College/University Roles in the Transition to an Information Age Society Copyright CAUSE 1994. This paper was presented at the 1993 CAUSE Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, December 7-10, and is part of the conference proceedings published by CAUSE. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, that the CAUSE copyright notice and the title and authors of the publication and its date appear, and that notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information technology in higher education. To copy or disseminate otherwise, or to republish in any form, requires written permission from CAUSE. For further information: CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301; 303449-4430; e-mail info@cause.colorado.edu Some College/University Roles in the Transition to an Information Age Society Charles R. Blunt Associate Vice Chancellor Information Technology Systems The State University of New York Central Administration Albany, New York Abstract New York State, like most states, is reeling from the on-going effects of national (and global) changes. Major businesses are still "rightsizing," some military bases are scaling back or closing their facilities, defense-oriented industries are seeking new applications of their product or service capacity, rural sections of the state are continuing to lose agriculture and heavy manufacturing as a base of employment. In this period of transition, the public sector (e.g., state and local government, education, health and social services) is doubly confronted with a diminished tax revenue and an increased need to supply services. The State University of New York (SUNY) is now focusing on how it can help meet state needs. In one facet of this effort, SUNY has spearheaded an assessment of information technology and telecommunications as a facilitating vehicle to "re-engineer" the public sector in the Information Age. In December 1992, a task force from government and education produced a report that outlined a vision and a strategy in which the educational community of the state could be "anchor tenants" of "open" community networks that could be linked together across the state and with the envisioned "super digital highway" across the nation, the National Research and Education Network (NREN). This vision and strategy was carried forward as the starting point for the Public Sector Task Force of the Governor's "Blue Ribbon" Telecommunications Exchange, a group of key leaders drawn from both the public and private sector to examine the state's telecommunications and recommend directions for its development. This paper summarizes these efforts from the viewpoint of higher education. It outlines some roles that we can play in creating the National Information Infrastructure, and it outlines briefly some pilot projects now underway in New York to apply advanced telecommunications in telemedicine, distance learning, library access, and the creation of community networks to promote improved access to the public sector of the state. Some College/University Roles in the Transition to an Information Age Society Introduction Over the past six years, SUNY has been an active participant in establishing and furthering the development of a state-level organization of public officials concerned with information management, policy, and technology. At this time, some 65 units of state government (including virtually all the executive agencies and statewide public authorities, the court system, the State University, and both houses of the Legislature) are represented in the New York State Forum for Information Resource Management (the Forum). In May 1991, at the request of New York State's Division of the Budget, the Forum formed a Telecommunications Task Force to examine the strategic role of telecommunications for the state. It was my distinct privilege to chair that task force effort and present our findings in a report published December 1992.[1] We believe this effort aligned well with other assessment initiatives to prompt Governor Mario M. Cuomo to deliver the following points in his 1993 "State-of-the-State" address: * To make sure we are prepared to seize the opportunities presented by telecommunications technology, I established a Telecommunications Exchange ... bringing policymakers together with industry, users, and other interested groups ... to develop ... a comprehensive State strategy for telecommunications. * I will ask the Board of Regents, the State University, and other appropriate agencies to develop and implement an integrated statewide telecommunications system that will extend advanced voice, video, and data networking capabilities to every student, teacher, researcher, and librarian in the State. [This initiative included the development of] ... a capital financing plan ... to enable public and private schools, colleges, universities throughout New York to develop on-campus networks to allow students, faculty, and researchers to benefit from advances in telecommunications, high-performance computing, and networking. * As State and local government push to make gains in quality and efficiency, they are just as hungry as the private sector for the benefits of modern technology ... To make sure New York continues to lead in this field, we will set up a Center for Technology in Government to pursue creative new ways of applying technologies directly to practical problems of information management and service delivery in the public sector -- focusing on increasing productivity, reducing costs, increasing coordination, and enhancing the quality of government operations and public services. The state did establish the Center for Technology in Government at the State University Center at Albany. The remaining initiatives cited in the Governor's address have been folded into the activities of the Telecommunications Exchange.