An issue of growing importance in rural economic development is the role of telecommunications and information technologies. Looking prospectively at the rural economies of the 1990s and beyond, a conference of 25 participants from various fields of expertise met to address the issues of how rural America will be affected, both positively and negatively, as more of the U.S. economy comes to depend on such technologies as teleconferencing, facsimile transmission, digital data transmission, electronic mail, and related systems. The conference discussions centered around three major topics: (1) rural policy and economic development including the reasons for concern, rural values, present economic development, current problems, ineffective policies, importance of self-determination, and emergence of new leadership; (2) the promise of telecommunications for rural America including an overview of existing rural telephone service, an examination of rural businesses and the possible uses of telecommunications, and telecommunications as an empowerment tool both in economic development and in rural education; and (3) strategies for action, such as upgrading rural telecommunications, the role of government, telecottages, and future research. (ALL)