The Committee recognizes the private sector's ability to deliver cost-effective services in a competitive environment, but assumes that in such a venture, firms would expect to recover all costs plus a profit from later usage fees. Another form of private funding, not mentioned in the report, but practiced in a limited way by some states, involves cost-avoidance. That difference is enough to cover the Commission's cost for using the network. Today, the few small-scale systems in operation are a far cry from what many government visionaries believed would be possible by 1995. Recognizing the slow growth in government kiosk services, the Interagency Kiosk Committee cautions that a national kiosk network will not be created overnight.
Technology is dynamic and kiosk applications are still in their infancy.
But with the federal government finally pushing the idea forward, and with more state and local governments developing innovative ideas for multimedia services, the future for government kiosks looks bright. 65 percent see kiosks as the way to make services immediately available to the public. By 1997, that number is expected to increase more than 500 percent to 500,000. How Optimum Number of 10,000 kiosks was calculated. The proposed new kiosk network will provide information and services from many levels of government, and will be located in public places.