111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2020 

AN ACT 

To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 

to authorize activities for support of networking and 

information technology research, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•HR 2020 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Networking and Infor3 mation Technology Research and Development Act of 

4 2009’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PROGRAM PLANNING AND COORDINATION. 

6 (a) PERIODIC REVIEWS.—Section 101 of the High7 Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511) 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(d) PERIODIC REVIEWS.—The agencies identified in 

11 subsection (a)(3)(B) shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) periodically assess the contents and fund13 ing levels of the Program Component Areas and re14 structure the Program when warranted, taking into 

15 consideration any relevant recommendations of the 

16 advisory committee established under subsection (b); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(2) ensure that the Program includes large19 scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research and de20 velopment activities, including activities described in 

21 section 104.’’. 

22 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC PLAN.—Section 

23 101 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511) is amended further by 

24 adding after subsection (d), as added by subsection (a) 

25 of this Act, the following new subsection: 

26 ‘‘(e) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 
3 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The agencies identified in 

2 subsection (a)(3)(B), working through the National 

3 Science and Technology Council and with the assist4 ance of the National Coordination Office established 

5 under section 102, shall develop, within 12 months 

6 after the date of enactment of the Networking and 

7 Information Technology Research and Development 

8 Act of 2009, and update every 3 years thereafter, a 

9 5-year strategic plan to guide the activities described 

10 under subsection (a)(1). 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The strategic plan shall 

12 specify near-term and long-term objectives for the 

13 Program, the anticipated time frame for achieving 

14 the near-term objectives, the metrics to be used for 

15 assessing progress toward the objectives, and how 

16 the Program will— 

17 ‘‘(A) foster the transfer of research and 

18 development results into new technologies and 

19 applications for the benefit of society, including 

20 through cooperation and collaborations with 

21 networking and information technology re22 search, development, and technology transition 

23 initiatives supported by the States; 

24 ‘‘(B) encourage and support mechanisms 

25 for interdisciplinary research and development 
4 

•HR 2020 EH

1 in networking and information technology, in2 cluding through collaborations across agencies, 

3 across Program Component Areas, with indus4 try, with Federal laboratories (as defined in 

5 section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 

6 Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)), and 

7 with international organizations; 

8 ‘‘(C) address long-term challenges of na9 tional importance for which solutions require 

10 large-scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research 

11 and development; 

12 ‘‘(D) place emphasis on innovative and 

13 high-risk projects having the potential for sub14 stantial societal returns on the research invest15 ment; 

16 ‘‘(E) strengthen all levels of networking 

17 and information technology education and 

18 training programs to ensure an adequate, well19 trained workforce; and 

20 ‘‘(F) attract more women and underrep21 resented minorities to pursue postsecondary de22 grees in networking and information tech23 nology. 

24 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 

25 strategic plan developed in accordance with paragraph (1) 
5 

•HR 2020 EH

1 shall be accompanied by milestones and roadmaps for es2 tablishing and maintaining the national research infra3 structure required to support the Program, including the 

4 roadmap required by subsection (a)(2)(E). 

5 ‘‘(4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The entities involved in 

6 developing the strategic plan under paragraph (1) shall 

7 take into consideration the recommendations— 

8 ‘‘(A) of the advisory committee established 

9 under subsection (b); and 

10 ‘‘(B) of the stakeholders whose input was solic11 ited by the National Coordination Office, as required 

12 under section 102(b)(3). 

13 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director of the 

14 National Coordination Office shall transmit the strategic 

15 plan required under paragraph (1) to the advisory com16 mittee, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans17 portation of the Senate, and the Committee on Science 

18 and Technology of the House of Representatives.’’. 

19 (c) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTOR.— 

20 Section 101(a)(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511(a)(2)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and 

23 (F) as subparagraphs (F) and (G), respectively; and 

24 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol25 lowing new subparagraph: 
6 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ‘‘(E) encourage and monitor the efforts of 

2 the agencies participating in the Program to al3 locate the level of resources and management 

4 attention necessary to ensure that the strategic 

5 plan under subsection (e) is developed and exe6 cuted effectively and that the objectives of the 

7 Program are met;’’. 

8 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 101(b)(1) of 

9 such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511(b)(1)) is amended by inserting 

10 after ‘‘an advisory committee on high-performance com11 puting,’’ the following: ‘‘in which the co-chairs shall be 

12 members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science 

13 and Technology and with the remainder of the com14 mittee’’. 

