FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:             G 94-83
Sept. 7, 1994

Contact:  Anne Enright Shepherd    BROWN RELEASES REPORT
          (301) 975-4858           EXPLORING HOW INFORMATION
                                   INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCES
                                   QUALITY OF LIFE

     Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown today released a report 
that discusses the vast potential impact and improvement
information technology can have on the quality of American life.

    The report, The Information Infrastructure: Reaching
Society's Goals, was released at the "Breaking the Barriers to
the National Information Infrastructure" conference in
Washington, D.C.

     "Effectively using sophisticated communications networks and
information technology can make a difference not just in how
people work, but in how well they live," said Brown, chairman of
the Clinton administration's Information Infrastructure Task
Force, which co-sponsored the conference with the Council on
Competitiveness.

     The report is a collection of eight papers, each of which
explores the benefits for a particular application area.  The
papers help define a national vision for how advanced
communications and computing technologies can:

*    enable people with disabilities to achieve full citizenship
     in our society;

*    improve the production, consumption and management of
     electric power;

*    increase the safety and efficiency of our transportation
     system;

*    allow greater flexibility and worker satisfaction through
     telecommuting;

*    save lives and property in times of large-scale emergencies
     and natural disasters;

*    empower citizen action to maintain a clean environment;

*    ensure that non-profit cultural institutions maintain their
     position on the front lines of popular creativity and
     expression; and

*    further educate and better inform both citizens and the
     agencies they rely upon to maintain public safety.

     Each paper also highlights current activities that can help
make the benefits a reality, details obstacles that stand in the
way of success and poses questions designed to promote an
interactive dialogue on how to remove or reduce these obstacles.

     The IITF's Committee on Applications and Technology, chaired
by Arati Prabhakar, director of the Commerce Department's
National Institute of Standards and Technology, prepared today's
report as part of its efforts to promote applications of
information technology and accelerate implementation of the
National Information Infrastructure.

     This second set of application papers is published as a
draft for public comment to promote discussions between citizens
and their government on how information technology can enhance
the quality of life.  The first report, Putting the Information
Infrastructure to Work, released in May, generated responses from
educators, health care professionals, researchers and others
interested in helping to shape an advanced information
infrastructure.  Comments on today's report are due back by
Jan. 15, 1995.

     To get a copy of the report, order NIST Special Publication
868 from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, (202) 783-3238 or from
the National Technical Information Service, at Springfield, Va.
22161, (703) 487-4650.  The document is also available
electronically on the Information Infrastructure Task Force
Information Server by World Wide Web, gopher, telnet (login -
gopher) or anonymous ftp to iitf.doc.gov (via Internet).  The
document can be found in the "documents/papers" subcategory of
the "speeches/testimony/documents" category. 

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