Harvard Becomes Hub for Net Gurus

The world has come to Harvard this week to celebrate the Internet and explore its future. More than a thousand participants from 37 countries are participating in the Harvard Conference on the Internet and Society.

Designed to offer much more than a dazzling display of the latest technology, the conference has sought to tackle questions about uses of the Net, a global communications web that is growing at a tremendous rate, but which in some ways defies attempts to categorize it. "How will the Net be used?" and "Who will be using it?" have been the primary questions for conference speakers and participants.

Experts from business, government, and academia have been discussing the impact of the fastest-growing method of communication on the way organizations function, learn, earn, govern, survive, or fail to survive.

To discuss such issues, a virtual "Who's Who" of the computing world has been in attendance, including Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft; Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems Inc.; Larry Tesler, Apple's chief scientist; Enrico Pesatori, vice president of Digital Equipment Corp.; Diane Lady Dougan of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission; and Steven McGeady of Intel Corp.

The conference, which began Tuesday, will run through Friday. For stories about the Internet and Society Conference, see Pages 6, 10, 13, 14, and 15 in this issue of the Gazette, or visit the conference Web site at http://www.harvnet.harvard.edu. For e-mail: harvnet@harvard.edu.

The following companies are providing financial and technical support for the conference: Apple Computer Inc., Bay Networks Inc., Beneficial Corp., Coopers & Lybrand LLP, Digital Equipment Corp., IBM Corp., Intel Corp., KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Microsoft Corp., NYNEX, RCN Inc./Liberty Cable, and Xerox Corp.