[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4615-4617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1751]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Research


Energy Research Financial Assistance Program Notice 95-13: 
National Information Infrastructure

Agency: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Action: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Scientific Computing of the Office of Energy 
Research (ER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hereby announces its 
interest in receiving research grant applications to support DOE's 
program in the President's National Information Infrastructure (NII) 
initiative. The DOE program is integral to and supportive of the multi-
agency NII initiative through the High Performance Computing and 
Communications (HPCC) program which has been in place since 1992.
    DOE supports NII's goals through the Information Infrastructure 
Technology and Applications (IITA) component of the HPCC program by (1) 
supporting research and development to solve important scientific and 
technical challenges; (2) reducing the uncertainties in industrial 
research and development through increased cooperation between 
government, industry, and universities and by continued use of 
government and government-funded facilities as a prototype user of 
early commercial NII products; and (3) supporting the underlying 
research, network, and computational infrastructures on which NII 
applications are based.

DATES: To permit timely consideration of awards in FY 1995, formal 
applications submitted in response to this notice must be received by 
March 15, 1995. Earlier submission is encouraged.

ADDRESSES: Formal applications referencing Program Notice 95-13 should 
be forwarded to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, 
Acquisition and Assistance Management Division, ER-64, (GTN), 
Washington, DC 20585. Attn: Program Notice 95-13. The following address 
must be used when submitting applications by U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail, any commercial mail delivery service, or when hand-
carried by the applicant: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 
Research, Acquisition and Assistance Management Division, ER-64, 19901 
Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Anne Scott, Program Manager, 
Office of Scientific Computing, Office of Energy Research, ER-30/GTN, 
U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585. (301) 903-9958. E-mail 
to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NII program announced by Vice President 
Gore in 1993 encapsulates the promise of the Information Age to 
transform our society. Historically, communication and computing 
technology, i.e., leading edge information technology, has been a 
powerful instrument of change in our society. The National Information 
Infrastructure program seeks to enhance national competitiveness and 
improve the quality of life of the general populace. The principles and 
goals of the NII are: (1) Promote private sector investment; (2) extend 
the ``universal service'' concept to assure that information resources 
are available to all at affordable prices; (3) promote technological 
innovation and new applications; (4) promote seamless, interactive, 
user-driven operation of the NII; (5) ensure information security and 
network reliability; (6) improve management of the radio frequency 
spectrum; (7) protect intellectual property rights; (8) coordinate with 
other levels of government and with other nations; and (9) provide 
access to government information and improve government procurement.
    The DOE program is to approach these goals by supporting the NII 
through the Information Infrastructure Technology and Applications 
(IITA) component of the HPCC program and requests applications for 
grants to support research in the following areas:

I. Wide Area and Distributed Network Based Technologies To Support 
Energy Demand and Supply Management

    The management of energy demand is a serious concern for two 
reasons: there is the dependence on imported oil and gas, which affects 
the balance of payments, and there are environmental concerns with 
respect to the burning of fossil fuels. The utility companies use 
telecommunications to support their principal business of managing and 
providing energy to their customers. However, the evolving nature of 
the [[Page 4616]] corporate utility business requires the development 
of new distributed network technologies in areas such as 
interoperability, authentication, privacy control, and multicast data 
aggregation in order to enhance the existing capabilities of utilities 
for real-time energy demand and supply management. In addition, the 
technologies and infrastructures that support energy consumers and 
utility providers may be leveraged to accommodate other service 
providers by providing access to services and resources over the NII. 
Grant applications are sought for the development and implementation of 
both wide area based and distributed network tools, technologies, and 
protocols that enable energy utilities to improve efficiency, 
conservation, billing and customer service, and promotes end user 
interaction and control over their use of energy. These tools, 
technologies, and protocols must be scalable and operable over both the 
Internet and NII. Applicants are expected to be familiar with the 
current state of the art in these areas, especially in regard to issues 
dealing with how the consumer interfaces and connects to both the 
utility and the National Information Infrastructure. These technologies 
may include, but are not limited to:

--distributed computing technologies to integrate residential 
information and energy appliances in addition to computer-based energy 
monitoring and control systems; to enable energy management in 
commercial public buildings; and to provide end users an interactive 
interface to delivery systems and to the Internet and NII through these 
delivery systems;
--distributed data handling and analysis tools for the compilation, 
interpretation and intelligent use of energy production and usage 
statistics;
--security systems to ensure customer privacy and prevent unauthorized 
access;
--demonstration or prototype projects to evaluate energy demand 
management applications over the Internet and the NII.