[2] The "Task Force on Public Sector Applications" was co-chaired by Robert B. Adams, the NYS Commissioner of General Services, and D. Bruce Johnstone, Chancellor of the State University. Task Force members were the NYS Commissioner of Education, the Deputy Commissioner of New York City Public Schools, and the Executive Director of the NYS Association of Counties. I was pleased to serve as their chief staff resource and the Forum's report was adopted as the starting point of our deliberations. This paper summarizes the key findings of these studies, some of the major recommendations, and highlights the rationale for the proposed strategy to create New York's infrastructure for the 21st Century.[3] We believe that the state's recommended program of telecommunications development can further the Clinton/Gore Administration's action agenda for advancing the National Information Infrastructure. Most important, it is vital to recognize that the public sector is both a beneficiary of and an instrument for this development strategy. Statement of the Problem In Governor Cuomo's prior (1992) State-of-the-State presentation, one of the major concerns was that: "... more and more Americans are losing their place in the income- earning, and therefore, tax-generating - sector of our population. Instead, they must rely on Government for support." This address cited the problems of growing unemployment, that more people are without health benefits, and that more families live in poverty than ever before in our history. As we approach 1994, the national trend has placed even more families under the poverty rate; unemployment and underemployment continues; with a new phenomenon ... the "disposable worker" now on the scene. Major industries are still "down-sizing," some military installations are being eliminated, and many of the defense-related industries need to shift to new avenues of work. In rural areas of the Great Lake states, agriculture continues in its decade-long decline; many heavy industries are scaling back production or entirely closing down, creating pockets of unemployment, declining public school systems and health services. The Forum's report had asserted that - New York is now facing one of the most difficult challenges in decades. The fundamental problems do not stem from a transient economic downturn ... The nation, itself, is griped in a shift in global economics, resource uses, environmental concerns, and cultural changes. While business and industries are "re- engineering" themselves to become more competitive and profitable in this new age, government will be severely stressed during this period of transition. As corporations "downsize" and people lose their jobs (or fail to find appropriate work for their level of experience and education), the public sector needs to increase: * citizen's access to education, training, health care, food and shelter, * support for business start up and development, * maintenance of infrastructure to attract new industries while it tightens its belt to reduce the tax burden on the people and corporations in transition. With few exceptions, this challenge is beyond the labor intensive efforts of existing public sector operations unless profound changes can be made in how these services can be provided. (p.3) Fortunately, one of the root causes in the economic shifts taking place may also provide the opportunity for the public sector to re-engineer itself and meet these challenges of the 21st Century. Over the past 30 years there has occurred a dramatic convergence in computing and communications technologies. These advances have entirely changed the way information can be generated, collected, analyzed, and utilized. The "information revolution" has opened global financial trading, revolutionized modern university research, transformed manufacturing with computer-aided design and plant processes, and, in general, is touching every business and industry throughout the world. These same technologies have direct application to the information-intensive activities of education, health care, and government. It may be plausible to collect and preserve vital information electronically and share both the information and information resources (specialized hardware, software, and staff) between and among state and local government, secondary and higher education, and between the public and private sector to reduce costs of operations and increase the quality and timeliness of the results. While the academic community may take some pride as "pioneers" in advancing the Internet as an "open digital highway" across our campuses, it is evident that we are no longer the only participants in shaping the new electronic frontier. The "commercial internet" is now growing at a higher rate than the NSFNET/Regional Internet. There are almost daily newspaper headlines featuring yet another announcement of corporate mergers and acquisitions (such as the U.S. West investment in Time-Warner, AT&T's intended purchase of McCaw Cellular, NYNEX bidding for Paramount, and the Bell Atlantic announced $30 billion acquisition of Tele-Communications Inc. and Liberty Media). The Fall CAUSE/EFFECT Current Issues article noted that there are "... profound opportunities ... to harness information technology for the benefits of society, [but] ... history reminds us that technical innovation and market forces alone may not unlock this potential fully for the public good."