Submission

Response to the Broadband Services Expert Group Interim Report 'Networking Australia's Future', October 1994

Contents


INTRODUCTION

The Library's response is based on the initial sentences of the Interim Report , i.e. "this is a 'work-in-progress' report. It is about what Broadband Services are and could be. The Expert Group's final report, to be produced by the end of the year, will be about how they can be introduced". The Library aims to contribute towards answers to the "fundamental questions facing the Group", as set out in "The Next Steps" section of the report (p83), i.e.:

However, we wish also to make a few general comments on the Interim Report.

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GENERAL COMMENTS ON REPORT

The Library considers that the Interim Report provides a good sensible overview of the issues in this area. The Group has identified, correctly, that the availability of a national and global information/communication network capable of connecting a high proportion of households and institutions, and capable of communicating data, text and multi-media objects, will have profound effects on our whole society. These effects are very difficult to determine accurately, particularly in relation to the time scales in which they may occur. The Group also correctly identifies that "broadband networks" are not simply needed for applications requiring broad bandwidth, such as television, but also for the aggregate carriage of a large volume of "narrowband" applications, such as electronic mail, which may be at least as important. The Library considers that the six "headland issues" identified by the Group (p5) are indeed key findings which ought to shape national planning in this area, i.e.

The Library is also in agreement with the "key principles" in which the Australian vision for broadband services must be based (p10), i.e.

We believe, nevertheless, that these key principles need to be overlaid by a clear statement of Australia's vision of the communications network of the future as an 'Open Network' - one that is open to

While in agreement with the basic thrusts of the report, the Library considers that some matters of significance have not received sufficient attention. Person to person communication Experience with the Internet, the forerunner of the open global network, suggests that the basic facility of electronic mail, combined with newsgroup/listserv software and "talk" software, which allow essentially real time interactivity of ideas and reactions amongst a group of people interested in the same topic, lead to very considerable productivity gains through the more rapid development of innovative projects, policies, designs, etc. This suggests that a very high priority, in relation to the general objectives of a "clever country" and the associated objectives of business competitiveness and government/organisational efficiencies, is a rapid provision of two-way, interactive, relatively narrow-band capability to businesses, public institutions, homes (from where there is likely to be increasing teleworking) and through mobile links. Delivery technologies interconnectivity With the diversity of emerging technologies for delivery of electronic services, a key issue is likely to be whether the various technologies can interconnect in a way that ensures that interactive work can occur over the whole "network" (whether wireless, cable, existing phone lines, etc. If carriers are not required to interconnect in a way that allows two way interoperability (not just interconnectivity) across the aggregation of networks, then much of the benefit (so evident in the present telephone system) may be lost. Lack of interoperability is also likely to result in over investment and duplication in parallel delivery technologies to certain high revenue generating areas by competitive businesses with different technologies, at an unnecessary overall cost to the nation, and at the expense of adequate connectivity in lower revenue generating areas. Interconnectivity is also very important in relation to the roll-out of technologies developed for the home, i.e. the issue of whether "set-top boxes" allow true two-way interactive working. Importance of Content We are unconvinced of the statement (p12) that "..... the content of communications services is a fundamentally more important issue than the means of delivering them". At one level it is clearly true - the whole point of communications technologies is to enable transmission of content, and the technologies are merely a means to an end. However, combined with the statement in the Commonwealth Government's 'Creative Nation' Cultural Policy that "..... it is content which is absolutely critical : it is what we put onto the highway that really matters", this may lead the Group to give insufficient attention to the problems of delivering electronic content. It is "effectively delivered and useful content which is critical". The finest multi-media productions cannot be delivered at present, whether on CD-ROM or via networks, because relatively few Australians have either access to PCs with CD-ROM drives or to a network capable of delivering the content. If Australia is indeed to build a thriving interactive electronic content market, then a critical part of national strategy, not fully addressed in the Cultural Policy, will be how to create the Australian base market of users capable of handling the product. We need to address public access point strategy (schools, libraries, etc.), and skills development as well as the optimum strategy for roll-out of interactive capabilities into the home. Universal publishing While the Group has recognised that "access to the network should be open to content providers regardless of size", the report does not seem to fully grasp that a two-way interactive network makes everyone on it a potential "content provider". The full implications of this may be very significant. Already, a very large amount of "published" material is available through remote access to text and media files on the networks, and is usually available free, deriving from public sector activities. Education and training The Library considers that the education and training implications of widespread public use of interactive network services are underestimated in the report. The recently published report of the ASTEC study of Australia's future requirements for research data networks "The Networked Nation" recommends (p68) that:

The Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training raise with State and Territory ministers for education the desirability of a national study to investigate the potential impact of increased use of electronic communications and technologies, including Internet-type services, in primary and secondary education.

