3 Further development and wider deployment of applications software for computationally inten- 

 sive problems such as the Grand Challenges. 



^ Education of large numbers of developers of Nil technologies and training of a Nation of users. 



Users of the early Nil will be able to take advantage of small to moderate capacity computers and 

 slow to medium speed communications, provided they have high quality user interfaces and access to 

 the applications. As user interfaces improve, more computing and communications performance may 

 be required. This can be achieved through the continual advances in the underlying technology devel- 

 oped under the HPCC Program. 



The HPCC Program's original focus on research and development will continue to play a pivotal role 

 in enhancing the Nation's computing and communications capabilities. For example, the Grand 

 Challenges will continue to provide the scientific focus for critical computing technologies because of 

 their profound and direct impact on fundamental knowledge. The IITA component will enable the 

 extension of these technologies and the development of National Challenge applications that have 

 immediate and direct impact on critical information systems affecting every individual in the Nation. 

 Distinctions between National Challenges and Grand Challenges are shown in the table on the next 

 page. 



The following two examples illustrate potential applications of the NIL 



A Medical Emergency 



Having taken ill, a traveler is hospitalized and undergoes tests, including X-rays. CAT scans, and 

 MRl. At the same time, the attending medical professionals quickly retrieve test results from the trav- 

 eler's last physical examination. The images are compared, diagnoses made, and treatments pre- 

 scribed. This scenario is difficult if not impossible to implement today, in part because diagnostic 

 images are commonly not in computer-readable form and network speeds are generally too slow to 

 transmit large three-dimensional image data sets. 



Truly remote medical care will depend on services, standards, tools, and user interfaces to store, find, 

 transmit, manipulate, display (and superimpose), compare, and analyze three-dimensional image data 

 from several sources. Diagnostic test results and large image data sets from the physical examination 

 must be available on computers that can be accessed from the hospital's computers over a communica- 

 tions network; they must be retrieved quickly; the scientific data used in guiding the diagnosis and 

 treatment must also be available from electronic libraries and must be quickly retrieved; and the priva- 

 cy of these patient records must be protected. All of this supposes completion of rather extensive and 

 complex inter-professional medical arrangements. In addition, it must be done using a user interface 

 customized for the practice of "distance medicine," including collaborations among different sources 

 of expertise. 



48 



