The House Science and Technology Committee held a hearing Tuesday afternoon to review the response of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the Administration’s recently released Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf). Near-term and mid-term action plans in the review raise a number of concerns relevant to the Committee’s work. These issues center around federal agency efforts in research and development, education, standards, information coordination and interagency collaboration. Witnesses called to testify were Ms. Cita Furlani, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory (NIST); Dr. Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director at the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF); Dr. Robert Leheny, Acting Director (DARPA); Dr. Peter Fonash, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Cyber Security Communications (DHS).
Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) opened the hearing by expressing his concern regarding previous federal cyber security efforts he believes were too “output oriented” rather than “outcome driven”, and was hopeful that the new administration will focus on achieving fewer breaches of federal systems, fewer cases of identity theft, as well as ensuring the security of smart grid systems and health IT systems. In his opening statement, he called upon witnesses to explain how each agency hopes to improve its cyber security in light of the Administration’s review.
Speaking next, Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE) drew attention to the agencies’ efforts in investing appropriately in cyber security research and development, securing the dot-gov domain as well as the critical infrastructure of the private sector.
Research and Science Education Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) emphasized the need for increased collaboration between public and private sectors to expose weaknesses in security and share breach information, as well as a multidisciplinary approach to cyber security in order to understand how we interact with computers and their information, calling people the “weakest link” in cyber security.
In their opening remarks, the witnesses discussed their responses to the review. They each expressed their appreciation that the review highlights the need for unclassified cyber security research and cyber security education. Ms. Furlani restated NIST’s mission to work with federal, state, local, private and academic institutions to develop the standards for information security. Dr. Wing, reminded the committee that many security measures implemented today are built on practices that were designed decades ago. Wing called for increased openness in the field of cyber security research. Looking ahead, she stated that the need to develop new practices based on current research could be filled by such an increase in the collaboration between industry and academic research institutions. Dr. Leheny echoed previous remarks that recognized the need for innovation to address cyber security threats. He also highlighted a DARPA project to develop a National Cyber Range that would have the ability to perform rigorous, realistic assessments of cyber security technology. In response to the review, Dr. Fonash described the role of the DHS in updating national security strategy, strengthening international partnerships, educating the public, and working with the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to prepare for plan for cyber incidents.
The member questions tended not to focus on any particular issue. Rep. Ehlers (R-MI) asked the panel how we can ensure security and at the same time preserve the freedom of unfettered communication. Rep. Ehlers’ question about the decreasing enrollment of computer science majors in the U.S. led to a discussion of the various programs each agency has in order to address the seeming decline in computer science interest among students. Dr. Wing, citing the CRA Taulbee Survey and expressed hope that the recent uptick in enrollments will continue. Dr. Leheny described two DARPA programs that focus on developing the attractiveness of computer science for undergraduates and untenured faculty. Rep. Lujan asked the witnesses how we can tap into the expertise of classified cyber security practices and research. Wing responded by explaining the formal process for agency collaboration under the National Coordinating Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) where unclassified IT research and development investments for thirteen Ferderal agencies are coordinated. Rep. Smith, while acknowledging the need for public and private partnership in cyber security, asked Dr. Fonash how the private sector can be compelled to follow standards. Fonash responded by stressing the importance of information sharing programs in order for industry to not only be aware of security standards, but that they know how to take the appropriate measures to secure their private data. When pressed about the need for legislation in this regard, Fonash replied that he couldn’t say yes or no at this time.
Tuesday’s hearing was the second of three hearings on cyber security. The first hearing was held by the Research and Science Education Subcommittee on the research needs of improved cyber security. Computing Research Association board member Dr. Fred Schneider testified about the state of cyber security education as well as the range of federally supported research. The final hearing regarding the cyber security activities of NIST and the DHS will be held next week.
An archived webcast of the hearing as well as copies of witness testimonies can be found on the House S&T Committee website.
Experts Warn of Technology Drain; seek federal intervention
Washington, May 21, 2009 Robotics have the potential within the next decade to become as prevalent as computers in daily American life, but the country lags behind others worldwide in recognizing the importance of this technology.
In a report released today, titled National Robotics Technology Roadmap, (link forthcoming) a group of 140 experts from industry, federal laboratories, and leading academic institutions assert the United States lags behind other countries in its ability to compete economically unless more investment is made in this technology.
To address this issue, the Roadmap urges Congress to increase spending in the FY 2010 budget and calls on the Obama administration to establish a high profile position at the White House to coordinate and integrate robotics policy throughout government.
