Congress Eyes Network and Information Technology R&D Funding Reform
Reform is needed of a $3.3 billion federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, witnesses told a Thursday House Science Committee hearing. Witnesses endorsed August 2007 recommendations by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “Networking and information technology is an essential component of U.S. scientific, industrial, and military competitiveness,” said Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn. NITRD has been “largely a success,” but the PCAST analysis must “be seriously considered and then addressed, as appropriate, through legislative adjustments to the NITRD authorizing statute.” Thursday’s hearing was a “first step” in a longer process the committee plans to conclude next year, he said.
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Opinion differed little across party lines. “It is important that we not only continue to support these R&D efforts but also make sure that this program is appropriately coordinating with our classified cybersecurity initiatives,” said Ranking Member Ralph Hall, R-Texas. “This is of vital importance to our homeland security and to our economy.”
Congress created NITRD with the 1991 High Performance Computing Act. Most of the program’s funding comes out of the Defense and Energy Department, National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health budgets. Last August, PCAST urged agencies to develop a plan for NITRD, regularly review its performance and reshuffle funding, directing more support to critical problems and higher-risk, higher-payoff explorations. PCAST also urged new spending on cyber-physical systems -- computer systems connected with the physical world.
Witnesses lauded the 2007 recommendations. Even if PCAST hadn’t pushed a strategic plan, “it would still be the right time” for one, NITRD National Coordination Office director Chris Greer said. The program is “working intensively” on a plan now and seeking private-sector input, he said. NITRD plans to offer a draft for public comment early next year, he said. Implementing PCAST recommendations will “fuel future global leadership in innovation,” said Craig Stewart, an Indiana University associate dean representing the Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation.
Government spending on network and information technology R&D is “imbalanced,” favoring low-risk, short-term projects, said Daniel Reed, Microsoft director of Scalable and Multicore Computing. Funding should be “encourage greater innovation and risk taking,” he said. A mix of “targeted reallocation” and more funding is the best approach, he said.
NITRD reform should address education and interagency coordination, witnesses said. Not enough people complete NIT education programs, and that education’s quality is lacking, Reed said. NITRD coordination doesn’t “meet anticipated national needs” and can’t maintain U.S. leadership globally, he said.
More consistent funding would help keep the NIT industry stable, Stewart said. Funding “oscillations” makes it hard to keep experts on staff, he said. When programs are killed or suspended, companies often lose experts who never return to the field, he said.
PCAST recognized the need to spend more on cyber- physical systems, said Don Winter, Boeing vice president of engineering and information technology. “We need a national strategy in which long-term CPS technology needs are addressed by combined government and corporate investment,” he said.