HIGHLIGHTS:
Computing Research Advocacy Network

Information Technology Initiative

Networking and Information Technology
Research and Development Act

June 17, 1999

On June 9, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chair of the House Science Committee, and twenty-five cosponsors from both parties introduced the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act.

The legislation, HR 2086, would amend the High Performance Computing and Communications Act to reauthorize HPCC funding for the six agencies under the Science Committee's jurisdiction for the next five years. (Although the funding authorizations provided by the High Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991 [Public Law 102-194] lapsed after Fiscal Year 1996, the program has continued, as many do, without explicit authorization.)

In addition, the bill would set aside a portion of the National Science Foundation's HPCC funding for a new networking and information technology R&D program, defined as "grants for long-term basic research on networking and information technology, with priority given to research that helps address issues related to high end computing and software and network stability, fragility, reliability, security (including privacy), and scalability."

While the other agencies covered by the legislation — the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Energy (DoE), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — would not have any of their HPCC funding set aside for the NITR&D program, they are authorized to support NITR&D activities at their discretion.

The NITR&D program definition closely adheres to the priorities outlined by the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC). Moreover, despite using a different scheme for categorizing the various computing subprograms, the bill is largely consistent with President Clinton's Information Technology for the Twenty-First Century initiative (IT²), a proposal included in his FY 2000 budget which also stems from the PITAC recommendations. It is expected that the Administration will support the NITR&D proposal, regarding the differences between NITR&D and IT² as minor.

The introduction of this bill with bipartisan support ameliorates one of the difficulties supporters of expanded investment in long-term computing research, including CRA, have had in advocacy efforts with Congressional appropriators. IT² was viewed with skepticism by many Republicans who saw it as too closely tied to Vice President Gore. The NITR&D Act becomes a vehicle for the White House and Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to claim credit for addressing the inadequacies of current support for IT research. It is important to keep in mind, however, that NITR&D is an authorization bill that allows agencies to spend money on a program but does not actually provide the money. Only appropriations bills can do that.

The NSF's NITR&D funding authorization would be $316 million of its total $445 million HPCC authorization in FY 2000, and would steadily increase to $415 million of $571 million in FY 2004. The authorization includes support for individual grants, large grants, centers, and internships.

The NSF would also be authorized to support "the development of major research equipment to establish terascale computing capabilities at one or more sites and to promote diverse computing architectures." The grants would be awarded through an open, peer-reviewed competition, and funded sites would be required to connect to the PACI network. Authorized funding would be in addition to the amounts given above and would start at $70 million in FY 2000, more than the $35 million that would be provided under the Administration's IT² budget. However no additional funds would be provided for terascale computing at DoE as called for in the IT² plan.

Four agencies including NSF would get additional funding over the next two years to complete the Next Generation Internet program.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), both of which are part of IT², are not covered by this bill because they do not fall under the Science Committee's jurisdiction.

The bill also contains several non-funding provisions: It would charge the PITAC with conducting periodic evaluations of all three programs — HPCC, NITR&D, and NGI; it would make permanent the R&D Tax Credit; and it would charge the NSF with conducting a study on the availability of encryption technologies in foreign countries, so policymakers can better evaluate the efficacy of U.S. export restrictions on encryption technologies.

The Science Committee plans to hold hearings on the bill later this month and next, and could approve the measure later this summer or fall. Chairman Sensenbrenner is also seeking to have a counterpart bill introduced in the Senate.