About the Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD Subcommittee)

The Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and its Committee on Technology serves as the internal deliberative organization of the NSTC for NITRD policy, program, and budget guidance and direction for the Executive Branch.

The NITRD Subcommittee coordinates the planning, budgeting, implementation, and reviews of networking and IT R&D across the NITRD member agencies to help assure continued U.S. leadership in networking and IT, satisfy the needs of the Federal government for advanced IT capabilities, and accelerate development and deployment of new technologies. The Subcommittee interacts with Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), other Federal agencies, and industry on behalf of the NITRD Program. Subcommittee members include representatives from each of the member agencies and from OMB, OSTP, and the National Coordination Office for NITRD (NCO/NITRD).

The scope of the activities and research areas under the aegis of the NITRD Subcommittee continuously evolves as rapidly shifting information technologies generate new R&D challenges in applying advanced capabilities to address national needs. For example, NITRD has established four Senior Steering Groups (SSGs) whose senior-level agency representatives are developing national strategies to: improve U.S. cybersecurity; advance IT applications in health care; enable fuller human uses of today’s vast quantities of digital data; and maximize the potential of the wireless spectrum.

NITRD research activities also take place in eight Program Component Areas (PCAs). The work of each PCA is guided by an Interagency Working Group (IWG) or a Coordinating Group (CG) of agency program managers. These groups, which report to the NITRD Subcommittee, meet monthly to coordinate planning and activities such as collaborative workshops, joint research efforts, and development of strategic R&D plans.

The NCO provides program and financial management services, technical and subject matter expertise in facilitation, strategic planning , technical writing, networking and IT services, and administrative staff support for the NITRD Subcommittee and the IWGs, CGs, SSGs, Teams, and other NITRD subgroups. The functions performed by the NCO are authorized under the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-194), the Next Generation Research Act of 1998 (105-305), and the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69). The cost of operating the NCO is shared by the NITRD member agencies in proportion to their NITRD budgets. The NCO also supports the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), under Executive Order 13539. The National Science Foundation (NSF) serves as the host agency for the NCO.

NITRD’s diverse R&D areas, groups, and interests include:

• High End Computing Infrastructure and Applications (HEC I&A) - R&D to extend the state of the art in high-end computing systems, infrastructure supporting those systems, and advanced applications.
• High End Computing Research and Development (HEC R&D) - R&D to optimize the development and performance of future generations of high-end systems.
• Cyber Security and Information Assurance (CSIA) - R&D to protect computer-based systems from actions that compromise or threaten to compromise the authentication, availability, integrity, or confidentiality of these systems, and/or the information they contain.
  
  • Cybersecurity R&D SSG – Develop “game-changing” security strategies to achieve national-level impact and provide overall leadership for Federal cybersecurity coordination, including communicating research needs and proposed budget priorities to inform policy makers and budget officials.
• Human Computer Interaction and Information Management (HCI&IM) - R&D to expand human capabilities and knowledge through information use and management by computer systems and humans working with information technologies.
  
  • Big Data SSG – Formed to identify current Federal big data R&D, offer opportunities for coordination, and consider a potential national initiative in this area.
• Large Scale Networking (LSN). R&D to extend the state of the art in networking architectures, technologies, services, security, applications, and enhanced performance.
  • The Joint Engineering Team (JET) Coordinates connectivity and transparency of networks supporting Federal science programs, research on network services of common interest to Federal networks, and international cooperation on networking.
  • The Middleware And Grid Infrastructure Coordination (MAGIC) Coordinates the development of common, transparent services to support grid computing, cloud services, and middleware in support of Federal scientific research programs.
• High Confidence Software and Systems (HCSS) - R&D to advance science enabling the routine production of certifiably dependable, safe, and secure complex computing and cyber-physical systems (IT-enabled engineered systems).
• Social, Economic, and Workforce Implications of IT and IT Workforce Development (SEW) - R&D to advance the science of socio-technical systems, including understanding the co-evolution of IT and social and economic systems; develop the workforce of the 21st century; and develop innovative IT applications in education and training.
  
  • SEW-Education – A subgroup that focuses on R&D in IT education and workforce training.
• Health IT R&D SSG - R&D to extend IT capabilities that support comprehensive life-long patient health records, improve clinical decision-making and health knowledge, empower a patient-centered health-care ecosystem, improve health information infrastructure while ensuring privacy and security, and advance cyber-physical health-care systems.
  
  • Health Information Technology Innovation and Development Environments (HITIDE) – R&D to advance application innovations for interoperable health IT systems by leveraging agencies’ testbed environments.
• Wireless Spectrum Research and Development (WSRD) SSG - R&D to explore innovative spectrum-sharing technologies, including those that are secure and resilient.
• Faster Administration of Science and Technology Education and Research (FASTER) Community of Practice (CoP) - Federal agency CIOs group that works to accelerate agencies’ adoption of advanced IT capabilities developed in Government-sponsored IT research.