Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
COMPUTING
TL' e meet'' n ~
A BROADER AGENDA
FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AND
ENSlNEERING
Juris Hartmanis and Herbert Lin, Editors
Committee to Assess the Scope and Direction of
Computer Science and Technology
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and
Applications
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1992
OCR for page R2
National Academy Press · 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW · Washington, DC 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing
Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils
of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the
Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were
chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to
procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the
National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Insti-
tute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by the following organizations and agencies:
National Science Foundation (Grant No. CDA-9012458), Office of Naval Research (Contract
No. N00014-87-J-1110), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (N00014-87-J-1110), and
the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., under an unnumbered contract.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicatior~ Data
Computing the future: a broader agenda for computer science and
engineering / Committee to Assess the Scope and Direction of
Computer Science and Technology, Computer Science and
Telecommunications Board, Commission on Physical Sciences,
Mathematics, and Applications, National Research Council; Juris Hartmanis
and Herbert Lin, editors.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-04740-4
1. Computer science. 2. Engineering. I. Hartmanis, Juris. II. Lin, Herbert.
III. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee to Assess the Scope
and Direction of Computer Science and Technology.
QA76.C5855 1992
004'.0973 dc20
Copyright 1992 by the National Academy of Sciences
92-19571
CIP
This book is printed with soy ink on acid-free recycled stock.~,,,
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R3
COMMITTEE TO ASSESS THE SCOPE AND DIRECTION
OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
JURIS HARTMANIS, Cornell University, Chairman
RUZENA BAlCSY, University of Pennsylvania
ASHOK K. CHANDRA, IBM TO Watson Research Center
ANDRIES VAN DAM, Brown University
JEFF DOZIER, University of California at Santa Barbara
JAMES GRAY, Digital Equipment Corporation
DAVID CRIES, Cornell University
A. NICO HABERMANN,* Carnegie Mellon University
ROBERT R. JOHNSON, University of Utah
LEONARD KLEINROCK, University of California at Los Angeles
M. DOUGLAS McILROY, AT&T Bell Laboratories
DAVID A. PATTERSON, University of California at Berkeley
RAl REDDY, Carnegie Mellon University
KLAUS SCHULTEN, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHARLES SEITZ, California Institute of Technology
VICTOR VYSSOTSKY, Digital Equipment Corporation
Staff
MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director
HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Staff Officer
DONNA F. ALLEN, Administrative Assistant
*Resigned from the committee on October 1, 1991, in order to become assistant direc-
tor of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate of the Na-
tional Science Foundation.
. . .
Ill
OCR for page R4
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
JOSEPH F. TRAUB, Columbia University, Chairman
ALFRED N1. AHO, AT&T Bell Laboratories
RUZENA BAlCSY, University of Pennsylvania
DAVID I. FARBER, University of Pennsylvania
SAMUEL H. FULLER, Digital Equipment Corporation
JOHN L. HENNESSY, Stanford University
MITCHELL D. KAPOR, ON Technology, Inc.
SIDNEY KARIN, San Diego Supercomputer Center
KEN KENNEDY, Rice University
LEONARD KLEINROCK, University of California at Los Angeles
ROBERT L. MARTIN, Bell Communications Research
ABRAHAM PELED, IBM A. Watson Research Center
WILLIAM PRESS, Harvard University
RAl REDDY, Carnegie Mellon University
JEROME H. SALTZER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MARY SHAW, Carnegie Mellon University
EDWARD SHORTLIFFE, Stanford University School of Medicine
IVAN E. SUTHERLAND, Sun Microsystems
LAWRENCE G. TESLER, Apple Computer, Inc.
