Information Infrastructure Technology 

 and Applications (IITA) 



The IITA component of the HPCC Program is a research and development program intended to: 



-I Develop the technology base underlying a universally accessible National Information 

 Infrastructure (Nil). 



^Work with industry in using this technology to develop and demonstrate prototype "National 

 Challenge" applications. 



National Challenges are major societal needs that high performance computing and communications 

 technology can address in areas such as the civil infrastructure, digital libraries, education and lifelong 

 learning, energy management, the environment, health care, manufacturing processes and products, 

 national security, and public access to government information. The list of National Challenges is 

 dynamic and will expand as the technologies and other applications mature. 



Solution of these National Challenges requires a three-part technology base consisting of the following 

 services, tools, and interfaces: 



Q Services that are common to and necessary for the efficient operation of the Nil. For example, 

 conventions and standards are needed to handle different formats of data such as text, image, 

 audio, and video. 



3 Tools for developing and supporting common services, user interfaces, and Nil applications. 



3 Intelligent user interfaces to Nil applications. 



The IITA component depends critically on the technologies already developed by the HPCC Program, 

 and places its own set of demands on the Program. IITA efforts will strengthen the underlying HPCC 

 technology base, broaden the market for these technologies, and accelerate industry development of 

 the NIL 



The Federal agencies that participate in the HPCC Program will work with industry and academia to 

 develop these technologies. The Nil. however, will be built and operated primarily by the private sec- 

 tor, which can form new markets for products and services enabled by the emerging Nil. This joint 

 effort by government, industry, academia. and the public to de\elop the Nil and address the National 

 Challenges will require: 



^ Deployment of substantially more high performance computing systems of increasingly higher 

 performance. 



QA nationwide communications network with vastly greater capacity for connections and 

 throughput than today's Internet. 



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