SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT FUND ONLINE CONTENT? - Former PBS President Lawrence K. Grossman and former FCC Chief Newton N. Minow argue that the federal government should become more involved in bridging the digital divide by providing online public space to supplement their efforts to Web-enable schools and communities. With this end in mind, Grossman and Minow have formed the Digital Promise Project, an organization dedicated to the provision of educational and civic-centered Web content through initiatives such as the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust. The project would support the implementation of online libraries and museum collections, as well as programs to help teachers learn how to take full advantage of technology in their classrooms. The Digital Promise group suggests that funding could be acquired from electromagnetic spectrum auctions, but they would not be the only agency vying for such revenues. The promise of public sites uncluttered by marketing is a worthy goal, said Grossman. "You could have a virtual solar system, a 3D model of a human body, or a recreation of Mark Twain's America." (Wall Street Journal, 23 July 01 - EduPage, 25 July 01)

NEW AMERICAN ALLIANCE FORMED - A new Alliance has formed that is expected to provide schools, colleges, state agencies, libraries and other nonprofit groups with benefits in telecommunications services. The American TelEdCommunications Alliance represents all areas of the country. The founding member are: MiCTA, a national telecommunications association of more than 12,000 nonprofit organizations; the Midwestern Higher Education Commission (MHEC); the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). The mission of the Alliance is to provide low-cost access to top-quality telecommunications programs and to create an organized way to exert leadership in building both technology policies and standards. Leaders of the five organizations will serve as board members. For more information visit: http://www.ATAlliance.org

DOTforce AND G8 NATIONS - Created two years ago at the Tokyo summit, and endorsed at the Okinawa summit last year, the Digital Opportunity Taskforce (DOTforce) has been hard at work on a plan to use the Internet to bring education and health care to the world's rural and urban poor. The Genoa action plan is intended to harmonize the development policies of the rich and poor nations, but two of its provisions could lead to new funding for continuing higher education. The first is the plan's goal of training teachers in Internet and telecommunications proficiency and in digital literacy education. The second is the creation of "university-based, networked centers of excellence, focusing on research and learning at the intersection between ICT [Internet and Communications Technology] and development." The Genoa plan foresees "twinning" these centers in G8 and developing countries, or creating multinational consortia linking rich and poor nations. For more about the Digital Opportunity Taskforce and the Genoa summit on the website of the US nonprofit coordinating organization, see the Markle Foundation at: http://www.markle.org/dotforce.html

G8 DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY UPDATE - the Genoa Plan of Action on information technology and development was formally adopted yesterday (July 22) by the G8 nations. The next G8 meeting, scheduled for June 2002 in Canada, will include a review of progress on implementation of the Plan. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33436-2001Jul22.html

While adoption of the Plan constituted agreement in principle, and could result in a giant step forward for distance learning, it remains to be seen whether implementation dollars for teacher education and online instruction will follow. US non-profit and university participation in the Genoa Plan is being coordinated by the John and Mary Markle Foundation. The Foundation's eMail newsletter, DigOpp Digest, reports on the latest developments in the Genoa Plan and allied activities. For a free subscription, eMail: majordomo@mail.edc.org and copy the following command to the eMail message field: subscribe digopp-digest (Joelle Brink, UCEA Update, 23 July 01)