GEORGE L. TURIN, Teknekron Corporation
WILLIS H. WARE, The RAND Corporation
WILLIAM WULF, University of Virginia
MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director
HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Staff Officer
MONICA KRUEGER, Staff Officer
RENEE A. HAWKINS, Staff Associate
DONNA F. ALLEN, Administrative Assistant
ARTHUR L. McCORD, Project Assistant
lo
OCR for page R5
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES,
MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
NORMAN HACKERMAN, Robert A. Welch Foundation, Chairman
PETER I. BICKEL, University of California at Berkeley
GEORGE F. CARRIER, Harvard University
GEORGE W. CLARK, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
DEAN E. EASTMAN, IBM TV. Watson Research Center
MARYE ANNE FOX, University of Texas
PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS, Institute for Advanced Study
NEAL F. LANE, Rice University
ROBERT W. LUCKY, AT&T Bell Laboratories
CLAIRE E. MAX, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE, University of California at Berkeley
NAMES W. MITCHELL, AT&T Bell Laboratories
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON, American Association for the
Advancement of Science
ALAN SCHRIESHEIM, Argonne National Laboratory
KENNETH G. WILSON, Ohio State University
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director
v
OCR for page R6
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society
of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to
the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare.
Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy
has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and
technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of
the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers.
It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing
with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal
government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering pro-
grams aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and rec-
ognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of
the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sci-
ences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the
examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts
under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congression-
al charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to
identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is presi-
dent of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences
in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Acade-
my's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Func-
tioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council
has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences
and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government,
the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is adminis-
tered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr.
Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Re-
search Council.
V]
OCR for page R7
Preface
In April 1990, the Computer Science and Technology Board (now
the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB)) of the
National Research Council formed the Committee to Assess the Scope
and Direction of Computer Science and Technology. Composed of 16
individuals from industry and academia, the committee was charged
with assessing how best to organize the conduct of research and teaching
in computer science and engineering (CS&E) in the future. The com-
mittee took a broad outlook on its charge but chose to focus its ef-
forts primarily on academic CS&E, which is both a major source of
trained personnel at all levels (for itself and for industry and com-
merce) and a very important performer of research in the field. This
dual role suggests that positive changes in academic CS&E will have
high leverage throughout industry and academia.
The committee addressed four questions in its deliberations:
1. What is CS&E? What characterizes the intellectual content of
the field? How is it different from other fields? What are the impli-
cations of rapid technological change for the field? What is the sci-
ence that underpins hardware and software computer technology?
2. How is the field doing? What are the accomplishments of the
field? What is the impact of the field on society? What is the demo-
graphic profile of the field?
3. What should the field be doing? To what extent and in what direc-
tions should the field change its educational and research agenda?
. .
vet
OCR for page R8
. ~ ~
VIll
PREFACE
How can the academic and industrial sectors work together more
effectively?
4. What does the geld need in order to prosper? Are current funding
emphases appropriate? What structural or institutional changes (if
any) are necessary to support academic CS&E as it evolves into the
next century?
These questions are particularly appropriate given the circumstances
of today. From its beginnings as an organized and independent aca-
demic discipline in the 1960s, academic CS&E has been quite success-
ful. It has witnessed rapid growth in demand for computer scientists
and engineers, and it has worked hand in hand with the computer
industry, demonstrating the remarkably rich interaction possible be
tween academic and industrial CS&E research. Indeed, together aca-
demic and industrial CS&E research have in a few short decades laid
the intellectual foundation and created the scientific base for one of
the most important technologies of the future.
But today, both the intellectual focus of academic CS&E and the
environment in which academic CS&E is embedded are in the midst
of significant change. The traditional intellectual boundaries of aca-
demic CS&E are blurring with the rise of in-depth programs and
~ ~ Universities themselves are re
activities in computational science
trenching; the computer industry is undergoing substantial and rap-
id restructuring; and the increasingly apparent utility of computing
in all aspects of society is creating demands for computing technolo-
gy that is more powerful and easier to use. Such changes motivate
the forward-looking assessment of the field that this report attempts
to provide.
