Critically important cultural issues often are submerged topics in policy discussions surrounding the National Information Infrastructure (NII) and its political and economic implications for the 21stcentury United States. Academics, policymakers, and communications industry leaders mustrecognize the importance of profession as well as of gender, class, age, and geography when suggesting models for NII design and implementation. Of particular importance is respect for the multiple identities of potential NII users and the roles played by self-identified affinity groups and institutional culture in decisions regarding technology acceptance or rejection.
