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]>. __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]