From: Adam Shostack <adam@bwh.harvard.edu>
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 94 09:40:47 PDT
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Subject: FEDGOVT> OTA Report - Electronic Commerce - via ftp (fwd)
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Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 13:46:55 CDT
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.govdoc-l
From: "Dexter, Martha (Dir.,Info/Pub)" <mdexter@ops.ota.gov>
Subject: OTA Report on Electronic Commerce
 
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
May 26, 1994
 
OTA EXAMINES FUTURE ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
 
   Lawmakers and businessmen at the turn of the century reacted
only after new technologies had restructured their society.
However, citizens today have an opportunity to comprehend and
prepare for the radical changes taking place as the concept of a
National Information Infrastructure (NII) moves from vision to
reality, says the congressional Office of Technology Assessment
(OTA).
 
   The Clinton Administration announced in September 1993 an
initiative to promote the development of  NII ... "that would
create a seamless web of communications networks, computers,
databases, and consumer electronics that will put vast amounts of
information at users' fingertips.  ...[That] can help unleash an
information revolution that will change forever the way people
live, work, and interact with each other."
 
   The initiative relies on the private sector to innovate and
aggressively pursue the deployment of these technologies.  But
certain problems in the deployment of the NII will persist that
only the government can address, says OTA.
 
   In testimony today before the House Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, OTA released the findings of its Report
Electronic Enterprises: Looking to the Future.  In the Report,
OTA takes a strategic look at the development of electronic
commerce, and outlines the characteristics of the infrastructure
that must support it.
 
   To support U.S. businesses and to ensure a competitive
economic playing field, the information infrastructure will need
to be flexible and open, seamless and interoperable  and evenly
and broadly deployed, says OTA.  The Report lays out a number of
government strategies to promote a network architecture that
meets these requirements.
 
   The US is in the midst of a transition created in part by
advances in communication and information technologies.  These
developments are radically altering the US economy and changing
the way that business is conducted, says OTA.  Markets are
expanding globally; business organizations are streamlining; what
we normally think of as a firm is becoming blurred; some worker
skills are becoming obsolete requiring worker retraining;and
production is being carried out "just-in-time" on a flexible
schedule, rather than being mass-produced.  These changes are
fundamental and far-reaching.
 
   OTA emphasizes that in an electronically networked economy,
the design and underlying architecture of the global information
infrastructure will have a major impact on national economic
growth and development.  If American businesses are to benefit
fully from electronic commerce, says OTA, not only technology but
also social and economic factors that govern the use of
networking technologies need adequate attention in designing
infrastructure policy.
 
   To address these factors, the government will need to look
beyond the traditional role of "regulator," and consider the full
range of strategies that it might pursue, says OTA.  In its other
various roles as broker, promoter, educator, and institution-
builder, the government must establish the rules of the game and
the incentive structure that will help determine private sector
choices.  As regulator, government will need to ensure that
electronic markets are evenly deployed, open, and accessible on
an equitable basis.
 
   Whether in work relationships within a firm, competition in
the marketplace, or trading relations among nations, having
access to information and the ability to use it strategically
will be the keys to success or failure.  What is different today,
OTA points out, is the extent to which knowledge is now embedded
in information and communication technologies.  As a result,
choices about the design, architecture and structure, or the
rules and regulations of network technologies will be
irreversible in the short- to medium-term.
 
   Requesters for the study are the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology.
 
   Copies of the 190-page Report Electronic Enterprises:
Looking to the Future will be available in about three weeks from
the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
and from the National Technical Information Service. To inquire
about availability, call OTA at (202) 224-8996 or e-mail
pubsrequest@ota.gov. For copies for congressional use, please
call (202) 224-9241.  A 4-page Summary and testimony delivered at
the hearing are available electronically.  (The Report will be
available electronically in about a week.)  To download via ftp
from OTA, use the following procedures: ftp to otabbs.ota.gov
(152.63.20.13). Login as anonymous.  Password is your e-mail
address.  File is in the directory /pub/elenter.
 
 OTA is a nonpartisan analytical agency that serves the U.S
Congress.  Its purpose is to aid Congress in the complex and
often highly technical issues that increasingly affect our
society.
 
Martha Dexter                           mdexter@ota.gov
Director, Information Management        (202) 228-6233
Office of Technology Assessment         fax: (202) 228-6098
U.S. Congress
Washington, DC  20510