Editorial in SCIENCE this week

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska () cs washington edu>
Date: May 6, 2005 10:50:40 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: Ed Lazowska <lazowska () cs washington edu>
Subject: RE: Editorial in SCIENCE this week


An Endless Frontier Postponed

Edward D. Lazowska and David A. Patterson

Next month, U.S. scientists Vinton G. Cerf and Robert E. Kahn will
receive computing's highest prize, the A.M. Turing Award, from the
Association for Computing Machinery.  Their Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP), created in 1973, became the language of the Internet.
Twenty years later, the Mosaic browser gave the Internet its public
face.  TCP and Mosaic illustrate the nature of computer science
research, combining a quest for fundamental understanding with
considerations of use.  They also illustrate the essential role of
government-sponsored university-based research in producing the ideas
and people that drive innovation in information technology (IT).

Recent changes in the U.S. funding landscape have put this innovation
pipeline at risk.  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded
TCP.  The shock of Sputnik in 1957 led to the creation of the agency,
which was charged with preventing future technological surprises.  From
its inception, DARPA funded long-term non-classified IT research in
academia, even during several wars, in order to leverage all the best
minds.  Much of this research was dual-use, with the results ultimately
advancing military systems and spurring the IT industry.

U.S. IT research grew largely under DARPA and the National Science
Foundation.  NSF relied on peer review while DARPA bet on vision and
reputation, complementary approaches that served the nation well.  Over
the past four decades, the resulting research has laid the foundation
for the modern microprocessor, the Internet, the graphical user
interface, and single-user workstations.  It has also launched new
fields such as computational science.  Virtually every aspect of IT that
we rely on today bears the stamp of federally sponsored research.  A
2003 National Academies study provided 19 examples where such work
ultimately led to billion-dollar industries, an economic benefit that
reaffirms science advisor Vannevar Bush's vision in "Science: The
Endless Frontier."

However, in the past 3 years, DARPA IT research funding at universities
has dropped by nearly half.  Policy changes at the agency, including
increased classification of research programs, increased restrictions on
the participation of non-citizens, and "go/no-go" reviews applied to
research at 12 to 18 month intervals, discourage participation by
university researchers and signal a shift from pushing the leading edge
to "bridging the gap" between fundamental research and deployable
technologies.  In essence, NSF is now relied on to support the long-term
research needed to advance the field.

Other agencies have not stepped in.  The Defense Science Board noted
this in a recent look at microchip research at the Department of Defense
(DOD):  "[DARPA's] withdrawal has created a vacuum ... The problem, for
DOD, the IT industry, and the nation as a whole, is that no effective
leadership structure has been substituted."  The Department of Homeland
Security, according to a recent report from the President's Information
Technology Advisory Committee, spends less than 2% of its Science and
Technology budget on cybersecurity, and only a small fraction of that on
research.  NASA is downsizing computational science, and IT research
budgets at the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of
Health are slated for cuts in the President's fiscal year 2006 budget.

These changes, combined with the growth of the discipline, have placed a
significant burden on NSF, which is now showing the strain.  Last year,
NSF supported 86% of Federal obligations for fundamental research in IT
at academic institutions.  The funding rate for competitive awards in
the IT directorate fell to 16 percent, the lowest of any directorate.
Such low success rates are harmful to the discipline and, ultimately, to
the nation.*

At a time when global competitors are gaining the capacity and
commitment to challenge U.S. high-tech leadership, this changed
landscape threatens to derail the extraordinarily productive interplay
of academia, government, and industry in IT.  Given the importance of IT
in enabling the new economy and in opening new areas of scientific
discovery, we simply cannot afford to cede leadership.  Where will the
next generation of groundbreaking innovations in IT arise?  Where will
the Turing Awardees 30 years hence reside?  Given current trends, the
answers to both questions will likely be "not in the United States."

=====

Edward D. Lazowska holds the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer
Science & Engineering at the University of Washington.  David A.
Patterson holds the E.H. and M.E. Pardee Chair of Computer Science at UC
Berkeley, and is president of the Association for Computing Machinery.
Both are Members of the National Academy of Engineering and the
President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, and past chairs
of the Computing Research Association.

=====

* The House Science Committee will consider these issues at a 12 May
hearing on "The Future of Computer Science Research in the U.S."  See
http://www.cra.org/research.

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 8:27 AM
To: Ed Lazowska
Subject: Re: Editorial in SCIENCE this week

do you have a txt abstract



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