Knight Investments LLC Look Over US Office of Science and Technology Policy Reports on Technology

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Officials from Knight Investments LLC reviewed a regulatory released report that specified the appropriation attitude of the United States Government relating to information technology.

Recent reports from the President of The United States of America's Office of Science and Technology disclosed that the US is spending considerably less on networking and information technology research. This conclusions comes after the report declares that it is less than what is suggested by official tallies.

The report went on to state it would benefit from both a larger investment and improved long-term strategic planning in this crucial field of research. According to an independent report released in 4th quarter 2010 by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) (a group of presidentially appointed experts from academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry) this could have detrimental effects.

The report, “Designing a Digital Future: Federally Funded Research and Development in Networking and Information Technology,” examines the Nation’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program. That 19-year-old program, which encompasses work in more than a dozen Federal agencies, is the primary mechanism by which the Federal government coordinates its investments in unclassified networking and information technology research and development. PCAST examined both the coordinating program and the NITRD research portfolio itself.

Compliance Officials stated that this report would be an instrumental tool in helping private companies, seeking compliance, determine their eligibility to receive appropriations from the US Government.

The report finds that advances in networking and information technology (NIT) have been key drivers of economic competitiveness and have accelerated the pace of discovery in virtually every area of science and technology. It calls for robust funding of NIT research and development to continue that trend.

Officials from Knight Investments LLC went on to affirm that the report still finds that a substantial fraction of the NITRD spending reported, by participating agencies, is apparently being allocated to activities other than NIT research and development. This fact was important as KI Officials stated that funding was not going to the areas in which it was designed for due to low program knowledge.

These other areas are the creation of information technology products and infrastructure expansion in support of research in other fields. Although these activities are valuable, the report concludes, the result is that far less than the $4 billion-plus indicated in the Federal budget is actually being invested in NIT research and development—the important, early-stage innovative work that will be crucial to addressing critical priorities and challenges in the years ahead.

(SOURCE US OSTP)

“We’re investing less than we think, and less than we need,” said PCAST member David Shaw, who co-chaired the working group that helped develop the report. “New support is especially warranted for networking and information technology research that could revolutionize aspects of healthcare, energy and transportation, and cybersecurity,” Shaw said. “And if America is to retain its historical position of international leadership, its funding priorities must include high risk, high reward research with the potential for producing unanticipated, truly transformative advances.”

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