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Being able to connect high-speed computing and other information technologies into broadband communication networks presents local communities with some of their best chances for renewal. Such technologies are now widely perceived to be not just a nice amenity among corporations and such non-profit organizations as universities but a social and economic necessity for communities struggling to find their place in a rapidly changing world. Today, citizens want and expect their local communities to be "wired" for broadband digital transactions, whether for family, business, education or leisure. Such networks have become a necessity for attracting and retaining the new "knowledge workforce" that will be key to transforming communities into digital societies where people will want to live and work. Since the Internet is a global phenomenon, some of the challenges of globalization for local communities and regions are introduced in this article and suggestions for turning those challenges into opportunities are offered. To attain maximum benefit from the new wired and wireless networks, local strategies must be developed for its implementation and applications must be chosen with some sensitivity to local needs. New Growth theory is used to show why communities must plan their development agenda, and case studies of the Intelligent Community Forum are included to show how strategically used ICTs are allowing local communities to be contributors in global markets.

A comparison of stories sampled from CNN's weekly "World Report" reveals coverage patterns different from those demonstrated by ABC, CBS, and NBC in other studies. Since 1987 the "World Report" has presented short contributions from other countries and these are presented without editing or censoring. In this content analysis of a 1989 sample of stories, CNN emphasized arts as the number one topic, while the arts ranked 13th in a recent study of network world coverage. Some nations took greater advantage of the opportunity to contribute material, for example, Japan, West Germany and Vietnam. This study argues that CNN provides an alternative view of some types of events, with a somewhat more positive tone, as might perhaps be expected from news that is contributed.

A multinational mission architecture is proposed as a way to jump-start development of a global space solar power (SSP) industry. Solar power generated on the International Space Station (whose orbit is roughly 400 km above the Earth) will be converted to millimeter waves and beamed to ground receivers located in five or more nations, providing measurements of dynamic beam pointing and atmospheric propagation in various parts of the globe. A second spacecraft in a polar orbit at nearly 2000 km, launched by a consortium of nations, will be used as a relay for beamed power delivery from the ground and from the ISS to other ground stations. The power transfer will employ one or more of several frequency windows for atmospheric transmission. The millimeter wave regime is chosen as a near-term option reachable by current research, on the road to a possible conversion to the more compact laser optics regime. This mission architecture seeks logical buy-in from the various entities that are essential partners in Space Solar Power, as follows: national space agencies, the terrestrial energy industry, the electronics/ communication industry, the space transportation industry, and military agencies. The Five-Nation Demonstration paper on which this proposal is based summarizes the major technical, business and policy issues to be addressed in such a mission, and suggests the place of this experiment in a roadmap toward development of a Space-based economy. The paper will be stored on the Journal server for on-demand access.