While societies have always had information infrastructures, the power and reach of today's information technologies offer opportunities to transform work and family lives in an unprecedented fashion. This volume, a collection of six papers presented at the 1994 National Academy of Engineering Meeting Technical Session, presents a range of views on the subject of the revolution in the U.S. information infrastructure. The papers cover a variety of current issues including an overview of the technological developments driving the evolution of information infrastructures and where they will lead; the development of the Internet, particularly the government's role in its evolution; the impact of regulatory reform and antitrust enforcement on the telecommunications revolution; and perspectives from the computer, wireless, and satellite communications industries.

While societies have always had information infrastructures, the power and reach of today's information technologies offer opportunities to transform work and family lives in an unprecedented fashion. This volume, a collection of six papers presented at the 1994 National Academy of Engineering Meeting Technical Session, presents a range of views on the subject of the revolution in the U.S. information infrastructure. The papers cover a variety of current issues including an overview of the technological developments driving the evolution of information infrastructures and where they will lead; the development of the Internet, particularly the government's role in its evolution; the impact of regulatory reform and antitrust enforcement on the telecommunications revolution; and perspectives from the computer, wireless, and satellite communications industries.

The past 50 years have witnessed a revolution in computing and related communications technologies. The contributions of industry and university researchers to this revolution are manifest; less widely recognized is the major role the federal government played in launching the computing revolution and sustaining its momentum. Funding a Revolution examines the history of computing since World War II to elucidate the federal government's role in funding computing research, supporting the education of computer scientists and engineers, and equipping university research labs. It reviews the economic rationale for government support of research, characterizes federal support for computing research, and summarizes key historical advances in which government-sponsored research played an important role. Funding a Revolution contains a series of case studies in relational databases, the Internet, theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality that demonstrate the complex interactions among government, universities, and industry that have driven the field. It offers a series of lessons that identify factors contributing to the success of the nation's computing enterprise and the government's role within it.

A government procurement expert makes the case that public officials at all levels should rethink how they deliver services, describing in detail the innovative ways that essential infrastructure and public service needs are being financed and completed sooner, better, and with less stress on limited government budgets.

"In summary, all of us need to recognize that the cyber revolution brings us into a new age as surely as the industrial revolution did two centuries ago. Now, as then, our continued security requires a reordering of national priorities and new understanding about our respective roles in support of the national goals. The relationships that have stood us in such good stead through the end of the second millennium must give way to new ones better suited to the third."--Page xi.

"Carefully distinguishing between big data and open data, and exploring various data infrastructures, Kitchin vividly illustrates how the data landscape is rapidly changing and calls for a revolution in how we think about data." - Evelyn Ruppert, Goldsmiths, University of London "Deconstructs the hype around the ‘data revolution’ to carefully guide us through the histories and the futures of ‘big data.’ The book skilfully engages with debates from across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences in order to produce a critical account of how data are enmeshed into enormous social, economic, and political changes that are taking place." - Mark Graham, University of Oxford Traditionally, data has been a scarce commodity which, given its value, has been either jealously guarded or expensively traded. In recent years, technological developments and political lobbying have turned this position on its head. Data now flow as a deep and wide torrent, are low in cost and supported by robust infrastructures, and are increasingly open and accessible. A data revolution is underway, one that is already reshaping how knowledge is produced, business conducted, and governance enacted, as well as raising many questions concerning surveillance, privacy, security, profiling, social sorting, and intellectual property rights. In contrast to the hype and hubris of much media and business coverage, The Data Revolution provides a synoptic and critical analysis of the emerging data landscape. Accessible in style, the book provides: A synoptic overview of big data, open data and data infrastructures An introduction to thinking conceptually about data, data infrastructures, data analytics and data markets Acritical discussion of the technical shortcomings and the social, political and ethical consequences of the data revolution An analysis of the implications of the data revolution to academic, business and government practices

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.