Publications

The Future of Supercomputing: An Interim Report This report provides a preliminary outline of the state of U.S. supercomputing today, the needs for the future, and the factors that contribute to meeting those needs.

Getting Up to Speed: The Future of Supercomputing This report examines U.S. needs for supercomputing and recommends a long-term strategy for government support of high-performance computing research and development. The report concludes that the demands for supercomputing to strengthen U.S. defense and national security cannot be satisfied with current policies and levels of spending. The federal government should provide stable, long-term funding and support multiple supercomputing hardware and software vendors in order to give scientists and policy-makers better tools to solve problems in areas such as intelligence, nuclear stockpile stewardship, and climate change.

Project Scope

The committee will assess the status of supercomputing in the United States, including the characteristics of relevant systems and architecture research in government, industry, and academia and the characteristics of the relevant market. The committee will examine key elements of context--the history of supercomputing, the erosion of research investment, the needs of government agencies for supercomputing capabilities--and assess options for progress. Key historical or causal factors will be identified. The committee will examine the changing nature of problems demanding supercomputing (e.g., weapons design, molecule modeling and simulation, cryptanalysis, bioinformatics, climate modeling) and the implications for systems design. It will seek to understand the role of national security in the supercomputer market and the long-term federal interest in supercomputing. An interim report will be delivered July, 2003. The committee's work will culminate in a report of its assessment, including recommendations, which will be disseminated in relevant segments of government, industry, and the academic research community

Committee Members

Related Publications from Other CSTB Projects

Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research (CSTB 1999)
Evolving the High Performance Computing and Communications Initiative to Support the Nation's Information Infrastructure (CSTB 1995)
Supercomputers: Directions in Technology and Applications (CSTB/AIP 1989)
Global Trends in Computer Technology and Their Impact on Export Control (CSTB 1988)