The HPCC Program in FY 1996 includes 12 Federal departments and agencies. The High Performance Computing, Communications, and Information Technology (HPCCIT) Subcommittee consists of representatives from each of these organizations. HPCCIT reports to the Committee on Information and Communications (CIC) R&D Committee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The Director of the National Coordination Office for High Performance Computing and Communications (NCO) reports jointly to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President, and the Chair of the CIC. The NCO serves as a liaison to the U.S. Congress, state and local governments, foreign governments, industry, universities, and the public.
The Program is organized in five components:
High Performance Computing Systems (HPCS)
National Research and Education Network (NREN)
Advanced Software Technology and Algorithms (ASTA)
Information Infrastructure Technology and Applications (IITA)
Basic Research and Human Resources (BRHR)
Interaction with Government, Industry, and Academia
The NCO and HPCC agencies meet frequently with representatives from the Federal and other governments, industry, and academia. The HPCC Program actively seeks input and advice from all interested parties.
During FY 1994 the NCO, HPCCIT Subcommittee, and participating departments and agencies held numerous meetings with representatives from the U.S. Congress, Federal and Federally- charted organizations, state and local organizations, industry, academia, professional societies, foreign governments, and others, to exchange information about technical and programmatic issues, trends, and needs.
Between November 1993 and June 1994 the NCO and HPCCIT held five open meetings -- with representatives from the computing systems, telecommunications, and software industries, and with directors of both Federal and non-Federal computing centers. In October 1994 the Subcommittee held non-disclosure briefings by 12 mass storage vendors and two other organizations conducting R&D in this area. HPCC departments and agencies cosponsored the Second Pasadena Workshop on Systems Software for High Performance Computing Systems held in January 1995.
Program Coordination
The HPCCIT Subcommittee and its Executive Committee coordinate Program planning, budgeting, implementation, and review. This is done through monthly meetings that include information exchanges, common development of multi-organization programs, and the review of the plans and budgets of participating organizations. HPCCIT charters two groups that coordinate activities in specific areas:
The HPCC Program is responsible for Federal networking R&D. The HPCC Program and the Federal Networking Council (FNC), which is chartered by NSF, work together to establish an effective interagency forum and long-term strategy to oversee the operation and evolution of the federally-funded portion of the Internet in support of science, research, and education. FNC members represent Federal agencies that need to operate and use increasingly advanced networking facilities, mainly for research and education.
The NCO and HPCC agencies work with members of the Information Infrastructure Task Force in addressing NII policy issues, and with other Federal agencies involved in helping schools, libraries, and medical facilities become part of the NII.
Program Evaluation
Federally-chartered and Federal organizations, industrial and academic organizations, and professional societies provide critical analyses of the Program through conferences, workshops, and reports. These efforts help make Program goals and accomplishments better understood, and strengthen Program planning and management.
In FY 1994 the NCO and members of the HPCCIT Subcommittee met with representatives from the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, which was tasked by Congress with evaluating aspects of the HPCC Program. The report, "Evolving the High Performance Computing and Communications Initiative to Support the Nation's Information Infrastructure," was published in March 1995 by the National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
HPCC and CIC
Building on the successes of the HPCC Program, in March 1995, the CIC released a Strategic Implementation Plan entitled "America in the Age of Information." As stated in the plan's abstract, "The 21st century will be the Age of Information. Implementation and support of this plan will help guarantee America's preeminence in information technology as our country enters the 21st century."
The plan sets a high level strategy for Federal R&D in information and communications technologies. It identifies a broad base of opportunities for investments that leverage the technical strengths of individual Federal departments and agencies while meeting their mission-specific information and communications technology goals. These investments support the science and technology base essential to continued economic competitiveness and national defense. The plan will be revised and extended through interchanges among government, industry, and academia. The Plan is built around six Strategic Focus Areas designed to focus fundamental information and communications research and accelerate development in ways that are responsive to the NSTC's overarching goals, agency mission goals, and our Nation's long-term economic and defense needs. The six Strategic Focus Areas are:
Global-scale information Infrastructure technologies
These are advanced applications building blocks and widely- accessible information services (such as usage metering and payment) upon which large scale integrated and distributed applications such as National Challenge applications will be constructed.
High Performance / Scalable Systems
These systems will enable broad deployment of information and communications technologies so that "high performance" and "low end" applications can operate in a seamlessly integrated fashion.
High confidence systems
These systems will provide the availability, reliability, integrity, confidentiality, and privacy needed by the increasingly diverse users of the Nation's emerging ubiquitous information infrastructure
Virtual environments
These environments will enable interaction in real time and in increasingly realistic ways over large distances by diverse users; they will transform scientific experimentation and practice (telemedicine is an example) and will play increasingly important roles in education and training.
User-centered interfaces and tools
"Human centered" information systems will encourage broader use of NII (and GII and DII) technologies, easier navigation and "mining" of information resources by these users, and will allow end users to develop and tailor services and applications easily in order to suit their needs.
Human resources and education
The CIC program includes educating and training people so that they have the knowledge, skills, and insights to lead research in science and technology and to apply their discoveries to national needs. CIC and CET (NSTC's Committee on Education and Training) R&D will enable new educational technologies to provide the diverse 21st century workforce with the tools it needs in order to participate in the information revolution.
The CIC R&D activity areas include components, communications, computing systems, support software and tools, intelligent systems, information management, and applications. These applications fall into three classes:
Buy American Report
The Congress has requested that the HPCC Program inform it about certain HPCC funding of non-U.S. activities.
ARPA is the only HPCC agency that in FY 1995 and FY 1996 is entering into a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or cooperative research and development agreement, for HPCC research and development with either (1) a company other than a company that is either incorporated or located in the U.S., and that has majority ownership by individuals who are citizens of the U.S., or (2) an educational institution or nonprofit institution located outside the U.S. That activity is with University College, London, for approximately $120,000 per year. It is part of the Program's NREN effort and focuses on developing the underlying technology to be used in pilot demonstrations of multi-country, multi-way, wide- area multimedia services.
In FY 1995 and FY 1996, no HPCC procurement exceeds $1 million for unmanufactured articles, materials, or supplies mined or produced outside the U.S.; or for manufactured articles, materials, or supplies other than those manufactured in the U.S. substantially all from articles, materials, or supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the U.S.
Reports about the HPCC Program
The NCO provides electronic, print, and video materials to hundreds of media representatives in the U.S. and abroad, and responds to thousands of requests for information from Congressional offices, industry, academia, and the public. The NCO distributed more than 11,000 copies of its FY 1995 report entitled "High Performance Computing and Communications: Technology for the National Information Infrastructure." A video with the same name as this report is available from the NCO.
The NCO has both Web and gopher servers that contain the FY 1994, FY 1995, and this FY 1996 annual report, information about sources of funding for HPCC R&D, links to the servers of HPCC agencies, and related information. In January 1995, users of more than 5,000 computing systems accessed the Web server and more than 2,000 accessed the gopher server; these users were from 50 countries.