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oh.cast.--AH

CAST expects role in developing U.N. Infoport

The Center for Advanced Study in Telecommunications expects to contribute 
during this coming year to efforts to define and develop ColumbusU new role as 
a United Nations Infoport.

In August, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development invited 
Columbus to serve as a RTrade PointS or RInfoportS in a new program that is 
part of the U.N.Us Trade Efficiency Initiative. The Trade Efficiency Initiative
is seeking to increase international trade through the use of information and 
communication technologies.  In its role as one of 15 U.N. Infoports, Columbus 
will act as a center for the development and testing of concepts and 
information technologies with trade applications. The city also will serve as a
node in an international electronic data exchange network for clearing ideas 
and information on international trade.

CAST Co-director Jane Fraser has been asked by Mayor Gregory S. LashutkaUs 
office to serve on the citywide task force that will develop the plan for 
ColumbusU participation in the trade initiative. Fraser said she thinks the 
Infoport designation is an exciting opportunity for Columbus to lead in the 
application of information technology to trade efficiency and development. She 
hopes that CAST will be able to help by
serving as a forum for education and for the generation and discussion of 
projects that might be part of the Infoport.

Lashutka also sees this as an opportunity for Columbus. ROur early 
participation will allow Columbus to emerge as an important gateway to the 
world, capitalizing on our inherent strategic advantages as an international 
inland port and our existing role as an Rinfoport,S Lashutka said in a press 
release.

Jonathan York,  president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, believes 
Columbus is well prepared for its new role.
 ROur communityUs potential to contribute to the Trade Efficiency Initiative is
enormous,S he said in a statement released by his office.

RThe chance to serve as the exclusive North American site will allow Columbus 
to serve as a model for public-private sector trade growth,S agreed Jeff Ritter
in  a release. Ritter,  counsel at Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, is a CAST 
associate and has been a central player in the efforts to win the U.N. Infoport
designation for Columbus.

The RTrade Point CenterS program is a two-year pilot effort to explore new ways
to conduct international business.  Infoports are being chosen to include 
different types of economic environments, with each site having considerable 
latitude in selecting and developing the information technologies it will apply
to international trade. Among those information technologies expected to be 
used are such things as videoconferencing, databases, bulletin boards and 
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

In addition, Infoports will be expected to expand their trade-based research in
other ways, including the development and testing of new technology-based trade
procedures, the evaluation of information and communication technology 
facilities, and the development of accessible information bases for use by 
corporations and members of the public interested in trade issues.

Although the United Nations will eventually select 15 cities to serve as 
Infoports for its Trade Efficiency Initiative, to date, only
Columbus and Cartagena, Columbia, have received the designation. Columbus will 
be the only city in North America serving as a U.N. Infoport.

Ultimately, the goal of the U.N. Trade Point Centers is to boost
international trade by helping exporters find new markets and by
giving businesses easy access to the information they need. Some experts 
believe that application of information technologies to trade processes may 
also help lower the costs of import/export transactions, and create new 
businesses.

UNCTAD plans to use three principles to guide its Trade Efficiency  Initiative:
imagination, communication, and cooperation. Different participants in 
international trade, such as ministers of trade, universities, and experts in 
trade efficiency research, will be linked in electronic networks, while leading
private and public trade operators as well as the most advanced companies in 
information and communications technology will be linked in associations.  
Small- and medium-sized enterprises also will be involved.  And UNCTAD will 
seek to stimulate creative proposals by involving the traders of tomorrow: 
students and junior executives. The culmination of all of these efforts will be
an international symposium on trade efficiency, to be held in 1994.