Clinton, William J., and Albert Gore, Jr. 1993. Technology for America’s Economic Growth: A New Direction to Build Economic Strength. Among the research areas identified in this document as candidates for increased funding for advanced manufacturing research and development are the following:

• New assembly technologies,

• Intelligent control and sensor technologies,

• Enterprise integration technologies, and

• Rapid prototyping.

Computer Systems Policy Project. 1993. Perspectives on the National Information Infrastructure: CSPP’s Vision and Recommendations for Action. Computer Systems Policy Project, Washington, D.C. CSPP is an affiliation of chief executive officers of U.S. computer companies formed to develop and advocate public policy positions on trade and technology issues that affect the computer industry. Its report advocates the development of a national information infrastructure, which would include a manufacturing infrastructure that incorporates computing and communications technologies to support integrated development, engineering, and manufacturing processes.

Council on Competitiveness. 1991. Gaining New Ground: Technology Priorities for America’s Future. Council on Competitiveness, Washington, D.C. This report identifies critical technologies in materials and associated processing technologies, engineering and production technologies, electronic components, information technologies, and powertrain and propulsion technologies. Within the engineering and production technologies category, it lists the following broad areas as critical to U.S. industrial competitiveness:

• Computer-aided engineering,

• Measurement techniques,

• Systems engineering,

• Computer-integrated manufacturing, and

• Robotics and automated equipment.

Cutkosky, Mark R., et al. 1993. “PACT: An Experiment in Integrating Concurrent Engineering Systems,” Computer, January, pp. 28–37. This paper discusses the initial experiments in distributed simulation and incremental redesign conducted at the Palo Alto Collaborative Testbed (PACT). The experiments represent a step toward the use of agents communicating on a knowledge level to compose large, complex systems out of existing software modules.

Dertouzos, Michael L., Richard K.Lester, and Robert M.Solow. 1989. Made in America: Regaining the Productive Edge. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. This text offers several strategies for the federal government to improve U.S. manufacturing, including the following (at pp. 153–155):

• Continue investing in basic research activities in science and engineering, including social science;