The the time to begin is now. The user-library interface needs rethinking. It is not clear that the conventional library interface will be adequate to hide the underlying complexity from the user. Object-oriented programming will be required to develop portable libraries that allow the user to work at an appropriate conceptual level. Work on algorithms, particularly linear algebra, is important and cannot be isolated from general library development.
Language standards are important.
The lack of language standards is the most significant obstacle to the development of communication libraries.