Roadkill on the information (super)highway.

Lately you may have devoted more thought than you should to a new phenomenon called the "Information Superhighway." Don't bother, at least not for now. The information highway is neither chock full of information, nor is it really a highway.

To me, a highway is a road on which I zip along at 100 miles an hour, with no traffic in sight and a clear destination in mind. Regretfully, the Information Highway will never live up to this image--or the hype that has surrounded its early years.

REDUCE SPEED: UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The term "Information Highway" usually is used to mean the convergence of remarkable new technologies--including high-speed networks based on fiber-optic technology, optical-based mass storage, and commodity "multimedia" computer technology--that make it possible to more easily create, store, and disseminate data, text, images, and even entertainment. With all of these technologies coming together, you should be able to: order pizza from your TV and download the latest version of Microsoft Whatever without a hassle.

Despite the fact that the Information Highway is sponsored by the government and has a deadline for completion (no one knows the date, but apparently it coincides with the next presidential election), it probably will happen incrementally, if at all. In the meantime, people are doing some interesting things using a network the government did fund, the Internet.

Originally started by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to facilitate information sharing among Department of Defense scientists and researchers, the Internet is an octopus of networks that connect millions of users, and allow them to conduct free-flowing exchanges of ideas, data, and images.

That's the good news. The bad news is that this particular road system has been overrun by biker gangs and kids in hopped up jalopies--or at least the Information Age equivalent. The Internet is most widely used today by what a friend of mine affectionately refers to as"unwashed UNIX hacks." These virtual people engage in virtual conversations about virtually important topics. Etiquette must be observed on "the net." Since I'm a "newbie" and didn't check my "FAQs," I probably would be "flamed" for making these statements.

Understand? Probably not. That's because you don't need to. You could be a Nobel laureate in literature and still get flamed (Internet jargon for being attacked verbally for violating an obscure point of etiquette). Don't worry: The current Internet culture will be long gone by the time it takes its place in history.

COMBUSTIBLE TECHNOLOGY

The evolution of the Information Superhighway resembles that of the internal combustion engine. In the early part of the 20th century, engineers applied a technology, the internal combustion engine, to a problem, that of transporting humans from place to place. Although this intuitive leap was brilliant, the combination of the two, now known as the automobile, didn't get a jump-start for decades. Early car-buyers faced a small problem: They didn't have anywhere to go or anything to drive on.

Eventually, the Interstate highway system was constructed, and suddenly there was a reason to buy a car. The automobile transformed the way we live.

The technology of the internal combustion engine couldn't revolutionize society without an infrastructure. Today, information technology has the potential to impact society even more than the automobile, but it is still hamstrung by the lack of an "Interstate highway system," or its equivalent. Ironically, this is a chicken-and-egg situation. Which comes first: the infrastructure or the enabling technology?

PONY IN THE PILE

Some "thing" equivalent to the Interstate highway system will have to be created for us to realize the potential of fiber-optic networking; powerful, inexpensive computers with voice, data, and graphics capabilities; and mass storage devices. When it will happen, and what shape it will take, no one knows.

The most important consideration is how your company can benefit from the Information Highway, and more important, how you as CEO should prepare for it. Here are some ideas:

* Educate your work force about new technology. The advent of portable computers, cellular phones, and electronic mail means your employees are increasingly mobile. The "Information Highway" allows your southeast sales manager to check E-mail at 1:30 a.m. and get an up-to-the-minute briefing about tomorrow's meeting.

* Use the Internet. This network is an inexpensive way to communicate and "information-enable" your work force.

* Take advantage of electronic messaging. Using this technology throughout the company facilitates process re-engineering and will help your firm to emerge as a virtual corporation.

* Leverage the value-added aspects of technology. The most valuable benefits of the Information Highway will come from the technological value it adds to the products or services your company already provides.

Don't get too excited about the Information Highway yet. But don't ignore it either, or you'll end up as just another piece of roadkill.

Randall K. Fields is chairman and chief executive of Park City Group, a Utah-based developer of the PaperLess Management concept, which utilizes flexible electronic management systems.