15 (e) REPORT.—Section 101(a)(3) of such Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 5511(a)(3)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (C)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘is submitted,’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘is submitted, the levels for the previous 

20 fiscal year,’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘each Program Component 

22 Area;’’ and inserting ‘‘each Program Compo23 nent Area and research area supported in ac24 cordance with section 104;’’; 

25 (2) in subparagraph (D)— 
7 

•HR 2020 EH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘each Program Component 

2 Area,’’ and inserting ‘‘each Program Compo3 nent Area and research area supported in ac4 cordance with section 104,’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘is submitted,’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘is submitted, the levels for the previous 

7 fiscal year,’’; and 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

9 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub10 paragraph (G); and 

11 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol12 lowing new subparagraphs: 

13 ‘‘(E) include a description of how the ob14 jectives for each Program Component Area, and 

15 the objectives for activities that involve multiple 

16 Program Component Areas, relate to the objec17 tives of the Program identified in the strategic 

18 plan required under subsection (e); 

19 ‘‘(F) include— 

20 ‘‘(i) a description of the funding re21 quired by the National Coordination Office 

22 to perform the functions specified under 

23 section 102(b) for the next fiscal year by 

24 category of activity; 
8 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ‘‘(ii) a description of the funding re2 quired by such Office to perform the func3 tions specified under section 102(b) for the 

4 current fiscal year by category of activity; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the amount of funding provided 

7 for such Office for the current fiscal year 

8 by each agency participating in the Pro9 gram; and’’. 

10 (f) DEFINITION.—Section 4 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 5503) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

13 (7) as paragraphs (2) through (8), respectively; 

14 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re15 designated, the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(1) ‘cyber-physical systems’ means physical or 

17 engineered systems whose networking and informa18 tion technology functions and physical elements are 

19 deeply integrated and are actively connected to the 

20 physical world through sensors, actuators, or other 

21 means to perform monitoring and control func22 tions;’’; 

23 (3) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated— 
9 

•HR 2020 EH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘high-performance com2 puting’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and infor3 mation technology’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘supercomputer’’ and in5 serting ‘‘high-end computing’’; 

6 (4) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by 

7 striking ‘‘network referred to as’’ and all that fol8 lows through the semicolon and inserting ‘‘network, 

9 including advanced computer networks of Federal 

10 agencies and departments;’’; and 

11 (5) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, by 

12 striking ‘‘National High-Performance Computing 

13 Program’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and informa14 tion technology research and development program’’. 

15 SEC. 3. LARGE-SCALE RESEARCH IN AREAS OF NATIONAL 

16 IMPORTANCE. 

17 Title I of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 104. LARGE-SCALE RESEARCH IN AREAS OF NA20 TIONAL IMPORTANCE. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Program shall encourage 

22 agencies identified in section 101(a)(3)(B) to support 

23 large-scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research and de24 velopment activities in networking and information tech25 nology directed toward application areas that have the po-
10 

•HR 2020 EH

1 tential for significant contributions to national economic 

2 competitiveness and for other significant societal benefits. 

3 Such activities, ranging from basic research to the dem4 onstration of technical solutions, shall be designed to ad5 vance the development of research discoveries. The advi6 sory committee established under section 101(b) shall 

7 make recommendations to the Program for candidate re8 search and development areas for support under this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Research and development 

12 activities under this section shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) include projects selected on the basis 

14 of applications for support through a competi15 tive, merit-based process; 

16 ‘‘(B) involve collaborations among re17 searchers in institutions of higher education 

18 and industry, and may involve nonprofit re19 search institutions and Federal laboratories, as 

20 appropriate; 

21 ‘‘(C) when possible, leverage Federal in22 vestments through collaboration with related 

23 State initiatives; and 

24 ‘‘(D) include a plan for fostering the trans25 fer of research discoveries and the results of 
11 

•HR 2020 EH

1 technology demonstration activities, including 

2 from institutions of higher education and Fed3 eral laboratories, to industry for commercial de4 velopment. 

5 ‘‘(2) COST-SHARING.—In selecting applications 

6 for support, the agencies shall give special consider7 ation to projects that include cost sharing from non8 Federal sources. 

9 ‘‘(3) AGENCY COLLABORATION.—If 2 or more 

10 agencies identified in section 101(a)(3)(B), or other 

11 appropriate agencies, are working on large-scale re12 search and development activities in the same area 

13 of national importance, then such agencies shall 

14 strive to collaborate through joint solicitation and se15 lection of applications for support and subsequent 

16 funding of projects. 

17 ‘‘(4) INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CEN18 TERS.—Research and development activities under 

19 this section may be supported through interdiscipli20 nary research centers that are organized to inves21 tigate basic research questions and carry out tech22 nology demonstration activities in areas described in 

23 subsection (a). Research may be carried out through 

24 existing interdisciplinary centers, including those au25 thorized under section 7024(b)(2) of the America 
12 

•HR 2020 EH

1 COMPETES Act (Public Law 110–69; 42 U.S.C. 

2 1862o–10).’’. 