The Library fully concurs with this recommendation. We consider that this recommendation is important also in relation to the Cultural Policy objective of increasing skills in electronic content production. Network access in schools provides students not only with access skills but also electronic creation/publishing skills. However, if there is to be an optimal takeup of interactive services within the community generally, and particularly for applications involving government services, then the broader training requirements for the community will require careful assessment, and pilot programs must be set up to test various approaches to this difficult and expensive issue. Almost all non-entertainment users of network services will require some investment in training for effective use.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION

In relation to the "fundamental questions facing the Group", the Library strongly believes that there are many things that can be done by the Commonwealth Government, to which the Group will report, to ensure that Australians exploit the emerging opportunities and that the nation as a whole benefits from the changes ahead. Indeed, the Library argues that the Commonwealth Government must take a number of actions over the short to medium term, if Australians are not to be actively disadvantaged by the new technologies. The Library is not going to repeat the arguments made in its original April 1994 submission to the Group, most of which have been covered in the Interim Report. The recommendations below focus particularly on practical actions that the Commonwealth Government can either take itself, or through which it is able to ensure public benefit, through collaboration with local and state governments and with the private sector.

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Government Leadership and Policy Development

In the Library's view, the Commonwealth Government's highest priority should be to ensure a communications environment in which desirable public objectives can be achieved, the interests of various stakeholders balanced effectively in the public interest, and ongoing public policy developed effectively in response to rapidly changing technologies and their broader effects.

Recommendation 1. That the Commonwealth Government adopt the following principles in relation to the future Australian communications environment; and that these principles form the basis for establishing the communications regulatory environment, through inclusion in preambles to appropriate legislation, wide publicity in the community, and formal transmission to communication carriers and content providers.

The intent of this Recommendation is that Commonwealth objectives are clear and known, and that the objectives will influence the strategies and practices of those investing in communications, of government at all levels, and of officers of the Commonwealth when drawing up policies and legislation and negotiating with commercial interests and State governments. The particular actions that may be required by Government in support of these principles will vary over time, as commercial balances changes and new technologies offer new opportunities. For example, possible different interpretations of what constitutes a 'carrier' under present legislation, in relation to cable roll-out by the Optus consortium and by Telstra, may well need urgent Government attention, if the public interest is to be served over the longer term.

Recommendation 2. That the Commonwealth Government establish a broadly based national advisory mechanism, with a balanced membership representative of appropriate commercial and public interests, to advise on policy for the national communications and information infrastructure and regulatory environment.

It is the Library's view that this advisory body should include representation from the education and cultural sectors, community networks, and those involved in the delivery of government services such as social security, employment or health, as well as those involved with the telecommunications and media industries. The intent of Recommendation 2 is that there should be an ongoing (i.e. beyond BSEG and the Telecommunications Policy Review) high level forum of external advice which can advise the Commonwealth Government as a whole, not just the Minister for Communications and the Arts, since there are issues which are in the purview of other Ministers, such as the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, etc. It will be essential for any such group not to be dominated by communications carriers and large content providers, but to be balanced by persons concerned with applications areas dependent on communications, such as education and community information. As discussed in the Interim Report, there is considerable potential for efficiency gains and the delivery of government services through improved coordination and management of Australia's government information infrastructure. The ASTEC report on Australia's requirements for research data networks "The Networked Nation" has recommended the establishment of a Commonwealth Information Services Task Force to develop a more coordinated approach to the delivery of electronic government information through the World Wide Web and other Internet-type services. The Library is convinced that this is the right approach. However, the Library considers that effective access to government information and other electronic services must be viewed from the potential client perspective rather than that of particular government agencies. The public intereacts with three levels of government, and often does not know and cannot ascertain which level is responsible for particular services. The Library considers therefore that the delivery mechanisms should as far as possible be coordinated across levels of government, as well as across agencies in the Commonwealth Government. There have been a number of promising "one-stop shop" and information kiosk developments around the world, particularly in Canada and the United States, which suggest that considerable improvements in public service and delivery efficiencies may be achieved through shared approaches. As implied above, we consider that the Commonwealth Government is in a position also to heavily influence the directions of communications and information infrastructure development through the ongoing development of public policy, and legislation. However, if this is to be done, effective government-wide mechanisms will need to be established to coordinate policy. We believe that requires establishment of a new focus within government for examining a wide range of issues posed by the development of widely accessible data networks. These issues are currently being addressed partially in various areas of government, but need to be brought together in order for coherent overall government policy development. The range of issues is so large that we believe that it is counter-productive for there to be any suggestion that responsibility for this process lies with any one department, such as the Department of Communications and the Arts or the Department of Administrative Services. We envisage the establishment of an ongoing government working group (The Information Infrastructure Group?) responsible for the coordination of government policy and development in this area. The Library considers that if such a task force is to be effective, it must have a high level membership and the full support of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, indeed the Prime Minister himself. It would perhaps be chaired by the Secretary to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, as an adjunct to his role as Chair of the Management Advisory Board, and officer-support located within that Department. If the working group is to function well, it would need to:

