IP: NSF ANNOUNCES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AWARDS

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 10:08:03 -0400
> From: Thomas_A._Kalil () opd eop gov
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
>
>
> Dave:
>
> Thanks to the hard work of you and the other
> members of PITAC, NSF has been able to substantially
> increase its investment in long-term information technology
> research.
>
> The grants, along with the soliciation for next year,
> are at http://www.itr.nsf.gov
>
> Could you pls send this to Interesting People?
>
> Tom Kalil
> The White House
>
>
>
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> September 13, 2000
> NSF PR 00-61
>
> Media contact:
> Tom Garritano
> (703) 292-8070/tgarrita () nsf gov
>
> Program contact:
> Michael Lesk
> (703) 292-8930/mlesk () nsf gov
>
>
> NSF ANNOUNCES FIRST AWARDS IN NEW
> INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INITIATIVE
>
> Innovative projects will maintain U.S. leadership in computer research
>
> The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced its first grants
> under the new $90 million Information Technology Research (ITR) initiative.
> The awards, which will spur fundamental research and innovative
> applications of IT, are a step toward building on U.S. leadership in this
> area of growing importance to the economy.
>
> Selected from over 1,400 proposals, the newly funded activities will
> promote IT-driven science and engineering.  Included are 62 large projects
> that will average $1 million per year for three to five years, involving 41
> institutions in 22 states.  Another 148 smaller projects will each total
> $500,000 or less for up to three years, involving 81 institutions in 32
> states.
>
> "This initiative will help strengthen America's leadership in a sector that
> has accounted for one-third of U.S. economic growth in recent years," said
> President Bill Clinton. "High technology is generating jobs that pay 85
> percent more than the average private sector wage. I am pleased that the
> National Science Foundation is expanding its investment in long-term
> information technology research. I urge the Congress to provide full
> funding for NSF so that they can continue to make these kinds of
> investments in America's future."
>
> "These projects represent major innovations in information technology,
> rather than routine applications of existing technology," said NSF director
> Rita Colwell.  "Our strategy to support long-term, high-risk research
> responds to a challenge from the President's Information Technology
> Advisory Committee (PITAC), which called for increased federal investment
> to maintain the U.S. lead in this important sector of the global economy."
>
> ITR emphasizes the subject areas of software;  scalable information
> infrastructure;  information management;  revolutionary computing;
> human-computer interfaces; advanced computational science;  education and
> workforce;  and social or economic implications of IT.  The program's main
> goals are to augment the nation's IT knowledge base and strengthen the IT
> workforce.
>
> "The response has been overwhelming," said  Ruzena Bajcsy, who heads the
> NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
> (CISE).  "Because fund requests by proposers exceeded $3.2 billion, there
> were many more worthwhile projects proposed than we are able to support.
> The volume and quality of proposals are strong evidence justifying our
> desire to triple NSF's ITR budget over the next five years."
>
> Funded projects include a University of Pittsburgh human-computer interface
> effort that will use advanced vision technology to develop personal robotic
> assistants that could help the elderly live more independently.  At the
> University of Colorado, computer scientists and a plant geneticist will
> design interfaces to speed the analysis of viruses, bacteria and other
> genomes.
>
> A major ITR emphasis is "middleware" -- software that enhances the
> interaction of operating systems and their applications.  For example, the
> University of Illinois will design middleware to optimize the efficiency
> and fault-tolerance of network-based computer programs for air-traffic
> control, smart highways, satellites, remote surgery and electronic
> commerce.
>
> ITR's Scalable Information Infrastructure area emphasizes innovation in
> network-based access to distributed data.  One example is a collaboration
> in which the University of California-Berkeley, Mills College of Oakland,
> CA, and private industry are partnering to construct a large-scale
> prototype of error-sensing software that would automatically repair data.
>
> The California Institute of Technology will establish an Institute for
> Quantum Information to experiment with algorithms that process data via
> quantum physical processes -- a revolutionary method that could eventually
> make even the fastest silicon chips obsolete.
>
> Among the largest awards is a five-year, $7.2 million grant to Duke
> University for research into "bioinformatics," which applies IT to solve
> such riddles as how protein structure determines the function of an enzyme.
> In a partnership that includes the University of Chicago, the University of
> Florida will also receive a large award -- $11.8 million over five years --
> to let computer scientists and physicists collaborate in developing tools
> to analyze massive amounts of data from particle colliders and astronomical
> observatories.
>
> Bridging the "digital divide" is a key goal of the ITR emphasis on societal
> implications.  Projects include studies by Michigan State University and
> the City University of New York to identify factors that influence the
> effectiveness of IT in the classrooms and homes of disadvantaged children.
> The University of California-Irvine will study the adoption of electronic
> commerce worldwide, comparing data from technologically advanced countries
> with newly industrialized and developing nations.
>
> Northeastern University and Boston University will collaborate in an
> education and workforce project to form a virtual community of African
> American scholars in IT.  Students, professionals and educators will
> interact on-line via this "Human Capital Development" project, seeking to
> increase the representation of African Americans in IT.
>
> NSF has also just kicked off its second ITR competition.  The foundation's
> ITR budget request for fiscal 2001 is $190 million of additional funding,
> although the actual appropriation is yet to be determined by Congress.
>
> -NSF-
>
> For a complete list of ITR awards and project abstracts, see:
> http://www.itr.nsf.gov/
> For the PITAC report, see http://www.ccic.gov/
>
>
> Tom Garritano
> Office of Legislative & Public Affairs
> National Science Foundation
> tgarrita () nsf gov
>
> 703-292-8070 (phone), 703-292-9087 (fax)
> See NSF news stories: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/media/