Given the increasing pervasiveness of computer-related technolo-
gies in all aspects of society, the committee believes that several key
groups will benefit from an assessment of the state of academic CS&E:
· Federal policy makers, who have considerable influence in deter-
mining intellectual directions of the field through their control of
research budgets and funding levels;
· Academic computer scientists and engineers, who are the "troops
on the ground" that do research and teach students;
· University administrators, who play key roles in setting the intel-
lectual tone of the academic environment; and ~
· Industry, which is by far the major employer of CS&E baccalau-
reate holders, one of the major employers of CS&E Ph.D. recipients,
and (in the computer industry) a key player in CS&E research.
OCR for page R9
PREFACE
lX
Each of these groups has a different perspective on the ir~tellectu-
al, fiscal, institutional, and cultural influences on the field, and the
committee devoted considerable effort to forging a consensus on what
should be done in the face of the different intellectual traditions that
characterize various subfields of CS&E and of different views on the
nature of the problems that the field faces.
This report does not address international dimensions of CS&E in
any detail or depth, other than to note that the importance of CS&E
as an area of research is recognized all over the world. Although the
committee believes strongly that international aspects of the field are
worth considering, it had neither the expertise nor the resources to
focus on such aspects. Appropriate sponsoring agencies and Me Computer
Science and Telecommunications Board may wish to consider a study
that addresses international dimensions of the field.
The report is divided into two parts. Part I addresses in broad
strokes the fundamental challenges facing the field and what the com-
mittee believes is an appropriate response to these challenges. Part II
elaborates on certain issues in greater detail. In particular, the reader
unfamiliar with CS&E as an intellectual discipline will find the nec-
essary background in Chapter 6. Readers unfamiliar with the institu-
tional infrastructure of academic CS&E or the demographics of the
field will find additional detail in Chapters 7 and 8, respectively.
A variety of previous studies have addressed important aspects of
the field. The Taulbee surveys) of the past several years have report-
ed on human resource issues in CS&E, CSTB's report The National
Challenge in Computer Science and Technology2 discussed research op-
portunities in the field, and the Hopcroft-Ker~nedy reports described
iDavid Gries, "The 1984-1985 Taulbee Survey," Communications of the ACM, Volume
29(10), October 1986, pp. 972-977; David Gries, "The 1985-1986 Taulbee Survey," Com-
munications of the ACM, Volume 30(8), August 1987, pp. 688-694; David Gries and
Dorothy Marsh, "The 1986-1987 Taulbee Survey," Communications of the ACM, Volume
31(8), August 1988, pp. 984-991; David Gries and Dorothy Marsh, "The 1987-1988
Taulbee Survey," Communications of the ACM, Volume 32(10), October 1989, pp. 1217-
1224; David Gries and Dorothy Marsh, "The 1988-1989 Taulbee Survey," Communica-
tions of the ACM, Volume 33(9), September 1990, pp. 160-169; David Gries and Dorothy
Marsh, ''The 1989-1990 Taulbee Survey," Computing Research News, Volume 3(1), Janu-
ary 1991; and David Gries and Dorothy Marsh, "The 1990-1991 Taulbee Survey," Com-
puting Research News, Volume 4(1), January 1992, pp. 8 If.
2Computer Science and Technology Board, National Research Council, The National
Challenge in Computer Science and Technology, National Academy Press, Washington,
D.C., 1988.
3John E. Hopcroft and Kenneth W. Kennedy, eds., Computer Science Achievements and
Opportunities, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Philadelphia, 1989.
OCR for page R10
x
PREFACE
the scientific contributions of CS&E. The 1989 ACM-CPA confer-
ence, published as Strategic Directions in Computer Research,4 discussed
structural and long-rar~ge issues-for the field. These studies pro~rid-
ed a strong foundation on which the committee built its comprehen-
sive and integrated assessment.
