Mathematics is vital to the national interest. Strong mathematical capability on a national scale is essential for industrial and technological leadership. Mathematics is an enabler for other disciplines. Virtually all other technology benefits directly from the extension of mathematical knowledge.
Mathematical competence is a workplace necessity.
Mathematical requirements will increase dramatically for occupations in the information age. Mathematics enriches our knowledge and technology through continuing improvements and unexpected breakthroughs. Many important advances in technology apply techniques developed in one branch of mathematics to problems from another branch. The interdisciplinary impact of mathematics can be both substantial and unexpected. Appropriate examples are the application of chaos theory to economic modeling and markets, image reconstruction techniques to medicine and seismology, and group theory to nuclear physics.