Summary Of A Workshop On Information Technology Research For Federal Statistics

Part of an in-depth study of how information technology research and development could more effectively support advances in the use of information technology (IT) in government, Summary of a Workshop on Information Technology Research for Federal Statistics explores IT research opportunities of relevance to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of federal statistics. On February 9 and 10, 1999, participants from a number of communities - IT research, IT research management, federal statistics, and academic statistics - met to identify ways to foster interaction among computing and communications researchers, federal managers, and professionals in specific domains that could lead to collaborative research efforts. By establishing research links between these communities and creating collaborative mechanisms aimed at meeting relevant requirements, this workshop promoted thinking in the computing and communications research community and throughout government about possibilities for advances in technology that will support a variety of digital initiatives by the government.

Part of an in-depth study of how information technology research and development could more effectively support advances in the use of information technology (IT) in government, Summary of a Workshop on Information Technology Research for Federal Statistics explores IT research opportunities of relevance to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of federal statistics. On February 9 and 10, 1999, participants from a number of communitiesâ€"IT research, IT research management, federal statistics, and academic statisticsâ€"met to identify ways to foster interaction among computing and communications researchers, federal managers, and professionals in specific domains that could lead to collaborative research efforts. By establishing research links between these communities and creating collaborative mechanisms aimed at meeting relevant requirements, this workshop promoted thinking in the computing and communications research community and throughout government about possibilities for advances in technology that will support a variety of digital initiatives by the government.

Part of an in-depth study of how information technology research and development could more effectively support advances in the use of information technology (IT) in government, Summary of a Workshop on Information Technology Research for Federal Statistics explores IT research opportunities of relevance to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of federal statistics. On February 9 and 10, 1999, participants from a number of communitiesâ€"IT research, IT research management, federal statistics, and academic statisticsâ€"met to identify ways to foster interaction among computing and communications researchers, federal managers, and professionals in specific domains that could lead to collaborative research efforts. By establishing research links between these communities and creating collaborative mechanisms aimed at meeting relevant requirements, this workshop promoted thinking in the computing and communications research community and throughout government about possibilities for advances in technology that will support a variety of digital initiatives by the government.

This workshop summary was produced in the course of a broader study that is exploring how information technology research can foster new and improved government services, operations, and interactions with citizens. This workshop summary examines how this technology can contribute to more-effective response and recovery efforts to crises such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks, as well as to mitigation and preparedness in order to reduce the impact of these events.

This report contains the proceedings of a one-day workshop organized by the National Research Council's Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP), in conjunction with a study by a panel of the NRC Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT). This combined activity was commissioned by the Science Resources Statistics Division (SRS) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to recommend improvements in the Foundation's portfolio of surveys of research and development spending by the federal government, state governments, private industry, the nation's universities and colleges, and other nonprofit institutions.

On May 8, 2009, the symposium, The Federal Statistical System: Recognizing Its Contributions, Moving It Forward was held in Washington, DC. One of the topics considered at that symposium was the health of innovation in the federal statistical system. A consequence of the symposium was an agreement by the Committee on National Statistics to hold a workshop on the future of innovation in the federal statistical system. This workshop was held on June 29, 2010. The original statement of task for the workshop focused on three challenges to the statistical system: (1) the obstacles to innovative, focused research and development initiatives that could make statistical programs more cost effective; (2) a gap between emerging data visualization and communications technologies and the ability of statistical agencies to understand and capitalize on these developments for their data dissemination programs; and (3) the maturation of the information technology (IT) discipline and the difficulties confronting individual agencies in keeping current with best practice in IT regarding data confidentiality. This report, Facilitating Innovation in the Federal Statistical System, is a descriptive summary of what transpired at the workshop. It is therefore limited to the views and opinions of the workshop participants. However, it does not strictly follow the agenda of the workshop, which had four sessions. Instead, it is organized around the themes of the discussions, which migrated across the four sessions.

Advances in the miniaturization and networking of microprocessors promise a day when networked computers are embedded throughout the everyday world. However, our current understanding of what such systems would be like is insufficient to bring the promise to reality. Embedded, Everywhere explores the potential of networked systems of embedded computers and the research challenges arising from embedding computation and communications technology into a wide variety of applicationsâ€"from precision agriculture to automotive telematics to defense systems. It describes how these emerging networks operate under unique constraints not present in more traditional distributed systems, such as the Internet. It articulates how these networks will have to be dynamically adaptive and self-configuring, and how new models for approaching programming and computation are necessary. Issues relating to trustworthiness, security, safety, reliability, usability, and privacy are examined in light of the ubiquitous nature of these systems. A comprehensive, systems-oriented research agenda is presented, along with recommendations to major federal funding agencies.