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/