1.1: Accessibility
Making the Digital World Accessible to Everyone Other Information:
Making the Digital World Accessible to Everyone (A7) -- In the NITRD vision, the IT infrastructure of the future will be everywhere
and always available, making possible Anywhere, Anytime, Affordable Access to Anything by Anyone Authorized (A7). IT capabilities
that enable universal participation will radically democratize the IT domain, so that all can contribute to and share in the
resources and benefits of cyberspace. At the same time, groups of individuals with similar interests (e.g., a research collaboration)
can form and dissolve dynamically to pursue their mutual interests privately and securely as needed. Where we are now -- the
global Internet points toward the future with its rapid expansion to encompass the burgeoning technologies of wireless networking.
But today's Internet is not nearly robust or advanced enough to satisfy the demands of a future in which devices, data, and
people at every scale are interconnected and in constant communication, not just worldwide but across outer space. For example,
most people on Earth still lack access to the Internet; even in the United States one-third of the population currently lacks
broadband Internet connectivity at home (lagging 14 other advanced nations), and a majority cites cost and lack of computer
skills as key factors.9 Indeed, access to the information riches and services of cyberspace today remains limited mainly to
people who know how to work keyboard-activated devices and have the high-speed network connectivity required to experience
bandwidth-intensive Internet applications, such as streaming video and real-time interactivity. (The Administration has announced
a National Broadband Plan; its dual aim is to provide jobs by incentivizing companies to both extend broadband connectivity
to rural and underserved communities and increase U.S. broadband network speeds, which also lag those of many other countries.)
Research needs -- in addition to fundamental networking research (see "Evolving and Scaling Socio- Technical Network Infrastructure"
below), enabling a more powerful, more scalable IT infrastructure for the future will require advances across the spectrum
of information technologies. For example, power consumption must be reduced to enable ubiquitous computation.* Language barriers
will need to be eliminated through instantaneous language translation. Interoperability issues in data, systems, and software
will have to be resolved through agreement on common standards, protocols, and policy regimes; systems must be designed that
can adjust to changing environments and the needs of individual users; and substantial improvements in end-to-end performance
will be required to provide users with seamless access to resources from their own desktop, laptop, or mobile device. R&D
in new materials must be pursued to produce gains in energy efficiency and miniaturization that can continue driving down
per-unit costs of IT devices and services, so the IT infrastructure can readily expand to include new participants and uses.
R&D to enable specification and enforcement of dynamic security and privacy policies tailored to individuals as well as to
organizations will also be a key underpinning of the A7 environment. Wireless broadband access will play a central role. Radio
spectrum resources are finite and are already under tremendous demands from a large number of applications, including military,
commercial, broadcast, and mobile services. Technological and regulatory solutions to enhancing spectrum efficiency and access
can have a tremendous impact on the wireless economy and are ripe for R&D activities. In response to the Presidential Memorandum
on Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution, a wireless spectrum R&D group has been established under NITRD to coordinate
spectrum efficiency research across the Government.11
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