IP: Next Generation Internet

[Dave Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

 October 10, 1996


          BACKGROUND ON CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION'S 
               NEXT-GENERATION INTERNET INITIATIVE


     The Internet is the biggest change in human communications 
since the printing press.  Every day, this rapidly growing global 
network touches the lives of millions of Americans.  Students log 
in to the Library of Congress or take virtual field trips to the 
Mayan ruins.  Entrepreneurs get the information they need to 
start a new business and sell their products in overseas markets.  
Caregivers for people with Alzheimer's Disease participate in an 
"extended family" on the Cleveland FreeNet.  Citizens  keep tabs 
on the voting records and accomplishments of their elected 
representatives.


     We must invest today to create the foundation for the 
networks of the 21st Century.   Today's Internet is an outgrowth 
of decades of federal investment in research networks such as the 
ARPANET and the NSFNET.  A small amount of federal seed money 
stimulated much greater investment by industry and academia, and 
helped create a large and rapidly growing market.  Similarly, 
creative investments today will set the stage for the networks of 
tomorrow that are even more powerful and versatile than the 
current Internet.  This initiative will foster partnerships among 
academia, industry  and  government that will keep the U.S. at 
the cutting-edge of information and communications technologies.  
It will also accelerate the introduction of new multimedia 
services available in our homes, schools, and businesses.


     Economic benefits:  The potential economic benefits of this 
initiative are enormous.  Because the Internet developed in the 
United States first, American companies have a substantial lead 
in a variety of information and communications markets.  The 
explosion of the Internet has generated economic growth, 
high-wage jobs, and a dramatic increase in the number of 
high-tech start-ups.  The Next Generation Internet initiative 
will strengthen  America's technological leadership,  and create 
new jobs and new market opportunities.


     The Administration's "Next Generation Internet" initiative 
has three goals:


1    Connect universities and national labs with high-speed 
     networks that are 100 - 1000 times faster than today's 
     Internet:  These networks will connect at least 100 
     universities and national labs at speeds that are 100 times 
     faster than today's Internet, and a smaller number of 
     institutions at speeds that are 1,000 times faster.  These 
     networks will eventually be able to transmit the contents of 

     the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in under a second.

2.   Promote experimentation with the next generation of 
     networking technologies:  For example, technologies are 
     emerging that could dramatically increase the capabilities 
     of the Internet to handle real-time services such as high 
     quality video-conferencing.  There are a variety of research 
     challenges associated with increasing the number of Internet 
     users by a factor of 100 that this initiative will help 
     address.  By serving as "testbeds", research networks can 
     help accelerate the introduction of new commercial services.


3.   Demonstrate new applications that meet important national 
     goals and missions:  Higher-speed, more advanced networks 
     will enable a new generation of applications that support 
     scientific research, national security, distance education, 
     environmental monitoring, and health care.  Below are just a 
     few of the potential applications:


     Health care:  Doctors at university medical centers will use 
     large archives of radiology images to identify the patterns 
     and features associated with particular diseases.  With 
     remote access to supercomputers, they will also be able to 
     improve the accuracy of mammographies by detecting subtle 
     changes in three-dimensional images.


     National Security:  A top priority for the Defense 
     Department is "dominant battlefield awareness," which will 
     give the United States military a significant advantage in 
     any armed conflict.   This requires an ability to collect 
     information from large numbers of high-resolution sensors, 
     automatic processing of the data to support terrain and 
     target recognition, and real-time distribution of that data 
     to the warfighter.  This will require orders of magnitude 
     more bandwidth than is currently commercially available.
     
     Distance Education:  Universities are now experimenting with 
     technologies such as two-way video to remote sites, VCR-like 
     replay of past classes, modeling and simulation, 
     collaborative environments, and online access to 
     instructional software.  Distance education will improve the 
     ability of universities to serve working Americans who want 
     new skills, but who cannot attend a class at a fixed time 
     during the week.


     Energy Research:  Scientists and engineers across the 
     country will be able to work with each other and access 
     remote scientific facilities, as if they were in the same 
     building.  "Collaboratories" that combine 
     video-conferencing, shared virtual work spaces, networked 
     scientific facilities, and databases will increase the 
     efficiency and effectiveness of our national research 

     enterprise.


     Biomedical Research:  Researchers will be able to solve 
     problems in large-scale DNA sequencing and gene 
     identification that were previously impossible, opening the 
     door to breakthroughs in curing human genetic diseases.


     Environmental Monitoring:  Researchers are constructing a 
     "virtual world" to model the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, which 
     serves as a nursery area for many commercially important 
     species. 
     Manufacturing engineering:  Virtual reality and modeling and 
     simulation can dramatically reduce the time required to 
     develop new products.


     Funding:  The Administration will fund this initiative by 
allocating $100 million for R&D and research networks to develop 
the Next Generation Internet.  This increase in FY98 funding will 
be offset by a reallocation of defense and domestic technology 
funds.   As with previous networking initiatives, the 
Administration will work to ensure that this federal investment 
will serve as a catalyst for additional investment by 
universities and the private sector.


     Implementation:  The principal agencies involved in this 
initiative are the National Science Foundation, the Defense 
Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Energy,  
NASA, and the National Institutes of Health.  Other agencies may 
be involved in promoting specific applications related to their 
missions.