Recommendation 3. That the Commonwealth Government establish an Information Infrastructure Group to provide coordination for the development of Commonwealth policy and practices relating to the development and use of electronic communication networks.

The intent of Recommendation 3 is that the Commonwealth Government should have an integrated mechanism for dealing with policy development across the whole range of issues which arise from the development of broadband networks, and the convergence of technologies, legislative frameworks and service delivery mechanisms that is taking place.

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Government Information and Electronic services

As noted above, we concur with the ASTEC report on "The Networked Nation" and the CommTel Study Report on Electronic Information Dissemination that a task force be established for more effective delivery of Commonwealth Government information and other electronic services. We consider that this should have initially the following tasks:

The task force would be expected to draw on the very useful work done by the present Information Exchange Steering Committee and its sub-committees, and in recent CommTel studies. We suggest that the roles of both the IESC and CommTel will need to be re-examined in the event of any establishment of the task force. The task force will also need to work closely with State governments on issues of delivery of community services, and inter-government messaging. This is a matter which could be examined effectively by the Council of Australian Governments. There is already in existence a small working group of the Commonwealth and some States (on which an officer of the Department of Finance is the Commonwealth's representative) examining Commonwealth/State messaging, but this is not adequately resourced, and is little known across government departments.

Recommendation 4. That the Commonwealth establish an ongoing Government Information Services Task Force to develop strategies for the more effective delivery of Commonwealth government information and other electronic services.

The Library wishes to note that it has developed considerable expertise in this area, using leading-edge Internet technologies to develop an information server providing a range of information relating to electronic information in Australia, and particularly government information. It is also collaborating with the Department of Finance and the Australian National University to establish an electronic resource relating to government information delivery and communications policy documentation. Both the National Library and AGPS have been developing plans for improved access to government information in electronic form, and CommTel has recently commissioned a number of studies in this area. We are broadly in agreement with the Recommendations in the Position Paper prepared for CommTel : Study Report on Electronic Information Dissemination: Harnessing the Opportunity (12 September 1994). These suggest the establishment of a number of working groups and pilot studies. These initiatives could easily be built upon to provide a pilot of a distributed electronic access system for Commonwealth government information. (NLA and AGPS are at present the de facto cataloguers/listers of printed publications produced throughout the Commonwealth Government).

Recommendation 5. That the Department of Finance (as oversight portfolio for the Information Exchange Steering Committee), CommTel, the National Library of Australia and the Australian Government Publishing Service put forward a joint New Policy Proposal for the establishment in 1995/96 of an "open government pilot" project providing access to distributed electronic resources throughout the Commonwealth Government.

[NB: The provision of content to the pilot would involve also other Government departments and agencies currently capable of providing the content in a usable form].

The intent of Recommendations 3 to 5 is that the Commonwealth Government would develop a capacity to undertake a leadership role in relation to electronic information and services delivery. Currently it does not have this capability. We believe that in order to achieve this both integrated planning mechanisms, and the rapid development of cross-agency pilot programs are urgently required.

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Community Delivery

The issue of effective community access to electronic information services is a major one. Much of the public debate is focussed on broadband applications, such as pay TV and video-on-demand. The recent Cultural Policy Statement (Creative Nation) has a strong emphasis on multi-media applications. In our view, the Government's hopes for the establishment of a substantial creative multi-media industry in Australia will be dependent on a rapid roll-out of the capability for using interactive multi-media in schools, libraries and homes via personal computers with full multi-media capabilities, on either attached CD-ROM's or through connections to networks with sufficient bandwidth capabilities.