Unfortunately, the United States lags behind other countries in recognizing the importance of robotics technology. While the European Union, Japan, Korea and the rest of the world have made significant R&D investments in robotics technology, the U.S. investment, outside unmanned systems for defense purposes, remains practically non-existent. Unless this situation can be addressed in the near future, the United States runs the risk of relinquishing its ability to globally compete in these emerging markets putting the nation at risk of having to rely on the rest of the world to provide a critical technology that our population will become increasingly dependent upon.
Robotics technology holds the potential to transform the future of the country. The next generation robotech industry will affect the lives of every American and have an enormous economic, social and political impact on our future. Human-robot interaction is central to many of the most exciting application of robots, including the use of medical robots, assistive robotics, prosthetics, rehabilitation, transportation, human augmentation, entertainment and education. Other applications on the horizon include factory and military robots, domestic service robots, a team of search and rescue robots and exoskeleton man-amplifiers the report explained.
The National Robotics Technology Roadmap was the result of an unprecedented level of cooperation among members of the business community and academia. This effort was led by the Computing Community Consortium and sponsored by the Computing Research Association via a grant from the National Science Foundation. The Computing Research Association is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. For more information, visit www.cra.org.
The Computing Community Consortium is an activity of CRA that supports the computing research community in creating compelling research visions and the mechanisms to realize these visions. For more, visit www.cra.org/ccc
Two events this week on Capitol Hill that CRA will be involved in. First, there will be a Congressional STEM Education Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus briefing on CS education called Bringing Innovative Computing Curriculum across the Digital Divide that CRA is co-sponsoring with ACM, CSTA, NCWIT, SWE, IEEE-USA, and Microsoft. The briefing will cover the current state of CS education at the K-12 level and discuss new curriculum and teacher preparation developed by NSF and Microsoft. The briefing will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at noon in B339 Rayburn.
The second event will unveil the first CCC funded initiative in robotics this Thursday, May 21. The Congressional Robotics Caucus is hosting this briefing to showcase the Robotics Roadmap and the potential for growth and roadblocks for the use of robotics in various industries. Speakers at the briefing will include Henrik Christensen who led the CCC robotics effort, Rodney Brooks of Heartland Robotics, Dan Jones of Intuitive Surgical, Eric Close of RedZone Robotics, and Jared Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University. The briefing will take place beginning at 11:45 at the Capitol Visitor Center HVC 201 A-B. Lunch will be served and it will be a widely attended event. RSVP to Patti Rote at pattir at techcollaborative.org.
May 11, 2009
The Honorable Bart Gordon
Chairman
House Committee on Science and Technology
2318 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Ralph Hall
Ranking Member
House Committee on Science and Technology
394 Ford House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall:
As an organization representing 240 industry and academic institutions involved in computing research and six affiliated professional societies, the Computing Research Association is pleased to support your efforts to bolster federal information technology research through H.R. 2020, the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Act of 2009.
As you are aware, advances in information technology are transforming all aspects of our lives. Virtually every human endeavor today has been touched by information technology, including commerce, education, employment, health care, energy, manufacturing, governance, national security, communications the environment, entertainment, science and engineering. The profound reach of information technologies is enabled in large part by the innovations that spawn from the IT research ecosystem — an incredibly productive, yet complex interplay of industry, universities and the federal government. Indeed, nearly every sub-sector of the IT economy today bears the stamp of federal support. The program responsible for overseeing this crucial federal investment is the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program.
We believe the NITRD Act makes the NITRD program stronger by enacting several of the recommendations of the Presidents Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST) review of the NITRD program in 2007. In particular, we are pleased the NITRD Act includes a requirement that the NITRD program undergo periodic review and assessment of the program contents and funding, as well as develop and periodically update a strategic plan — both key recommendations of PCAST and necessary in helping ensure the significant federal investment in IT R&D is used as effectively as possible.
Key to this review and assessment will be an independent advisory committee composed of experts from academia, industry and government. We hope that this advisory committee, though co-chaired by PCAST members, will be independent and that you will work to ensure that the Administration names a strong panel reporting to the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Presidents Science Advisor with high-level, expert guidance on the structure and priorities of the program.
We thank you for your work on the legislation and for your long-standing support of the federal investment in IT research. We look forward to working with you and your colleagues as you endeavor to move this legislation forward this session.
Sincerely,
Daniel A. Reed
Chair
The President used a speech before the members of the National Academy of Sciences today to reiterate his commitment to boosting the U.S. investment in science and technology.In his remarks before the opening session of the National Academy’s annual meeting, Obama set a goal of seeing the U.S. invest 3 percent or more of its annual GDP in basic and applied scientific research funding. This level of investment would represent the largest investment in American history — an even larger share of GDP than the U.S. invested during the space race of the 1950s and 60s. Here’s a choice quote from AP coverage of the speech:
The pursuit of discovery a half century ago fueled the nation’s prosperity and success, Obama told the academy.
