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Information Infrastructure
The U.S. economy depends increasingly on advanced computing and communications technologies to support scientific and engineering research, as well as the design and manufacture of more competitive products and more sophisticated defense systems. U.S. pre-eminence in communications and high-performance computing Information Infrastructure contributes to future scientific and engineering developments, improves U.S. competitiveness in expanding global markets, and enhances our national security.
Our national information infrastructure, which is comprised of telephone, cable, microwave, satellite, the Internet and other communications networks, coupled with computing resources, plays a critical role in sustaining our information-based economy. As a result of advances in information technology and the necessity of improved efficiency, all of our national infrastructures (e.g., civil, electric power, etc.) have become increasingly automated and inter-linked. These same advances increase our vulnerability to equipment failures, human error, weather and other natural causes, and physical and cyber attacks.
As sensitive data on such subjects as personal health and consumer habits is collected and made accessible through interconnected electronic databases, concerns about the rights of individual privacy are heightened. AAES supports development of public policies and implementation technologies that assure privacy, while enabling the appropriate collection and use of data.
Policy Objectives
- Encourage the government and private sector to address with all deliberate haste the Year 2000 computer issue so as to reduce the potential for significant social and economic disruption
- Ensure that the nation's critical information infrastructure is adequately protected from the threat of accidental or deliberate disruption
- Adopt national policies that encourage public and private sector investment in research and development of emerging and next generation communications, computing, and networking technologies
- Encourage policies that appropriately balance the need to protect information for national, proprietary, or personal privacy reasons with the benefits that can be derived by facilitating its exchange and use
- Remove unwarranted restrictions on the sale of domestic communications, computing, and encryption technologies and products that are readily available from non-U.S. sources so that U.S. providers can effectively compete in world markets
Society Statements
ASME
IEEE-USA