II. Wide Area Network (WAN) Based Hierarchical, Distributed Database 
and Data Storage Technologies and Techniques

    The advances in high performance computing and communications, 
combined with the sophisticated demands of both Grand and National 
Challenge applications, have accelerated the need for distributed, 
fast, interoperable and scaleable technologies and techniques for 
storing, manipulating, and querying large data sets to handle the 
increased amounts of information. As a result, query techniques that 
are independent of database structures have become more important. 
Grant applications are sought for the development and implementation of 
technologies and techniques for managing large datasets using WAN-based 
storage and database tools and protocols.

III. Wide Area Network (WAN) Based Collaboration Technology, Remote 
Facilities Usage, and Application Development

    The need to efficiently share information and facilities remotely, 
in addition to the growing requirement for telepresence and 
telecommuting capabilities, requires enhanced collaborative 
technologies and techniques such as packetized video/audio streams and 
multimedia conferencing, shared whiteboards and concurrent editing/
markup capabilities. Grant applications are sought for the development, 
implementation, and advanced uses of WAN-based technologies and 
techniques for providing real-time, interactive voice, video and data 
exchange across the Internet and other large distributed heterogeneous 
networks in addition to the demonstration of emerging technologies in 
an NII application context such as education, remote facility 
utilization, or environment applications.

IV. Wide Area Network Authentication and Security

    The growth of networking, as evidenced by the increased usage of 
the Internet and the attention devoted to the National Information 
Infrastructure, will continue at its current rapid pace. The components 
of large interconnected networks, local networks, hosts, computers, 
information, data, applications and users, all require some level of 
security. As the number of individuals, businesses, schools and other 
entities using networks grows, so does the need for more sophisticated 
authentication and security tools. Conversely, as information 
technologies become ubiquitous via the NII, it is important to protect 
the privacy of the end users of the NII. Grant applications are sought 
for the development, implementation, or advanced integration of 
scalable, WAN-based security and privacy tools and protocols in the 
areas of application and user interfaces, information search and 
retrieval, and data storage and transmission that can operate across 
the Internet and other large distributed, heterogeneous networks.

V. Gigabit Technology Research

    Energy demand and supply management, heterogenous distributed 
computing and virtual collaboratory environments will continue to drive 
high performance communications to meet both the aggregate and high end 
resource application requirements. Grant applications are sought for 
the development and/or demonstration of technologies to enable 
communications networks, such as the Energy Sciences network (ESnet), 
to support the aforementioned requirements for future information and 
data intensive network applications. These can include, but are not 
limited to: advanced collaboratory audio/visual tools; management and 
control of heterogeneous traffic across local, metropolitan, and wide 
area ATM networks; and network evolution and management tools (e.g., 
for IPv6, IP over ATM, IPv4, multicast, and ATM to ATM).
    In all the above areas, tools, technologies, protocols, services, 
and demonstration projects proposed should be scalable and 
interoperable with the heterogenous NII and Internet technologies and 
services at both the hardware level and at the software gateway levels. 
For example, a multiprotocol router gateway to residences/industrial 
buildings should also work over a wide variety of access media. 
Applicants are also expected to be familiar with the current state of 
the art in the area of their application submission.
    Collaborative research and innovative partnering among 
investigators at industrial firms, universities and National 
Laboratories are encouraged. It is expected that grants will be awarded 
in the range of $100,000 to $500,000 for periods of one to three years.
    The FY 1995 Federal program is summarized in ``High Performance 
Computing and Communications'' Technology for the National Information 
Infrastructure--a Supplement to the President's Fiscal Year 1995 
Budget. This report can be requested by calling (301) 903-9958. A 
report, ``The Information Infrastructure: Reaching Society's Goals--
Report of the Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on 
Applications and Technology,'' has been issued for public comment that 
addresses eight areas, including electrical power, in which NII 
applications can enhance the quality of life. This report is available 
by calling (301) 975-4529.
    In evaluating the scientific merit of the applications submitted, 
the [[Page 4617]] following additional criteria will be considered: (1) 
use and integration of current Internet and NII services; (2) potential 
for impact on and advancement of NII applications, such as those called 
out by the Committee on Applications and Technology, especially Energy 
Demand and Supply Management; (3) potential for marketable and/or 
deployable technology and systems; and (4) innovative partnerships.
    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program 
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR Part 
605.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1995.
D.D. Mayhew,
Director, Office of Management, Office of Energy Research.
[FR Doc. 95-1751 Filed 1-23-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P