“The commitment I am making today will fuel our success for another 50 years,” he said. “This work begins with an historic commitment to basic science and applied research.”
He set forth a wish list for the future including “learning software as effective as a personal tutor; prosthetics so advanced that you could play the piano again; an expansion of the frontiers of human knowledge about ourselves and world the around us.
“We can do this,” Obama said to applause.
According to a White House fact sheet distributed after his remarks today, the President plans to back up his rhetoric with a number of budgetary commitments, including:
A commitment to finish the 10-year doubling of 3 key science agencies (National Science Foundation, Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the National Insititutes of Standards and Technology). Between 2009 and 2016, the Administration’s enacted and proposed budgets would add $42.6 billion to the 2008 budgets for these basic research agencies, with a special emphasis on encouraging high-risk, high-return research and supporting researchers at the beginning of their careers.
The launch of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). ARPA-E is a new Department of Energy organization modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the defense agency that gave us the Internet, stealth aircraft, and many other technological breakthroughs.
A joint initiative by the Dept. of Energy and NSF that will inspire tens of thousands of American students to pursue careers in science, engineering, and entrepreneurship related to clean energy programs and scholarships from grade school to graduate school.
The President also used the occasion to name the members of his President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST) — a committee of representatives from science and industry who will examine aspects of federal science policy and make recommendations to the President. For the last several years, PCAST has also assumed the statutory responsibilties of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), which was dissolved as a free-standing committee under President Bush (though there may be a move to reestablish the free-standing committee — more on that in a future post).
Among the new PCAST members are at least four from the computing community:
David Shaw, chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research; and,
William Press, Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin
Other members of the Council are: Rosina Bierbaum, Christine Cassel, Christopher Chyba, James Gates, John Holdren, Shirley Jackson, Eric Lander, Richard Levin, Chad Mirkin, Mario Molina, Ernest Moniz, Maxine Savitz, Barbara Schaal, Daniel Schrag, Harold Varmus and Ahmed Zewail. Holdren, Lander and Varmus will be the co-chairs of PCAST.
The President’s commitment to continuing the very recent robust increases for federal R&D — after several years of real-dollar declines — along with recent statements by key Senate appropriations staff who believe 7 percent annual increases for NSF are “sustainable,” give us reason to be somewhat optimistic going into the appropriations season this year. However, as always, other pressing concerns and shortfalls in the federal budget can adversly affect science funding despite all the apparent support, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on the process. But Obama’s initial steps here may turn out to be giant ones for U.S. science and innovation.
CRA’s incoming Board Chair Peter Lee, Deborah Estrin of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Chris Greer of the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordinating Office testified before the House Science and Technology Committee last week on the NITRD Act of 2009. The Act incorporates the findings and recommendations of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) for the NITRD program. The hearing was well attended by members of the committee as well with a dozen attending at least part of the hearing.
All three witnesses praised the legislation for incorporating the PCAST recommendations for NITRD and for addressing a need in the research infrastructure. Lee specifically pointed out how easy it would be for the United States to lose the lead in IT R&D to other countries if it is not a focus, a comment picked up on by Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) during the question and answer portion of the hearing.
Questions from the Members of Congress ranged from agency participation in NITRD to security to education. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) asked about the need for intervention in the education system to fill the pipeline of scientists particularly for attracting women and minorities. Estrin spoke to the importance of reaching children in junior high school or earlier and making the connection between computer science and the larger societal problems that it can help fix such as energy and environmental issues and healthcare improvement. Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) and Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-TN) both brought up the issue of national security, noting that there are daily attacks from other countries on our systems with the intent of uncovering sensitive data and that our networks are vulnerable to hacking. Greer noted that security is always a challenge at the forefront of NITRD. Estrin and Lee both stated that there are numerous research projects underway attempting to increase the security of networks and Estrin emphasized the necessity of having security parameters that are usable by the average person.
The committee has not yet introduced the Act, though it’s expected to shortly after the current congressional recess ends next week. When the bill is dropped, we’ll have a complete analysis of it here, so stay tuned. In the meantime, the full written testimony as well as the webcast of the full hearing is available on the Committee’s web site.
The Coalition for National Science Funding, of which CRA is an active member, held its annual Science Exhibition on Capitol Hill last week. It was once again a great success with a room full of hundreds of attendees and a number of Congressmen visiting exhibits. For the first time, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) attended, spoke briefly on the importance of funding basic science research, and received many thanks from the community there for her efforts to see science funded as part of the stimulus bill and the FY 09 Appropriations. Other members of Congress who attended included Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) pictured here. Overall, the event was very successful in spreading the message that federally funded science research makes important contributions and discoveries in all scientific fields.
