The Subcommittee on Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) of the
National Science
and Technology Council (NSTC) and its Committee on Technology (CT) serves as the internal deliberative organization of
the NSTC for NITRD policy, program, and budget guidance and direction for the Executive Branch. On February 14, 2005, the
Subcommittee succeeded the Interagency Working Group on IT R&D.
The NITRD Subcommittee provides hands-on coordination for the multiagency NITRD Program. The Subcommittee is made up of
representatives from each of the participating NITRD agencies and from the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
the NSTC, and the National Coordination Office for NITRD (NCO/NITRD). The Subcommittee coordinates
planning, budgeting, and assessment activities of the multiagency NITRD enterprise.
The major research emphases of the NITRD
effort are called Program Component Areas (PCAs). The work of each PCA is guided by an Interagency Working Group (IWG) or a
Coordinating Group (CG) of agency program managers. These groups, which report to the Subcommittee, meet monthly to coordinate
planning and activities of the multiagency projects in their specialized research areas. The PCAs evolve in response to changing
research needs.
The NCO provides the technical and administrative support for the Subcommittee, the PCA IWG, and CGs, and the
President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC). The cost of operating the NCO is shared
by the participating agencies in proportion to their NITRD budgets. The High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-194)
as amended by the Next Generation Research Act of 1998 (105-305) authorizes the functions performed by the NCO to support the
Subcommittee, IWG, and CGs. Executive Order 13035 authorizes NCO support for the PITAC. The National Science Foundation (NSF)
serves as the host agency for the NCO.
The PCAs are:
- Human Computer Interaction
and Information Management (HCI&IM).
By focusing on information interaction, integration, and management R&D – to develop and measure the performance of new technologies, agents, cognitive systems, and information systems that support the hierarchy and refinement of data from discovery to decision and action by both humans and computers working together and separately
- Large Scale Networking (LSN).
R&D to develop leading-edge networking technologies, services, and enhanced performance, including programs in new networking architectures, optical network testbeds, infrastructure, middleware, end-to-end performance measurement, and advanced components; grid and collaboration networking tools and services; and engineering, management, and use of large-scale networks for scientific and applications R&D; and network security applied to R&D networks, applications, and infrastructure
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- The Joint Engineering
Team (JET) coordinates the network architecture, connectivity, exchange points, and cooperation among Federal
agency networks (FedNets) and other high performance research networks, and provides close coordination of
connectivity, interoperability, and services among Government, academia, and industry to improve end-to-end
user performance and avoid duplication of resources and efforts. The JET also coordinates international
connectivity and interoperability. The JET cooperates with the academic community's gigabits per second points
of presence (Gigapops), Regional Optical Networks (RONs), and the Abilene network (a consortium among Qwest,
Cisco, Nortel, and Indiana University), and the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development's
(UCAID's) Internet2 (I2)
- The Middleware And Grid Infrastructure Coordination (MAGIC) Team coordinates cooperation
among researchers, Federal agencies, and commercial entities to research, develop, widely deploy, and use interoperable
Grid and middleware technologies, tools, and services and to provide a forum for effective international coordination
- The Networking Research Team (NRT) coordinates agency networking research programs and
shares networking research information among Federal agencies. It provides outreach to end users by disseminating
networking research information and coordinating activities among applications developers and end users
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