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
David J. Farber
Sherrilynne S. Fuller
Hector Garcia-Molina
Susan L. Graham
James N. Gray
W. Daniel Hillis
Bill Joy
Bob Kahn
Ken Kennedy
John P. Miller
David C. Nagel
Edward H. Shortliffe
Larry Smarr
Joe F. Thompson
Leslie Vadasz
Andrew J. Viterbi
Steven J. Wallach |
The Honorable Ted Stevens
Chairman
Senate Committee on Appropriations
SH-522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0201
Dear Mr. Chairman:
As members of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee,
we would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the critical need
for federal funding of information technology research and development.
We have closely watched the appropriations actions and are deeply
disappointed that the funding levels are well below those recommended
in our report, President Clinton's Information Technology for the
21st Century initiative, and Congressman Sensenbrenner's bill, the
Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act.
The opportunities for innovation in information technology are greater
than they have ever been. It is in our national interest to ensure
a continued flow of new ideas and trained professionals in information
technology. Unless immediate steps are taken to reinvigorate federal
research in this critical area, we believe there will be significant
reduction in the rate of economic progress over the coming decades.
A loss of international leadership in information technology would
be devastating to our economy and national security - and would hinder
our ability to solve some of the most critical problems facing the
nation.
Information technology will surely be one of the key engines of economic
growth for our nation in the 21st century. Our present capabilities
and our position of world leadership were enabled by federal funding
and vigorous information technology research and development. This
funding allowed for technical advances that led to today's information
tools, such as electronic computers and the Internet. Industry cannot
fund basic, long-term research because of domestic and global competition
and the need to rapidly bring products to market. However, with adequate
federal funding, industry will seize opportunities to help keep our
nation economically strong and viable.
In our recent report to the President, we recommended a focus on long-term,
high-risk research and an increase in federal funding for information
technology, particularly in research on software, scalable information
infrastructure, high end computing and socioeconomic issues. The report
recommends yearly funding increases to the federal information technology
research and development programs beginning in FY2000 with the goal
of increasing the annual information technology research and development
budget by $1.37B by FY2004 - from $1.4B in FY1999 to $2.7B in FY2004.
As our report notes, federal funding for information technology research
and development is critically inadequate. The economic and strategic
importance of information technology and the unique role of the federal
government in sponsoring information technology research require substantial
and immediate funding for information technology in all agencies covered
by the original High Performance Computing Act.
We hope that you will consider information technology a priority for
federal investment in your budget deliberations.
We look forward to continuing to work with you and other members of
Congress and the Administration to ensure adequate funds and sound
policies and programs for information technology. If we can be of
any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call upon us.
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