TITLE 15 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER I - HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

15 USC 5511 - National High-Performance Computing Program

(a) National High-Performance Computing Program

(1) The President shall implement a National High-Performance Computing Program, which shall

(A) provide for long-term basic and applied research on high-performance computing, including networking;

(B) provide for research and development on, and demonstration of, technologies to advance the capacity and capabilities of high-performance computing and networking systems, and related software;

(C) provide for sustained access by the research community throughout the United States to high-performance computing and networking systems that are among the most advanced in the world in terms of performance in solving scientific and engineering problems, including provision for technical support for users of such systems;

(D) provide for widely dispersed efforts to increase software availability, productivity, capability, security, portability, and reliability;

(E) provide for high-performance networks, including experimental testbed networks, to enable research and development on, and demonstration of, advanced applications enabled by such networks;

(F) provide for computational science and engineering research on mathematical modeling and algorithms for applications in all fields of science and engineering;

(G) provide for the technical support of, and research and development on, high-performance computing systems and software required to address Grand Challenges;

(H) provide for educating and training additional undergraduate and graduate students in software engineering, computer science, computer and network security, applied mathematics, library and information science, and computational science; and

(I) provide for improving the security of computing and networking systems, including Federal systems, including providing for research required to establish security standards and practices for these systems.

(2) The Director shall

(A) establish the goals and priorities for Federal high-performance computing research, development, networking, and other activities;

(B) establish Program Component Areas that implement the goals established under subparagraph (A), and identify the Grand Challenges that the Program should address;

(C) provide for interagency coordination of Federal high-performance computing research, development, networking, and other activities undertaken pursuant to the Program;

(D) submit to the Congress an annual report, along with the Presidents annual budget request, describing the implementation of the Program;

(E) develop and maintain a research, development, and deployment roadmap covering all States and regions for the provision of high-performance computing and networking systems under paragraph (1)(C); and

(F) consult with academic, State, industry, and other appropriate groups conducting research on and using high-performance computing.

(3) The annual report submitted under paragraph (2)(D) shall

(A) provide a detailed description of the Program Component Areas, including a description of any changes in the definition of or activities under the Program Component Areas from the preceding report, and the reasons for such changes, and a description of Grand Challenges addressed under the Program;

(B) set forth the relevant programs and activities, for the fiscal year with respect to which the budget submission applies, of each Federal agency and department, including

(i) the Department of Agriculture;

(ii) the Department of Commerce;

(iii) the Department of Defense;

(iv) the Department of Education;

(v) the Department of Energy;

(vi) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(vii) the Department of the Interior;

(viii) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(ix) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;

(x) the National Science Foundation; and

(xi) such other agencies and departments as the President or the Director considers appropriate;

(C) describe the levels of Federal funding for the fiscal year during which such report is submitted, and the levels proposed for the fiscal year with respect to which the budget submission applies, for each Program Component Area;

(D) describe the levels of Federal funding for each agency and department participating in the Program, and for each Program Component Area, for the fiscal year during which such report is submitted, and the levels proposed for the fiscal year with respect to which the budget submission applies; and

(E) include an analysis of the progress made toward achieving the goals and priorities established for the Program and the extent to which the Program incorporates the recommendations of the advisory committee established under subsection (b).

(b) Advisory committee

(1) The President shall establish an advisory committee on high-performance computing, consisting of geographically dispersed non-Federal members, including representatives of the research, education, and library communities, network and related software providers, and industry representatives in the Program Component Areas, who are specially qualified to provide the Director with advice and information on high-performance computing. The recommendations of the advisory committee shall be considered in reviewing and revising the Program. The advisory committee shall provide the Director with an independent assessment of

(A) progress made in implementing the Program;

(B) the need to revise the Program;

(D) whether the research and development undertaken pursuant to the Program is helping to maintain United States leadership in high-performance computing, networking technology, and related software; and

(E) other issues identified by the Director.

(2) In addition to the duties outlined in paragraph (1), the advisory committee shall conduct periodic evaluations of the funding, management, coordination, implementation, and activities of the Program. The advisory committee shall report not less frequently than once every 2 fiscal years to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on its findings and recommendations. The first report shall be due within 1 year after August 9, 2007.

(3) Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the advisory committee established under this subsection.

(1) Each Federal agency and department participating in the Program shall, as part of its annual request for appropriations to the Office of Management and Budget, submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget which

(A) identifies each element of its high-performance computing activities which contributes directly to the Program Component Areas or benefits from the Program; and

(B) states the portion of its request for appropriations that is allocated to each such element.

(2) The Office of Management and Budget shall review each such report in light of the goals, priorities, and agency and departmental responsibilities set forth in the annual report submitted under subsection (a)(2)(D) of this section, and shall include, in the Presidents annual budget estimate, a statement of the portion of each appropriate agencys or departments annual budget estimate relating to its activities undertaken pursuant to the Program.

15 USC 5512 - National Research and Education Network

(a) Establishment
As part of the Program, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other agencies participating in the Program shall support the establishment of the National Research and Education Network, portions of which shall, to the extent technically feasible, be capable of transmitting data at one gigabit per second or greater by 1996. The Network shall provide for the linkage of research institutions and educational institutions, government, and industry in every State.

