Ensuring America's competitiveness in the 21st century requires a broadband telecommunications infrastructure that is secure, scalable, evolvable, trusted, robust, interoperable, affordable, inclusive, fault-tolerant, easy to use, and easy to maintain. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and broadband networking drive all aspects of the U.S. economy, from education, healthcare, transportation, public safety, and energy to commerce, manufacturing, government, entertainment, science and engineering. The underlying capabilities that drive ICT and broadband networking are evolving rapidly, creating significant challenges to cost-effectively achieve the roadmap of our National Broadband Plan. Meeting these challenges requires a balanced, coordinated and strategically directed R&D investment of adequate size and scope.
To achieve value and avoid bottlenecks, innovations must proceed in a balanced fashion:
1) Across the key dimensions of CapEx, OpEx, Services, and Adopters, so that underlying network capability is available to deliver new services and that new adopters can be supported efficiently,
2) Across the services value chain or, perhaps better, the services value web, which includes the totality of organizations and market segments that design, develop, deploy, and operate information networking technology: from physical components, devices, and equipment; to network systems, services, management, and operations; to content, media, storage, and applications; and to management and assurance of content, identity, and security,
3) Across the lifecycle phases of R&D from basic and applied research to systems, management, and operational capability so that the nation reaps the rewards of research by getting better and more affordable services in the hands of a wider range of citizens and businesses, regardless of their ability, geography, or industry,
4) Across the short, medium and long term so that we solve not only the problems of today, but also lay the groundwork for breakthrough innovations in the longer term; there are a number of specific challenges in the current environment for initiating and sustaining long-term, high-risk research projects with uncertain but promising -- and perhaps revolutionary -- potential.