Also pictured are Dr. Gregory Abowd of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Dr. Gillian Hayes of the University of California, Irvine who represented CRA with an exhibit on Behavior Imaging and Autism that drew a great deal of interest from attendees and the other participants. The exhibit showcased research on using sensors in toys and video imaging to monitor the developmental progress of children with autism and other developmental disorders.
The event, a science fair for Congress and staff, had 35 booths manned by researchers representing universities and scientific societies featuring some of the important research funded by the National Science Foundation.
John P. Holdren was confirmed as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy yesterday. The OSTP Director is the top White House science adviser and Holdren was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee a week ago following a hold on his nomination. The reason for the hold has been variously attributed to concerns over his positions on climate change and to unrelated issues involving the Administrations position on Cuba.
Holdren was the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard University and Director of the Woods Hole Research Center before being asked to serve in the Obama Administration. He has also served as President and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a member of the Presidents Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) during the Clinton Administration. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Cameron Wilson over at the ACM Technology Policy Blog put together this post detailing how ACM, CRA and NCWIT are working together to try and raise the profile of computer science education efforts in the federal government’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program. Rather than try to summarize, here’s the entirety of his entry cross-posted here:
As far as obscure government acronyms go, NITRD is a pretty good one. It stands for the National Information Technology Research and Development program. This program cuts across numerous federal agencies to carry out and coordinate investments in IT R&D. In 2007, the Presidents Council of Advisory on Science and Technology (PCAST another doozy of an acronym) issued a report making recommendations for some reforms of the NITRD program. One interesting issue it touched on is the need to improve computing education and strengthen the IT workforce pipeline. With Congress now using this report as basis to look at what changes it would make to the program, ACM joined with the Computing Research Association and National Center for Women and Information Technology in a letter outlining ideas of how NITRD could be improved to address computer science education issues, particularly at the K-12 level.
While R&D is clearly the focus of the NITRD program, it has an education component. The overall program is broken into several (acronym alert) Program Component Areas (PCAs). Each one deals with a field of research but its Social, Economic, and Workforce Implications of IT PCA is charged with addressing workforce and education issues. In truth, this part of the program is small and the Nation Science Foundation dominates the contributions to it. Further, it really does not have a K-12 focus and the Department of Education dropped out of the overall program some time ago. Its time to revitalize and expand this area. The community letter to Congress seeks to strengthen the pipeline by expanding, better leveraging, and coordinating existing education efforts within the NITRD program. We outline four recommendations (and specific legislative language for the wonks out there):
Promote computing education, particularly at the K-12 level, and increased exposure to computing education and research opportunities for women and minorities as core elements of the NITRD program;
Require the NITRD program to address education and diversity programs in its strategic planning and road-mapping process;
Expand efforts at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to focus on computer science education, particularly at the K-12 level through broadening the Math Science Partnership program; and,
Enlist the Department of Education and its resources and reach in addressing computer science education issues.
Each of these recommendations would bring a much-needed federal focus to issues in computer science education at the K-12 level. More and more conversations are occurring within the community about what needs to be done to improve computing education, and the discussion often turns back to the K-12 level. Computing and the innovations it yields are critical to the domestic economy. The ubiquitous nature of computing has spread its reach into everyones daily lives. Securing our cyber-infrastructure, protecting national security, and making our energy infrastructure more efficient are among numerous issues all depending on computing. However, the current pipeline will not satisfy the demands of an industry that includes some of the countrys most innovative and successful companies. Nor will the existing education system give students the kind of background knowledge in computing and skills they need for the 21st Century.
We must do more to expose kids to a quality computer science education program at the K-12 level, support teachers and bring innovative new curricula into the schools. Opening a serious education front in the NITRD program would be a good start to this ambitious goal.
Overall Enrollment Up for First Time in Six Years
Washington, March 17, 2009 The number of undergraduate students majoring in computer science significantly increased for the first time since the dot com boom according to the Computing Research Association (CRA). As a result, overall university computer science enrollment increased for the first time in six years. CRA reported these trends (pdf) as part of the 2007-2008 annual CRA Taulbee Survey.
“The upward surge of student interest is real and bigger than anyone expected” said Peter Lee, incoming Chair of CRA. “The fact that computer science graduates usually find themselves in high-paying jobs accounts for part of the reversal. Increasingly students also are attracted to the intellectual depth and societal benefits of computing technology.”
“Competitive advantage, driven by innovation, has never been more important,” said Daniel A. Reed, current Chair of CRA. “Computing advances lead to new approaches to solving some of the worlds biggest problems. U.S. businesses must continue integrating new computing technologies to remain globally competitive.”
The Computing Research Association collected enrollment data in fall 2008. The computer science and computer engineering departments of 192 Ph.D.-granting universities participated in the survey. Specific findings include:
Total enrollment by majors and pre-majors in computer science is up 6.2 percent per department over last year. If only majors are considered, the increase is 8.1 percent. This is the first time total enrollment increased in six years.
