Bill would boost computer R&D

The chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee recently introduced a bill that would require the government to write a five-year strategic plan for research and development efforts in high-performance computing.

The legislation, introduced April 22 by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), would strengthen planning and coordination of research and development in information technology. The bill aims to promote collaboration for high priority research between universities, industry, nonprofit organizations and federal laboratories.

The bill would amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991. The measure calls for research to focus on cyber-physical systems, or systems that involve close coordination between computational and physical resources.

Under the bill, the strategic plan would make clear the near- and long-term objectives for research and development, and metrics to judge if those goals are being reached. The plan would also specify milestones and road maps to establish and maintain the national research infrastructure that focuses on high-performance computing.