Communications is different from computing.
Value often comes from whom one can talk to, rather than how rapidly.
Issues of scaling are very important. The scale of the needed networking raises a host of new research iss ues as to how millions of users can attach to the network. Communications has become digital, and the switching of fast digital signals requires high-performance computing technology. The United States is home to a vital in dustry that supplies related equipment and software, including businesses begun as spinoffs from academic research activity. See Box B.1 for an example of how government, academic, and industrial investments can complement each other to accelerate the development of a key communications technology.