Executive Office of the President President's Council of Advisors On
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REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DESIGNING A DIGITAL FUTURE: FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NETWORKING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Executive Office of the President President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology JANUARY 2013 About the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is an advisory group of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers, appointed by the President to augment the science and tech- nology advice available to him from inside the White House and from cabinet departments and other Federal agencies. PCAST is consulted about and often makes policy recommendations concerning the full range of issues where understandings from the domains of science, technology, and innovation bear potentially on the policy choices before the President. For more information about PCAST, see www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/pcast. ★ i ★ The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Co-Chairs John P. Holdren Eric Lander Assistant to the President for President Science and Technology Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy Vice Chairs William Press Maxine Savitz Raymer Professor, Computer Science and Vice President Integrative Biology National Academy of Engineering University of Texas at Austin Members Rosina Bierbaum Mark Gorenberg Professor, Natural Resources and Environmental Managing Director Policy Hummer Winblad Venture Partners School of Natural Resources and Environment Shirley Ann Jackson and School of Public Health President University of Michigan Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Christine Cassel Richard C. Levin President and CEO President American Board of Internal Medicine Yale University Christopher Chyba Chad Mirkin Professor, Astrophysical Sciences and Rathmann Professor, Chemistry, Materials International Affairs Science and Engineering, Chemical and Director, Program on Science and Global Security Biological Engineering and Medicine Princeton University Director, International Institute for S. James Gates, Jr. Nanotechnology John S. Toll Professor of Physics Northwestern University Director, Center for String and Particle Theory University of Maryland, College Park ★ iii ★ DESIGNING A DIGITAL FUTURE: FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NETWORKING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Mario Molina Eric Schmidt Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry Executive Chairman University of California, San Diego Google, Inc. Professor, Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Daniel Schrag Scripps Institution of Oceanography Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology Director, Mario Molina Center for Energy and Professor, Environmental Science and Environment, Mexico City Engineering Ernest J. Moniz Director, Harvard University Center for Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Environment Engineering Systems Harvard University Director, MIT’s Energy Initiative David E. Shaw Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chief Scientist, D.E. Shaw Research Craig Mundie Senior Research Fellow, Center for Chief Research and Strategy Officer Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Microsoft Corporation Columbia University Ed Penhoet Ahmed Zewail Director, Alta Partners Professor Emeritus, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and Physics Biochemistry and Public Health Director, Physical Biology Center University of California, Berkeley California Institute of Technology Barbara Schaal Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor of Biology Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Washington University, St. Louis Vice President, National Academy of Sciences Staff Amber Hartman Scholz Knatokie Ford Acting Executive Director AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow ★ iv ★ EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20502 President Barack Obama The White House Washington, DC 20502 Dear Mr. President, We are pleased to send you this report, Designing a Digital Future: Federally Funded Research and Development in Networking and Information Technology, prepared by your President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). This report fulfills PCAST’s responsibilities under Executive Order 13539 and the High- Performance Computing Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-194) as amended by the Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-305) and by the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-69). The United States leads the world in both the science of networking and information technology (NIT) and the myriad uses that transform lives. NIT impacts virtually every human endeavor, including scientific discovery, human health, education, the environment, national security, transportation, manufacturing, energy, and governance. The Federal Government coordinates its unclassified NIT research and development investments through the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, which helps ensure that the Nation effectively leverages its strengths, avoids duplication, and increases interoperability in such areas as supercomputing, high-speed networking, cybersecurity, software engineering, and information management. In 2010, PCAST conducted a major review of the NITRD program, including the portfolio of investments and the coordinating process, and recommended that steps be taken to develop an understanding of investment levels in NIT R&D and to create effective collaborations across key Federal agencies. In 2012, PCAST asked a small Working Group to review progress since the 2010 report and also to make further recommendations in response to the activities and advances since 2010. The current study finds that important NITRD investments responsive to the 2010 recommendations have been made, with notable progress in the multi-agency investments in “big data,” NIT-enabled interaction with the physical world, health IT, and cybersecurity. Furthermore, significant progress has been made in creating infrastructure for network scaling and testbeds. Some of the areas have received less attention and investment than was recommended, however. Efforts in educational technology, energy and transportation, and interagency collaboration still appear to be lacking, and R&D levels remain inadequate. The new PCAST report calls for a broad, high-level advisory mechanism to help meet these continuing NIT challenges. NIT remains a powerful engine for economic growth, national security, and enhanced quality of life. To maintain America’s leadership in NIT in an ever more competitive global environment, the Federal Government must develop a national strategy for continued and expanded investments in a robust NIT R&D program. PCAST believes that implementation of the recommendations in this report will help. Sincerely, John P. Holdren Eric S. Lander Co-chair, PCAST Co-chair, PCAST ★ v ★ The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Executive Summary The impact of networking and information technology (NIT) is stunning. Virtually every human endeavor is affected as advances in NIT enable or improve domains such as scientific discovery, human health, education, the environment, national security, transportation, manufacturing, energy, governance, and entertainment. NIT is also a powerful engine for economic growth. The United States leads the world in both the science of NIT and the myriad uses that transform lives. U.S. leadership stems from a sustained Federal investment in fundamental NIT research and develop- ment (R&D) spanning more than sixty years, and a vibrant industrial base that converts the fruits of that research to products. The research addresses both core NIT capabilities and the increasingly diverse domains in which NIT plays a crucial role. The interplay of Federally-funded university and government- agency research, privately funded industrial research, and entrepreneurial companies, together with the education and training that fuels innovation and productivity, clearly strengthens the Nation’s prosperity, health, and security. The role of NIT in meeting future challenges is even greater than in the recent past. NIT is now a funda- mental part of U.S. infrastructure—for communication, for commerce, for defense, for education, for safety, and for quality-of-life. The nature of NIT continues to change rapidly, demanding continuing U.S. attention to the R&D that fuels that change. The challenges are far more multidisciplinary than before, increasing the importance of R&D that crosses agency boundaries as well as effective government coordination of its NIT R&D investments. More than ever, the future depends on strengthening U.S. NIT R&D capabilities. The High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 established an R&D program in NIT, consisting of investments by multiple government agencies, a coordinating body within the government, and an advisory committee drawn from the academic and private sectors. The scope of the High-Performance Computing Act was expanded by the Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998, and again by the America COMPETES Act of 2007. The term “NITRD” is now used to designate both the portfolio of govern- ment investments and the coordinating process. The National Coordinating Office (NCO) is responsible for managing the coordination process.1 The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has responsibility for the advising role. In 2010, PCAST formed a Working Group that conducted a major review of the NITRD