Lummis Bill Improves Coordination of U.S. R & D

Press Release

Tuesday the House voted with overwhelming bipartisan support to pass H.R. 967, Advancing America's Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Act of 2013. Introduced by U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo), this legislation reauthorizes the NITRD program, the federal government's main research and development investment portfolio in unclassified networking, computing, software, and cyber security. These research and development efforts are coordinated across 15 member agencies including the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The NITRD program has produced near-real-time weather forecasts, modeling of complex physical systems including power grids and, perhaps most notably, computational decoding of the human genome. The reauthorization includes a shift away from short-term goals in favor of long-term interdisciplinary research.

Effective coordination of these efforts is critical for the U.S. to respond to rapid changes in these areas and stay at the forefront of technology and innovation.

Congressman Lummis issued the following statement after the vote:

"We live in a fast-paced, fluid, technologically focused world. Today's vote reauthorizes an important program that provides the coordination and focus our country needs to stay competitive in this dynamic environment. Past research under NITRD has yielded innovative technology to forecast weather patterns, track traffic patterns and even map the human genome. Reauthorization of NITRD ensures a program that reflects developments and shifts in networking and information technology ranging from cyber security and cloud computing to big data and the supercomputing research conducted at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center."

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