[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 148 (Monday, August 3, 2015)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 46177-46180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19183]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 80 , No. 148 / Monday, August 3, 2015 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 46177]]


                Executive Order 13702 of July 29, 2015

                
Creating a National Strategic Computing 
                Initiative

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, and to maximize benefits of high-performance 
                computing (HPC) research, development, and deployment, 
                it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. In order to maximize the benefits of 
                HPC for economic competitiveness and scientific 
                discovery, the United States Government must create a 
                coordinated Federal strategy in HPC research, 
                development, and deployment. Investment in HPC has 
                contributed substantially to national economic 
                prosperity and rapidly accelerated scientific 
                discovery. Creating and deploying technology at the 
                leading edge is vital to advancing my Administration's 
                priorities and spurring innovation. Accordingly, this 
                order establishes the National Strategic Computing 
                Initiative (NSCI). The NSCI is a whole-of-government 
                effort designed to create a cohesive, multi-agency 
                strategic vision and Federal investment strategy, 
                executed in collaboration with industry and academia, 
                to maximize the benefits of HPC for the United States.

                Over the past six decades, U.S. computing capabilities 
                have been maintained through continuous research and 
                the development and deployment of new computing systems 
                with rapidly increasing performance on applications of 
                major significance to government, industry, and 
                academia. Maximizing the benefits of HPC in the coming 
                decades will require an effective national response to 
                increasing demands for computing power, emerging 
                technological challenges and opportunities, and growing 
                economic dependency on and competition with other 
                nations. This national response will require a 
                cohesive, strategic effort within the Federal 
                Government and a close collaboration between the public 
                and private sectors.

                It is the policy of the United States to sustain and 
                enhance its scientific, technological, and economic 
                leadership position in HPC research, development, and 
                deployment through a coordinated Federal strategy 
                guided by four principles:

                    (1) The United States must deploy and apply new HPC 
                technologies broadly for economic competitiveness and 
                scientific discovery.
                    (2) The United States must foster public-private 
                collaboration, relying on the respective strengths of 
                government, industry, and academia to maximize the 
                benefits of HPC.
                    (3) The United States must adopt a whole-of-
                government approach that draws upon the strengths of 
                and seeks cooperation among all executive departments 
                and agencies with significant expertise or equities in 
                HPC while also collaborating with industry and 
                academia.
                    (4) The United States must develop a comprehensive 
                technical and scientific approach to transition HPC 
                research on hardware, system software, development 
                tools, and applications efficiently into development 
                and, ultimately, operations.
                    This order establishes the NSCI to implement this 
                whole-of-government strategy, in collaboration with 
                industry and academia, for HPC research, development, 
                and deployment.

                Sec. 2. Objectives. Executive departments, agencies, 
                and offices (agencies) participating in the NSCI shall 
                pursue five strategic objectives:

[[Page 46178]]

                    (1) Accelerating delivery of a capable exascale 
                computing system that integrates hardware and software 
                capability to deliver approximately 100 times the 
                performance of current 10 petaflop systems across a 
                range of applications representing government needs.
                    (2) Increasing coherence between the technology 
                base used for modeling and simulation and that used for 
                data analytic computing.
                    (3) Establishing, over the next 15 years, a viable 
                path forward for future HPC systems even after the 
                limits of current semiconductor technology are reached 
                (the ``post-Moore's Law era'').
                    (4) Increasing the capacity and capability of an 
                enduring national HPC ecosystem by employing a holistic 
                approach that addresses relevant factors such as 
                networking technology, workflow, downward scaling, 
                foundational algorithms and software, accessibility, 
                and workforce development.
                    (5) Developing an enduring public-private 
                collaboration to ensure that the benefits of the 
                research and development advances are, to the greatest 
                extent, shared between the United States Government and 
                industrial and academic sectors.

                Sec. 3. Roles and Responsibilities. To achieve the five 
                strategic objectives, this order identifies lead 
                agencies, foundational research and development 
                agencies, and deployment agencies. Lead agencies are 
                charged with developing and delivering the next 
                generation of integrated HPC capability and will engage 
                in mutually supportive research and development in 
                hardware and software, as well as in developing the 
                workforce to support the objectives of the NSCI. 
                Foundational research and development agencies are 
                charged with fundamental scientific discovery work and 
                associated advances in engineering necessary to support 
                the NSCI objectives. Deployment agencies will develop 
                mission-based HPC requirements to influence the early 
                stages of the design of new HPC systems and will seek 
                viewpoints from the private sector and academia on 
                target HPC requirements. These groups may expand to 
                include other government entities as HPC-related 
                mission needs emerge.

