[ba-ohs-talk] Hyperscope Launch Plan & The Digital Promise Project: A Digital Gift to the Nation
I found and read an interesting article published in the Carnegie
Reporter (Fall 2001) posted on EECS bulletin boards at UC Berkeley that
let me to: (01)
The Digital Promise Project
c/o The Century Foundation
41 East 70th St.
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 535-4441
Fax: (212) 535-7534
E-mail: < digitalpromise@tcf.org > (02)
Using part of the proceeds derived from the sale of wireless frequencies
in the electromagnetic spectrum to underwrite the development of new
content is long overdue and is an idea whose time has certainly come.
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/events.asp > (03)
Why A Digital Gift to the Nation ? (04)
"Some of the people we’ve talked to in government
bring up this same argument. Why do you need a
public trust fund when the marketplace is already so
focused on the digital world and the Internet? Our
answer is, well, why do you need public libraries in
this country when we already have bookstores? And
why do we need public parks if we’ve got country
clubs? Why do we need public hospitals if we’ve got
private medical institutions? We’re talking about
the same thing: the need for a public response to a
public need, particularly in this time of great
technological change and development. That’s the
debate we have to have, as a nation: do we leave the
chance creation of “public good” solely in the hands
of the private sector or do we, proactively,
identify what needs to be done and put a system in
place to see that those needs are met—not only in a
timely fashion but with creativity, with innovation,
and with sufficient resources to ensure that every
citizen is given access to the enrichment that new
technologies can bring to life and learning? It’s
our hope that when you talk to legislators on this
level—confront them with the history of the
Northwest Ordinance and the Morrill Act and the G.I.
Bill—they’ll say to themselves, You know, that’s
right. None of the benefits that were a direct
result of those initiatives would have come about if
there wasn’t a commitment on the part of the
government to the public sphere. The Digital
Investment Opportunity Trust is designed to do for
education, in its broadest sense, what the National
Science Foundation does for science, the National
Institutes of Health do for medical research, and
what ARPA (now known as the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, or DARPA) does for
defense."
<
http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/03/backpage/index.html
> (05)
The organizations funding the Digital Promise Project are:
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/funders.asp > (06)
Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Century Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Open Society Institute (07)
OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL IN THE INFORMATION AGE: INVESTING IN E-LEARNING AND
DIGITAL CONTENT
-Tom Kalil, Special Assistant to the Chancellor of the University of
California at Berkeley (08)
Tom Kalil examines the opportunities and challenges of an organization
such as the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DO IT) must become.
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/potential.asp > (09)
Summary of New America Foundation Forum on DO IT, held April 26, 2002,
in Washington DC. (010)
"Because the airwaves are owned equally by all
Americans, revenue from spectrum auctions and fees
could be earmarked for reinvestment in new public
assets for the digital era-including quality
children's programming, educational innovation,
digitizing our cultural inheritance, and expanding
our civic discourse. A spectrum trust could help to
fulfill the public interest obligations of
broadcasters and other commercial spectrum users. A
proposal to accomplish these ends, the Digital
Opportunity Investment Trust (DO IT) follows in the
footsteps of historic government reinvestments such
as the Morrill Act, which established land-grant
colleges (including many of today's leading research
universities), and the G.I. Bill, both of which
benefited all Americans by expanding access to
higher education."
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/april26summary.asp > (011)
The Digital Promise Report can be downloaded .pdf files
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/report.asp > (012)
Endorsement Letter for CEOs (013)
An Open Letter to America’s Leaders: (014)
"As the CEOs of leading high-tech companies, we are
writing to express our strong support for expanding
our Nation’s investment in innovative digital
content to support education and life-long learning.
Although the United States has made major strides in
connecting schools, libraries and community centers
to the Internet, we have not yet made a significant
investment in cutting-edge content that will truly
transform learning. (015)
A recent proposal authored by Lawrence K. Grossman
and Newton N. Minow for a “Digital Opportunities
Investment Trust” would address this urgent need.
Under this proposal, the revenues from spectrum
auctions would be set aside to create the Digital
Opportunities Investment Trust, which would be under
the auspices of the National Science Foundation. The
Trust would support partnerships between
educational, cultural and civic organizations aimed
at expanding the universe of knowledge accessible to
every American, and fostering innovative uses of
emerging digital technologies. (016)
Imagine if: (017)
* Students were able to more intuitively
understand difficult concepts in calculus and
physics, using software that effectively takes
advantage of simulation and information
visualization; (018)
* Every state had an active program to share its
culture and history online, by digitizing
manuscripts, photographs, recordings and
three-dimensional objects from
museums,libraries, archives, and historical
societies; and (019)
* The 20 percent of adults who currently read at
the 5 th grade level or below had access to a
sophisticated “reading tutor” that understands
human speech, recognizes common mistakes, and
adapts to individual learning styles. (020)
These are just a few of the possibilities that might be
created by this proposal. We are also convinced that it would
serve as a catalyst for additional investment from the private
sector, given the priority that our companies are placing on
building a world-class workforce. (021)
Throughout our Nation’s history, we have made bold investments
to ensure an educated citizenry. The Land Grant Colleges Act
of 1862 created the world’s preeminent system of public higher
education, and the GI Bill of 1944 profoundly expanded
educational opportunities for more than 20 million men and
women who fought in World War II. As we enter the 21 st
century, the time is right to make a similar commitment to
ensuring that all Americans benefit from the Information Age.
We look forward to working with a broad alliance of people and
institutions to implement this important initiative."
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/supporting_groups.asp > (022)
What You Can Do To Help
Sample letter of endorsement for the Digital Promise to your Senator or
Representative
< http://www.digitalpromise.org/SampleCongressionalletter.doc > (023)
Dear Senator ____________ (024)
I want to bring your attention to an important new educational
initiative. In their book, A Digital Gift to the Nation, former NBC
News and PBS president Larry Grossman and former FCC Chairman Newton N.
Minow propose that the federal government establish an independent
educational trust fund, financed by revenue from auctions of the
publicly-owned electromagnetic spectrum. It follows the farsighted
precedent of the Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862, which provided revenue
from publicly-owned land to finance public higher education. (025)
The Trust would stimulate innovative ideas and models designed to
enhance learning, broaden knowledge, encourage an informed citizenry,
bring the contents of the nation’s libraries, museums, universities and
schools into the digital age, and help these institutions teach the
skills and disciplines needed in an information-based economy. Creation
of this fund could help transform education, training and learning in
this country. (026)
They call this Trust the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DO IT).
I applaud their initiative and urge you and your staff to investigate
these proposals and agree to join us in making DO IT a reality. More
information is available on their website www.digitalpromise.org. (027)
I welcome your comments and am happy to answer any questions you might
have. (028)
Sincerely, (029)