Pittsburgh, like much of urban America, is a city of contrasts. The city's topography underscores these contrasts, with neighborhoods divided by many rivers, streams and hollows. An elaborate system of roads and bridges ties the city together and helps it function as a unit.
The present proposal describes a system of electronic bridges, which will tie together the city's neighborhoods, schools, cultural resources, businesses and government. These electronic bridges will span both spatial boundaries and temporal ones, helping to link the city's traditional industrial base to its electronic future.
Specific technologies under study include Ethernet links over cable TV. Specific sites include a set of public schools, a community center and a major library resource. All of these sites will serve as models for future expansion across the metropolitan region.
The proposed project supports a vision of the National Information Infrastructure which includes significant economic, educational and social components. The economic issues involve the support of flexible and distributed business operations capable of addressing a global market. An educational prerequisite for this environment is the ability of workers to acquire, evaluate and assimilate information. The social consequences include individual flexibility in career planning, adaptability to change, and opportunity for individual expression.
For this vision of the NII to be realized, it is essential that bridges be put in place to connect these economic, educational and social goals. The present project establishes a basis for this linkage in Western Pennsylvania and a model for other communities around the country.