From: tomw@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au (Tom Worthington)
Subject: Vision for a Networked Society
Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 05:18:45 GMT

From the ACS Canberra Branch, December Newsletter:

Farewell Chairman's Column

It seems to be the done thing for every retiring office holder to make
some visionary statement. The one disappointment of my term as ACS
chairman has been that I have not improved electronic access for members.
I seek your assistance to make this happen.

Since first joining the ACS I have looked at various electronic networks
which could be used by members. The first I looked at was Viatel (do you
remember Viatel?).

My latest attempts in this area have centred on the "Internet". As
mentioned in previous columns, this is a global computer network used by
academics and researchers. I use the Internet daily to correspond with IT
people around Australia and the world.

The Internet has become an indispensable aid to both ACS activities and my
work. Access is by courtesy of an ACT University and it is a matter of
intense frustration that there is no easy and inexpensive way for others
to have similar access.

You may have read reports of $13M allocated by the Commonwealth Government
for upgrading the Australian Academic Research network (AARnet). AARnet is
the Australian segment of the Internet. The AARnet manager, Geoff Huston,
addressed the November ACS meeting on the future of AARnet.

Networking a matter of economic survival for Australia

With the election of Bill Clinton as US President, this search for
accessible networking has ceased to be just an exercise in how to connect
a few IT enthusiasts together. It has now become a matter of national
economic survival.

USA President-elect Clinton has, as part of his platform, proposed a
massive national US computer network. This will be used as the keystone of
an aggressive expansion in research, industry and education. The network
technology will be based on the Internet.

AARnet is one of the most efficiently run and innovative segments of the
global Internet. We can capitalise on the Australian expertise in the
AARnet to invest in the technology for commercial purposes. With a little
effort we can beat the USA to the economic benefits of Internet
technology. Alternatively we can follow the current path and have our
economy crippled for the next decade.

"Telephone Company" approach a failure

When compared with the AARnet, all Australian electronic mail bureaus are
dismal failures. Australian industry is loosing international competitive
advantage, through the lack of efficient network services.

Companies operating network services in Australia have taken a narrow 
"Telephone Company" approach. These companies fail to realise that
computer networks are not adjuncts to the telephone service. The AARnet
offers a new vision of how to run an efficient public computer network
service.

AARnet manager talks to his workstation

Recently I dropped in to visit Geoff Huston, at the AARnet office and
found him talking to his workstation. An experimental application provides
voice and video conferences over the Internet. Geoff can be in continual
contact with his counterparts around the world.

With this technology voice (telephone) communications can be viewed as an
adjunct to computer networking. How much does this cost? Modern computer
networks and workstations have the capability to handle voice now, at no
extra cost. This needs to be communicated to our telecommunications
industry executives, before their companies cease to exist.

The hi-tech test

I refuse to be an IT professional who talks hi-tech but works low tech.
One of the criteria useful in judging IT companies is their public network
access. Don't bother trying to sell me an e-mail product, if you don't
have public e-mail access. Australian companies which talk hi-tech, but
only work low tech, have little credibility and deserve to go out of
business.

Government agencies, which claim to have a role in promoting Australian
hi-tech industry, must also do more than talk. There are several
government agencies, which are making policy on information technology,
but have not bothered to get a public e-mail connection. How can they make
credible IT policy, when they don't use the most basic of that technology?

The choice: network future or economic failure

There are significant challenges to a network future. We need easier to
use network products. We need two-way gateways between new and older
technologies, such as facsimile. We need products and services useable by
the general population, not just by IT professionals. We need them NOW.

For individuals, organisations and countries which accept the network
challenge, there will be great rewards. For those who do not, there will
be economic hardship. As IT professionals we have an obligation to
communicate this clear choice to the Australian community, to industry and
to our politicians.


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. 

PS:

This will be my last chairman's column, but not the last time you will
hear from me. At the start of next year I will take over from Roger Clarke
as Director of the National ACS Community Affairs Board. Roger will
continue his work as board member on privacy issues.


Tom Worthington
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
Fax: +61 6 249 6419 
E-Mail: tomw@adfa.oz.au
17 December 1992