                    (a) Lead Agencies. There are three lead agencies 
                for the NSCI: the Department of Energy (DOE), the 
                Department of Defense (DOD), and the National Science 
                Foundation (NSF). The DOE Office of Science and DOE 
                National Nuclear Security Administration will execute a 
                joint program focused on advanced simulation through a 
                capable exascale computing program emphasizing 
                sustained performance on relevant applications and 
                analytic computing to support their missions. NSF will 
                play a central role in scientific discovery advances, 
                the broader HPC ecosystem for scientific discovery, and 
                workforce development. DOD will focus on data analytic 
                computing to support its mission. The assignment of 
                these responsibilities reflects the historical roles 
                that each of the lead agencies have played in pushing 
                the frontiers of HPC, and will keep the Nation on the 
                forefront of this strategically important field. The 
                lead agencies will also work with the foundational 
                research and development agencies and the deployment 
                agencies to support the objectives of the NSCI and 
                address the wide variety of needs across the Federal 
                Government.
                    (b) Foundational Research and Development Agencies. 
                There are two foundational research and development 
                agencies for the NSCI: the Intelligence Advanced 
                Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and the National 
                Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). IARPA 
                will focus on future computing paradigms offering an 
                alternative to standard semiconductor computing 
                technologies. NIST will focus on measurement science to 
                support future computing technologies. The foundational 
                research and development agencies will coordinate with 
                deployment agencies to enable effective transition of 
                research and development efforts that support the wide 
                variety of requirements across the Federal Government.
                    (c) Deployment Agencies. There are five deployment 
                agencies for the NSCI: the National Aeronautics and 
                Space Administration, the Federal Bureau

[[Page 46179]]

                of Investigation, the National Institutes of Health, 
                the Department of Homeland Security, and the National 
                Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These agencies 
                may participate in the co-design process to integrate 
                the special requirements of their respective missions 
                and influence the early stages of design of new HPC 
                systems, software, and applications. Agencies will also 
                have the opportunity to participate in testing, 
                supporting workforce development activities, and 
                ensuring effective deployment within their mission 
                contexts.

                Sec. 4. Executive Council. (a) To ensure accountability 
                for and coordination of research, development, and 
                deployment activities within the NSCI, there is 
                established an NSCI Executive Council to be co-chaired 
                by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
                Policy (OSTP) and the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget (OMB). The Director of OSTP shall 
                designate members of the Executive Council from within 
                the executive branch. The Executive Council will 
                include representatives from agencies with roles and 
                responsibilities as identified in this order.

                    (b) The Executive Council shall coordinate and 
                collaborate with the National Science and Technology 
                Council established by Executive Order 12881 of 
                November 23, 1993, and its subordinate entities as 
                appropriate to ensure that HPC efforts across the 
                Federal Government are aligned with the NSCI. The 
                Executive Council shall also consult with 
                representatives from other agencies as it determines 
                necessary. The Executive Council may create additional 
                task forces as needed to ensure accountability and 
                coordination.
                    (c) The Executive Council shall meet regularly to 
                assess the status of efforts to implement this order. 
                The Executive Council shall meet no less often than 
                twice yearly in the first year after issuance of this 
                order. The Executive Council may revise the meeting 
                frequency as needed thereafter. In the event the 
                Executive Council is unable to reach consensus, the Co-
                Chairs will be responsible for documenting issues and 
                potential resolutions through a process led by OSTP and 
                OMB.
                    (d) The Executive Council will encourage agencies 
                to collaborate with the private sector as appropriate. 
                The Executive Council may seek advice from the 
                President's Council of Advisors on Science and 
                Technology through the Assistant to the President for 
                Science and Technology and may interact with other 
                private sector groups consistent with the Federal 
                Advisory Committee Act.

                Sec. 5. Implementation. (a) The Executive Council 
                shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, 
                establish an implementation plan to support and align 
                efforts across agencies in support of the NSCI 
                objectives. Annually thereafter for 5 years, the 
                Executive Council shall update the implementation plan 
                as required and document the progress made in 
                implementing the plan, engaging with the private 
                sector, and taking actions to implement this order. 
                After 5 years, updates to the implementation plan may 
                be requested at the discretion of the Co-Chairs.

                    (b) The Co-Chairs shall prepare a report each year 
                until 5 years from the date of this order on the status 
                of the NSCI for the President. After 5 years, reports 
                may be prepared at the discretion of the Co-Chairs.

                Sec. 6. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:

                    The term ``high-performance computing'' refers to 
                systems that, through a combination of processing 
                capability and storage capacity, can solve 
                computational problems that are beyond the capability 
                of small- to medium-scale systems.
                    The term ``petaflop'' refers to the ability to 
                perform one quadrillion arithmetic operations per 
                second.
                    The term ``exascale computing system'' refers to a 
                system operating at one thousand petaflops.

                Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the 
head thereof; or

[[Page 46180]]

(ii) the functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, 
administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    July 29, 2015.

[FR Doc. 2015-19183
Filed 7-31-15; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F5