[4] A major issue will be to find an appropriate balance between the need to stimulate the "Information Marketplace" to create jobs and new business opportunities, with the evident need to bring the fruits of these technological innovations to the benefits of all sectors of our society. Conclusions of The "Telecommunications Exchange and the Public Sector Task Force" The major conclusion of the Governor's Telecommunications Exchange is that the state must move from a framework of telecommunications based on a regulated monopoly to one stimulating competition and innovation in the private sector. The critical centerpiece of a competitive telecommunications environment will be to foster an open "network of networks" in which any provider can participate and through which end users can seamlessly and transparently access or move any information (audio and visual) any place. Government, however, must remain an active participant in this transition to both stimulate and guide the process when necessary and to ensure that the results benefit all sectors and communities of the state. The Clinton Administration is now also pressing forward with a program plan to stimulate the private sector's investments to create a "Network of Networks" as the underpinnings for a National Information Infrastructure. The shifting policies at the federal level are not only evident in activities of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but now encompass programs (particularly in the area of health care, education, and access to government information and services). It is most likely that the National Information Infrastructure will be built on existing local, "community networking infrastructures" (e.g., local telephone systems, cable TV, cellular outlets, and alternative metropolitan networking providers). Thus the national program must be built on state efforts to accelerate their internal telecommunications infrastructure against global networking standards. The telecommunications report to the Governor will not only set the direction, but can give the Governor the direct means for accomplishing the objective. State government and higher education are not only major beneficiaries of advanced telecommunications, they can be the state's prime instrument for developing its infrastructure for the 21st Century. The public sector of New York, by design, is located in every community of the state. As a workforce, it is also the single largest employer in the state.[5] State government and higher education, alone, now operate major television, telephone, and data networks that span the state; touching every local telephone exchange, many of the franchised cable TV outlets, and most of the national telecommunications providers. By focusing the programs of the public sector, that now use (or could benefit from) advanced telecommunications, New York would create an enormous market potential to accelerate the roll out of the private sector's investment in modern communications. Most importantly, by the state's public sector adoption of "open" networking standards6 , it also sends a dramatic signal to the vendors serving the state of our intention to move away from proprietary products and services that will not contribute to the advancement of the state's open information architecture.[7] Program It is necessary but not sufficient to only accelerate the development of new telecommunications technologies across New York. This state must be proactive in applying the emerging infrastructure to the critical needs of its citizens and industries. Qualified workers need jobs that provide adequate compensation and opportunity for growth. Industries need access to a qualified workforce, an adequate infrastructure of telecommunications, and other supporting services to enable them to compete in the dramatic shifts taken place around the world. New York needs to have more of its citizens producing (rather than receiving) benefits for communities across the state. Since people live, work, and seek much of their education, recreation, and services in communities, these geographic areas (urban, suburban and rural) are basic foundations for telecommunications initiatives. Figure 1 illustrates one view of the "networked community." In this depiction, each element (library, school, business, not-for-profit civic group, etc.) of the community can be accessed by each and every other element over an "open" communications environment. Figure 2 illustrates many of the physical communications services that can be found in communities. Today, however, the existing community networks are often separated by regulation (e.g., telephone and cable TV), technological underpinnings (printed newspapers, analog television, and digital data communications), and economics (rural areas may not be served by cable TV, cellular services, or a competitive access provider such as Teleport Communications). With the convergence of computing and communications technologies, however, all forms of communications are adopting digital standards because this form of communications is less expensive, more reliable, and allows the information to be processed (e.g., address routing, store and forwarding, packet or cell switching) for more efficient handling. Regulatory barriers are beginning to fall. Strong proposals have been made to allow full competition in the delivery of telecommunications throughout the community ... cable TV can deliver "dial tone" and the telephone company can deliver video. Even cross-ownership may be allowed between these two dominant telecommunications industries. Uniform access to advanced telecommunications for all, however, may stillbe an issue. The Clinton Administration has accepted the private sector's basic argument that they will continue to invest billions of dollars to roll out the National Information Infrastructure.