| AJB | America's Job Bank |
| AOM | Acorn Online Media |
| ARPANET | US Defence Department's Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network |
| ASLIB | The Association for Information Management |
| ATM | Asynchronous Transfer Mode |
| BAILER | British Association for Information and Library
Education and Research |
| BBC | British Broadcasting Corporation |
| BCS | British Computer Society |
| BMA | British Medical Association |
| BSI | British Standards Institution |
| BT | British Telecommunications |
| CAB | Citizens' Advice Bureau |
| CANARIE | Canadian Network for Research, Industry and
Education |
| CARE | Christian Action Research and Education |
| CAT | Committee on Applications and Technology (an IITF
working group) |
| CBI | Confederation of British Industry |
| CCA | Cable Communications Association |
| CCTA | Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency |
| CD | Compact Disc |
| CDi | Compact Disc Interactive |
| CD-ROM | Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (disc-based data
storage) |
| CERN | European Organisation for Nuclear Research (originally
Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) |
| CGIS | CCTA Government Information Service |
| CITU | Central Information Technology Unit |
| CSCP | Civil Service Computerisation Programme |
| CWU | Communication Workers Union |
| DfEE | Department for Education and Employment |
| DMA | Direct Marketing Association |
| DNH | Department of National Heritage |
| DTI | Department of Trade and Industry |
| ECMS | Electronic Copyright Management Systems |
| ECN | European Communications Network |
| ESPRIT | European Strategic Programme for Research in
Information Technology |
| ESRC | Economic and Social Research Council |
| EU | European Union |
| EUNET | A Europe-wide packet-switching network |
| EURIM | European Informatics Market |
| EURO-ISDN | A European version of ISDN |
| FEDA | Further Education Development Agency |
| GII | Global Information Infrastructure |
| GLOBE | Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the
Environment |
| HEI | Higher Education Institutes |
| ICSTIS | Independent Committee for the Supervision of
Standards of Telephone Information Services |
| IDPM | Institute for the Management of Information Systems
(originally the Institute for Data and Production Managers) |
| IHAC | Information Highway Advisory Council (in Canada) |
| IITF | Information Infrastructure Task Force (in the
USA) |
| IMS | Institute of Management Services |
| INRIA | Institut National de Recherche en Informatique
et en Automatique (France) |
| IoP | Institute of Physics |
| IPR | Intellectual Property Right |
| IPU | Inter-Parliamentary Union |
| ISDN | Integrated Systems Digital Network |
| ISH | Information Superhighway |
| ISI | Information Society Initiative |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| ISTF | Information Society Task Force |
| IT | Information Technology |
| ITAA | Information Technology Association of America |
| ITC | Independent Television Commission |
| ITEC | Information Technology, Electronics and Communications
(a Panel in the UK Technology Foresight exercise) |
| iTV | Interactive Television Trial in Cambridge, England |
| JANET | Joint Academic Network |
| JISC | Joint Information Systems Committee |
| LAN | Local Area Network |
| LDO | Local Delivery Operator |
| MAN | Metropolitan Area Network |
| MCNC | Microelectronic Computing Centre of North Carolina |
| MDA | Museum Documentation Association |
| MIT | Massachusetts Intitute of Technology, Boston, USA |
| MPEG | Motion Picture Experts Group |
| MPT | Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (in Japan) |
| NACAB | National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux |
| NAS | National Academy of Sciences (in the USA) |
| NC | Network Computer |
| NCC | National Consumer Council |
| NCET | National Centre for Educational Technology |
| NCIH | North Carolina Information Highway |
| NHS | National Health Service |
| NII | National Information Infrastructure |
| NIIAC | National Information Infrastructure Advisory
Council |
| NIST | National Institute of Standards and Technology
(in the USA) |
| NSF | US National Science Foundation |
| NSFNET | US National Science Foundation Network |
| NYNEX | New York and New England Exchange |
| OFSTED | Office for Standards in Education |
| OFT | Office of Fair Trading |
| OFTEL | Office of Telecommunications Regulation |
| OSCE | Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe |
| OSI | Open Systems Interconnection |
| OST | Office of Science and Technology |
| OSTP | Office of Science and Technology Policy (in the
USA) |
| OTIA | Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications
(USA) |
| PA-NET | Parliamentary Assembly Network (set up by OSCE) |
| PC | Personal Computer |
| PFI | Private Finance Initiative |
| PICS | Platform for Internet Content Selection |
| POST | Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology |
| PSI | Policy Studies Institute |
| PTO | Public Telephone Operator |
| PTT | Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones |
| QVC | Quality, Value and Convenience (a shopping channel
on cable and satellite television) |
| RACE | R&D in Advanced Communications Technologies
in Europe |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| RCN | Royal College of Nursing |
| ROM | Read-Only Memory |
| SCONUL | Standing Conference of National and University
Libraries |
| SCRAN2000 | Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network |
| SET | Secure Electronic Transactions |
| SMEs | Small and Medium-sized Enterprises |
| Super-JANET | High speed upgrade of the Joint Academic
Network |
| TERC | Technology Education Resource Centre (USA) |
| TTA | Teacher Training Agency |
| UCISA | Universities and Colleges Information Systems
Association |
| UKERNA | UK Education and Research Networking Association |
| USO | Universal Service Obligation |
| VBNS | Very high speed Backbone Network Service (US equivalent
to SuperJANET) |
| VCR | Video Cassette Recorder |
| WAN | Wide Area Network |
| WWW | WorldWide Web |