It is however our strong belief that the majority of services that Commonwealth and State governments would wish to develop require only relatively narrow bandwidths. As far as we are aware, all surveys carried out in relation to public preferences for new services possible through the "information superhighway" indicate that people rate most highly services such as education, information, government transactions and electronic communication. The Government's objectives in promoting teleworking and rural development, for reasons of equity and potential savings in other public infrastructure costs, can also be met almost entirely through relatively narrow bandwidth facilities (in aggregate, of course, these narrow bandwidth applications may require a considerable capacity over trunks and to certain locations). We consider therefore that it is critical that the Government have a clear strategy and pursue vigorously approaches which will enable narrow bandwidth applications to be available widely at the community level as early as possible. This will require action at the national, state and local levels. At the national level, the Government can strongly influence carriers to provide cost effective access (i.e. essentially at local call rates). For most public purposes, existing telecommunication lines and wireless connections are capable of delivering the relatively narrowband services involved in messaging, access to information, and educational services. The problem for most people and small organisations, particularly outside capital cities, is the cost of modem access and access to Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) capabilities. We understand that Telstra has stated that ISDN capability can and will be provided from all exchanges, when Telecom completes its rationalisation from the present 5,000 plus to about 500 exchanges, but we have no details of when and on what basis such access will be available. The ALP policy platform agreed at the recent ALP National Council in Hobart includes the following resolution:

"In line with the principle of universal access - . Encourage the development and use of information services utilising the national telecommunication system, including access to library services . Recognise the strong network of public libraries funded and operated by local government. This sector is ideally placed to lead the way in maintaining universal access to the emerging information technologies"

Since then, the ALP Caucus Committee on Housing and Regional Development has resolved:

"That the Minister, Brian Howe, report back to the Committee on progress in incorporating libraries as public access points on the information highway That the Government provide guidelines for the provision of electronic information by its own departments, with a preference for public libraries as affordable access points."

The Cultural Policy "Creative Nation" also establishes the Government's intentions in this area, i.e.

"The Government will work with the States to form local access points to enable Australians to participate fully in open learning opportunities, government services, small business support, electronic communications, community networks and other opportunities for personal development. In particular, the 1,400 public library service points throughout Australia provide a major opportunity for linking communities to network services, such as those available through the Internet. The Government will work with the States to deliver an effective program of community access".

We understand that discussions involving a number of portfolios are under way on this issue. Clearly, the possibility of using the strong existing structure of public libraries (1,400 plus service points) for community access to services has much attraction. Any such developments should be coordinated with the Community Telecentres program administered by the Department of Primary Industries and Energy (DPIE), the strategies for local access points being developed by the Open Learning Electronic Support Service (OLESS), and the Community Information Platform developments being piloted by the Department of Social Security. The issue of Commonwealth Government electronic information delivery is also being examined currently within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which is drawing on proposals from a number of portfolios, and by CommTel (as noted above). At the State level, Commonwealth objectives in this area can complement initiatives by State governments to develop government-wide networks and provide 'access to government' (such as the VICNet initiative in Victoria), develop TAFE/school networks, and to link State libraries with public libraries throughout each State. We consider the very large existing schools infrastructure also needs attention as a means of rapidly increasing network access. Investment at the school level would also be a sensible strategy in maximising the take-up of the skills that will be needed for expansion of an Australian electronic content industry, as envisaged by the Cultural Policy. Collaborative Commonwealth/State actions could greatly reduce the communication costs involved in services delivered by both the Commonwealth and States, and in the provision of community access for the whole range of Internet type services. It is our view also, based on limited experience so far in Australia, such as in Melbourne, Newcastle, Wollongong and the ACT, and much more experience in North America where the community networked movement has now been going for around ten years, that actions taken at the local community level are also likely to result in the development of community access at the lowest possible cost. If a community focus can be found - in a public library, in a telecentre, in a local TAFE or university, or in a school - when the will and enthusiasm is there, various groups in the community, including local business, can band together to enable not only the development of a network of local community resources but also to share the costs of access to the wider national and international networked services. Often this can be achieved through cross-sectoral negotiation for access to a local or regional institution with its own networked access. We consider that this movement could be pump-primed by the Commonwealth government at relatively low cost - the experience of the Telecentres program, with a budget of only $4million, is instructive.

