House Passes NITRD, Cybersecurity Bills During Cyber Week

On April 17, 2013, In CRA, Policy, Research, Security, By MelissaNorr

It’s “cyber week” on Capitol Hill and yesterday that meant the House passing H.R. 967, the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, and H.R. 756, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2013, two bills we discussed in detail and endorsed last month. CRA, along with ACM, SIAM, and IEEE-CS, submitted a joint letter of support for the bills when they were introduced earlier this year. Both bills were passed under suspension, which means they were passed without amendments and with at least two-thirds of the Members agreeing.

In the forty minutes of debate on the NITRD reauthorization, Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said, “NIT technologies cut across every sector of our economy and our national defense infrastructure. Our relatively modest 20-year investment in the NITRD program has contributed immeasurably to our economic and national security by enabling innovation and job creation in NIT and providing American students with the skills to fill those jobs. Let’s reauthorize this program today and ensure it remains strong.”

In regards to the cybersecurity bill, Congressman Dan Lipinksi (D-IL) stated, “Just last month, the Director of National Intelligence testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the danger of cyber-attacks and cyber-espionage on crucial infrastructure tops the list of global threats. I believe that we face the possibility of a cyber “Pearl Harbor” that could destroy America’s military or economic security. We have already seen the loss of countless jobs through cyber espionage and we face – and thankfully, so far, we have repelled – much worse attacks every day. It is now more important than ever that we get this legislation across the finish line and onto the President’s desk.”

 
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Robotics Roadmap 2.0 on the Hill

On March 20, 2013, In Computing Community Consortium (CCC), Events, Research, By MelissaNorr

The Congressional Robotics Caucus held a briefing this morning on the Robotics Roadmap 2.0(PDF), a follow up report to the CCC-led Robotics Roadmap(PDF) published in 2009. Representative Phil Gingrey (R – GA) opened the briefing with remarks about the importance of science and technology to the future of the country and our economy. Bill Thomasmeyer of the Robotics Technology Consortium moderated the briefing.

Henrik Christensen of Georgia Tech and one of the original co-authors of the CCC-led report gave an overview of the roadmap in its second iteration. He noted that there was a 44 percent increase in the sale of manufacturing robotics in the US in 2011. Christensen spoke of the need for robotics in military action, disaster response, medical and rehabilitation settings, and personal robotics for an aging and disabled population. While the first Robotics Roadmap led to the National Robotics Initiative, the US cannot stop there if it wants to be globally competitive going forward. He mentioned a recent 500 million Euro investment in robotics that as well as similar efforts in Korea and China.

Three additional speakers, Rodney Brooks of Rethink Robotics, Pete Wurman of Kiva Systems, and Russ Angold of Ekso Bionics, spoke to their individual companies’ areas. Brooks stated that the source of inventions is academic research and that’s what made the US the leader in robotics when the field was brand new. Rethink Robotics is in manufacturing and he pointed out that robots do not replace workers as many fear but instead augment workers on the job. Wurman spoke to the ability to find efficiencies in logistics and that the growth of Kiva Systems has been primarily driven by the growth of e-commerce. In fact, Wurman said that Amazon purchased Kiva Systems last year after being one of the Kiva customers for several years. Angold had the most visually impactful presentation – he had a paralyzed veteran who put on Ekso Bionics wearable robot that allowed him to stand up and walk. Ekso Bionics was started with a DARPA grant and no has a few dozen wearable robots in rehabilitation facilities around the country and in clinical trials. Angold said that currently the robots are being used with patients with spinal cord injuries but they are working on robots to also help stroke victims.

The presentations of each speaker will be available here shortly.

 
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Two Computing Bills Marked Up Today

On March 14, 2013, In Computing Education, Diversity in Computing, Policy, Research, Security, By MelissaNorr

Today the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee marked up two computing bills for floor consideration. HR 756, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2013, and HR 967, the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, both of which had passed in the House of Representatives in previous Congressional sessions but not taken up by the Senate. CRA has, both now and in the past, endorsed both of these bills.

The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act promotes education, training, awareness, and research in cybersecurity via authorizing of federal research funding, scholarships, and coordination of programs across NITRD agencies. The legislation requires participating agencies, in conjunction with the National Coordinating Office, to develop strategic plans for federal cybersecurity research. It would also prioritize cyberesecurity research at participating agencies such as NSF. A number of amendments were added during the markup to clarify and specify the inclusion of women, veterans, and community colleges in the education and training provisions as well as to require the evaluation of higher education courses and degrees in cybersecurity. There were also amendments to increase the NIST role in research in the security of the IT supply chain and in the science of cybersecurity.

The Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013 updates the existing NITRD bill and enacts several of the recommendations from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Specifically, the bill requires the NITRD agencies to create a five-year strategic plan for the program, and to have the program’s progress periodically reviewed by a committee of IT experts from academia and industry. Like, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, this bill emphasizes education and attracting women and minorities to get degrees in computing fields. It would also examine the use of cloud computing for federally funded research. Fewer amendments were offered on the NITRD bill than the Cybersecurity Enhancement bill and they were mostly to reflect changes and programs that are already being done under the bill, such as the cyberphysical systems program.

Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) noted that CRA and several other groups such as ACM and IEEE-CS also supported the bills. CRA led the community with a joint endorsement letter that was sent to the Committee.

 
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