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October 28, 2015

Subcommittee Discusses Reauthorization of NITRD Program

(Washington, DC) - Today the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology's Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a legislative hearing to inform a reauthorization of the Networking and Information Technology R&D (NITRD) program. Testifying before the Subcommittee were Dr. Keith Marzullo, Director of the National Coordination Office for NITRD; Dr. Gregory D. Hager, Mandell Bellmore Professor, Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University and Co-Chair of the NITRD Working Group for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST); and Dr. Edward Seidel, Director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The NITRD program is a multi-agency research initiative designed to ensure continued U.S. leadership in computing systems, advanced networking, software, and other information technologies.  The program has developed the computing and networking infrastructure needed to support leading edge research and to drive technology forward for a range of commercial applications that have the potential to benefit society across all aspects of our lives.  NIT influences a multitude of sectors, such as national security, healthcare, manufacturing, and communications, among others. 

Ranking Member Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) said, "I am certainly pleased that we are once again planning to take up reauthorization legislation for the Networking and Information Technology R&D Program – NITRD.  The House, through this Committee, has successfully passed a bipartisan reauthorization of the program in each of the past 3 congresses and each time the Senate has failed to follow suit.  If we are going to move a bill to the President’s desk, each of us in this room will need to work harder on the necessary outreach to gather support.  It’s been too long since the original High Performance Computing Act of 1991 has been updated with the current state of science and technology in the field, as well as the current operational and management needs of the Program."

Members discussed partnerships with the private sector under the NITRD program, opportunities and challenges with big data, education and workforce challenges for IT, and coordination of computer research infrastructure.

"When we talk about computing research infrastructure, we mean not just high-performance computing facilities such as Blue Waters, but also big data infrastructure, networking testbeds, observation systems, and more," said Congressman Lipinski. "I’d like to understand better how infrastructure is planned, coordinated, and categorized under the NITRD program, and how the new National Strategic Computing Initiative fits in."

Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) discussed the PCAST recommendations. She said, "In their 2015 review of the NITRD Program, PCAST expressed concern that researchers today face difficulty getting funded for riskier, more speculative long-term investigations. According to the PCAST report, funding pressures are pushing scientists to choose more short-term, problem-solving research. I worry deeply about the impact of flat and declining budgets across our science and technology enterprise. I hope that any budget deal being worked out now, and in the future, will allow for increased investments in all fields of science and engineering.