The average number of new students per department majoring in computer science is up 9.5 percent over last year. Computer science departments are replenishing the freshman and sophomore ranks with larger groups than they are graduating as seniors. Computer science graduation rates should increase in two to four years as these new students graduate.
Bachelor’s degree graduation production in computer science was down 10 percent this year, compared to a nearly 20 percent decline last year. This is the smallest graduating computer science class in ten years.
Total Ph.D. graduation production among responding departments grew to 1,877. This represents a 5.7 percent increase over last year.
The Taulbee Survey is the principal source of information on student enrollment, employment, graduation, and faculty salary trends in Ph.D.-granting departments of computer science and computer engineering in the United States and Canada. This year marks the 38th consecutive year of the Taulbee Survey. CRA will release the employment and faculty salary data in May 2009. Visit http://www.cra.org/statistics/ for more information and to see previous editions of the Taulbee Survey. Obtain a copy of the Computing Degrees and Enrollment Trends (pdf) report from the 2007-2008 CRA Taulbee Report.
According to the United States Department of Labor, computer science graduates on average earn 13 percent more than the average college graduate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, future job prospects for computer science graduates are higher than for any other science or engineering field. The Computing Research Association is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. For more information, visit www.cra.org.
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House S&T Committee Discusses Cyberspace Policy Review Report With Federal Agencies
/In: Events, Policy, Security /by MelissaNorrThe House Science and Technology Committee held a hearing Tuesday afternoon to review the response of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the Administration’s recently released Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf). Near-term and mid-term action plans in the review raise a number of concerns relevant to the Committee’s work. These issues center around federal agency efforts in research and development, education, standards, information coordination and interagency collaboration. Witnesses called to testify were Ms. Cita Furlani, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory (NIST); Dr. Jeannette Wing, Assistant Director at the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF); Dr. Robert Leheny, Acting Director (DARPA); Dr. Peter Fonash, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Cyber Security Communications (DHS).
Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) opened the hearing by expressing his concern regarding previous federal cyber security efforts he believes were too “output oriented” rather than “outcome driven”, and was hopeful that the new administration will focus on achieving fewer breaches of federal systems, fewer cases of identity theft, as well as ensuring the security of smart grid systems and health IT systems. In his opening statement, he called upon witnesses to explain how each agency hopes to improve its cyber security in light of the Administration’s review.
Speaking next, Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE) drew attention to the agencies’ efforts in investing appropriately in cyber security research and development, securing the dot-gov domain as well as the critical infrastructure of the private sector.
Research and Science Education Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) emphasized the need for increased collaboration between public and private sectors to expose weaknesses in security and share breach information, as well as a multidisciplinary approach to cyber security in order to understand how we interact with computers and their information, calling people the “weakest link” in cyber security.
In their opening remarks, the witnesses discussed their responses to the review. They each expressed their appreciation that the review highlights the need for unclassified cyber security research and cyber security education. Ms. Furlani restated NIST’s mission to work with federal, state, local, private and academic institutions to develop the standards for information security. Dr. Wing, reminded the committee that many security measures implemented today are built on practices that were designed decades ago. Wing called for increased openness in the field of cyber security research. Looking ahead, she stated that the need to develop new practices based on current research could be filled by such an increase in the collaboration between industry and academic research institutions. Dr. Leheny echoed previous remarks that recognized the need for innovation to address cyber security threats. He also highlighted a DARPA project to develop a National Cyber Range that would have the ability to perform rigorous, realistic assessments of cyber security technology. In response to the review, Dr. Fonash described the role of the DHS in updating national security strategy, strengthening international partnerships, educating the public, and working with the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to prepare for plan for cyber incidents.
The member questions tended not to focus on any particular issue. Rep. Ehlers (R-MI) asked the panel how we can ensure security and at the same time preserve the freedom of unfettered communication. Rep. Ehlers’ question about the decreasing enrollment of computer science majors in the U.S. led to a discussion of the various programs each agency has in order to address the seeming decline in computer science interest among students. Dr. Wing, citing the CRA Taulbee Survey and expressed hope that the recent uptick in enrollments will continue. Dr. Leheny described two DARPA programs that focus on developing the attractiveness of computer science for undergraduates and untenured faculty. Rep. Lujan asked the witnesses how we can tap into the expertise of classified cyber security practices and research. Wing responded by explaining the formal process for agency collaboration under the National Coordinating Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) where unclassified IT research and development investments for thirteen Ferderal agencies are coordinated. Rep. Smith, while acknowledging the need for public and private partnership in cyber security, asked Dr. Fonash how the private sector can be compelled to follow standards. Fonash responded by stressing the importance of information sharing programs in order for industry to not only be aware of security standards, but that they know how to take the appropriate measures to secure their private data. When pressed about the need for legislation in this regard, Fonash replied that he couldn’t say yes or no at this time.
