Internet2....

["Khanhtran N. Phan" <kphan@engin.umich.edu>]

I found this article on a paper for Faculty and Staff at my school,
U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor. The school officials from school of engin.
promised the class of 1999 that they will have first-hand experience with
Internet2 before they leave U-Mich even though Internet2 will not be
available to public until after 2000..... 
(there are some words I replaced with abbreviations for faster
typing)

Tran

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THE UNIVERISITY RECORD-A FACULTY AND STAFF PAPER
July 30, 1997.

	More than 100 rep. from universities around the nation gathered at
the U-Mich last week to discuss the potential and properties of Internet2,
the proposed super-network that would increase reliability and could
transfer info. at speeds from 100 to 1000 times faster than the present
Internet.
	Approximately 80% of the Internet2 consortium - 100 universities
with ties to the present Internet- were able to send one or more of their
technical staff to Ann Arbor to participate in the brainstorming sessions
to determine how to build Internet2 to accommodate applications vital to
the research and teaching community. Those applications are expected to be
used as  demonstrations when the group makes recommendations in
Washington, D.C., in October.
	"There is a great deal of excitement heree," noted Douglas Van
Houweling, vice provost for info. tech. Most members of the consortium
expect the super-network and their connection to it will be a reality by
the end of 1998.
	Experts from member universities, comfortable with words like
tele-immersion, IP telephony, meta-computing and multicast application.
also explained that Internet2 has the potential to provide an environment
for on-line research collaborations, distance teaching and 3-D worldwide
video conferencing. The increased capacity, according to Ted Hanss,
director of applications development for Internet2, could make available
such info. as direct access to photos takens of Mars by the Sojouner
probe, front seat viewing for medical students during operating room
prodedures and the potential for developing video signals at a much higher
definition than are currently available on TV.
	"The potential for academic applications is vast", note Van
Houweling, "The ways Internet2 can enhance collaborations within the
academic research community is extremely exciting. Then, knowledge gained
from those collaborations can be applied to both distance learning and
learning withing the individual academic community and has future
implications as to how we reach students and how we teach students."
	Although Internet2 is not expected to be available publicly until
after the year 2000, a full two years after the academic community,
corporations are already lining up to be first to plug in to the vast
potential market.

By Rebecca A. Doyle.