U.S. industry group demonstrates how information superhighway can help save world's rain forests.BRUSSELS, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1995--The National Information Infrastructure Testbed (NIIT NIIT National Institute of Information Technology (India) NIIT Nust Institute of Information Technology (Pakistan) NIIT National Information Infrastructure Testbed ), a consortium led by United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. corporations, will demonstrate here how information superhighway technologies can help save endangered en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. rain forests and help reduce deforestation deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. worldwide. The three-day demonstration is part of the Group of Seven (G7) Conference on the Information Society, being hosted by the European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community here Feb. 24-26. The conference will be attended by ministers from the G7 nations, which include: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. NIIT is the only consortium led by U.S. companies which has been invited to demonstrate information technologies at the conference. For example, in an unprecedented collaboration, Sprint is providing the high-speed trans-Atlantic network connection. Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) are providing computers. AT&T Corp. is providing overall project management. During the demonstration, called Earth Data Systems (EarthDS), a person at a computer terminal retrieves information on deforestation from several databases around the world and selects high-resolution satellite images of South American rain forests for viewing. By studying satellite images taken over a three-decade period, the impacts of deforestation and forest recovery efforts are easily visualized. The EarthDS demonstration will take place starting Feb. 24 at the Espace Leopold, Exhibit Hall, from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m., and from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 25 and 26. EarthDS technologies are being used by students and policy makers, from the world over, to better understand the effects deforestation can have on the environment - including carbon/oxygen cycles and animal and plant specie SPECIE. Metallic money issued by public authority. 2. This term is used in contradistinction to paper money, which in some countries is emitted by the government, and is a mere engagement which represents specie. diversification. "Until recently, the impact of deforestation in tropical rain forests and around the world was not widely known," said Dr. Berrien Moore, director of the Institute for Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). in the U.S., one of the first institutes to map deforestation and a NIIT founding member. "But we are realizing that there are wide-ranging effects on worldwide issues relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc quality of life." NIIT supports the G7 Conference's goal of gaining consensus on how to foster development of global information infrastructures. NIIT, although led by U.S. industry, is a collaborative effort, bringing together government agencies, academia, and U.S. national laboratories. "Industry-led collaboration will be the key to successful implementation of national, as well as global information infrastructures," said Troy Eid, NITT NITT National Institute of Technology, Trichy (India) NITT Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (Zaria, Nigeria) executive director. "The greatest challenge is in getting diverse interests and cultures to work together. But it is collaboration that allows NIIT to explore innovative ways to integrate technologies and help solve complex problems such as global deforestation." The main objective of the G7 Conference is to gain consensus on a set of five core principles, first proposed by U.S. Vice President Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore at the World Telecommunications Development Conference in Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (bwā`nəs ī`rēz, âr`ēz, Span. bwā`nōs ī`rās), city and federal district (1991 pop. . The five principles were incorporated into the Buenos Aires Declaration and will be used as the basis for discussion as the operating principles for a truly global information infrastructure. The five principles are: o encouraging private investment o promoting competition o creating a flexible regulatory framework o providing open access for all information service providers o and ensuring universal service Participating at the G7 Demonstration are NIIT members; AT&T Corp., the Center for the New West, the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN CIESIN Center for International Earth Science Information Network ), Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sprint and the University of New Hampshire. NIIT now has more than 65 members from industry, government, and academia and is active in several collaborative testbed projects, including health care, education, electronic commerce, and agile manufacturing Agile manufacturing is a term applied to an organization that has created the processes, tools, and training to enable it to respond quickly to customer needs and market changes while still controlling costs and quality. . The non-profit consortium is open to any organization interested in participating in the application projects or in sharing results. Contact 800/299-9973 for more information or access NIIT through the WorldWide Web Server via the Internet at URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. , http://www.niit.org/niit/. -0-
NIIT Activities at the G7 Information Society Showcase:
DEMONSTRATION: Earth Data Systems
Location: Espace Leopold, 2nd Floor, Health Care and Environment
Section
Time: Friday, Feb. 24 from 3-8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, Feb.
25 and 26 from 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
A demonstration to show how global information superhighway technologies are being used to save tropical rain forests. PRESS BRIEFING: Location: Espace Leopold, U.S. Delegate Room, 6th Floor Time: Sunday, Feb. 26, 2-2:30 p.m. Troy Eid, executive director of NIIT, will discuss U.S. industry's unprecedented collaboration here in Brussels. NIIT is the only consortium led by U.S. industry invited to demonstrate at the G7 Conference. Eid will also discuss NIIT's Earth Data System demonstration. VIDEO THEATRE PRESS CONFERENCE Location: Espace Leopole, 4th Floor Time: Sunday, Feb. 26, 6-6:30 p.m. NIIT has developed, and continues to develop, real-world application projects using advanced communications and computing technologies. NIIT's executive director, Troy Eid, will speak to the industry-led consortium's overall mission and goals and highlight the environmental, health care, and electric commerce projects we are building. "Industry-led collaboration will be the key to implementing global information infrastructures. Collaboration allows NIIT to explore innovative ways to integrate technologies and help solve complex problems such as global deforestation" (Troy Eid, NIIT Executive Director). CONTACT: NIIT Troy Eid or Chris Caldwell, 800/299-9973 (U.S.) or 011-32-2-729-8291 after Feb. 23 in Brussels |
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