Two Research Funding Bills Gain Ground in Congress

Computerworld - Washington—Concerns about terrorism are partly responsible for a new push in Congress to pump millions of dollars into IT research, especially for information security. But corporate technology managers won't see overnight benefits from this funding, if it's approved.

The White House hasn't specifically endorsed the two funding bills from the House Committee on Science, one of which would boost IT research spending by 46% to $7 billion over five years, but the plan was developed with input from cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke.

"The government can do research—research into new ways of doing security," said Clarke, a special adviser to the president on cyberspace security, at an industry forum last week. "[But] the government shouldn't do it alone. Industry should invest in IT security.

"We need to keep the private sector in partnership with the government so that the government dollars for research are placed in areas where the private sector is not already, through market forces, engaged," he added.

Private-sector companies largely focus on short-term, product-related security research, Clarke said. The federal money, by contrast, would be directed toward basic and applied research projects that could take years to develop.

Industry experts said this funding could address looming security concerns.

"Wireless systems right now have a great lack of security, and they're going to be ubiquitous in the next five to 10 years," said Lance Hoffman, a professor of computer science at The George Washington University in Washington.

But the U.S. also needs to boost IT research in high-end computing to remain competitive, said experts.

For example, European and Japanese automakers are using high-performance computing in their development programs. Using modeling and simulation, they aim to design vehicles that can operate without repair for 150,000 miles. Their goal is to leapfrog ahead of the U.S., said Earl Joseph, research director of high-performance systems at IDC in Framingham, Mass. "The U.S. companies are so far away from this, it's ridiculous," he said.

Federal Research Proposals $7 billion over five years, a 46% hike, for high-end computing, large-scale networking and “high-confidence” software and systems $880 million over five years for security-specific IT research Outlook: The White House says the U.S. has a responsibility to conduct long-term research. Terrorism concerns may spur Congress, but no final action is possible until sometime next year.

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