[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83627-83628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28142]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Request for Information on Potential Concepts and Approaches for 
a National Strategic Computing Reserve (NSCR)

AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National 
Coordination Office (NCO), National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: OSTP and the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) 
Subcommittees on the Future Advanced Computing Ecosystem (FACE) and 
Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) 
request input from interested parties on the goals, value, and 
necessary approaches for establishing a National Strategic Computing 
Reserve (NSCR). The NSCR may be envisioned as a coalition of experts 
and resource providers that could be mobilized quickly to provide 
critical computational resources (including compute, software, data, 
and technical expertise) in times of urgent need. This Request for 
Information will help inform potential attributes of a NSCR.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
11:59 p.m. (ET) on January 16, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice may be sent by 
any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Email submissions should be 
machine-readable and not be copy-protected. Submissions should include 
``RFI Response: National Strategic Computing Reserve'' in the subject 
line of the message.

[[Page 83628]]

     Fax: (202) 459-9673, Attn: Ji Lee.
     Mail: Attn: Ji Lee, NCO, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.
    Instructions: Response to this RFI is voluntary. Each individual or 
institution is requested to submit only one response. Submissions must 
not exceed 10 pages in 12 point or larger font, with a page number 
provided on each page. Responses should include the name of the 
person(s) or organization(s) filing the comment. Responses to this RFI 
may be posted online at http://www.nitrd.gov. Therefore, no business 
proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally 
identifiable information should be submitted in response to this RFI.
    In accordance with FAR 15.202(3), responses to this notice are not 
offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding 
contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated 
with responding to this RFI.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ji Lee at [email protected], 202-459-
9674, or by post mailing to 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 
22314, USA. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The prompt, successful, and nimble 
deployment of computational resources (including expertise) via the 
COVID-19 High-Performance Computing (HPC) Consortium has demonstrated 
its essential role in the Nation's response to emergencies. This 
backdrop has led to the conceptualization of a National Strategic 
Computing Reserve (NSCR), comprising a coalition of experts and 
resource providers that could be mobilized quickly to provide critical 
computational resources (including compute, software, data, and 
technical expertise) in times of urgent need.
    Background Information: The COVID-19 HPC Consortium (https://covid19-hpc-consortium.org) was formed in March 2020 and offers an 
example of how the consortium rapidly delivered scientific insights. 
The Consortium brought together the Federal Government, industry, and 
academic leaders to provide access to the world's most powerful 
computational resources in support of COVID-19 research. Within its 
first week of existence, the Consortium instantiated an operational 
framework for providing computational resources for rapid crisis 
response. The Consortium effectively:
     Worked together across institutional and organizational 
boundaries within government, industry, and academia to create a common 
portal to access computational resources and to coalesce ad hoc efforts 
in smaller ``consortia'' around the country;
     Ramped up quickly to meet urgent computational resource 
requirements not easily available through other means; this ramp-up 
included the development and adaptation of review, matching and on-
boarding processes for accessing these resources;
     Set up a communications and user engagement framework for 
a worldwide community; and
     Accelerated explorations in basic understanding of the 
SARS-CoV2 virus, its host interactions, strategies to mitigate its 
spread, and early-stage drug development.
    With this RFI, we seek to aggregate the lessons learned from the 
COVID-19 HPC Consortium with other broader community input towards the 
potential design of a NSCR effort.
    Information Requested: Responders are asked to answer one or more 
of the following questions in the responses to the RFI:
    1. Deployment Scenarios: What are envisioned scenarios under which 
it would be beneficial to make NSCR computational resources available 
for use? What are relevant characteristics to consider regarding the 
design of triggers for activating and deactivating the NSCR? What 
approaches might the NSCR utilize to test readiness for such scenarios? 
Are there other barriers to activating NSCR that would need to be 
addressed?
    2. Computational Resources: By what means will the NSCR 
computational resources be recruited, vetted, and sustained for use 
when needed? What are appropriate incentives and mechanisms for 
compensation? What principles might be employed in assessing the 
suitability of resources for inclusion in the NSCR? What types of 
research (e.g., fundamental research, Controlled Unclassified 
Information research, proprietary research) should the NSCR be 
provisioned to support?
    3. NSCR Providers: How should the resource providers' contributions 
to NSCR be determined? What approaches should guide the selection and 
allocation of the NSCR computational resources to users, and what roles 
do resource providers have in determining these approaches? By what 
means can the NSCR computational resource providers opt in or opt out 
on computational resource allocations?
    4. NSCR Users: By what means and with what principles should 
allocations for NSCR computational resources be considered? What should 
constitute eligibility to apply for computational resources? What kind 
of eligibility restrictions/selection criteria would be appropriate for 
users and the use cases of applications of NSCR?
    5. Community Formation: What types of community outreach and 
communications will help enhance the likelihood of connecting the NSCR 
computational resources to the relevant computational, scientific, and 
emergency-response communities? With what organizations and services 
should the NSCR coordinate to enhance its effectiveness?
    6. Partnership Agreements: What are key aspects of partnership 
agreements (e.g., access to results, intellectual property rights) that 
can help sustain the NSCR over time?
    7. Relationship to Other Strategic Reserves: Are there other 
strategic reserves that are relevant to NSCR? How can NSCR connect or 
interface with those reserves? What lessons can be learned from other 
strategic reserves that might inform the process of standing up a NSCR?
    Submitted by the National Science Foundation in support of the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development National Coordination 
Office on December 16, 2020.

(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1861.)

Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2020-28142 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
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