Measurement-based standards for future information technology systems

Ⅵ Information technology is undergoing rapid and constant change to an extent that cannot be matched by any other technology. For the past two decades, there have been continual, dramatic increases in performance and function-ality, accompanied by significantly decreasing prices. Rapid change and innovation have affected almost all areas of human endeavor, and has enabled the development of new industries , products, and services. nformation technology functionality provided by desktop computers is becoming embedded in network services, consumer products, household appliances, and automobiles. Embedded computers systems that integrate data collected by sensors are beginning to influence many aspects of daily life, such as climate and security controls for homes and automobiles. and received in a common form or language , and thereby enables multiple functions to come together on common platforms (Cross Industry Working Team's report on Evolving the NII: A Cross Industry Vision). Increased computational power and bandwidth are leading to new applications combining multiple functions such as electronic commerce, search and retrieval of multimedia information from digital libraries, and the integration of design, ordering, and manufacturing processes. Interfaces between the parts of information technology systems are becoming more open, thus enabling users to interconnect the hardware, software, and communications products of different vendors. In early 1996, there were an estimated 330 million personal computers in use worldwide; more than half of which had access to the Internet. People have so far been willing to upgrade and change their computers as the technology changes—an estimated million and a half computers are given away every month. Information technology systems are widely distributed throughout the world, and tens of millions of people have started to access information through computer networks. People throughout the world are closer than ever before to communications facilities. About half of the world's population is, on the average , only two hours away from a telephone. The rapidly deployed wireless technology is likely to provide accelerated growth in online services around the world, and is expected to overshadow currently dominant voice traffic.