SAN JOSE, Calif., November 20, 2001- Where will the Internet take us over the next 20 years? In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes, Nobel Laureates were asked to make their predictions in a first-time survey entitled Education, Innovation & The Internet: Nobel Laureates Look to the Future.

Among the results, 69 percent of Laureates think the Internet could have accelerated completion of their own work; 93 percent of Laureates believe the Internet will provide greater access to libraries, information and teachers; 82 percent predict that the Internet will speed up innovation; and 72 percent believe the Internet will play a sizable role in improving living standards worldwide.

Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA) conducted the research on behalf of Cisco Systems. Nearly one-third of all Laureates participated in the survey.

"Cisco believes that the Internet has the power to break traditional barriers," said Keith Fox, vice president, corporate marketing, Cisco Systems. "Nobel Laureates themselves have broken barriers in scientific, social and political domains. That's why we asked Laureates to share their insights about the transformational power and possibilities of the Internet."

Education was one of the Laureates' top concerns. Laureates see inadequate educational opportunities and illiteracy as major problems facing mankind (92%). In the future, Laureates believe the Internet will have a positive effect on improving education (87%); provide greater access to libraries, information and teachers worldwide (93%); and give more students greater learning opportunities through virtual classrooms by year 2020 (74%).

Laureates also believe that the Internet will accelerate innovation (82%) and advance scientific knowledge. What's more, 69 percent of Laureates think the Internet could have accelerated completion of their own work. Eighty-three percent say the Internet will play a large role in increasing productivity. These findings indicate a firm belief that the Internet will greatly impact innovation, scientific advancement, and the pace of change in the world-possibly resulting in scientific and medical breakthroughs.

"Today's on-line access to scientific data, such as the entire human genome, will be dwarfed by tomorrow's on-line access to the bulk of the world's libraries, with not yet imaginable impacts on human understanding of the natural, biological, and human cultural universes," said 1982 Physics Laureate Kenneth Wilson, Ph.D.

Beyond education and innovation, the majority of Laureates believe that the Internet will play a sizeable role in improving quality of life (72%) by providing more economic opportunities to people in less developed countries (72%); improving communications with people in other countries (93%); and breaking down borders between people in different countries and cultures (76%).

For example, Amnesty International, the 1977 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is using its www.stoptorture.org web site in the worldwide campaign to stop torture. As a result, many people who were at risk of being tortured have been released from detention and others have been spared from further ill-treatment. The site enables supporters from every region of the world to send appeals and protests on behalf of those who are in danger, directly to the authorities responsible.

According to Mark Neuman, coordinator of the Amnesty International Campaign Against Torture, "Amnesty International believes that the Internet provides a means to extend its campaigning to a much larger and more diverse range of potential activists for human rights."

While Laureates believe the Internet holds great potential, they expressed some apprehension. Concerns include increased privacy violations (65%), increased alienation (51%) and greater political or economic inequity (44%).

Overall, almost all of the Laureates surveyed say the Internet has had a positive impact on their work and lives (85%). Most Laureates use a computer (88%), as well as the Internet and e-mail (89%).

"The results of this survey are particularly interesting because most of the Laureates surveyed did not grow up using computers or the Internet," said Mary McIntosh, vice president, PSRA. "In fact, the median age of Laureates surveyed is 72."

The results of the survey parallel Cisco's belief that the Internet is a powerful tool to help spread knowledge and education, and speed innovation. Cisco is widely known for applying its own technologies and has done so extensively in the area of e-learning. Ninety percent of Cisco's sales force use e-learning to stay up to date. In 1997, Cisco established a public-private partnership called the Cisco Networking Academy Program, which provides over 8,000 educational institutions around the world with an up-to-date curriculum on-line. This e-learning project is being delivered in 133 countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mali, Chad and the Congo and reaches 232,000 students.

"There is no greater equalizer on this earth than education. Through the power of the Internet we can bring education to more people faster than any other traditional means," said Fox.

Seventy-one Laureates participated in the survey via the telephone, online or mail. All Nobel Prize categories were represented, with Laureates from the fields of medicine, physics and chemistry comprising more than half of the survey responses.

To view the survey results, log onto www.cisco.com/nobel.

Background on the Nobel-Cisco Internet Initiative:

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes in December 2001, the Nobel Foundation selected Cisco Systems as its exclusive Internet technology partner. As part of this long-term agreement (formally known as the Nobel-Cisco Internet Initiative), Cisco is providing the Nobel Foundation with the network technology and expertise to support its ongoing efforts to inspire excellence and promote greater public awareness of the many achievements in science, literature and peace that benefit mankind. Specifically, Cisco is helping Nobel with build-out and expansion of Nobel's e-Museum web site, providing network technology, equipment and services to enhance the Foundation's back-office operations, and sponsoring the Nobel Peace concert and panel discussions.

The survey was conducted independently of the Nobel-Cisco Internet Initiative.

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