Continuing Innovation in Information Technology: Workshop Report

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released Continuing Innovation in Information Technology: Workshop Report, which summarizes a workshop hosted by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board on March 5, 2015 that explores the link between government investments in academic and industry research to the ultimate creation of new information technology (IT) industries. The workshop report provides summaries of presentations organized into five broad themes - (1) fueling the innovation pipeline, (2) building a connected world, (3) advancing the hardware foundation, (4) developing smart machines, and (5) people and computers - and ends with a summary of remarks from the concluding panel discussion.

The 2012 report Continuing Innovation in Information Technology illustrates how fundamental research in IT, conducted at industry and universities, has led to the introduction of entirely new product categories that ultimately became billion-dollar industries. The central graphic from that report portrays and connects areas of major investment in basic research, university-based research, and industry research and development; the introduction of important commercial products resulting from this research; billion-dollar-plus industries stemming from it; and present-day IT market segments and representative U.S. firms whose creation was stimulated by the decades-long research.

TRB is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which provides independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conducts other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.