National Academies Press: OpenBook

Innovation in Information Technology (2003)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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Innovation in INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The projects that are the basis of this synthesis report were approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committees responsible for the final reports of these projects and of the board that produced this synthesis were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this project was provided by the core sponsors of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB), which include the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Cisco Systems, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Energy, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Research, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Library of Medicine, National Science Foundation, and Office of Naval Research. Sponsors enable but do not influence CSTB's work. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provide support for CSTB.

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International Standard Book Number 0-309-52622-1 (PDF)

Copies of this report are available from the

National Academies Press,
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Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD

DAVID D. CLARK,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Chair

ERIC BENHAMOU,

3Com Corporation

DAVID BORTH,

Motorola Labs

JAMES CHIDDIX,**

AOL Time Warner

JOHN M. CIOFFI,

Stanford University

ELAINE COHEN,

University of Utah

W. BRUCE CROFT,

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

THOMAS E. DARCIE,

University of Victoria

JOSEPH FARRELL,

University of California at Berkeley

JOAN FEIGENBAUM,

Yale University

HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA,

Stanford University

SUSAN L. GRAHAM,*

University of California at Berkeley

JUDITH HEMPEL,*

University of California at San Francisco

JEFFREY M. JAFFE,**

Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies

ANNA KARLIN,**

University of Washington

WENDY KELLOGG,

IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center

BUTLER W. LAMPSON,

Microsoft Corporation

EDWARD D. LAZOWSKA,**

University of Washington

DAVID LIDDLE,

U.S. Venture Partners

TOM M. MITCHELL,

Carnegie Mellon University

DONALD NORMAN,**

Nielsen Norman Group

DAVID A. PATTERSON,

University of California at Berkeley

HENRY (HANK) PERRITT,

Chicago-Kent College of Law

DANIEL PIKE,

GCI Cable and Entertainment

ERIC SCHMIDT,

Google Inc.

FRED SCHNEIDER,

Cornell University

BURTON SMITH,

Cray Inc.

TERRY SMITH,**

University of California at Santa Barbara

LEE SPROULL,

New York University

WILLIAM STEAD,

Vanderbilt University

JEANNETTE M. WING,

Carnegie Mellon University

MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director

KRISTEN BATCH, Research Associate

JENNIFER BISHOP, Senior Project Assistant

JANET BRISCOE, Administrative Officer

DAVID DRAKE, Senior Project Assistant

*

Term ended June 30, 2001.

**

Term ended June 30, 2002.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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JON EISENBERG, Senior Program Officer

RENEE HAWKINS, Financial Associate

PHIL HILLIARD, Research Associate

MARGARET MARSH HUYNH, Senior Project Assistant

ALAN S. INOUYE, Senior Program Officer

HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Scientist

LYNETTE I. MILLETT, Program Officer

DAVID PADGHAM, Research Associate

CYNTHIA A. PATTERSON, Program Officer

JANICE SABUDA, Senior Project Assistant

BRANDYE WILLIAMS, Staff Assistant

STEVEN WOO, Dissemination Officer

NOTE: For more information on CSTB, see its Web site at <http://www.cstb.org>, write to CSTB, National Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001, call at (202) 334-2605, or e-mail the CSTB at cstb@nas.edu.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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Preface

The health of the computer science field and related disciplines has been an enduring concern of the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB). From its first reports in the late 1980s, CSTB has examined the nature, conduct, scope, and directions of the research that drives innovation in information technology.

Ironically, the success of the industries that produce information technology (IT) has caused confusion about the roles of government and academia in IT research. And it does not help that research in computer science—especially research relating to software—is hard for many people outside the field to understand. This synthesis report draws on several CSTB reports, published over the course of the past decade, to explain the what and why of IT research. It was developed by members of the board, drawing on CSTB's body of work and on insights and experience from their own careers.

This synthesis is kept brief in order to highlight key points. It is paired with a set of excerpts from previous reports, chosen either for their explanation of relevant history or for their compelling development of core arguments and principles.

David D. Clark, Chair

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,

Linda Cohen, University of California at Irvine,

Samuel H. Fuller, Analog Devices Inc.,

Juris Hartmanis, Cornell University,

Timothy Lenoir, Stanford University,

David G. Messerschmitt, University of California at Berkeley,

Ivan E. Sutherland, Sun Microsystems Laboratories, and

Joseph F. Traub, Columbia University.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by John

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2003. Innovation in Information Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10795.
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Hopcroft, Cornell University. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring board and the institution.

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Innovation in Information Technology Get This Book
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Progress in information technology (IT) has been remarkable, but the best truly is yet to come: the power of IT as a human enabler is just beginning to be realized. Whether the nation builds on this momentum or plateaus prematurely depends on today's decisions about fundamental research in computer science (CS) and the related fields behind IT.

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) has often been asked to examine how innovation occurs in IT, what the most promising research directions are, and what impacts such innovation might have on society. Consistent themes emerge from CSTB studies, notwithstanding changes in information technology itself, in the IT-producing sector, and in the U.S. university system, a key player in IT research.

In this synthesis report, based largely on the eight CSTB reports enumerated below, CSTB highlights these themes and updates some of the data that support them.

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