to tell what they may have planned.  However, as Senator 
from Tennessee, some of Al Gore's actions may provide some clues.  
Before I go any further, I'd like to thank Heidi Kukus of Senator 
Gore's office for assistance in providing me with some of the 
information here.
     We have all heard about the federally funded "National Data 
Highway" which will link colleges, research facilities, and some 
governmental agencies into one large network.  Even though the 
Bush Administration started the ball rolling, Al Gore sponsored 
the legislation in the Senate that expanded George Bush's plan.  
The official name of the network is the National Research and 
Educational Network, or NREN.
     The ultimate goal of this project is to move a gigabit of 
data a second for researchers, students, educators, industry and 
universities by 1996.  By the time the 1996 fiscal year rolls 
around, nearly three billion dollars will have been spent on this.  
     The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has 
been put in charge of administering NREN.  Some of the 
governmental agencies involved in NREN are the National Science 
Foundation (oooooo, lots of neat acronyms!), the Department of 
Defense, Department of Energy, the Defense Advanced Research 
Projects Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration and NASA, just to name a few.
     DARPA will be in charge of developing the technology, the NSF 
will provide access to researchers and colleges, and OSTP will 
overlook interagency coordination and prepare a report on how NREN 
should be funded in the future plus help private industry make 
contributions to and benefit from the network.
     According to a news release from Gore's office, the nation's 
economic strength, jobs and ability to compete will depend on the 
ability to design, market and use high speed computers and 
networks.  "If we fail to move forward now, we face a future as 
second best," Gore said.
     Many people have questioned how Internet fits into all this.  
Internet has an existing network with millions of users.  In 
addition, the NSF and many other governmental agencies already 
have strong ties to Internet.  The problem is much, if not most, 
of Internet is based on older analog technology.
     Basically, analog technology means the digital signals have 
to be broken down to sound, transmitted, then recoded into digital 
at the receiving end.
     NREN is being built from the ground up in digital form.  
There will be a lot of fiber optics and ISDN links.  I'm fairly 
certain large chunks of Internet will somehow be brought into 
NREN.  Internet will remain as a part of NREN, but probably won't 
be a primary vendor.
     Building the Data Highway, though, is just part of the plan.  
Just as with a roadway, it will have to be patched, sections 
replaced and possibly rebuilt.  That is built into Gore's bill.  
OSTP, as I mentioned earlier, will be continuing to look at ways 
to keep the data moving efficiently and to ensure that it remains 
competitive on a global scale.  That means NREN itself could at 
some time be replaced by something even bigger and faster.
     We don't know what technologies will be available in the 
future.  All we have to work with is what is at hand.  As 
technology continues to advance, NREN will eventually become an 
aging dinosaur.
     But where will the Clinton White House stand as we continue 
to work toward National Connectivity?  Al Gore as Senator has 
already taken a leadership role, and may very well continue to do 
so.
     The regulatory bonds placed on the Regional Bell Operating 
Companies may be loosened even more than they already have.  The 
RBOCs now have approval to begin offering video dial tone.  Even 
though they seem more interested in providing entertainment 
programming on demand, they are eyeing information services.
     A fairly new company, SkyTel, is offering news, stocks and 
sports on beepers.  Large beepers, admittedly, but beepers 
nonetheless.
     These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg that the 
government has so far been slow to act on.  In order to properly 
meet the information needs of the next generation, the government 
is going to have to act more quickly and anticipate as much as 
possible instead of react.  NREN is just one example of that.  It 
is a reaction to current trends and is an attempt at anticipating 
the future.
     I am not advocating regulating emerging technologies or 
possible industries.  The government has placed itself in an 
important role in maintaining information freedom.  If it will not 
be the standard bearer it must not impede those who will be.
     Curiously, funding for NREN comes to an end in 1996, an 
Election year.  Information Access may become an issue along with 
the Economy, Abortion and the Federal Deficit.

     As a side note to this:
     While on the road, the Clinton/Gore and the Jerry Brown 
campaigns used Procomm to keep in touch electronically with their 
Campaign Headquarters.  Brown also participated in at least one 
Electronic Town Meeting on a national service (GEnie).
     I'm sure there are other notes of similar interest about the 
'92 campaign, but those are the only ones that I have specific 
information about.

                                         (c)1992 Robert Parson