Capitalizing on New Needs and New Opportunities Government-Industry Partnerships in Biotechnology and Information Technologies (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Panel IV: Information Technology: New Opportunities—New Needs
Panel IV: Information Technology: New Opportunities—New Needs
Pages 146-159
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From page 146... ...
Goldston said that having heard about some of the possibilities of the biotech revolution, it was time to discuss public and private initiatives to push the frontiers of information technology in ways that support the biotech industry. The panel would offer insights into current efforts to address some of the information technology challenges, especially when it comes to biotechnology, and how public policy can best provide a supportive environment to respond to these challenges.
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From page 147... ...
, and the agency believes it can play a similar supporting role in new developments in biotechnology and Microsystems. DARPA plans to move broadly into the area of biotechnology and Microsystems, as opposed to focused technology initiatives that are often how DARPA pursues technology development.
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From page 148... ...
Future DARPA Initiatives In preparing to address fundamental questions in biology and information sciences, DARPA has talked with people in industry, universities, and the policy community to determine emerging needs. The result has been an expansion of efforts to develop underlying tools to enable fruitful collaboration between the two disciplines.
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From page 149... ...
DARPA has no labs of its own, and must therefore work with the scientific and technological communities to be effective. She challenged those in attendance to develop excellent research proposals as DARPA expands its program in biology and information technologies.
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From page 150... ...
In the world of bioinformatics, the challenge is to manage huge amounts of data; indeed, today the Human Genome Project involves a great deal of data, but a meager amount of information. Turning this data into usable information will be the paramount challenge for biology in the next century.
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From page 151... ...
In an information-based economy, technical information of commercial relevance flows rapidly and often freely around the globe. Corporations with strong ties to universities are well positioned to absorb such information and thereby capture economic benefits.
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From page 152... ...
. Fundamental research for information technology to improve increasing software reliability and network technology (i.e., developing networks able to support billions of information devices)
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From page 153... ...
While it may not come as a great surprise that a group of computer scientists recommended an increase in computer science research funding, PITAC's distinguished membership made its findings well worth taking seriously. A second reason is that the administration believes that historically payoffs to research funding for information technology have been very high.
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From page 154... ...
Budgetary Outcomes The Clinton administration experienced "a bit of a mixed bag" when it came to having its IT funding requests fulfilled. On the one hand, the administration had bipartisan support for much of its proposal; House Science Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner introduced legislation authorizing the administration's request for the agencies under his committee's jurisdiction.
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From page 155... ...
Mr. Kalil responded that the administration has to do a better job of explaining why high-speed computing is important for civilian purposes, not only stockpile stewardship.
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From page 156... ...
Rosenbloom called the "paradox of Moore's Law." Moore's Law, of course, predicts steady and remarkable improvement over time in computing devices in terms of processing power and cost decreases. However, leaders in the computing and information industries consistently fail to accurately predict or prepare for the changes that are brought about by Moore's Law.
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From page 157... ...
Mr. Kalil responded that the entire issue of standards is "very tricky." One can point to the European example of the GSM standard for wireless communications as a stunning success; by gathering European companies into a room to agree on a standard, wireless penetration rates have taken off.
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From page 158... ...
In general, Dr. Trimble thought it was unwise for government to "pick winners and losers" in standards situations, because government is likely to pick the low risk option and established companies.
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From page 159... ...
Many pharmaceutical companies have very heterogeneous databases; it is costly to transfer information across them, and new database technology under development at IBM and elsewhere will address this. Emerging computing technologies will allow computational chemistry to estimate in vivo impacts of drugs.
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