MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:
I am pleased to forward with this letter "High Performance Computing and Communications: Technology for the National Information Infrastructure" prepared by the Committee on Information and Communication (CIC) of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). This report, which supplements the President's Fiscal Year 1995 Budget, describes the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program, which prior to the creation of the NSTC, was coordinated by the Committee on Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences (CPMES) within the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering, and Technology (FCCSET).
The interagency HPCC Program is developing computing, communications, and software technologies for the 21st century. It is fully supportive of and coordinated with the Administration's National Information Infrastructure (NII) Initiative, which was described in the NII Agenda for Action released on September 15, 1993. The Program will provide key parts of the technological foundation for the NII and develop and demonstrate selected "National Challenge" applications. National Challenges are major societal needs that computing and communications technology can help address in key areas such as health care, manufacturing, digital libraries, education and lifelong learning, electronic commerce, energy management, the environment, national security, and government services.
NII technologies are critically interwoven with and dependent upon high performance computing and communications capabilities and the software needed to address scientific and engineering "Grand Challenges" such as forecasting the weather, building safer and more energy efficient aircraft, designing life saving drugs, and understanding how galaxies are formed. The Program has accelerated the development of these technologies by supporting the researchers who create and apply them and the educators who teach others how to use them.
In formulating its research and development agenda, the HPCCIT Subcommittee and its participating agencies have worked closely with industry and academia. These key stakeholders have been providing informal input to the Program, and we are currently formalizing the process for ongoing private sector participation in conjunction with the new framework of the NSTC. Donald A. B. Lindberg, Chair of the HPCCIT Subcommittee, other members of the Subcommittee, their associates, and staff are to be commended for their efforts on this report and on the Program itself.