(b) Access
Federal agencies and departments shall work with private network service providers, State and local agencies, libraries, educational institutions and organizations, and others, as appropriate, in order to ensure that the researchers, educators, and students have access, as appropriate, to the Network. The Network is to provide users with appropriate access to high-performance computing systems, electronic information resources, other research facilities, and libraries. The Network shall provide access, to the extent practicable, to electronic information resources maintained by libraries, research facilities, publishers, and affiliated organizations.

(1) be developed and deployed with the computer, telecommunications, and information industries;

(2) be designed, developed, and operated in collaboration with potential users in government, industry, and research institutions and educational institutions;

(3) be designed, developed, and operated in a manner which fosters and maintains competition and private sector investment in high-speed data networking within the telecommunications industry;

(4) be designed, developed, and operated in a manner which promotes research and development leading to development of commercial data communications and telecommunications standards, whose development will encourage the establishment of privately operated high-speed commercial networks;

(5) be designed and operated so as to ensure the continued application of laws that provide network and information resources security measures, including those that protect copyright and other intellectual property rights, and those that control access to data bases and protect national security;

(6) have accounting mechanisms which allow users or groups of users to be charged for their usage of copyrighted materials available over the Network and, where appropriate and technically feasible, for their usage of the Network;

(7) ensure the interoperability of Federal and non-Federal computer networks, to the extent appropriate, in a way that allows autonomy for each component network;

(8) be developed by purchasing standard commercial transmission and network services from vendors whenever feasible, and by contracting for customized services when not feasible, in order to minimize Federal investment in network hardware;

(9) support research and development of networking software and hardware; and

(10) serve as a test bed for further research and development of high-capacity and high-speed computing networks and demonstrate how advanced computers, high-capacity and high-speed computing networks, and data bases can improve the national information infrastructure.

(d) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency responsibility
As part of the Program, the Department of Defense, through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, shall support research and development of advanced fiber optics technology, switches, and protocols needed to develop the Network.

(e) Information services
The Director shall assist the President in coordinating the activities of appropriate agencies and departments to promote the development of information services that could be provided over the Network. These services may include the provision of directories of the users and services on computer networks, data bases of unclassified Federal scientific data, training of users of data bases and computer networks, access to commercial information services for users of the Network, and technology to support computer-based collaboration that allows researchers and educators around the Nation to share information and instrumentation.

(f) Use of grant funds
All Federal agencies and departments are authorized to allow recipients of Federal research grants to use grant moneys to pay for computer networking expenses.

(g) Report to Congress
Within one year after December 9, 1991, the Director shall report to the Congress on

(1) effective mechanisms for providing operating funds for the maintenance and use of the Network, including user fees, industry support, and continued Federal investment;

(2) the future operation and evolution of the Network;

(3) how commercial information service providers could be charged for access to the Network, and how Network users could be charged for such commercial information services;

(4) the technological feasibility of allowing commercial information service providers to use the Network and other federally funded research networks;

(5) how to protect the copyrights of material distributed over the Network; and

(6) appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources available on the Network and to protect the privacy of users of networks.

15 USC 5513 - Next Generation Internet

(a) Establishment
The National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology may support the Next Generation Internet program. The objectives of the Next Generation Internet program shall be to

(1) support research, development, and demonstration of advanced networking technologies to increase the capabilities and improve the performance of the Internet;

(2) develop an advanced testbed network connecting a significant number of research sites, including universities, Federal research institutions, and other appropriate research partner institutions, to support networking research and to demonstrate new networking technologies; and

(3) develop and demonstrate advanced Internet applications that meet important national goals or agency mission needs, and that are supported by the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2).

(b) Duties of Advisory Committee
The Presidents Information Technology Advisory Committee (established pursuant to section 5511 (b) of this title by Executive Order No. 13035 of February 11, 1997 (62 F.R. 7131), as amended by Executive Order No. 13092 of July 24, 1998), in addition to its functions under section 5511 (b) of this title, shall

(1) assess the extent to which the Next Generation Internet program

(A) carries out the purposes of this chapter; and

(B) addresses concerns relating to, among other matters

(i) geographic penalties (as defined in section 7(1) of the Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998);^[1]

(ii) the adequacy of access to the Internet by Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and small colleges and universities (whose enrollment is less than 5,000) and the degree of participation of those institutions in activities described in subsection (a) of this section; and

(iii) technology transfer to and from the private sector;

(2) review the extent to which the role of each Federal agency and department involved in implementing the Next Generation Internet program is clear and complementary to, and non-duplicative of, the roles of other participating agencies and departments;

(3) assess the extent to which Federal support of fundamental research in computing is sufficient to maintain the Nations critical leadership in this field; and

(4) make recommendations relating to its findings under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).

(c) Reports
The Advisory Committee shall review implementation of the Next Generation Internet program and shall report, not less frequently than annually, to the President, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, and the Committee on Science, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives on its findings and recommendations for the preceding fiscal year. The first such report shall be submitted 6 months after October 28, 1998, and the last report shall be submitted by September 30, 2000.

(d) Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section

(1) for the Department of Energy, $22,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;

(2) for the National Science Foundation, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, as authorized in the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1998;

(3) for the National Institutes of Health, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2000;

(4) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000; and

(5) for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2000.

Such funds may not be used for routine upgrades to existing federally funded communication networks.

[1] See References in Text note below.