An intellectual utility for science and technology: The national research and education network

Abstract

This article will provide a brief overview of the primary computer network structures serving the U.S. academic research community. Plans for transforming the Internet into a National Research and Education Network are moving forward under the leadership of the National Science Foundation and the Federal Research Internet Coordinating Committee. The article outlines the scope of computational and information resources likely to be available to users through the national network, and highlights the role envisioned for the network in facilitating effective remote interaction by researchers with colleagues, scientific instruments, and data. When fully implemented, the national network can serve both as a powerful utility that extends the capabilities of scholars, scientists, and engineers, and as a testbed for an electronic information infrastructure available to every home, office and factory in the United States in the 21st century.