Tuesday’s hearing was the second of three hearings on cyber security. The first hearing was held by the Research and Science Education Subcommittee on the research needs of improved cyber security. Computing Research Association board member Dr. Fred Schneider testified about the state of cyber security education as well as the range of federally supported research. The final hearing regarding the cyber security activities of NIST and the DHS will be held next week.
An archived webcast of the hearing as well as copies of witness testimonies can be found on the House S&T Committee website.
U.S. Lags Globally in Robotics Development
/In: Policy /by Peter HarshaExperts Warn of Technology Drain; seek federal intervention
Washington, May 21, 2009 Robotics have the potential within the next decade to become as prevalent as computers in daily American life, but the country lags behind others worldwide in recognizing the importance of this technology.
In a report released today, titled National Robotics Technology Roadmap, (link forthcoming) a group of 140 experts from industry, federal laboratories, and leading academic institutions assert the United States lags behind other countries in its ability to compete economically unless more investment is made in this technology.
To address this issue, the Roadmap urges Congress to increase spending in the FY 2010 budget and calls on the Obama administration to establish a high profile position at the White House to coordinate and integrate robotics policy throughout government.
Unfortunately, the United States lags behind other countries in recognizing the importance of robotics technology. While the European Union, Japan, Korea and the rest of the world have made significant R&D investments in robotics technology, the U.S. investment, outside unmanned systems for defense purposes, remains practically non-existent. Unless this situation can be addressed in the near future, the United States runs the risk of relinquishing its ability to globally compete in these emerging markets putting the nation at risk of having to rely on the rest of the world to provide a critical technology that our population will become increasingly dependent upon.
Robotics technology holds the potential to transform the future of the country. The next generation robotech industry will affect the lives of every American and have an enormous economic, social and political impact on our future. Human-robot interaction is central to many of the most exciting application of robots, including the use of medical robots, assistive robotics, prosthetics, rehabilitation, transportation, human augmentation, entertainment and education. Other applications on the horizon include factory and military robots, domestic service robots, a team of search and rescue robots and exoskeleton man-amplifiers the report explained.
The National Robotics Technology Roadmap was the result of an unprecedented level of cooperation among members of the business community and academia. This effort was led by the Computing Community Consortium and sponsored by the Computing Research Association via a grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Computing Research Association is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. For more information, visit www.cra.org.
The Computing Community Consortium is an activity of CRA that supports the computing research community in creating compelling research visions and the mechanisms to realize these visions. For more, visit www.cra.org/ccc
Two Hill Briefings This Week
/In: Computing Community Consortium (CCC), Computing Education, CRA, Diversity in Computing, Events /by MelissaNorrTwo events this week on Capitol Hill that CRA will be involved in. First, there will be a Congressional STEM Education Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus briefing on CS education called Bringing Innovative Computing Curriculum across the Digital Divide that CRA is co-sponsoring with ACM, CSTA, NCWIT, SWE, IEEE-USA, and Microsoft. The briefing will cover the current state of CS education at the K-12 level and discuss new curriculum and teacher preparation developed by NSF and Microsoft. The briefing will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at noon in B339 Rayburn.
The second event will unveil the first CCC funded initiative in robotics this Thursday, May 21. The Congressional Robotics Caucus is hosting this briefing to showcase the Robotics Roadmap and the potential for growth and roadblocks for the use of robotics in various industries. Speakers at the briefing will include Henrik Christensen who led the CCC robotics effort, Rodney Brooks of Heartland Robotics, Dan Jones of Intuitive Surgical, Eric Close of RedZone Robotics, and Jared Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University. The briefing will take place beginning at 11:45 at the Capitol Visitor Center HVC 201 A-B. Lunch will be served and it will be a widely attended event. RSVP to Patti Rote at pattir at techcollaborative.org.
