TVA Rural Studies
Rural Telecommunications Workshop
October 28, 1996
Six years ago, the Congressional Office of
Technology Assessment (OTA) was asked by the
Joint Economic Committee of the Congress and
Senators Charles Grassley and Orrin Hatch to
study the "role that communications
technologies can play in securing rural America's
future." OTA brought together a
distinguished panel of advisors to answer six
fundamental questions:
- Will technological advances be made
available in a timely manner to rural
America?
- Does information-age technology involve
economies of scale and scope that will
enable rural businesses and communities
to adopt these technologies?
- What are the expected economic effects
of information-age technologies in rural
areas, particularly on employment
(including job creation, training needs,
and job displacement) and investment
(including capital requirements and
public infrastructure)?
- Which rural areas are likely to have the
greatest ability to make use of these new
technologies?
- What roles can the various levels of
government play in fostering information
age technology?
- Can rural America expect to be
competitive in serving national and
international markets for the goods and
services of this new era?
The effort resulted in a notable study:
"Rural America at the Crossroads: Networking
for the Future." Needless to say, much has
changed in the intervening six years.
Back to the 1996 Rural
Telecommunications Workshop Homepage
Please send any comments or
questions about this site to ukrs@rural.org.
|
