Forwarded from the NINCH list.

>>> NINCH-ANNOUNCE <[log in to unmask]> 04/10/01 03:15PM >>>
NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
News on Networking Cultural Heritage Resources
from across the Community
April 10, 2001




     Century Foundation Proposal for Digital Opportunity Investment Trust
                       $18 billion from spectrum auction
            "An Electronic Land Grant" for the Information Age.
              http://www.digitalpromise.org/pressrelease1.asp 


[From Digital Promise website:]

For Immediate Release
Contact: Mike Collins

(202) 383-9700


GROUPS URGE A "DIGITAL GIFT" TO THE NATION
Report Calls for an Electronic Land-Grant Act for Our Time

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2001 - A broad-based coalition of 
educators, library, museum, science and arts officials, and leaders 
of top information technology companies today urged the creation of a 
"Digital Gift" to the nation that would fulfill the broad educational 
promise of the Internet and other digital technologies. The 
recommendation was made in a new report, "A Digital Gift to the 
Nation," a project of The Century Foundation that was sponsored by 
five major foundations.

The report by Newton N. Minow and Lawrence K. Grossman likens the 
proposal to the Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862, which set aside 
public lands to create a world-class system of 105 universities 
across the nation. The proposal would create the Digital Opportunity 
Investment Trust (DO IT), funded with $18 billion from the auction of 
the publicly owned electromagnetic spectrum, today's equivalent of 
public land - "an electronic land grant" for the Information Age.

"The Trust would serve as a venture capital fund for our nation's 
nonprofit educational and public service institutions," the report 
said of the Trust, which would be administered on the model of the 
National Science Foundation. "It would be dedicated to innovation, 
experimentation, and research in utilizing new telecommunications 
technologies across the widest possible range of public purposes."

The Trust would spur the development of innovative educational 
prototypes and models through the digital transformation of archives, 
training materials, online courses, civic information, and quality 
arts and cultural programs.

"The nooks and crannies of our libraries, museums and other 
non-profits hold cultural and educational treasures, yet these 
treasures stay locked tight," said Grossman, former president of NBC 
News and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). "A Digital Trust would find innovative ways to unlock these treasures for every American. It will make the convergence of the Internet, television and other telecommunications technologies better than any of them individually."

Minow, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and PBS, added: "The Trust would spur innovative uses of 
telecommunications and information technology for education to make 
available the marvels of our libraries, colleges and museums to every 
home, school and workplace. It is time to dream big dreams about our 
digital future and the needs of our knowledge-based economy."

Grossman said that the wiring of America is a monumental achievement. 
"Now is the time to connect those wires to content worthy of the 
technology," he added. "We have a window of opportunity to put our 
remarkable Internet, wireless and information technologies to their 
highest and best use for every American."

Among those endorsing the proposal are James H. Billington, Librarian 
of Congress; Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on 
Education; Sheila P. Burke, undersecretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution; Eamon M. Kelly, chair of the National Science 
Foundation; Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American 
Scientists; Dr. Robert N. Butler, president of the International 
Longevity Center; Robert Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts; 
and Martin Gomez, executive director of the Brooklyn Public Library.

Executives of information technology companies also endorsed the 
report, including Eric Schmidt, chairman of Novell; Meg Whitman, 
president and CEO of eBay and Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO of 
RealNetworks.

The Digital Promise Project was supported by the Carnegie Corporation 
of New York, The Century Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Open Society Institute. The report and 17 background papers are all available on a new Web site, www.digitalpromise.org.

# # #

For the Report, see http://www.digitalpromise.org/report.asp 

For more information about the project contact the Century Foundation 
at 212/535-4441 or <mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

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