< Vol.21 >


Information Infrastructure Construction





Every man has his humor.

  How to construct ? 
 Many kinds of people gathered.
 From Feb.20 to 22, at the hotel commanding the Beppu Bay, Institute
For Hypernetwork Society held a workshop of information infrastructure
construction of local. Though it were to be limited to 100 participant on 
this time, there were more than 160 participant from all over Japan.
 We have repeated various workshop since about 1990, and from all 
part of Japan, Hokkaido, Touhoku, Hokuriku, Chuubu, and Kantou area,
many people gathered in earnest. The features of last workshop is that
the participant from Fukuoka, like Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka Univ., 
Fukuoka prefectural office get more.
 The subject of this workshop was " How to construct the information 
infrastructure of the Internet in local?". The attempt are, as the proverb
says, every man has his humor.

  Teachers   
 Yamada village in Toyama Prefecture, a mountain village of about 2000
people, became the topic of the workshop. The village office distributed 
the personal computers to applicant generously. 
 Besides the personal computer is not the Windows which was just going 
to conquer the world but the Mackintosh of the Apple inc.. As this personal
computer has a software of TV conference, If you have ISDN line, you 
can use it. Though, at first, the people used it with fear, they seem to get
to enjoy the chat by this software. The personal computer get to 
permeate in the village. And the children who already have learned how 
to use seem to teach the way to adults.
 As it is special machine, they began to stady the Internet or 
the spreadsheet program, after that. People said that there is much hope
for the future.
 The information infrastructure construction like this case is easy to 
understand. 

  The circulating notice and the homework   
 Oyama town in Oita located the border of Fukuoka and Oita also attempts
an interesting plan. This town changed CATV run by the Town for 
digital one this year. Because of this change everyone can connected 
with the Internet by free within the Oyama town. So you have only to 
have personal computer. If they set up a server of the Web page in the
town office, the whole town's intranet will be completed. They will be 
able to contribute the circulating notice and homework of the elementary
school by the Internet. There is also much hope for the future, isn't it?
 I hope someday there will be a farmer who has a second job with multimedia.
He contracts city's job with multimedia in these natural town or village.
 Needless to say, many prefecture make efforts. Though Oita lead the van
of method, which the whole prefecture can communicate by computer in 
city call, other prefecture get to introduce it more and more. 
 It seems that the administrators in charge of information infrastructure
construction get to attach importance to this workshop. At any rate, we 
hold "Night work talking" till midnight.

  New technique, ADSL   
 But there are not only such a serious attendance. There are various 
member of the COARA from housewife, woman and man office worker,
economist, to student. It is the feature of this workshop that they discuss
whole subject from citizen's, end user's point of view, so it is very interesting
for us.
 They surprised at the demonstration of new technique, ADSL. By using 
it, you can send smooth digital video like TV with an ordinary telephone 
line in the hotel. Besides you can talk with your company by this line while
you watch video. Though it isn't the optical fiber, it can do so much. It 
is natural that many attendance said " I want it at once.", "I also want it to
my house."
 Well, I can't cool down and can't put everything in order.
written by Tooru Ono, the chief of the NEW COARA secretariat