Internet II Story

Date: 15 Apr 1997 15:25:13 -0400
SCHOOLS SEEK INTERNET 2 FUNDING
By Courtney Macavinta
Full Story http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,9536,00.html?dtn.head

Internet 2 was launched last October 1996 by 34 universities, part of the Clinton administration's $100 million Internet initiative, called Next Generation Internet. http://www.hpcc.gov/ -- WAS http://www.hpcc.gov/white-house/Internet/background.html
U.S. university representatives urged Congress to cough up millions of dollars to help them build a new, speedier Net, Internet 2. It is supposed to solve problems with congestion of private academic networks, and the unreliability of the public More than 100 universities have agreed to build Internet 2, so students and faculty can have access to high-speed transmissions for voice, video, and data. Internet 2 project pledges to connect universities and laboratories to the Net at speeds 1,000 faster than what is now available
In testimony before the House Science Subcommittee on Basic Research, Pennsylvania State University president Graham Spanier pushed the government to approve funding for the project to beef up the academic community's commitment of $50 million a year to the project over the next five years. Spanier testified on behalf of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges' WAS http://www.nasulgc.nche.edu/. He chairs the organization's Commission on Information Technology. The universities will use the money to deploying a broadband backbone for participating colleges that will allow researchers to design applications like virtual laboratories, digital libraries, and teleconferencing. He tried to convince the Congressional committee that Internet 2 will not only assist scholars in organizing, storing, and passing knowledge on to students and the academic community, but that it will benefit the entire country. Spanier's testimony was endorsed by the American Association of Community Colleges, American Council on Education, American Association of State Colleges and Universities , Association of American Universities, Association of Research Libraries , Educom, and the University Continuing Education Association.
Internet 2 coordinators are not only hitting up the government: They are also courting corporate America. Cisco Systems announced today that over time it will contribute goods and services worth more than a $1 million to Internet 2. The project will also direct the development of a new application to employ the capabilities of broadband networks-media integration, both interactively and in real-time. The project will share its creations with the broader Internet community, he said.

Links:

Internet 2: http://www.internet2.edu/
House Science Sub-Committee on Basic Research http://www.house.gov/science/
Next Generation Internet: http://www.hpcc.gov/white-house/Internet/background.html
American Association of Community Colleges http://www.aacc.nche.edu/deptmnts/aaccinfo.htm
American Council on Education http://www.ACENET.edu/
American Association of State Colleges and Universities http://www.aacu-edu.org/
Association of Research Libraries http://arl.cni.org/