[Federal Register: July 25, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 144)]
[Notices]
[Page 43477-43478]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25jy08-101]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Invitation To Submit White Papers To Inform the Five-Year
Strategic Plan for the Federal Networking and Information Technology
Research & Development Program
AGENCY: The National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and
Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD).
ACTION: Request for Input (RFI).
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Detrice M. Wallace at (703) 292-4873.
DATES: To be considered, submissions must be received by August 25,
2008.
SUMMARY: This plan will focus on goals and capabilities that can only
be achieved through interagency cooperation and coordination, and will
complement and support the strategic plans of the individual agencies.
It will encompass vision-driven themes in multiple dimensions to show
research & development capabilities and challenges by using scenarios
that demonstrate societal and economic impact.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Overview: The Subcommittee on Networking and Information
Technology Research and Development (NITRD) is soliciting input from
government, academia, and industry in the U.S. and abroad to assist in
the development of a Five-Year Strategic Plan for the NITRD Program.
The strategic plan will focus primarily on R&D goals that require
interagency coordination, including multi-agency investments and joint
programs, and respond to the priorities of the Federal government as a
whole. This plan will complement and support each participating
agency's strategic plan.
This Request for Input is not a funding opportunity or a
solicitation for proposals. Anonymized versions of some responses will
be made publicly available to promote further discussion.
2. Focus of the Strategic Plan: The NITRD five-year strategic plan
will guide the coordinated R&D efforts of the Federal agencies in the
NITRD Program (see http://www.nitrd.gov for a description of the
program and a listing of participating agencies). The strategic plan
will:
Define a vision for the NITRD Program and identify
desired, future networking and information technologies (NIT)
capabilities.
Provide a five-year framework for prioritizing fundamental
research to attain major advances in the desired capabilities within
ten years.
Ensure collaboration across agencies, academia, industry,
and other domains to solve challenges that cannot be met by any agency
acting alone.
Illustrate potential societal and economic positive impact
on national-level and multi-disciplinary challenges (e.g.,
cybersecurity, healthcare, renewable energy, and environment).
3. Description of Information Sought: The NITRD Subcommittee seeks
input from a range of stakeholders with the goal of developing an
effective strategic plan for R&D to yield high-payoff scientific and
engineering capabilities in NIT. The submissions should seek to answer
the following questions:
What do you imagine as the future in terms of desired NIT
capabilities?
What roles do you imagine for the NITRD Program and for
the academic, commercial, international, and other domains in achieving
that future?
In addressing these questions, submitters are challenged to present
views and input on one or more of the following subjects, in relation
to NIT:
Development and execution of multi-agency and multi-
disciplinary programs.
Determination of strategic goals, key challenges,
opportunities, and research priorities.
Examples that illustrate the impact of realizing the
vision, achieving the proposed goals, and meeting the identified
challenges.
Transition of R&D results into practice.
Role of the U.S. in the international NIT arena.
Interactions among government, commercial, academic, and
international sectors.
4. Background: A unique collaboration of 13 Federal agencies, the
NITRD Program's mission is to formulate Federal NIT R&D to meet the
following national goals:
Assure continued U.S. leadership in NIT to meet Federal
goals and support U.S. 21st century government, academic, and
industrial interests.
Accelerate deployment of advanced and experimental NIT to
enhance national and homeland security; maintain world leadership in
science, engineering, and mathematics; improve the quality of life;
promote long-term economic growth; increase lifelong learning; and
protect the environment.
Advance U.S. productivity and competitiveness through
long-term scientific and engineering research in NIT.
Currently there are two documents available for gathering
background information. The first is the August 2007 publication,
Leadership Under Challenge: Information Technology R&D in a Competitive
World, an assessment of the NITRD Program by the President's Council of
Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). A central recommendation in
this assessment is the development, implementation, and maintenance of
a cohesive strategic plan for the NITRD Program. The second document is
the NITRD Program's previous internal Strategic Plan. The documents are
available at: http://www.nitrd.gov/pubs/index.htm
5. Submission Information: To be considered, submissions must be
received by August 25, 2008. Submitters of the white papers should:
Focus on interagency coordination of major NIT research
directions and the proposed priorities of the Federal government as a
whole.
[[Page 43478]]
Put all information in the main text; references may be
used for background information.
Transmit the submissions as electronic documents to nitrd-
sp@nitrd.gov.
Limit the size of documents to two pages.
Note that this is an initial opportunity for public input to the
strategic planning process; additional opportunities are expected as
the plan is developed.
This invitation is not a funding opportunity or a solicitation for
proposals. Anonymized versions of some responses will be made publicly
available to promote further discussion.
The NITRD public Web site at http://www.nitrd.gov provides
background information on the activities of the NITRD Program and its
interagency coordinating groups. For general inquiries, please send e-
mail to nco@nitrd.gov.
Chris Greer,
Director, NCO, Co-Chair, NITRD Subcommittee.
Jeannette Wing,
Assistant Director, NSF/CISE, Co-Chair, NITRD Subcommittee.
Submitted by the National Science Foundation for the National
Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology
Research and Development (NITRD) on July 21, 2008.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. E8-16975 Filed 7-24-08; 8:45 am]
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