In addition, the CSTB, in cooperation with the Office of Scientific
and Engineering Personnel at the National Research Council, con-
ducted a companion project on human resources concurrently with
this project. The key activity of this project, a workshop on human
resources in computer science and technology held on October 28-29,
1991, addressed the utility of current and proposed new taxonomies
for classifying computing professionals and considered present and
future supply-and-demand issues for the labor market for computer
specialists. Participants in the workshop included experts in com-
puter science and technology, labor market analysis, and the admin-
istration of human resources. While certain insights of this work-
shop have been incorporated into this report, a full report based on
this workshop is expected to be released in the summer of 1992.
The Committee to Assess the Scope and Direction of Computer
Science and Technology met in June and September of 1990 and in
February, June, and September of 1991. It received input through
briefings and interviews with a variety of federal government offi-
cials and representatives from the computer industry, from several
major commercial users of computer and information technology, and,
through the Computing Research Association, from heads of depart-
ments granting Ph.D.s in CS&E.
The committee appreciates the time and thoughtful attention pro-
~rided by numerous individuals, who are listed in the appendix; in
particular the comments and criticisms of reviewers of early drafts of
this report are gratefully acknowledged. Of course, the findings,
conclusions, and judgments of this report are solely the responsibili-
ty of the committee.
A variety of government agencies that sponsor computer research
and professional organizations in the computer field were interested
in conducting a broad-ranging assessment of the health of the field.
Some of them generously provided funding for this project; they in-
clude the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research,
the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Association for Com-
puting Machinery, Inc.
4Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Computing Research Associ-
ation (CRA), Strategic Directions in Computing Research, ACM Press, New York, 1990.
OCR for page R11
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PART I
1 COMPUTING SIGNIFICANCE, STATUS, CHALLENGES
Computing in Society, 13
Scope and Purpose of This Report, 18
Computer Science and Engineering, 19
Contributions of CS&E to Computing Practice, 24
Computing as a Two-edged Sword, 26
The Relationship Between the Federal Government and
CS&E Research, 28
The Relationship Between CS&E and the
Computer Industry, 38
The Changing Environment for Academic CS&E, 45
Summary and Conclusions, 49
Notes, 49
2 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE OF CS&E
Broadening the Field, 55
A Historical Perspective, 60
Research Opportunities in Broadening, 64
A Broader Research Agenda-Some Illustrations, 69
Broadening Educational Horizons in CS&E, 85
A Special Role for University-Industry-Commerce
Interaction, 86
Xl
1
13
55
OCR for page R12
X11
Prerequisites for Broadening, 87
Summary and Conclusions, 90
Notes, 90
3 A CORE CS&E RESEARCH AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE
Processor Capabilities and Multiple-processor
Systems, 97
Data Communications and Networking, 101
Software Engineering, 103
Information Storage and Management, 107
Reliability, 110
User Interfaces, 111
Summary and Conclusions, 113
Notes, 114
4 EDUCATION IN CS&E
Undergraduate Education in CS&E, 118
The Master's Degree in CS&E, 130
The Ph.D. Degree in CS&E, 131
Employment Expectations for Holders of
CS&E Degrees, 133
Continuing Education, 133
Precollege CS&E Education, 135
Summary and Conclusions, 136
Notes, 136
5 RECOMMENDATIONS
Overall Priorities, 139
Recommendations Regarding Research, 143
Recommendations Regarding Education, 151
Conclusions, 157
Notes, 158
PART II
6 WHAT IS COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING?
Computer Science and Engineering, 163
Abstractions in Computer Systems, 168
Selected Accomplishments, 174
Synergy Leading to Innovations and Rapid Progress, 212
Intellectual and Structural Characteristics of CS&E as
a Discipline, 213
Notes, 214
CONTENTS
95
116
139
163
OCR for page R13
CONTENTS
7 INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF
ACADEMIC CS&E
Federal Agencies Funding Computer Science and
Engineering, 217
Private Nongovernmental Organizations, 231
Notes, 237
8 HUMAN RESOURCES
Baccalaureate and Post-baccalaureate Degree
Production, 239
Composition of Academic CS&E, 246
Notes, 259
APPENDIX
Contributors to Computing the Future
INDEX
Xlll
217
239
261
265
OCR for page R14
