Worldwide Information and Trade System

-- Overview ==

The Worldwide Information and Trade System (WITS), was designed by the International Trade Administration to link key overseas posts and district offices to a central data base by satellite. This effort only proceeded through the prototype stage because of high projected costs and opposition from members of the Information Industry Association, who contended that the government was competing with their publishing and information dissemination efforts. In 1981, the WITS project was abandoned, and a new more limited automation project, the Automated Information Transfer System (AITS), was started.