Appendices

Acknowledgments

The Office of the State Controller would like to thank all of the people across the state, inside and outside of government, who participated in this effort. Their assistance has informed our thinking and shaped the findings and conclusions reported in this document.

In particular, we want to thank the many users who contributed their time and talents to make this project a success. Members of the NCIH Evaluation Advisory Committee, the ad hoc committee on connectivity, survey respondents and participants in the regional meetings made this a better, more far-reaching report. In addition, we are grateful to the technical, business, academic and government leaders who granted us interviews on this subject. Their comments provided additional perspectives which added to our results.

Finally, we thank the state employees who helped us collect, analyze and synthesize the huge body of information that went into our evaluation. Without their cooperation, there would have been no report.

Glossary

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode): A switching architecture that uses cell relay technology to carry vast quantities of data at extremely high speeds.

Bandwidth: The speed or capacity of a network connection. The more bandwidth a particular medium has, the faster data can be transmitted.

Bit: A single unit of information.

Broadband: A service or system for transmitting large amounts of data, voice and video rapidly over long distances.

Connectivity: The physical infrastructure required to allow access and exchange of electronic information.

Digital: Representing data as discrete bits.

Distance learning: Using video technology to allow students in one location to participate in a class broadcast from another location.

E-mail: Electronic mail messages transmitted between computers.

Fiber optic: A transmission medium that employs light to transmit signals.

Internet: Interconnection of thousands of networks linked by a common set of technical protocols which make it possible for users to communicate and use services.

Interoperability: The ability to have applications and computers from different vendors work together on a network.

IXC (Inter-exchange Carrier): The local long-distance companyÑcurrently AT&TÑthat interconnects the local phone company LATAs.

LAN (Local Area Network): A group of computers and related equipment connected locally, usually within a single building, by a communications channel capable of sharing information among several users.

LATA (Local Access Transport Area): The area within which Local Exchange Carriers can provide end user services.

LECs (Local Exchange Carriers): Local telephone companies: Southern Bell, GTE and Carolina Sprint.

Modem: A telecommunications device that converts between analog and digital signals, allowing communication over voice circuits.

Narrowband: A voice-grade transmission channel capable of transmitting a maximum of 34,000 bits per second.

Scalable: Able to use the same applications and systems software on all classes of computers from desktop workstations to super computers.

SONET (Synchronous Optical Network Transmission): Provides an international standard family of transmission channels at optical rates; uses fiber optic technology.

T-1: A long distance, point-to-point communications circuit that transmits 1.5 million bits per second and can carry both voice and data.

Teleconferencing: Interactive method of communication uses video and audio to provide complete communication to all participants.

Telemedicine: Medical applications of telecommunications technology, designed to improve the quality of medical care in remote locations.

(WAN) Wide Area Network. A long distance computer network that enables users to share information across large geographical distances; a WAN may connect a number of LANS at different sites.


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