A new consortium with representatives from industry, academia and government has been formed to push the benefits of a US national information highway. Called the National Information Infrastructure Testbed, the new group is intended to look at the practical and technical issues behind implementing real-world applications on such a highway. The group’s first demonstration, called Earth Data Systems, is scheduled for this November, when the group intends to link nine sites across the US via a network based on Asynchronous Transfer Mode, Fibre Distributed Data Interface, and Frame Relay. The network will initially be used to compare environmental data from the different locations, but on a wider level it is hoped to give Information Infrastructure Testbed members knowledge about the accessibility of distributed information, scaling the system geographically, and integrating diverse computers, software, and communications systems. A second application, which is scheduled to be ready next year, will centre around the computerisation of patient records, while the group says that it also hopes to examine other applications covering fields including education, access to public records, manufacturing and financial services. Current members of the group include Hewlett-Packard Co, AT&T Co, the US Department of Energy, Digital Equipment Corp, Sun Microsystems Computer Corp, Network Systems Corp, Novell Inc, Sprint Corp and SynOptics Communications Inc. The group is also claiming the support of the US government, in the shape of an endorsement of its aims by President Clinton’s assistant for science and technology. The National Information Infrastructure Testbed says that membership is open to any organisation – American, that is.