[8] New York accepts this pledge from the telecommunications industries and aligns with the Administration's program calling for a "Network of Networks," where all providers can be interconnected in a new and "level playing field" that allows anything to be transmitted anywhere across any transport system. There are some key challenges to this concept to promote a "seamless" interface among disparate networks. Universal standards for all forms of communications are not fully in place. There will be a tendency for telecommunications providers to differentiate their services by developing distinctive networking capabilities. It is no small task to level a "playing field" that has been shaped by very different interests for several decades. Perhaps most important, there is no known operational network management system that can span a network, composed of such diverse transport services, to ensure that the applications are responsive and end-to-end delivery can be maintained. On the other hand, if the existing networks cannot be utilized together, then the nation faces an incredible cost to rewire itself to be competitive in the Information Age. In fact, if information is separated by distinctive networks, large users (e.g., a college campus) would have to contract with multiple network providers to access a full spectrum of information products and services. This unnecessary redundancy of transport systems would not only be expensive, but could limit (if not doom) movement towards multi-media where integration could exist at the desk-top (e.g., attach a voice message and a video clip to electronic mail and forward). To move the state's telecommunications program and enabling applications forward, the Public Sector Task Force of the Governor's Telecommunications Exchange has endorsed the Network of Networks concept and further recommends -- * Establishment of a state Office of Telecommunications, reporting directly to the Governor. This would be a small office, but the "... staffing should come from the best and the brightest in the field of telecommunications ... and have the capability to provide creative, innovative, and forward thinking policy." * Initial program priorities of the Office would include: Secondary and higher education Health care (institutions and rural medical services) Small and medium size businesses Persons with disabilities Research and development, and Transfer of R&D to current and future needs of state and local government. * Creation of three advisory councils to the Office of Telecommunications, i.e., Council of Telecommunications agencies for state and local government to address all public sector issues (e.g., education, libraries, public health, safety, etc.). Council of Small Business to address the needs of small and medium business interests across the state. Council of Telecommunications Providers to represent the telecommunications industries that serve the state. It is believed that the on-going transition into the Information Age requires a new level of focus and guidance within the state and that this organizational structure can provide a foundation to better shape the evolving infrastructure. Approach New York State government (both the executive and legislative branches) can coordinate its efforts to influence local government and other components of the public sector while it stimulates the private sector to (a) create the new Infrastructure for Telecommunications and (b) apply this emerging infrastructure to create/expand work opportunities across the state. The key to this two-prong approach lies in clearly adopting the recommendations of the Telecommunications Exchange and creating the instrument for its execution. One component of this strategy will be to examine the potential for this state to capitalize the financing of important aspects of the infrastructure that will (or should) not be developed by the private sector. This would include wiring premises (such as college campuses, libraries, classrooms) for information services. It might also include the construction of the "on and off" ramps for the public sector to access all appropriate networking services by defining a neutral link between major premises (e.g., major complexes of state and local government, correctional facilities, college campuses, school districts, etc.) and the new access points for the Network of Networks (see Figures 3 and 4). This latter initiative could produce four desirable outcomes, i.e., it: 1. allows the state to contract with any (and all) service provider(s) that meets the "interconnectivity and interoperability" standards established by the state. 2. removes the investment costs for this linkage from the rate structures of all affected providers (both present and future entries into the service market), thus not burdening the industries with the need to recover the capital costs for these access links. 