NITRD Act Passed In House
/In: CRA, Policy /by MelissaNorrThe House of Representatives passed H.R. 2020, the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2009, a bill that we have mentioned here previously. In support of the NITRD Act, CRA wrote a letter to Congressmen Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Ralph Hall (R-TX), the chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Science and Technology:
Obama Announces New Commitment to R&D Funding, PCAST Members
/In: Funding, FY10 Appropriations, Policy, R&D in the Press /by Peter HarshaThe President used a speech before the members of the National Academy of Sciences today to reiterate his commitment to boosting the U.S. investment in science and technology.In his remarks before the opening session of the National Academy’s annual meeting, Obama set a goal of seeing the U.S. invest 3 percent or more of its annual GDP in basic and applied scientific research funding. This level of investment would represent the largest investment in American history — an even larger share of GDP than the U.S. invested during the space race of the 1950s and 60s. Here’s a choice quote from AP coverage of the speech:
According to a White House fact sheet distributed after his remarks today, the President plans to back up his rhetoric with a number of budgetary commitments, including:
The President also used the occasion to name the members of his President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST) — a committee of representatives from science and industry who will examine aspects of federal science policy and make recommendations to the President. For the last several years, PCAST has also assumed the statutory responsibilties of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), which was dissolved as a free-standing committee under President Bush (though there may be a move to reestablish the free-standing committee — more on that in a future post).
Among the new PCAST members are at least four from the computing community:
Other members of the Council are: Rosina Bierbaum, Christine Cassel, Christopher Chyba, James Gates, John Holdren, Shirley Jackson, Eric Lander, Richard Levin, Chad Mirkin, Mario Molina, Ernest Moniz, Maxine Savitz, Barbara Schaal, Daniel Schrag, Harold Varmus and Ahmed Zewail. Holdren, Lander and Varmus will be the co-chairs of PCAST.
The President’s commitment to continuing the very recent robust increases for federal R&D — after several years of real-dollar declines — along with recent statements by key Senate appropriations staff who believe 7 percent annual increases for NSF are “sustainable,” give us reason to be somewhat optimistic going into the appropriations season this year. However, as always, other pressing concerns and shortfalls in the federal budget can adversly affect science funding despite all the apparent support, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on the process. But Obama’s initial steps here may turn out to be giant ones for U.S. science and innovation.
House S&T Committee Focuses on IT at NITRD Hearing
/In: CRA, Events, Funding, People, Policy /by MelissaNorrCRA’s incoming Board Chair Peter Lee, Deborah Estrin of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Chris Greer of the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordinating Office testified before the House Science and Technology Committee last week on the NITRD Act of 2009. The Act incorporates the findings and recommendations of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) for the NITRD program. The hearing was well attended by members of the committee as well with a dozen attending at least part of the hearing.
All three witnesses praised the legislation for incorporating the PCAST recommendations for NITRD and for addressing a need in the research infrastructure. Lee specifically pointed out how easy it would be for the United States to lose the lead in IT R&D to other countries if it is not a focus, a comment picked up on by Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) during the question and answer portion of the hearing.
Questions from the Members of Congress ranged from agency participation in NITRD to security to education. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) asked about the need for intervention in the education system to fill the pipeline of scientists particularly for attracting women and minorities. Estrin spoke to the importance of reaching children in junior high school or earlier and making the connection between computer science and the larger societal problems that it can help fix such as energy and environmental issues and healthcare improvement. Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) and Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-TN) both brought up the issue of national security, noting that there are daily attacks from other countries on our systems with the intent of uncovering sensitive data and that our networks are vulnerable to hacking. Greer noted that security is always a challenge at the forefront of NITRD. Estrin and Lee both stated that there are numerous research projects underway attempting to increase the security of networks and Estrin emphasized the necessity of having security parameters that are usable by the average person.
The committee has not yet introduced the Act, though it’s expected to shortly after the current congressional recess ends next week. When the bill is dropped, we’ll have a complete analysis of it here, so stay tuned. In the meantime, the full written testimony as well as the webcast of the full hearing is available on the Committee’s web site.
Annual Capitol Hill Science Fair A Great Success
/In: CRA, Events, Funding, FY09 Appropriations, Policy /by MelissaNorrThe Coalition for National Science Funding, of which CRA is an active member, held its annual Science Exhibition on Capitol Hill last week. It was once again a great success with a room full of hundreds of attendees and a number of Congressmen visiting exhibits. For the first time, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) attended, spoke briefly on the importance of funding basic science research, and received many thanks from the community there for her efforts to see science funded as part of the stimulus bill and the FY 09 Appropriations. Other members of Congress who attended included Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) pictured here. Overall, the event was very successful in spreading the message that federally funded science research makes important contributions and discoveries in all scientific fields.
Also pictured are Dr. Gregory Abowd of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Dr. Gillian Hayes of the University of California, Irvine who represented CRA with an exhibit on Behavior Imaging and Autism that drew a great deal of interest from attendees and the other participants. The exhibit showcased research on using sensors in toys and video imaging to monitor the developmental progress of children with autism and other developmental disorders.
The event, a science fair for Congress and staff, had 35 booths manned by researchers representing universities and scientific societies featuring some of the important research funded by the National Science Foundation.
