RFC 371 (rfc371) - Page 1 of 2

Demonstration at International Computer Communications Conference

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NWG/ RFC #371                                       Robert Kahn
NIC 11020                                           BBN
                                                    12 July 1972

DEMONSTRATION AT INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE

     The International Computer Communications Conference, scheduled
for 24-26 October 1972 at the Washington, D.C. Hilton Hotel, is a
newly organized conference intended to address a broad set of issues
in the Computer Communications field.  Approximately 17 sessions are
currently planned for the conference.  The social implications of this
field are a matter of widespread interest that reaches society in
almost all walks of life; education, medicine, research, business and
government.  All these areas will be affected as the field develops.

     I am organizing a computer communication network demonstration to
run in parallel with the sessions.  This demonstration will provide
attendees with the opportunity to gain first hand experience in the
use of a computer network.  The theme of the demonstration will be on
the value of computer communication networks, emphasizing topics such
as data base retrieval, combined use of several machines, real-time
data access, interactive cooperation, simulation systems, simplified
hard copy techniques, and so forth.  I am hoping to present a broad
sampling of computer based resources that will provide attendees with
some perspective on the utility of computer communication networks.

     Terminal equipment has already been offered by many different
manufacturers and we are beginning to home in on the application
areas.  The plan is to deliver a TIP to the Hilton and to connect it
into the ARPANET.  All terminals at the Hilton will then be connected
directly to the TIP.  Software resources on the ARPANET as well as
resources in other nets that can be temporarily connected to the
ARPANET and made available for the purpose of demonstration will be
available.  In most cases it is possible to arrange for terminal
access via the ARPANET to non ARPANET sites without hardware or
software development on their part.

     A significant amount of preparation by ourselves, the NIC, and
others is being devoted to making it convenient for naive users to sit
down at a terminal and effectively use "selected" resources without
assistance.  This involves the generation of "explicit" documentation
in easy to understand terms -- a non-trivial task.  However, we hope
this effort will also be useful for other application in the long run.
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