News Release
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Pender M. McCarter, APR, Fellow PRSA
IEEE-USA Communications & Public
Relations Director
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E-mail:
p.mccarter@ieee.org |
Pentagon Agency Cuts in Support for Basic
Computing Research Analyzed in June 2005
IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Online
WASHINGTON (08 June 2005)
— Since
its inception in 1958, the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has earned a
reputation for its lead role in cutting-edge,
"blue-sky" research, particularly in computers
and electronics. But now, as reported in the
June 2005 issue of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer
Online, the Pentagon agency is cutting back on
support for basic, open-ended computing research
at U.S. universities.
According to House Science Committee testimony
quoted in the Today's Engineer article,
Wm. A. Wulf, president of the National Academy
of Engineering (NAE), contends that DARPA
already has lost momentum as a one-time critical
engine of American high-tech research and
development. "There was only one old-style DARPA,
and it is gone," said Wulf, adding: "At a time
of growing global competition, DARPA's
disinvestment in university-based, long-term
research is, in my view, a risky game for the
country."
According to data provided by the staff of the
House Science Committee, the amount of DARPA
computer science funding awarded to universities
dropped by 42.5 percent from $214 million in
Fiscal Year 2001 to $123 million in Fiscal Year
2004. Over the same period, the National Science
Foundation's burden of supporting research in
this area increased substantially.
IEEE-USA Vice President for Technology Policy
Russell Lefevre contends that the sharp drop-off
in DARPA funding represents "a dramatic
departure from the historic government support
for basic research at U.S. universities and
colleges, especially in information technology."
IEEE-USA's Lefevre states that cybersecurity and
high-performance computing "will suffer
immensely without sustained federal investment."
The NAE's Wulf remarks came in Science Committee
testimony at a 12 May hearing. The Today's
Engineer article contains complete coverage
of the controversy over DARPA's funding agenda,
including additional testimony before the House
panel as well as separate interviews.
DARPA Director Tony Tether sought to reassure
the House panel that there has been no decision
to divert resources. According to Tether, "DARPA's
commitment to seek new ideas, to include ideas
that support research by bringing together new
communities of research scientists, is the same
as it has been, dating back to the agency's
inception in 1958." Tether added that DARPA is
not moving away from long-range "blue-sky"
research.
The DARPA director emphasized the need for
funding more multidisciplinary research efforts,
even though that could mean cutbacks in support
for particular disciplines such as computer
science: "Rigidly funding specific, established
disciplines would severely limit the flexibility
DARPA needs to be successful," Tether said. He
concluded: "DARPA needs the ability to promote
multidisciplinary work to solve important
national security problems."
For the complete Today's Engineer story,
go to
www.todaysengineer.org/2005/Jun/computing.asp.
Additional articles can be seen at
www.todaysengineer.org.
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Last Update:
15 May 2007
Staff Contact: Pender M. McCarter,
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