3. eliminates this component of the infrastructure costs from the service fees to the public sector. This immediately lowers existing costs for telephone, data, and television usage across the public sector ... allowing government to reinvest these "savings" to apply to the new uses of the Infrastructure. This new market for telecommunications services provides the industry with income to pay for its upgrading of their infrastructure (switches, network interconnections, etc.) across New York. 4. creates a new form of access to government services and information. Since there are large concentrations of public sector units in every section of the state, this approach will allow state government and the private telecommunications industries to also identify where "long haul" stretches of the state will not have adequate markets to stimulate private investment but the state would benefit from its own investment to create improved access into these regions. Pilot Efforts Now Underway Across New York, in many communities, there are now emerging metropolitan and rural networking initiatives that support prototype and pilot efforts in Distance Learning, Telemedicine, Improved Public Safety, etc. These are independent efforts, often sponsored by different sections of the telecommunications industries that are seeking the "killer" applications to spearhead their investments for new technology. In brief, some of the numerous initiatives include: Rochester Area Interactive Telecommunications Network (RAITN) ... Initiated by Rochester Telephone Corporation, with the assistance of Rochester Institute of Technology and the New York State Education and Research Network (NYSERNet). A fiber optic network linking a number of high school districts, several Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), and higher education institutions to provide educational audio/video/data services into classrooms and into the community. INFINET 2000 (INTERACTIVE FIBER OPTICS FOR NEW EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES) Distance Learning Network ... A New York Telephone partnership with the BOCES that links six Dutchess County School Districts and BOCES together to provide diverse instructional offerings into small school districts. NYNET (The New York Network Project) ... a NYNEX trial of ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technology at 155 mbps. The present effort links the Cornell University (a Supercomputer site), Syracuse University (a parallel computing site), Rome Labs, and the University of Rochester. Some applications include -- Digital Library, Electronic Publishing, Health Care, Virtual Reality in Education, Financial Modeling, and Medical Information Processing. Comprehensive Health Information Network ... a program of the Western New York Health Sciences Consortium, consisting of hospitals, schools of medicine, research institutes, and medical centers in the urban and suburban areas of western New York linked together in an Information System Network and connected with Rural Health Cooperatives in a pilot effort to improve and extend health care through telecommunications. NYClassNet ... a New York City, NYNEX, New York Telephone, and Northern Telecom venture with the City School District and the City University of New York to link city government, schools, and higher education with broadband switched interactive video for education and teleconferencing. The New York State Learning Network ... a state government, NYNEX, New York Telephone venture with the State University of New York to link the University Center at Albany, the Hudson Valley Community College, and the SUNY Satellite network together to provide high quality interactive video/data support among remote classrooms and academic resources (e.g., libraries) as well as to increase the number of campus sites that can broadcast educational programs via satellite. Other initiatives are not pressing advanced technology, but are targeting deployment of community information networks such as the FreeNetTM.[9] Presently, there is a FreeNetTM in operation in Buffalo, with several regions of the state (e.g., Albany, Utica/Rome, the Catskill region, Ithaca) in various stages of planning/implementation. The community information network is presently based on dial-up data access to community-based information provided and maintained by volunteers. It offers bulletin boards for "posting" civic events and announcements; provides electronic mail and discussion services on topics such as health care, education, government activities, recreation, and anything else of interest that the community wants to provide to itself. While the underpinning technologies may differ, all of these innovative efforts have a number of things in common, e.g., 1. they are separate, independent initiatives that are targeting important informational needs of communities, and 2. they all use one or more of the existing community networks beyond their original goals of providing telephone or broadcast cable television services throughout the community. 3. an institution of higher education is usually an important component of the program. 4. If successful, there is no mechanism (other than market interest) to accelerate their deployment to other needy communities throughout New York. Another recommendation of the Public Sector Task Force is to create a public sector/private sector telecommunications laboratory test-bed environment to accelerate the test and evaluation of innovative uses of telecommunications under the new direction for developing an infrastructure for the 21st Century. The test-bed program would examine the interaction of policy, procedures, technology, economics, etc., to accelerate the diffusion of positive change. It would also provide a means for discovering and examining new issues that emerge from such a large scale interaction of novel systems. This would tap the state's considerable depth of research capability across the higher education community of New York. Summary New York's economic future rests in having private sector business and industries that are competitive in the world markets. This state must ensure that viable business and industries, both large and small, have access to a skilled labor pool, appropriate university technological research and development, an efficient and responsive government, and the emerging telecommunications infrastructure that can link them within this state (and across the globe) with an expanding and changing marketplace and list of suppliers. To meet this need, it has been recommended that New York -- 1. Adopt a transition strategy to move from a framework of telecommunications based on regulated monopolies to one stimulating private sector investment, competition and innovation. 