H.R. 967 — what changed

“(d) Periodic reviews—The agencies identified in subsection (a)(3)(B) shall—

“(1) periodically assess the contents and funding levels of the Program Component Areas and restructure the Program when warranted, taking into consideration any relevant recommendations of the advisory committee established under subsection (b); and

“(2) ensure that the Program includes large-scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research and development activities, including activities described in section 104.”

“(e) Strategic plan

“(1) In general—The agencies identified in subsection (a)(3)(B), working through the National Science and Technology Council and with the assistance of the National Coordination Office described under section 102, shall develop, within 12 months after the date of enactment of the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, and update every 3 years thereafter, a 5-year strategic plan to guide the activities described under subsection (a)(1).

“(2) Contents—The strategic plan shall specify near-term and long-term objectives for the Program, the anticipated time frame for achieving the near-term objectives, the metrics to be used for assessing progress toward the objectives, and how the Program will—

“(A) foster the transfer of research and development results into new technologies and applications for the benefit of society, including through cooperation and collaborations with networking and information technology research, development, and technology transition initiatives supported by the States;

“(B) encourage and support mechanisms for interdisciplinary research and development in networking and information technology, including through collaborations across agencies, across Program Component Areas, with industry, with Federal laboratories (as defined in section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)), and with international organizations;

“(C) address long-term challenges of national importance for which solutions require large-scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research and development;

“(D) place emphasis on innovative and high-risk projects having the potential for substantial societal returns on the research investment;

“(E) strengthen all levels of networking and information technology education and training programs to ensure an adequate, well-trained workforce; and

“(F) attract more women and underrepresented minorities to pursue postsecondary degrees in networking and information technology.

“(3) National research infrastructure—The strategic plan developed in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by milestones and roadmaps for establishing and maintaining the national research infrastructure required to support the Program, including the roadmap required by subsection (a)(2)(E).

“(4) Recommendations—The entities involved in developing the strategic plan under paragraph (1) shall take into consideration the recommendations—

“(A) of the advisory committee established under subsection (b); and

“(B) of the stakeholders whose input was solicited by the National Coordination Office, as required under section 102(b)(3).

“(5) Report to Congress—The Director of the National Coordination Office shall transmit the strategic plan required under paragraph (1) to the advisory committee, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.”

“(E) encourage and monitor the efforts of the agencies participating in the Program to allocate the level of resources and management attention necessary to ensure that the strategic plan under subsection (e) is developed and executed effectively and that the objectives of the Program are met;”

added “(vii) the Department of Homeland Security;”

“(E) include a description of how the objectives for each Program Component Area, and the objectives for activities that involve multiple Program Component Areas, relate to the objectives of the Program identified in the strategic plan required under subsection (e);

“(F) include—

“(i) a description of the funding required by the National Coordination Office to perform the functions specified under section 102(b) for the next fiscal year by category of activity;

“(ii) a description of the funding required by such Office to perform the functions specified under section 102(b) for the current fiscal year by category of activity; and

“(iii) the amount of funding provided for such Office for the current fiscal year by each agency participating in the Program; and”

“(1) cyber-physical systems means physical or engineered systems whose networking and information technology functions and physical elements are deeply integrated and are actively connected to the physical world through sensors, actuators, or other means to perform monitoring and control functions;”

“(J) provide for increased understanding of the scientific principles of cyber-physical systems and improve the methods available for the design, development, and operation of cyber-physical systems that are characterized by high reliability, safety, and security; and

“(K) provide for research and development on human-computer interactions, visualization, and big data.”

changed “105. University/Industry Task forceWorkshop

changed “(a) Establishment—Not later than 180 days 1 year after the date of enactment of the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, the Director of the National Coordination Office shall convene a task force workshop, with participants from institutions of higher education, Federal laboratories, and industry, to explore mechanisms for carrying out collaborative research and development activities for cyber-physical systems, including the related technologies required to enable these systems, through a consortium or other appropriate entity with participants from institutions of higher education, Federal laboratories, and industry.to develop grand challenges in cyber-physical systems research and development.

changed “(b) Functions—The task force workshop participants shall—

changed “(1) develop options for a collaborative model and an organizational structure models for such entity under which the joint research and development activities could be planned, managed, partnerships among institutions of higher education, Federal laboratories, and conducted effectively, industry, including mechanisms for the allocation of resources among the participants in such entity for support of such activities;research and development carried out under these partnerships;

changed “(2) propose a process develop options for developing a grand challenges in cyber-physical systems research and development agenda for that would be addressed through such entity, including guidelines to ensure an appropriate scope of work focused on nationally significant challenges and requiring collaboration and to ensure the development of related scientific and technological milestones;partnerships;

changed “(3) define the roles propose guidelines for assigning intellectual property rights and responsibilities for the participants from institutions transfer of higher education, Federal laboratories, and industry in such entity;research results to the private sector; and

changed “(4) propose guidelines for assigning intellectual property rights and make recommendations for how Federal agencies participating in the transfer of Program can help support research results to the private sector; andand development partnerships in cyber-physical systems, including through existing or new grant programs.

changed “(5) make recommendations for how such entity could be funded from Federal, State, “(c) Participants—The Director of the National Coordination Office shall ensure that participants in the workshop are individuals with knowledge and non-governmental sources.expertise in cyber-physical systems and that participants represent a broad mix of relevant stakeholders, including academic and industry researchers, cyber-physical systems and technologies manufacturers, cyber-physical systems and technologies users, and, as appropriate, Federal government regulators.

changed “(c) Composition—In establishing “(d) Report—Not later than 18 months after the task force under subsection (a), date of enactment of the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, the Director of the National Coordination Office—Office shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report describing the findings and recommendations resulting from the workshop required under this section.”

removed “(1) shall appoint an equal number of individuals with knowledge and expertise in cyber-physical systems from—

removed “(A) institutions of higher education, including minority-serving institutions and community colleges; and

removed “(B) industry; and

removed “(2) may appoint not more than 2 individuals from Federal laboratories.

removed “(d) Report—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, the Director of the National Coordination Office shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report describing the findings and recommendations of the task force.

removed “(e) Termination—The task force shall terminate upon transmittal of the report required under subsection (d).

removed “(f) Compensation—Members of the task force shall serve without compensation.”

Title I of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511) is amended further by adding after section 105, as added by section 4(b) of this Act, the following new section:

“106. Cloud computing services for research

“(a) Interagency working group—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, the Director of the National Coordination Office, working through the National Science and Technology Council, shall convene an interagency working group to examine—

“(1) the research and development needed—

“(A) to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of cloud computing environments;

“(B) to increase the trustworthiness of cloud applications and infrastructure; and

“(C) to enhance the foundations of cloud architectures, programming models, and interoperability; and

changed “(2) how Federal science agencies can facilitate the potential use of cloud computing for federally funded science and engineering research, including issues around funding mechanisms and policies for the use of cloud computing services for such research.including—

added “(A) making recommendations on changes in funding mechanisms, budget models, and policies needed to remove barriers to the adoption of cloud computing services for research and for data preservation and sharing; and

added “(B) providing guidance to organizations and researchers on opportunities and guidelines for using cloud computing services for federally supported research and related activities.

“(b) Consultation—In carrying out the tasks in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the working group shall consult with academia, industry, Federal laboratories, and other relevant organizations and institutions, as appropriate.

“(c) Report—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2013, the Director of the National Coordination Office shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report describing the findings and any recommendations of the working group.

“(d) Termination—The interagency working group shall terminate upon transmittal of the report required under subsection (c).”