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This Supplement to the President's FY 2003 Budget describes the
Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development
(NITRD) Program, the unique endeavor of Federal agencies collaboratively
engaged in advanced research and development in these technologies.
The multiagency NITRD portfolio spans a balanced, diverse set of
long-term, fundamental research efforts in all aspects of large-scale
and broadband networking and information technologies. This ongoing
research provides leading-edge networks, technologies, and tools
for vital Federal missions, drives innovation throughout the U.S.
economy, and supports the research talent that sustains U.S. global
leadership in science and technology.
The first computers, the Internet, the graphical user interface,
high-end parallel processing, the first end-to-end optical networks, advanced computational modeling
and simulation, and search engine technologies are just a few of the results of Federal information
technology (IT) research that have fueled the digital revolution from which we all benefit.
Today the NITRD Program continues to be the Nation's primary source of fundamental technological
breakthroughs and skilled human resources in the advanced computing, networking, software,
and information management technologies on which our 21st century infrastructure
and quality of life will rely.
The Supplement to the President's Budget, also known as the Blue
Book, reports on the coordinated research priorities and activities of the NITRD agencies
for FY 2003. In the post-September 11 world, highest-quality IT capabilities and technical
advances with broad applications are needed more than ever. In that context, the Blue
Book's first two sections - "From Research to Reality" and "U.S. Priorities"
- highlight ways in which technologies developed through Federal NITRD investments aided in disaster response
efforts after 9/11 and are playing critical roles in Federal initiatives to strengthen
national, homeland, and economic security. The next section - "The NITRD Program" - outlines
the Program's goals, management, and research structure. Subsequent sections are devoted to each
of the NITRD enterprise's major research areas: high-end computing, large-scale and broadband networking,
human-computer interaction and information management, high-confidence software
and systems, software design and productivity, and socieconomic and workforce implications of
IT and IT workforce development. Each section describes current issues and major research
challenges and lists the proposed FY 2003 research activities of the participating agencies.
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