Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I welcome this opportunity to testify before you today about an issue I feel is one of the most important research challenges facing the nation today. Computers, the Internet and related communication networks, and powerful new software products are among the major forces driving the America economy. It is hard to find a business, define a job, or find a product or service that does not benefit in some way from the advances made in information technology over the past few years. Our nation's security, the quality of health care, education, and the environment all depend on our ability to master the power of these new tools.
Information technology is an industry whose future depends on continuous innovation.
During the past 25 years the capacity of computer chips has increased a staggering 100 thousand times-and there is no sign that the trend is slowing. Over the years, federal research investment has been essential for ensuring a continuing flow of the ideas needed to maintain this astonishing rate of innovation. Federal research played a crucial role in developments leading to advanced computer and communication equipment. Last year the Computing Research Association published a report showing how federal research provided the key underpinning for advances ranging from modern data-base management, computer graphics and the wonderfully simple visual tools we take for granted in operating desktop computers or navigating the World Wide Web, basic computer architectures, and of course the Internet itself. A few years ago the Congress directed the Administration to assemble an independent advisory group to review federal research spending and provide advice.