Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Systems Integration (1992)
Chapter: Front Matter
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.
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 Institute of Medicine.
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 programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes 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 Sciences 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 congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Stuart Bondurant is acting president 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 Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning 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 administered 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 Research Council.
Support for this project was provided by the following organizations and agencies: Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant No. N00014-87-J-1110), Apple Computer, Inc., Control Data Corporation, Cray Research, Inc., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Grant No. N00014-87-J-1110), Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett Packard, IBM Corporation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant No. CDA-860535), the National Science Foundation (Grant No. CDA-860535), the Office of Naval Research (Grant No. N00014-87-J-1110), and Pacific Bell.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
JOSEPH F. TRAUB,
Columbia University,
Chairman
ALFRED V. AHO,
Bellcore
RUZENA BAJCSY,
University of Pennsylvania
DAVID J. 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 T.J. Watson Research Center
WILLIAM PRESS,
Harvard College Observatory
RAJ 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, Staff Director
HERBERT LIN, Staff Officer
MONICA B. KRUEGER, Staff Officer
RENEE A. HAWKINS, Staff Associate
FRANK PITTELLI, CSTB Consultant
DONNA F. ALLEN, Administrative Secretary
CATHERINE A. SPARKS, Project Assistant
ARTHUR L. McCORD, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
NORMAN HACKERMAN,
Robert A. Welch Foundation,
Chairman
PETER J. BICKEL,
University of California at Berkeley
GEORGE F. CARRIER,
Harvard University
DEAN E. EASTMAN,
IBM T.J. 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
JAMES 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
Preface
This report on systems integration is the second in a series of Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) reports focusing on the competitive status of the U.S. computer industry. In CSTB's initial report, Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive: Defining the Agenda (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1990), leaders of the computing field surveyed each of the major sectors of the computer industry. To no one's surprise, the hardware sector was considered to be under serious competitive pressure, with the semiconductor memory market all but ceded to Japanese companies. The U.S. competitive position in the software market was deemed to be strong but precarious, given the weakness in basic hardware components. However, systems integration was identified as a large and rapidly growing market in which the United States was a clear leader; unfortunately, few could agree on just what systems integration was!
The present report is based on a colloquium held in January 1991 in which participants from industry, academia, and government discussed what systems integration is, its importance and prospects for growth, and why the United States is perceived to have a strong competitive advantage. A distillation of the colloquium discussions, this report is designed, in particular, to inform policymakers, but it should also be of value to anyone with an interest in computing and telecommunications.
The colloquium was organized by a steering committee chaired by Laszlo Belady, then vice president for Software Technology and Advanced Computing Technology Programs at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (he is now chairman and director of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories Inc.). Other members of the steering committee
were Samuel Fuller, vice president of research at Digital Equipment Corporation; Robert Lucky, executive director of research, Communications Sciences Division, AT&T Bell Laboratories; and Irving Wladawsky-Berger, assistant general manager of development and quality for IBM's Enterprise Systems. Among CSTB staff, Damian Saccocio and Catherine Sparks had principal responsibility for the colloquium; they were aided by CSTB meeting consultant Pamela Rodgers and free-lance science writer Mark Bello.
Joseph F. Traub, Chairman
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