Recommendation 6. That the Commonwealth Government recommend to the Council of Australian Governments the development of a strategy for more coordinated delivery of Commonwealth and State government networked services to the community.

Recommendation 7. That the Commonwealth Government establish, in collaboration with State governments, a pilot program of "one-stop" information centres providing access to information and transaction services on behalf of a wide range of Commonwealth, State and local government agencies.

Such centres, to be fully effective, would need to have fully networked links to the agencies concerned.

Recommendation 8. That the Commonwealth Government establish in 1995/96 a program of community networking grants, with an initial budget of $30million. These grants should be provided on a competitive basis, with grants to be matched from other sources, including State and local governments and other community sources.

In launching the program, the government should investigate participation by Telstra, Optus and Vodafone through provision of facilities as matching grants in kind, as part of proposals. We consider that the possibilities inherent in improving government service in the community through the "information superhighway" developments have not received the attention in the media or amongst the public that they deserve. The existing awards for government excellence in the use of information technology, useful as they are, tend to be directed inward to government rather than outward to the community. A mechanism is needed which concentrates on the benefits to the community and acts as a spur to the development of client best practice at all levels of government.

Recommendation 9. That the Commonwealth Government establish a high profile system of national awards for excellence in the electronic delivery of government services.

Since companies in the computer and communications technology areas will be beneficiaries from all of these developments, we suggest that the award scheme be sponsored partially through the information technology industry in Australia, and that the Commonwealth undertake discussions with the Australian Information Industry Association and with specific companies to this end. We consider that widespread access to the Internet (as the de facto global network) is likely to be critical for the development of community services and the commercial sector. Our own experience, supplemented by evidence from other users, is that the low level facility of electronic mail, taken together with its associated facilities for group broadcast, editing, automatic addressing, discussion groups, news feeds and listservers can have significant effects:

There are both Commonwealth and State Government initiatives in almost all these areas, but each agency tends to see its problems from its own perspective. There needs to be a realisation that the effective delivery of government services (and indeed other opportunities) must be seen from the perspective of the client, i.e. the individual member of the public or small business. Delivery in the end is to a single work station in a home, business or a community access point. Effective community delivery of any government service will not be achieved unless the interface at the client level is usable. This mandates inter-agency and inter-government collaboration.

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Content Issues

The Interim Report makes much of content issues, as driving the spread of broadband services, and as opportunities for the nation. The Government's Cultural Policy "Creative Nation" also has much to say about the commercial opportunities for interactive multi-media production, based on the "Commerce in Content" report commissioned by the Broadband Expert Services Group and by the Department of Industry, Science and Technology.

We commend the Government's initiatives in this area, in the establishment of cooperative multi-media centres and multi-media forums. However, we wish to stress the point that one of the lessons of the Internet is that the provision of interactive network capabilities potentially makes everyone a publisher, i.e. anyone with adequate electronic storage is able to provide national and global access to their "publications". There is a vast amount of intellectual property already held in machine-readable form within cultural institutions, government departments, universities and research establishments. To realise the value of this material (for example, university teaching materials which could be marketed to institutions overseas, or promotion of research through electronic journals) and indeed, simply to make it usable and accessible, requires a very wide spread development of electronic publishing skills. The print publication industry has typically been fragmented, and education for publishing has not been well developed in Australia. In an electronic world, content cannot be used unless attention is given at the creation stage, as to how that content will be used effectively. Within government and the university/research sectors, electronic publishing skills hardly exist at present, and the need is only just starting to be recognised. Attention to this problem is now urgent. (Although we note the establishment by the Australian National University of the Centre for Networked Information and Publishing ).

Recommendation 10. That the Department of Employment, Education and Training investigate (possibly under its Evaluations and Investigations Program) the range of skills required for effective creation and distribution of electronic publishing, with the aim of ensuring that:

Recommendation 11. That the Commonwealth Government initiative in establishing Cooperative Multi-media Centres be broadened to encompass the establishment of centres for electronic publishing as a whole, either as complementary centres or through a broad intepretation of the cooperative Multi-media Centres role.

