Questions relating to NGI and Internet 2
Public Statement by Richard I. Martinez, Ph.D. to the Presidential Advisory Committee

 

Richard I. Martinez, Ph.D.
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

 

I'm here as a private citizen, with no credentials in computer science.

 

Discussions today clarified the relationships among NGI, Internet2, and Nationwide deployment of high bandwidth end-to-end connectivity for all Americans.

 

I have 6 interrelated questions. Your responses will provide me a reality check.

 

  1. What Action Steps would need to be implemented *IMMEDIATELY* to accomplish 100% connectivity across the United States by 2001 -- including every rural and urban school, home, and business?

 

  1. What would it take to implement -- by 2001 -- *SUFFICIENTLY* high bandwidth end-to-end connectivity to *ADEQUATELY* perform *ONLINE* our essential functions of industry, education, and self-governance?

 

  1. By analogy with our "Moon Shot", and in the Spirit of our Pledge of Allegiance, what would it take to initiate an Accelerated Massively Parallel (AMP) R&D program to accomplish these tasks by 2001 (approximately 14 "net-years" from today)?

 

  1. In the context of such an AMP R&D program, what would it take to foster a Grand Alliance among all levels of Industry, Education, and Government -- local, state, and federal -- to pool and/or leverage their Human Capital and other physical and fiscal resources to accomplish these tasks by 2001?

 

  1. Do we as a Nation need to do any of these tasks to safeguard our National Security by advancing the competitiveness of each and every American for the 21st Century and beyond?

    With reference to our "Moon Shot", President Kennedy said that "...no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race...", and also that "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

 

  1. So finally, in the context of Doug Engelbart's Bootstrap Alliance (http://www.bootstrap.org/) and the transnational 21st Century Learning Initiative (http://www.21learn.org/), what would it take for all Americans to once again work in National synchrony -- as "One Nation under God, Indivisible" -- to create a uniquely American "Symphony" wherein our uniquely diverse People co-create the tools and resources essential to Boost America's Collective IQ for the 21st Century and Beyond by "Shooting for the Moon" TODAY for all of America's children and our children's children ("America's Workforce of Tomorrow")?

 

Thank you for your consideration.