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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
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KEEPING THE U.S. COMPUTER INDUSTRY COMPETITIVE: SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

A COLLOQUIUM REPORT BY

THE COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD

COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1992

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Stuart Bondurant is acting president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Support for this project was provided by the following organizations and agencies: Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant No. N00014-87-J-1110), Apple Computer, Inc., Control Data Corporation, Cray Research, Inc., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Grant No. N00014-87-J-1110), Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett Packard, IBM Corporation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant No. CDA-860535), the National Science Foundation (Grant No. CDA-860535), the Office of Naval Research (Grant No. N00014-87-J-1110), and Pacific Bell.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-62172

International Standard Book Number 0-309-04544-4

Available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418

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Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD

JOSEPH F. TRAUB,

Columbia University,

Chairman

ALFRED V. AHO,

Bellcore

RUZENA BAJCSY,

University of Pennsylvania

DAVID J. FARBER,

University of Pennsylvania

SAMUEL H. FULLER,

Digital Equipment Corporation

JOHN L. HENNESSY,

Stanford University

MITCHELL D. KAPOR,

ON Technology, Inc.

SIDNEY KARIN,

San Diego Supercomputer Center

KEN KENNEDY,

Rice University

LEONARD KLEINROCK,

University of California at Los Angeles

ROBERT L. MARTIN,

Bell Communications Research

ABRAHAM PELED,

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

WILLIAM PRESS,

Harvard College Observatory

RAJ REDDY,

Carnegie Mellon University

JEROME H. SALTZER,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MARY SHAW,

Carnegie Mellon University

EDWARD SHORTLIFFE,

Stanford University School of Medicine

IVAN E. SUTHERLAND,

Sun Microsystems

LAWRENCE G. TESLER,

Apple Computer, Inc.

GEORGE L. TURIN,

Teknekron Corporation

WILLIS H. WARE,

The RAND Corporation

WILLIAM WULF,

University of Virginia

MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Staff Director

HERBERT LIN, Staff Officer

MONICA B. KRUEGER, Staff Officer

RENEE A. HAWKINS, Staff Associate

FRANK PITTELLI, CSTB Consultant

DONNA F. ALLEN, Administrative Secretary

CATHERINE A. SPARKS, Project Assistant

ARTHUR L. McCORD, Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
×

COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS

NORMAN HACKERMAN,

Robert A. Welch Foundation,

Chairman

PETER J. BICKEL,

University of California at Berkeley

GEORGE F. CARRIER,

Harvard University

DEAN E. EASTMAN,

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

MARYE ANNE FOX,

University of Texas

PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS,

Institute for Advanced Study

NEAL F. LANE,

Rice University

ROBERT W. LUCKY,

AT&T Bell Laboratories

CLAIRE E. MAX,

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE,

University of California at Berkeley

JAMES W. MITCHELL,

AT&T Bell Laboratories

RICHARD S. NICHOLSON,

American Association for the Advancement of Science

ALAN SCHRIESHEIM,

Argonne National Laboratory

KENNETH G. WILSON,

Ohio State University

NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
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Preface

This report on systems integration is the second in a series of Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) reports focusing on the competitive status of the U.S. computer industry. In CSTB's initial report, Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Defining the Agenda (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1990), leaders of the computing field surveyed each of the major sectors of the computer industry. To no one's surprise, the hardware sector was considered to be under serious competitive pressure, with the semiconductor memory market all but ceded to Japanese companies. The U.S. competitive position in the software market was deemed to be strong but precarious, given the weakness in basic hardware components. However, systems integration was identified as a large and rapidly growing market in which the United States was a clear leader; unfortunately, few could agree on just what systems integration was!

The present report is based on a colloquium held in January 1991 in which participants from industry, academia, and government discussed what systems integration is, its importance and prospects for growth, and why the United States is perceived to have a strong competitive advantage. A distillation of the colloquium discussions, this report is designed, in particular, to inform policymakers, but it should also be of value to anyone with an interest in computing and telecommunications.

The colloquium was organized by a steering committee chaired by Laszlo Belady, then vice president for Software Technology and Advanced Computing Technology Programs at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (he is now chairman and director of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories Inc.). Other members of the steering committee

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
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were Samuel Fuller, vice president of research at Digital Equipment Corporation; Robert Lucky, executive director of research, Communications Sciences Division, AT&T Bell Laboratories; and Irving Wladawsky-Berger, assistant general manager of development and quality for IBM's Enterprise Systems. Among CSTB staff, Damian Saccocio and Catherine Sparks had principal responsibility for the colloquium; they were aided by CSTB meeting consultant Pamela Rodgers and free-lance science writer Mark Bello.

Joseph F. Traub, Chairman

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1914.
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Systems integration—the enterprise-wide integration of computer applications—offers an enormous opportunity for U.S. firms to capitalize on their strengths in such areas as complex software, networking, and management.

In this book, industry leaders, university researchers, and government policymakers discuss what systems integration is, its importance and prospects for growth, why it is expected to define the characteristics of computerization for decades to come, and why the United States is perceived to have a strong competitive advantage.

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