These centres would facilitate the development of electronic publishing skills, and of products which might be made available both freely and as commercial initiatives. One example which might be drawn on is the Centre for Electronic Texts in the Humanities at Rutgers University in the United States. While the skills for electronic publishing need to be developed, there is a vast amount of existing content which would be valuable to convert to electronic form, particularly in our cultural institutions. A means through which skills in electronic publishing can be built more quickly, and at the same time there can be a significant improvement in public access to unique materials at present viewable only in museums, galleries and libraries, would be a program of grants for the creation of 'digital collections', similar to the 'Digital Libraries' program in the United States. In part this will be facilitated by the 'Australia on CD-ROM' initiative announced in the Government's 'Creative Nation' statement, but a broader program for trialling different technologies, and open to a wider range of initiatives, is required. We believe that the 'Creative Nation' statement greatly underestimates the extent of electronic multi-media pulbication that is already occurring over the Internet, including some outstanding examples from Australia, such as the Environmental Resources Information Network (http://kaos.erin.gov.au:80/erin.html) development.

Recommendation 12. That the Commonwealth Government initiate a Distributed National Digital Collections Program aimed at stimulating the building of a national collection accessible throughout the nation, and promoting Australia to the world.

This approach would strengthen the Government's distributed approach to cultural development in the <a HREF="/creative.nation/contents.html">'Creative Nation' </a>, and the idea of a networked 'virtual museum'. It should involve all the national cultural institutions at the core of the initiative. A rapid development of electronic publishing, based on the huge existing Commonwealth investment in content, is also likely to create early commercial opportunities for content distributers, and companies involved in the distribution technologies, such as CD-ROM.

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Aarnet and the Internet

We consider that the Internet has now reached critical mass. Internet software developments are being announced weekly, and already we are seeing Internet connection software being bundled automatically with personal computer sales (e.g. by PC Express, and by IBM with Warp). We believe that this will be automatic for most PC suppliers in 1995. We can therefore assume that wide area networking in future will be largely conducted under Internet protocols (and their successors as IP and OSI ideas and developments merge).

This being so, the future of Internet capability in Australia is a critical issue. AARNet (http://www.aarnet.edu.au/avcc/aarnet/Backgrnd.htm) is the current arm of the Internet in Australia. Its IP capabilities may of course be duplicated by other providers (including possibly Telstra and other carriers), but its future is extremely important not only for the higher education and research sectors, but for Commonwealth and State governments as a whole, and for private sector institutions which interact with those governments. We are in broad agreement with the recommendations of the ASTEC report on research data networks "The Networked Nation" , and urge the Government to make decisions on the report as soon as possible. In particular, we support the idea that AARNet be developed collaboratively as a national infrastructure resource providing a national high speed backbone and various other services. However, we believe that insufficient attention is given in the ASTEC report to the problem of locating Australian Internet information and providing support for retrieval processes. AARNet, the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne and the National Library are all involved at one level or another in providing services, but the efforts are piecemeal, uncoordinated, under-resourced, and not very effective. What is required is a national equivalent to the Internic services in the United States (while not unnecessarily duplicating services provided internationally by the Internic and other national services).

Recommendation 13. That the Commonwealth Government ensure that the proposed national consortium for the national information network (or AARNet if it is continued in its present form) develops a range of locational and other retrieval support services needed for effective national access to electronic information on AARNet and the Internet.

The National Library wishes to collaborate with other institutions in this aim, as part of its legislated mandate for provision of access to information about Australia and Australians. It has already a pilot World Wide Web server aimed at providing access to known sources of Australian information on the Internet. This pilot development could, with reasonable resources, be built into an effective distributed support through collaboration between several organisations, each taking responsibility for parts of the problem. The recent grant of funds by the Department of Employment, Education and Training to the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee for the establishment of Network Information Support Services needs to be built on to provide effective overall services for all AARNet users.

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Roll-Out of Communications Capabilities

We are concerned by the scenarios envisaged in both the Interim Report (p68-69) and the Cultural Policy (p56) that suggest that somehow it will be automatic that the current evolutionary path for telecommunication capabilities is a five stage process, starting with analogue distributive broadband services such as pay TV, through digital distributive services, to digital interactive, then to integrated narrowband and broadband services and finally to fully switched broadband. This scenario appears to derive from Telstra's submission to the BSEG in support of its current directions. We consider that this is a model which may well be in Telstra's interests, but not those of the nation.