3 SEC. 4. CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION 

4 MANAGEMENT. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS.—Sec6 tion 101(a)(1) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511(a)(1)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

9 after the semicolon; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period 

11 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub13 paragraphs: 

14 ‘‘(J) provide for increased understanding 

15 of the scientific principles of cyber-physical sys16 tems and improve the methods available for the 

17 design, development, and operation of cyber18 physical systems that are characterized by high 

19 reliability, safety, and security; and 

20 ‘‘(K) provide for research and development 

21 on human-computer interactions, visualization, 

22 and information management.’’. 

23 (b) TASK FORCE.—Title I of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

24 5511) is amended further by adding after section 104, as 

25 added by section 3, the following new section: 
13 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ‘‘SEC. 105. UNIVERSITY/INDUSTRY TASK FORCE. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of enactment of the Networking and Infor4 mation Technology Research and Development Act of 

5 2009, the Director of the National Coordination Office es6 tablished under section 102 shall convene a task force to 

7 explore mechanisms for carrying out collaborative research 

8 and development activities for cyber-physical systems, in9 cluding the related technologies required to enable these 

10 systems, through a consortium or other appropriate entity 

11 with participants from institutions of higher education, 

12 Federal laboratories, and industry. 

13 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The task force shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) develop options for a collaborative model 

15 and an organizational structure for such entity 

16 under which the joint research and development ac17 tivities could be planned, managed, and conducted 

18 effectively, including mechanisms for the allocation 

19 of resources among the participants in such entity 

20 for support of such activities; 

21 ‘‘(2) propose a process for developing a re22 search and development agenda for such entity, in23 cluding objectives and milestones; 

24 ‘‘(3) define the roles and responsibilities for the 

25 participants from institutions of higher education, 

26 Federal laboratories, and industry in such entity; 
14 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ‘‘(4) propose guidelines for assigning intellec2 tual property rights and for the transfer of research 

3 results to the private sector; and 

4 ‘‘(5) make recommendations for how such enti5 ty could be funded from Federal, State, and non6 governmental sources. 

7 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION.—In establishing the task force 

8 under subsection (a), the Director of the National Coordi9 nation Office shall appoint an equal number of individuals 

10 from institutions of higher education and from industry 

11 with knowledge and expertise in cyber-physical systems, 

12 of which 2 may be selected from Federal laboratories. 

13 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

14 of enactment of the Networking and Information Tech15 nology Research and Development Act of 2009, the Direc16 tor of the National Coordination Office shall transmit to 

17 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

18 of the Senate and the Committee on Science and Tech19 nology of the House of Representatives a report describing 

20 the findings and recommendations of the task force.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL COORDINATION OFFICE. 

22 Section 102 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5512) is amended 

23 to read as follows: 
15 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ‘‘SEC. 102. NATIONAL COORDINATION OFFICE. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish 

3 a National Coordination Office with a Director and full4 time staff. 

5 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The National Coordination Office 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) provide technical and administrative sup8 port to— 

9 ‘‘(A) the agencies participating in planning 

10 and implementing the Program, including such 

11 support as needed in the development of the 

12 strategic plan under section 101(e); and 

13 ‘‘(B) the advisory committee established 

14 under section 101(b); 

15 ‘‘(2) serve as the primary point of contact on 

16 Federal networking and information technology ac17 tivities for government organizations, academia, in18 dustry, professional societies, State computing and 

19 networking technology programs, interested citizen 

20 groups, and others to exchange technical and pro21 grammatic information; 

22 ‘‘(3) solicit input and recommendations from a 

23 wide range of stakeholders during the development 

24 of each strategic plan required under section 101(e) 

25 through the convening of at least 1 workshop with 

26 invitees from academia, industry, Federal labora-
16 

•HR 2020 EH

1 tories, and other relevant organizations and institu2 tions; 

3 ‘‘(4) conduct public outreach, including the dis4 semination of findings and recommendations of the 

5 advisory committee, as appropriate; and 

6 ‘‘(5) promote access to and early application of 

7 the technologies, innovations, and expertise derived 

8 from Program activities to agency missions and sys9 tems across the Federal Government and to United 

10 States industry. 

11 ‘‘(c) SOURCE OF FUNDING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The operation of the Na13 tional Coordination Office shall be supported by 

14 funds from each agency participating in the Pro15 gram. 

16 ‘‘(2) SPECIFICATIONS.—The portion of the total 

17 budget of such Office that is provided by each agen18 cy for each fiscal year shall be in the same propor19 tion as each such agency’s share of the total budget 

20 for the Program for the previous fiscal year, as spec21 ified in the report required under section 

22 101(a)(3).’’. 
17 

•HR 2020 EH

1 SEC. 6. IMPROVING NETWORKING AND INFORMATION 

2 TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION. 

3 Section 201(a) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5521(a)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

6 (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) the National Science Foundation shall use 

10 its existing programs, in collaboration with other 

11 agencies, as appropriate, to improve the teaching 

12 and learning of networking and information tech13 nology at all levels of education and to increase par14 ticipation in networking and information technology 

15 fields, including by women and underrepresented mi16 norities;’’. 