2. Foster an open "network of networks" where all interested parties are able to fully participate and compete in the network fairly and without discrimination. 3. Encourage a policy of an "Open Architecture" for communications among all components of its public sector to remove incompatible technology as a barrier to sharing information and information resources when appropriate. This architecture is to improve the links among secondary and higher education, between education and employer provided training, between state and local government, and between government and the citizens and businesses that they serve. 4. Establish a Council of Telecommunications for state and local government that can examine and implement changes in applications and policy that can accelerate the development and use of this state's Open Architecture and the infrastructure for telecommunications to improve education, health care, economic development, and government operations at all levels. 5. Forge linkages with existing organizations of New York's private sector (through the other advisory councils) such as the Business Council of New York State, the New York State Telephone Association and Cable Television Association, etc., to maintain continuous lines of communications concerning the needs and opportunities of the private sector to develop and grow in New York. As the concept and architecture for New York's Network of Networks is identified, a policy study would also be made to determine how the state's investments in its own use of telecommunications and information technology could best complement the private sector's investments in providing telecommunications and information services across New York. It may be plausible for this state to bond a portion of the needed construction to accelerate private investment opportunities to reach and better serve all areas and sectors of the state. Higher education, as members of the community and a major outpost on the new electronic frontier, is well positioned to apply advanced technology and telecommunications within its own programs of research, instruction, and community service. It is also best positioned to ensure that the new settlers benefit from the positive aspects offered by our on-going transition into the Information Age. END NOTES 1 TELECOMMUNICATIONS: A Vital Infrastructure for the New New York. This report is available in the CAUSE Exchange Library (CSD-0711). 2 To complete its efforts, the Telecommunications Exchange established five task forces working in the following areas: Telecommunications-based and Related Industry Technology Diffusion Infrastructure, Technology and Investment Regulatory Options Public Sector Applications 3 As of the writing of this paper, The Governor's Telecommunications Exchange Report is still in progress. The writer will have additional information at the conference. 4 "Some Roles for Higher Education in Shaping a National Information Infrastructure," CAUSE/EFFECT, p.3, Volume 16, Number 3, Fall 1993. 5 Winokur states in the Empire State Report, October 1992, that government employs 1.[4] million workers, health and social services some 2.[3] million ... versus 1.[2] for retail trade, 1.0 for manufacturing, and 110,000 in agriculture. 6 The recommendation has been made that New York's public sector adopt the data communications protocols of the NREN. Presently this encompasses the four-layer internetworking communications architecture which includes the unique Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). 7 It is estimated that the annual "technology" purchasing power of the state and some 4,000 units of local government exceeds $1 billion annually. This figure does not include the remaining components of New York's public sector (e.g., 139 private institutions of higher education, public libraries, not-for-profit organizations, and some areas of health care). 8 "...The private sector will lead the deployment of the NII. In recent years, U.S. companies have invested more than $50 billion annually in telecommunications infrastructure...In contrast, the Administration's ambitious agenda for investment in critical NII projects...amounts to $1-2 billion annually." (p.6) The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action, September 15, 1993. 9 FreeNetTM is sponsored by the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN), begun at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, by Dr. Thomas M. Grunder. The NPTN-affiliated community information networks are provided with programs such as Academy One, aimed at providing K-12 schools (students, teachers, administrators, and parents) with "Educational Telecomputing." The NPTN also offers its affiliates with a number of information services such as electronic news (e.g., The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Times, USA Today), electronic journals and magazines (e.g., Forbes, The National Review, Insight), electronic books and documents, medical information services, software services, etc.