Information and Communications Technology R&D in the U.S Federal Government: Information and Communications Technology R&D in the U.S Federal Government Suzi Iacono, Ph.D. National Science Foundation Co-Chair Social, Economic, and Workforce Implications of IT (SEW) and IT Workforce Development National Information Technology Research and Development Expedition Workshop, NSF May 17, 2005


Federal role in networking and information Technology R&D : Federal role in networking and information Technology R&D Federally-sponsored research builds the technology base on which the information technology industry has grown Federal government funds basic research not funded by industry High risk, innovative ideas whose practical benefits may take years to demonstrate Networking and Information Technology R&D program (NITRD) helps focus interagency ICT R&D: Identify common research needs Plan inter-agency research programs Coordinate and collaborate on research announcements and funding Promote application of research successes Review research results and adjust accordingly NITRD Program authorized by Congress in Public Laws 102-194 and 105-305 National Coordination Office for IT R&D (NCO) coordinates planning, budget, and assessment activities for the NITRD Program NCO Director reports to the Director of the White House Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP) and co-chairs the Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology R&D in the National Science and Technology Council


NITRD Program Coordination: NITRD Program Coordination WHITE HOUSE Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy National Science and Technology Council National Coordination Office (NCO) for Information Technology Research and Development High End Computing Interagency Working Group (HEC) Large Scale Networking Coordinating Group (LSN) High Confidence Software and Systems Coordinating Group (HCSS) Human Computer Interaction & Information Management Coordinating Group (HCI & IM) Software Design and Productivity Coordinating Group (SDP) President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology R&D Social, Economic and Workforce Implications of IT and IT Workforce Development Coordinating Group (SEW) Participating Agencies: AHRQ, DARPA, DOE/NNSA, DOE/SC, EPA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, NSA, NSF, OSD U.S. Congress NITRD Authorization and Appropriations Legislation


NITRD Participating Agencies and Departments: NITRD Participating Agencies and Departments Department of Defense Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) National Security Agency (NSA) Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE/SC) National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Science Foundation (NSF) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Observers Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Food and Drug Administration (FDA)


HISTORY OF NITRD FUNDING: HISTORY OF NITRD FUNDING


Program Highlights for 2005-2006 : Program Highlights for 2005-2006 Implementation of Federal Plan for High-End Computing Joint Planning and funding of research in software for high-end computing Continuation of High Productivity Computing Systems Program Installation and use of new computing systems Opening Federal computing resources to wider user communities Networking Research and Development Optical Network Testbeds Grid and Middleware Computing Technologies Information integration technologies Prototype real-time high-confidence operating system Cyber security, information assurance, authentication Technology transfer to applications areas Computer-based medical devices National Health Care Information Network Communities of practice


SEW Coordinating Group: SEW Coordinating Group The activities funded under the SEW PCA focus on the nature and dynamics of IT impacts on technical and social systems as well as the interactions between people and IT devices and capabilities; the workforce development needs arising from the growing demand for workers who are highly skilled in information technology; and the role of innovative IT applications in education and training. SEW also supports efforts to transfer the results of IT R&D to the policymaking and IT user communities in government at all levels and the private sector. Amid today's rapid global transformations driven by IT, SEW research aims to provide new knowledge to help society anticipate, identify, understand, and address the diverse issues of the digital age.


CG Member Agencies : CG Member Agencies NSF NIH NASA DOE/SC DOE/NNSA GSA (non-NITRD agency)


Summary of Individual Agency Activities: Summary of Individual Agency Activities NSF NSF-wide Information Technology Research (ITR) program: Multiyear SEW-related research efforts (FY 2005 - FY 2006) 120 new ITR awards in FY 2005 include many SEW projects related to current national priorities (IT for economic prosperity and a vibrant civil society, IT advances in science and engineering) Health Informatics; Infectious Disease Informatics Globablization and the Distribution of Knowledge Work Socio-technical Systems for Management of Biohazardous Emergencies Complexities of Election Systems CISE/IIS: Systems in Context Cluster: Digital Government, Digital Society and Technologies (DST), and Universal Access programs ( FY 2005 - FY 2006) FY 2005 SIC focus: Collaboration in the sciences and for emergency preparedness; distributed innovation and learning for economic prosperity; socio-technical issues in intelligence informatics; collaboration with the EC CISE/CNS: IT Workforce Program (FY 2005 - FY 2006) CISE/Combined Research and Curriculum Development and Educational Innovation Program (FY2005 - FY 2006)


Summary of Individual Agency Activities: Summary of Individual Agency Activities NIH NIH graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs in bioinformatics (FY 2005 - FY 2006) NASA Learning Technologies Program (FY 2005 - FY 2006) DOE/NNSA Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Program (FY 2005 - FY 2006) DOE/SC Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Program (FY 2005 - FY 2006) GSA (non-NITRD agency) Collaborative Expedition Workshops (FY 2005)


Summary of Individual Agency Activities: Summary of Individual Agency Activities GSA (non-NITRD agency) Collaborative Expedition Workshops (FY 2004) key findings: Emerging components not easily discovered by e-government managers, resulting in lost or delayed opportunities. http://componenttechnology.org Apply emerging technologies (web services, grid computing, and semantic web) to tune up innovation pipeline with better linkages among business incubators (state economic development programs), innovation diffusion networks (SBIR, angel investors, etc.) and business intelligence centers with quality information about e-government and e-commerce gaps. Results Highlights Frontier Outpost opens up quality conversations, augmented by IT, to leverage collaborative capacity Faster formation of Communities of Practice (CoPs) and leveraging of assets among CoPs (i.e. planning Semantic Web Applications and National Security conference with DARPA) Eleven Workshops and Quarterly Emerging Components Conferences, attended by 763 people with 117 Emerging Trend presentations archived at: http://colab.cim3.net


The Interdisciplinary Research Challenge: The Interdisciplinary Research Challenge Adapted from Sara Kiesler’s NSF CISE Distinguished Lecture June 12, 2003


Study of KDI Outcomes Sara Kiesler and Jonathon Cummings: Study of KDI Outcomes Sara Kiesler and Jonathon Cummings Two-year NSF research program whose goal was to foster multidisciplinary research Highly competitive 40 / 697 (6%) proposals funded in 1998 31 / 163 (19%) full proposals funded in 1999 Study shows distance is a more important obstacle than multidisciplinarity Attainment of research outcomes depended on coordination among non-colocated project members


Predicting Outcomes: Predicting Outcomes Multidisciplinarity: Number PI disciplines Geographic dispersion: Number universities Controls (year, budget, # PIs & students, univ R & D expend.) Knowledge -.38 OLS estimates Tools Training Outreach -.18 -.16 + +


Role of Coordination: Role of Coordination PIs who are more active in coordinating their projects are more successful. Number of coordination mechanisms used is correlated positively with Knowledge outcomes (r = .52) Tools outcomes (r = .18) Training outcomes (r = .30) Outreach outcomes (r = .44)


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