17 SEC. 7. CONFORMING AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 

18 (a) SECTION 3.—Section 3 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 5502) is amended— 

20 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

21 striking ‘‘high-performance computing’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘networking and information technology’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

24 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘high-performance 

25 computing’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and informa26 tion technology’’; 
18 

•HR 2020 EH

1 (3) in subparagraphs (A) and (F) of paragraph 

2 (1), by striking ‘‘high-performance computing’’ each 

3 place it appears and inserting ‘‘networking and in4 formation technology’’; and 

5 (4) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘high-performance com7 puting and’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and in8 formation technology and’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘high-performance com10 puting network’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and 

11 information technology’’. 

12 (b) TITLE I.—The heading of title I of such Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 5511) is amended by striking ‘‘HIGH-PER14 FORMANCE COMPUTING’’ and inserting ‘‘NET15 WORKING AND INFORMATION TECH16 NOLOGY’’. 

17 (c) SECTION 101.—Section 101 of such Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 5511) is amended— 

19 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘HIGH20 PERFORMANCE COMPUTING’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘NETWORKING AND INFORMATION TECH22 NOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (a)— 

24 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

25 ‘‘NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING’’ 
19 

•HR 2020 EH

1 and inserting ‘‘NETWORKING AND INFORMA2 TION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOP3 MENT’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (1) of such subsection— 

5 (i) in the matter preceding subpara6 graph (A), by striking ‘‘National High-Per7 formance Computing Program’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘networking and information tech9 nology research and development pro10 gram’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

12 ‘‘high-performance computing, including 

13 networking’’ and inserting ‘‘networking 

14 and information technology’’; and 

15 (iii) in subparagraphs (B), (C), and 

16 (G), by striking ‘‘high-performance’’ each 

17 place it appears and inserting ‘‘high-end’’; 

18 and 

19 (C) in paragraph (2) of such subsection— 

20 (i) in subparagraphs (A) and (C)— 

21 (I) by striking ‘‘high-performance 

22 computing’’ each place it appears and 

23 inserting ‘‘networking and information 

24 technology’’; and 
20 

•HR 2020 EH

1 (II) by striking ‘‘development, 

2 networking,’’ each place it appears 

3 and inserting ‘‘development,’’; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraphs (F) and (G), as 

5 redesignated by section 2(c)(1) of this Act, 

6 by striking ‘‘high-performance’’ each place 

7 it appears and inserting ‘‘high-end’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (b)(1), in the matter pre9 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘high-perform10 ance computing’’ both places it appears and insert11 ing ‘‘networking and information technology’’; and 

12 (4) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘high13 performance computing’’ and inserting ‘‘networking 

14 and information technology’’. 

15 (d) SECTION 201.—Section 201(a)(1) of such Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 5521(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘high-per17 formance computing’’ and all that follows through ‘‘net18 working;’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and information re19 search and development;’’. 

20 (e) SECTION 202.—Section 202(a) of such Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 5522(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘high-perform22 ance computing’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and informa23 tion technology’’. 

24 (f) SECTION 203.—Section 203(a)(1) of such Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 5523(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘high-perform-
21 

•HR 2020 EH

1 ance computing and networking’’ and inserting ‘‘net2 working and information technology’’. 

3 (g) SECTION 204.—Section 204(a)(1) of such Act 

4 (15 U.S.C. 5524(a)(1)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘high-per6 formance computing systems and networks’’ and in7 serting ‘‘networking and information technology sys8 tems and capabilities’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘high-per10 formance computing’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and 

11 information technology’’. 

12 (h) SECTION 205.—Section 205(a) of such Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 5525(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘computational’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘networking and information technology’’. 

15 (i) SECTION 206.—Section 206(a) of such Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 5526(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘computational 

17 research’’ and inserting ‘‘networking and information 

18 technology research’’. 

19 (j) SECTION 208.—Section 208 of such Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 5528) is amended— 

21 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘HIGH22 PERFORMANCE COMPUTING’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘NETWORKING AND INFORMATION TECH24 NOLOGY’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (a)— 
22 

•HR 2020 EH

1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘High2 performance computing and associated’’ and in3 serting ‘‘Networking and information’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘high5 performance computing’’ and inserting ‘‘net6 working and information technologies’’; 

7 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘high8 performance computers and associated’’ and in9 serting ‘‘networking and information’’; and 

10 (D) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘high11 performance computing and associated’’ and in12 serting ‘‘networking and information’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 12, 2009. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2020 

AN ACT 

To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 

and for other purposes. working and information technology research, 1991 to authorize activities for support of net-