🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug29.003016.28964@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jfraser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Jane Fraser) writes:
>I've talked with Jon York (President of Columbus Area Chamber of
>Commerce, with Jeff Ritter (Columbus attorney most responsible for
>bringing info-port to Columbus; thank you, Jeff), and with a bunch of
>other people, and I've read the press packet from the original press
...

I forgot to mention that Jon considers this an Ohio project, not just
a Columbus one.  So, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinatti, Lancaster,
and Piqua, what do you think?

jfraser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Jane Fraser) writes:

> There could also be sections supporting
> sharing of information and expertise, much like Usenet. 

I haven't seen an alternative model that is as effective at sharing
information and expertise as Usenet is.  The only problems with Usenet
are the human interface has too high an entry fee and it is still too
difficult to filter out the noise.

> Once a match
> is made there would be on-line support for formalizing the contract,
> for locating a bank to handle currency exchange, for handling
> invoicing, etc. (the kinds of things now labeled as Electronic Data
> Interchange).  

Sounds to me like Privacy Enhanced Mail and some digital signature
system (whether the NIST DSS meets the need is not entirely clear).

How do we entice enough people who are looking for the other side of a
deal to the fire hose that is Usenet so that a user will find something
useful a quarter of the times he comes looking?

This is not business related, but I have finally brought enough people
who are working in one tiny little field together in an email mailing
list to make the medium useful in improving their productivity.  Deal
making requires a somewhat larger collection of people.

NASDAQ provides an electronic meeting place.  Coin dealers have a
teletype network that is effective in connecting buyers and sellers. 
Could we find other niche markets and serve them one at a time with a
newsgroup paradigm?

dan  of dlh Performance Marketing  POBox 1419  Mentor Ohio 44061
         NCoast.org!dlhpfm!dlh or ab.com!dlhpfm.uucp!dlh 

     How about being able to cut down on the time for goods to clear customs
by being a clearinghouse for all import/export forms and paperwork?

     In order to best facilitate this, are there any hardware upgrades (i.e.
ISDN & *more* fiber optics) that should be put into place?

     My 2 cents...
-- 
:  Michael R. Conners              : "Giving money and power to Congress is  :
:  THE Ohio State University       :  like giving liquor and the keys to the :
:  College of Business             :  car to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke  :

In article <1992Aug29.003016.28964@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jfraser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Jane Fraser) writes:
   We'd need to link Columbus to existing international business
   networks, such as DAS Net, etc. -- or Internet.

Two commercial Internet providers are represented in Columbus already:
OARnet is connected to ANSnet, and PSInet (a CIX member) has a POP
here too.  Both ANS and CIX allow traffic without academic content
restrictions, but they aren't (yet) connected to each other.  DASnet
is (last I checked) an email-only service, and its connection to the
Internet is located at UUNET, which is a CIX member.

So Columbus already has that part of the infrastructure in place.  But
that's a fairly minor part of what you need.

I'll have some more thoughts on this info-port thingy later, just
wanted to touch briefly on that particular point.

What should an infoport be (especially when the people responsible for the
designation don't know or won't tell you)?

I have seen some postings already concerning this, both on a macro (what
should an infoport be or do) and micro (e.g., should certain technologies
be deployed) level.  With the current state of thought so ill-defined, I
believe that it is important to stay on the macro level for now; the
specific technologies necessary to support the infoport should follow
naturally from a more concrete definition of what the infoport is.  My
thoughts follow:

1.  A key enabler of the infoport would be to set it up as a
telecommunications free trade zone with lower tariffs for traffic coming
into or out of the zone.  This would encourage its use (as opposed to
another city/region) and its economic development in general.  Information
created in certain offshore areas (Mexico or the Caribbean basin, for
example) could also be given preferential treatment.

2.  The infoport should be a global and/or regional information exchange
point, housing the applications and services necessary to support this
information exchange.  It is key that procedures be established with the UN,
and anyone else willing to abide by them, that information services
provided by the infoport not be duplicated elsewhere (e.g., by another
state or city that didn't receive the designation but wants to be an
infoport anyway).

3.  The infoport should be a regional information repository (e.g., for UN,
national, and international data).  Mechanisms should be put into place for
all interested users to access the data.

4.  Ohio must think big - with a 2 year franchise and other cities out to
get the franchise, Ohio must establish a dominant position rather than
targeting limited niches.

5.  Ohio and the UN (especially the latter) must make it clear as to why
using a designated infoport is better than using a non-infoport (e.g.,
better tariffs, taxes, services, information storage and access, etc.)

6.  Maximum benefit for the citizens of Ohio should be realized.  While
this applies in an economic sense, it also applies in an information
technology sense, too.  That is, any applicable information services
developed for the infoport should be offered to Ohio's citizens, too.  In
this way, the development of the global infoport can be leveraged for local
benefit, too.

Also, are there any UN documents available about the infoport designation?
Since they are promoting the concept, there must be some documentation
somewhere (if for no other reason than to give the UN something to vote on
in the first place and to establish criteria for selecting infoports).

Mike Weinstein
Room 1F-331A, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ  07733-3030
908-949-2080
maw@arch1.att.com or attmail!maweinstein