Before Nigeria can connect to the World Wide Web, it must have a national computer network and a series of organization-based intranets. This letter assesses Nigeria's communications infrastructure; discusses what is being done to improve it; and credits its shortcomings to low university funding, rising computers costs, currency exchange rates,…

Discusses policy decisions that led to the privatization and commercialization of NSFnet; explains the roles of IBM, MCI Communications, and ANS (Advanced Network and Service); and suggests the role that the federal government should take to ensure that the NREN (National Research and Education Network) addresses issues of public access and…

Moving corporate systems onto an intranet will increase the data traffic within the corporate network, which necessitates a high-quality management process to the intranet. Discusses costs and benefits of adopting an intranet, tool availability and selection criteria, and management issues for developing an intranet. (Author/AEF)

Describes how the Commerce Department's Economic Bulletin Board has been linked to the Internet to further the dissemination of government information. Topics discussed include network services; operational constraints; technical issues; costs; identifying potential customers and their information needs; and future plans. (Contains six…

Compares issues in the commercialization of public information through wide area networks in the United States and Europe. Policy and legal questions, the public's right to access information, government copyright issues, the potential for public-private-sector synergy, and the need to standardize formats and pricing are discussed. (Contains 45…