We believe that although such a scenario may enable the fastest roll-out of entertainment services to a wide community, it is also a scenario which will delay the availability of a wide range of public benefits for many years. As we have noted above, almost all government objectives - for open learning, for reduction of health costs, for stimulation of employment in small business, for regional development, for reduction in other public infrastructure costs, for more efficient government, for improved community participation in policy making, for creation of a market for interactive multi-media - are dependent on a widespread roll-out of capability for relatively narrowband applications at the earliest possible date. The technologies for this are already widely deployed, for example through AARNet (http://www.aarnet.edu.au/avcc/aarnet/Backgrnd.htm), and could be substantially increased through appropriate development of ISDN availability. We consider that the issue is critical in determining the medium term public benefits from the development of communication networks. It cannot and must not be left solely to the investment decisions of carriers. The aim of further deregulation in the telecommunications industry, which we support, in the interests of competitiveness and longer term consumer benefits, should not be taken as synonymous with a vacuum in public objectives for telecommunications development. We consider that carrier policies may be influenced by the Commonwealth Government, as the major purchaser of telecommunications capacity, and as necessary, as a regulator in the public interest. Carrier investment strategies could be influenced by:

However, encouragement and more rapid use of communicative and interactive networking by government may not be enough in themselves to ensure appropriate roll-out of narrowband interactive and communicative capabilities to the wider community, if carrier investment strategies are heavily influenced by their alliances with major content providers interested in distributive modes, e.g. for pay TV and video on demand. While we are generally in agreement with the approach in the Hilmer Committee report 'National Competition Policy' to 'Access to Essential Facilities' (Chapter 11), that report itself notes (p257-9) that there are some special factors relating to the telecommunications market which may require additional public interest safeguards over the medium term. Adoption of Recommendation 1 above would provide the government with an overall guide to regulatory actions that might be needed, i.e.

While not strictly a regulatory issue, we are also concerned that the Commonwealth Government ensure the availability of adequate communications capacity between Australia and the rest of the world. As the Cutler report on 'Commerce in Content : Building Australia's Future in Interactive Multimedia Markets' stresses, it is vital for the development of Australian networked services for such capacity to be available, and at world competitive costs. We recommend that this issue be addressed carefully in the Telecommunications Policy Review. We also consider it appropriate that the Commonwealth Government should itself invest in communication capabilities to further public objectives. The Commonwealth is already investing significantly in infrastructure in roads, railways and other transport facilities. It is faced with major costs associated with the environmental consequences of growth and transport. Widespread interactive and communicative networking capabilities will allow significant increases in teleworking, video conferencing instead of travelling to meetings, savings in educational "bricks and mortar", etc. which provide offsets in the public expenditures associated with current modes of transport and their environmental/social effects. While more careful economic analysis is required, it is likely that judicious Commonwealth Government investment in the roll-out of networking capabilities to support government objectives will be more than offset by longer term savings in public expenditure in other areas.

Recommendation 14. That the Commonwealth Government formulate a Communications Infrastructure strategy designed to ensure that future overall public infrastructure and consequential environmental/social costs are minimised over the medium to longer term.

NB: This could be a task to be organised by the Information Infrastructure Group, drawing on the range of economic advice available to the government.

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Intellectual Property Rights

We do not wish to make any substantive recommendations in this complicated area. We are however concerned that various statements by the Minister for Justice, by the Copyright Convergence Group in their "Highways to change: Copyright in the new communications environment", in the Cultural Policy "Creative Nation", and to some extent in the Group's own Interim Report all tend to suggest that a developing movement for increase of copyright protection. The National Library fully supports effective copyright protection for creators in the electronic environment. However, this protection must be balanced from a public interest view point by the needs of fair use and fair comment. The traditional public good information roles of the public library and of newspapers need to be maintained in an electronic world. It also needs to be realised that Australia is, and will remain, a heavy net importer of information and creative material. While needing to accede to international obligations under WIPO and GATT agreements, it is in Australia's interests to ensure the freest possible international flow of information, if it is to keep abreast of world best practice across all fields of endeavour.

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CONCLUSION

The issues being dealt with by the Group are both complicated and difficult. With the rapid rate of technological development, it is hard to be sure that particular solutions and development paths will be effective over the medium to longer term. For this reason, we believe that the recommendations in the Group's final report will be more successful if they lead to the establishment of more effective Australian mechanisms for planning and managing change in this area, rather than trying to determine particular solutions appropriate to the present. We hope that this contribution will assist the Group in arriving at those recommendations.

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