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Co-Chairs:
Raj Reddy
Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Members:
Eric A.
Benhamou
Vinton Cerf
Ching-chih Chen
David Cooper
Steven D. Dorfman
David Dorman
Robert Ewald
Sherrilynne S. Fuller
Hector Garcia-Molina
Susan L. Graham
James N. Gray
W. Daniel Hillis
Robert E. Kahn
Ken Kennedy
John P. Miller
David C. Nagel
Edward H. Shortliffe
Larry Smarr
Joe F. Thompson
Leslie Vadasz
Steven J. Wallach
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The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Information Technology will be one of the key factors driving progress
in the 21st century - it will transform the way we live,
learn, work and play
This sentence, which opened the Executive Summary of our February
1999 report, Information Technology Research: Investing in our
Future, is truer than ever. The pace of information technology
innovation continues to accelerate, and information technology increasingly
permeates business, government, society and our personal lives.
The February 1999 report was the product of a two year evaluation
conducted by PITAC to identify the Nation's long term needs in information
technology, and to assess whether the Federal Government was adequately
addressing these requirements, especially by supporting the needed
investments in information technology research.
The report concluded that research investments in information technology
were seriously inadequate in light of its national importance. The
report recommended that the Federal Government significantly increase
its support of long-term, basic information technology research, including
research to address key application areas, identified as "National
Challenge Transformations" in which advances would particularly benefit
the Nation. The report also recommended that the Federal Government
should fund research to understand and address the socio-economic
impact of the information technology revolution.
While much remains to be done, PITAC is very pleased that the Administration
and Congress have accepted our findings and recommendations, and have
significantly increased Federal support for long term information
technology research. The National Science Foundation, which is the
lead agency charged with supporting fundamental information technology
research, initiated a new Information Technology Research (ITR) program
to support the PITAC recommendations. In 2000, the ITR program made
231 awards to 92 institutions located in 35 states, totaling $225M.
These awards will support almost 2000 new graduate students, more
than 300 undergraduates, and close to 2000 postdoctoral Fellows.
As we indicated in our letter to you on December 30, 1999, during
the past year PITAC initiated panels to study key areas that we felt
needed further attention. In August 2000, PITAC released the Report
to the President on Transforming Access to Government, which contained
the major findings and recommendations of the PITAC panel on the subject.
This past year, PITAC also conducted panels on the impact of IT on
Transforming Learning, the report of which is in the final stages
of review, and on Transforming the Practice of Health Care, for which
we intend shortly to publish an interim report, followed by the final
report in 2001. In September 2000 PITAC released the Report to
the President on Open Source Software for High End Computing,
and the final report of the Digital Library panel is expected shortly.
In February 2000, PITAC released its report Resolving the Digital
Divide: Information, Access and Opportunity, setting out a number
of important steps to help resolve the digital divide. These suggestions
emerged from an October 1999 conference on the digital divide co-sponsored
by PITAC. This year, PITAC also addressed digital divide issues faced
by small colleges and universities, a report of which, Avoiding
the Digital Divide for Smaller Institutions of Higher Education,
was published by EDUCAUSE in November 2000. We also initiated a panel
to explore the international dimensions of the digital divide.
For the coming year, we plan to finalize the reports of the panels
mentioned above and begin new studies in key areas. PITAC has chartered
a panel to look at the long-term implications of information technology
on national security. A new panel is studying technology issues surrounding
individual security, including "identity theft." PITAC has also started
a panel charged with understanding the long-term implications of the
proliferating wireless communications technologies.
PITAC also plans to update the February 1999 report, to take account
of new technology advances that have occurred since the original study
was completed, and to assess progress to date on implementing the
report's recommendations.
Mr. President, it has been an honor for all of us to serve the country
as members of PITAC. We are grateful for your trust and for the support
you have given our recommendations. We truly appreciate the opportunity
to work closely with the Administration and with Congress to help
ensure that our long-term needs in information technology are properly
addressed so the Nation can continue to reap its benefits far into
the future. There is a great deal more to be done, and we look forward
to serving President-elect Bush, his Administration, the Congress,
and the Nation.
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