Holdren Confirmed as OSTP Director
/In: People, Policy /by MelissaNorrJohn P. Holdren was confirmed as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy yesterday. The OSTP Director is the top White House science adviser and Holdren was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee a week ago following a hold on his nomination. The reason for the hold has been variously attributed to concerns over his positions on climate change and to unrelated issues involving the Administrations position on Cuba.
Holdren was the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard University and Director of the Woods Hole Research Center before being asked to serve in the Obama Administration. He has also served as President and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a member of the Presidents Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) during the Clinton Administration. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Educating NITRD
/In: Research /by Peter HarshaCameron Wilson over at the ACM Technology Policy Blog put together this post detailing how ACM, CRA and NCWIT are working together to try and raise the profile of computer science education efforts in the federal government’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program. Rather than try to summarize, here’s the entirety of his entry cross-posted here:
As far as obscure government acronyms go, NITRD is a pretty good one. It stands for the National Information Technology Research and Development program. This program cuts across numerous federal agencies to carry out and coordinate investments in IT R&D. In 2007, the Presidents Council of Advisory on Science and Technology (PCAST another doozy of an acronym) issued a report making recommendations for some reforms of the NITRD program. One interesting issue it touched on is the need to improve computing education and strengthen the IT workforce pipeline. With Congress now using this report as basis to look at what changes it would make to the program, ACM joined with the Computing Research Association and National Center for Women and Information Technology in a letter outlining ideas of how NITRD could be improved to address computer science education issues, particularly at the K-12 level.
While R&D is clearly the focus of the NITRD program, it has an education component. The overall program is broken into several (acronym alert) Program Component Areas (PCAs). Each one deals with a field of research but its Social, Economic, and Workforce Implications of IT PCA is charged with addressing workforce and education issues. In truth, this part of the program is small and the Nation Science Foundation dominates the contributions to it. Further, it really does not have a K-12 focus and the Department of Education dropped out of the overall program some time ago. Its time to revitalize and expand this area.
The community letter to Congress seeks to strengthen the pipeline by expanding, better leveraging, and coordinating existing education efforts within the NITRD program. We outline four recommendations (and specific legislative language for the wonks out there):
Each of these recommendations would bring a much-needed federal focus to issues in computer science education at the K-12 level. More and more conversations are occurring within the community about what needs to be done to improve computing education, and the discussion often turns back to the K-12 level. Computing and the innovations it yields are critical to the domestic economy. The ubiquitous nature of computing has spread its reach into everyones daily lives. Securing our cyber-infrastructure, protecting national security, and making our energy infrastructure more efficient are among numerous issues all depending on computing. However, the current pipeline will not satisfy the demands of an industry that includes some of the countrys most innovative and successful companies. Nor will the existing education system give students the kind of background knowledge in computing and skills they need for the 21st Century.
We must do more to expose kids to a quality computer science education program at the K-12 level, support teachers and bring innovative new curricula into the schools. Opening a serious education front in the NITRD program would be a good start to this ambitious goal.
Computer Science Majors Increase at Most Significant Rate Since Dot Com Boom
/In: CRA /by Peter HarshaOverall Enrollment Up for First Time in Six Years
Washington, March 17, 2009 The number of undergraduate students majoring in computer science significantly increased for the first time since the dot com boom according to the Computing Research Association (CRA). As a result, overall university computer science enrollment increased for the first time in six years. CRA reported these trends (pdf) as part of the 2007-2008 annual CRA Taulbee Survey.
“The upward surge of student interest is real and bigger than anyone expected” said Peter Lee, incoming Chair of CRA. “The fact that computer science graduates usually find themselves in high-paying jobs accounts for part of the reversal. Increasingly students also are attracted to the intellectual depth and societal benefits of computing technology.”
“Competitive advantage, driven by innovation, has never been more important,” said Daniel A. Reed, current Chair of CRA. “Computing advances lead to new approaches to solving some of the worlds biggest problems. U.S. businesses must continue integrating new computing technologies to remain globally competitive.”
The Computing Research Association collected enrollment data in fall 2008. The computer science and computer engineering departments of 192 Ph.D.-granting universities participated in the survey. Specific findings include:
The Taulbee Survey is the principal source of information on student enrollment, employment, graduation, and faculty salary trends in Ph.D.-granting departments of computer science and computer engineering in the United States and Canada. This year marks the 38th consecutive year of the Taulbee Survey. CRA will release the employment and faculty salary data in May 2009. Visit http://www.cra.org/statistics/ for more information and to see previous editions of the Taulbee Survey. Obtain a copy of the Computing Degrees and Enrollment Trends (pdf) report from the 2007-2008 CRA Taulbee Report.
According to the United States Department of Labor, computer science graduates on average earn 13 percent more than the average college graduate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, future job prospects for computer science graduates are higher than for any other science or engineering field.
The Computing Research Association is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. For more information, visit www.cra.org.