INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE TASK FORCE (IITF)
            TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY COMMITTEE

Mega-Project III:  Privacy, Security and Intellectual Property


Summary of Activities and Workplan:

    Released Notice of Inquiry on telecommunications and privacy
    issues in February (NTIA)

    Review draft changes to legislation that relate to            
    definitions of reliability and various services and systems,  
    and recommend action

    Receive briefings from the Federal Communications
    Commission, National Institute of Science and Technology,
    National Security Agency, and National Communications
    System regarding reliability, threats, vulnerabilities, and   
    new technology

 
       INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE TASK FORCE (IITF)
         COMMITTEE ON APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY

Mega-Project I:  NII Vision and Goals Driven by Applications


Summary of Activities and Workplan:

NII Applications Vision

     To develop a vision of what national aspirations for NII     
     applications can be achieved, the committee has completed a
     final draft of an Application Paper in each of its focus     
     application arenas:  Health Care, Manufacturing,  Education,
     Libraries, Environmental Monitoring, Electronic Commerce,    
     and Government Services.  These papers describe a national   
     vision for the NII in each of the arenas, summarize current
     private and public activities in each application arena, and
     provide short- and long-term objectives for achieving each   
     vision. The collection of papers provides the opportunity    
     for understanding how the NII will be used throughout the    
     nation.  During their April 12 meeting, the IITF approved    
     the Committees request to release these papers to the  NII   
     Advisory Council, and to the public for comment.  After      
     undergoing final editing, the completed report will be       
     released for public discussion in early May.  

     The committee is beginning follow-on phases of the NII       
     Applications Papers by choosing other application arenas to
     address, and requesting authors to develop Application       
     Papers in these arenas.  The next collection of papers could
     include such topics as:  entertainment, arts and culture,    
     demand-side management of electrical power, the NII
     and Americans with disabilities, environmental management    
     and protection, transportation, telecommuting, and others.

Government Information Technology Services Working Group (GITS
WG):   

     The GITS WG is responsible for implementation of the
     recommendations in the National Performance Review           
     Accompanying Report, "Reengineering Through Information      
     Technology."  They are focusing on the Major Functional      
     Areas defined in the NPR:  providing IT leadership,          
     implementing electronic government, supporting electronic    
     government.


Technology Policy Working Group (TPWG): 

     The TPWG formed three subgroups:  NII Technology Roadmap,    
     NII Services Architecture, Advanced Digital Video and the    
     NII, and the Standards Process. 

       o  The NII Technology Roadmap subgroup will identify the   
          steps required to transform the NII Vision into an      
          operating infrastructure, and develop                   
          processes/mechanisms to facilitate implementation of    
          these steps.

       o  The NII Services Architecture subgroup will address     
          such issues as:  identifying a services architecture    
          definition, determining essential services and          
          interfaces, etc.

       o  The Advanced Digital Video and the NII will define a    
          vision of the role of digital video within the NII;     
          identify the architectural, scaling, and performance    
          issues in realizing this vision, and recommend the      
          research, experiments and steps to be  taken to
          resolve these issues.  The TPWG, in cooperation with    
          the National Institute of Standards and Technology      
          (NIST,) the Electronics Industries Association,         
          IEEE-USA, the Society of Motion Picture and Television  
          Engineers, the Advanced Television Systems Committee,   
          and the Cross Industry Working Team, will sponsor a     
          workshop on Digital Video and the NII on May 10-11. 

       o  The Standards Process subgroup provides a forum for
          addressing standards issues that cut across all of the  
          IITF activities.  The subgroup will examine the         
          appropriateness of national standards and mandates in   
          light of a rapidly changing environment and a           
          potentially strengthened use of a commercial            
          off-the-shelf strategy.  The subgroup will recommend    
          changes to existing processes and identify key          
          interoperability interfaces.  There will be a workshop  
          on Standards and the NII on June 15-16 at NIST,         
          co-sponsored by NIST, the Harvard Kennedy
          School, and the TPWG.

Health Information and Application Working Group (HIA WG):  

     The HIA Working Group was recently established to address    
     issues related to the use of NII in health care application. 
     The HIA WG is still finalizing their workplan.