OMB lays out R&D priorities for IT in 2006

The Bush administration has placed supercomputing and cyberinfrastructure among its highest priorities for agency R&D efforts in fiscal 2006.In a memo to agency executives, Office of Management and Budget director Josh Bolten and John Marburger, director of the White House’s Science and Technology Policy Of-fice, told officials to focus their 2006 budget requests on these two areas. “Agency requests should reflect these two program priorities by reallocating funds from low priority efforts,” the memo said.David Nelson, director of the White House’s National Coordination Office for IT R&D, said although asking agencies to reallocate and prioritize funding is nothing new, it hasn’t been done in a while.“Perhaps more this year than others, there is not a large amount of new money expected for R&D, and agencies are expected to optimize what they do have,” Nelson said.Nelson would not speculate on how the focus on these new priorities would affect other networking and IT R&D programs. To read the memo, go to and enter 286 in the Quickfind box.