From: tomw@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au (Tom Worthington)
Subject: Re: Clinton first digital President?
Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 23:04:08 GMT

Due to popular demand:

Clinton first digital President?

Geoff Huston, manager of the Australian Academic Research Network, will
address the next ACS Canberra branch meeting 18 November on the topic
"AARnet today". AARnet is the Australian section of 'The Internet', a
massive global computer network used by academics and researchers.

The ACS meeting is Wednesday 18 November, 7:30pm for 8:00pm at the
Canberra Worker's Club. Everybody welcome.

Mr. Worthington, chairman of the Canberra Branch of the ACS, who will be
introducing Mr. Huston, said today:

"AARnet and the Internet have been very much in the news lately.

The Commonwealth Government is still attempting to work out how to spend
$13M, allocated in the last budget for networking research. The intention
apparently was to spend the money on upgrading AARnet, but it appears to
be stuck in red tape at the Office of the Chief Scientist. AARnet is a
very effective and popular tool for Australian researchers, but is
rumoured to be close to overload.

President-Elect Bill Clinton's technology policy was distributed worldwide
in the last few days using the Internet. He has proposed building a '21st
Century Technology Infrastructure' with The Internet at its core. It will
be interesting to see if Australian politicians can match this breadth of
vision in the next election. Governor Clinton made extensive use of
computer networks as part of the campaign. In the past the USA had 'TV
Presidents'. Perhaps they have the first 'digital President'."


Excerpt from President-Elect Bill Clinton's technology policy:

"A 21st century infrastructure would address many practical problems. For
example, the government can serve as a catalyst for the private sector
development of an advanced national communications network, which would
help companies collaborate on research and design for advanced
manufacturing; allow doctors across the country to access leading medical
expertise; put immense educational resources at the fingertips of American
teachers and students; open new avenues for disabled people to do things
they can't do today; provide technical information to small businesses;
and make telecommuting much easier. Such a network could do for the
productivity of individuals at their places of work and learning what the
interstate highway of the 1950s did for the productivity of the nation's
travel and distribution system."


ABOUT THE ACS:

The Australian Computer Society is the professional association in
Australia for those in the computing and information technology fields. It
was established in 1966. The Society has over 14,000 members and on a per
capita basis is one of the largest computer societies in the world. The
mission of the Society is advancing professional excellence in information
technology.


Tom Worthington MACS PCP
Chairman
THE CANBERRA BRANCH OF 
THE AUSTRALIAN COMPUTER SOCIETY INCORPORATED
G.P.O. Box 446
Canberra A.C.T. 2601
Australia

Ph: +61 6 247 4830 (ACS Office)
Fax: +61 6 249 6419 

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