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\title{\bf Involvement of Industry in the National High
Performance Computing and Communication Enterprise}

\author{Geoffrey C. Fox}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\begin{abstract}
We discuss aspects of a national computer science agenda for
High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC).  We agree
with the general direction and emphasis of the current program.
In particular, the strong experimental component and linkage of
applications with computer science should be continued.  We
recommend accelerating the emphasis on ``national challenges''
with more applications and technologies from the information,
as compared to simulation areas.  We suggest modifying the
grand challenge concept to implement the current training of
computer science and applications researchers.  We would
emphasize better linking of each application group to the
entire (inter) national computer science activity.  We express
this in terms of a virtual corporation metaphor.  The same
approach can be used to involve industry in HPCC for both the
consumers of HPCC technology (application industries) and
producers (Independent Software Vendors---ISV) and the hardware
system companies.  We illustrate this approach with InfoMall, a
HPCC technology transfer program funded by New York State.  The
federal program should have greater incentives for the
involvement of both ISV's and their products.
\end{abstract}
\newpage

\section{Introduction}

This commentary on the National High Performance Computing and
Communications Initiative, and the associated National
Information Infrastructure does not set forth a complete new
program.  This is not necessary---the current federal program
is ``almost right on.''  Rather we present a set of remarks
based on the involvement of applications and industry in the
program.  We will consider both the industries that use HPCC as
well as those that (will) produce the new HPCC products that
will drive the integration of HPCC into the mainline computer
industry.

\section{Opportunities for HPCC in Industry}

While at Caltech, one of my major activities involved studying
the parallel software and algorithms needed by large scale
scientific and engineering computation \cite{Angus:90a}, \cite{Fox:88a},
\cite{Fox:94a}.  One of my interests in
moving to Syracuse was to extend this approach, but focus on
industrial and not academic applications.  This activity, now
called InfoMall [KIM-overview], is supported by New York State and aims to
accelerate the introduction of High Performance Computing and
Communication technology into the State's industry.  It has
three major components.  Firstly, it involves those industries
that uses computers (i.e., the applications of HPCC, which are
described later in this section).  Secondly, InfoMall seeks to
create (enhance) an HPCC software industry in the State, and
section~3 describes issues connected with this activity.  The
final component of InfoMall is devoted to training and is
especially centered in the mid-Hudson (Kingston, Poughkeepsie,
and Fishkill) area of New York where some 10,000 former IBM
engineers are looking for new job opportunities---InfoMall aids
those interested in HPCC careers.  Such pools of engineers
exist in many parts of the country, consequent from the major
restructuring in aerospace, manufacturing, computer, and other
industries.  This national resource indicates that we have the
people to implement the integration of HPCC into the country's
industry.  We ``only'' need to identify the viable
opportunities and the necessary funds (venture capital) to
implement them.

Now, we discuss which opportunities are in fact viable---this returns
to the first component of InfoMall---what are the relatively near term
industrial applications of HPCC.  The first phase of our New York State
project involved a significant survey reported in Table~1, which
divides possible applications into four major areas, and then in more
refined fashion, 32 classes.  The good news is that as summarized in
Table~2 and Column~4 of Table~1, we already have the necessary, if not
the most productive, software technology needed to implement all of
these applications.  Further, extensive computer science research
tested in grand challenge and other academic and research
implementations, has given us excellent parallel algorithms.  Again, a
good argument can be made in every entry in Table~1, that HPCC will
make a difference and improve the performance and/or competitiveness of
the associated industry.  Nevertheless, only in a few cases will the
return on investment justify the work involved in implementing the HPCC
application.  This conclusion is explained in \cite{Fox:92e}
[KIM-Zomaya, KIM-Mohawk], and here we can only summarize and illustrate
this conclusions.  Note that the four application classes in Table~1
are\@:
\begin{description}
\item[(A)]Simulation or Information Production
\item[(B)]Data on Information Analysis
\item[(C)]Access to and Dissemination of Information
\item[(D)]Integrated Information Services including Components
of the Earlier Categories (A), (B), and (C).
\end{description}

Originally, I had envisioned a major InfoMall activity in the
Simulation (A), as this was the natural counterpart to my
personal academic activity at Caltech and the Federal Grand
Challenge Initiative.  However, the clear near-term value of
HPCC simulations in the research applications is not so obvious
in industry.  We can only illustrate this conclusion with one
example here.  Consider the application of HPCC to
manufacturing---an area of exception importance and promise.
One can use HPCC for one or more of the components of
manufacturing---such as the first three classes of
Table~1---fluid flow, structural and electromagnetic
simulation.  However, these are in general quite small parts of
the whole manufacturing and design process.  Thus, we see
Amdahl's law applied to manufacturing---if simulation is 10\%
of the design cycle, then parallelizing this can give at best a
speedup of 1.1  We are still dominated by the 90\% remaining
``sequential'' part of the process to which we have not applied
HPCC.  Thus, the best opportunity for HPCC lies in its
integration into the entire manufacturing operations.  This
will enable agile manufacturing and as components of this
concurrent engineering and multidisciplinary analysis and
design.  Just considering the latter, this is as shown in
Figure~3 a challenging but in principle, perfectly feasible
integration task.  However, the real world makes it ``ver
hard''.  Thus, components of Figure~3 are existing one million
codes (such as NASTRAN) which not only have to be parallelized,
but also integrated with other major software packages.
Perhaps more important difficulties are nontechnical issues.
Most manufacturing companies face .... of restructuring,
cutbacks and/or fierce global competition.  The scenario of
Figure~3 implies not only technology investment and (risky)
development, but remaking the whole engineering process.  Thus,
we cannot address manufacturing just as an HPCC technology
problem, but many national infrastructure and education issues
are involved.  I see this area as an exciting long-term area
for HPCC, which need major government investment as industry
will find it hard to justify the investment based on a typical
one to three year return.

Returning to the survey of Table~1, we found (in New York
State) much more near-term promise in the information related
applications (B), (C), and (D).  There are several reasons for
this.  The simplest reason is phase space---information
processing always has been the dominant use of computers in
business and this is likely to be accentuated and not decreased
in the future.  Further, one ``only'' needs to parallelize a
few software pieces (e.g., implement a parallel database) to
enable a large set of applications.  Although very challenging,
this task is well underway commercially with, for instance,
Oracle~7.1 supporting parallel query.  In contrast, simulation
has no single ``killer application'' and each piece of software
is typically poorly used in specialized fashion.  The National
Information Infrastructure (NII) applications in (C), parallel
servers on high-speed networks, have another advantageous
feature---namely they are ``now'', that is, involve developing
software from scratch and not as in many simulations,
applications, porting existing sequential codes.  It is clearly
easier to justify the investment in parallel machines for new
software systems than for the cases when porting of large
existing systems is involved. 

This is a rambling story and incomplete to boot---what do we
deduce from it?  I conclude that information processing is the
most promising role for the HPCC industry.  Correspondingly, I
have focussed our New York State funded activities in this
area.  The federal government needs to support both simulation
and information processing related technologies---HPCC
simulation will be critical in the long run and not an easy
investment for industry.  Thus, I support the broadening of the
grand challenges to include a new set of national challenges
focussed on information based applications.  This should not
only feature NII applications (C) (and parts of (D)), but also
the basic information analysis cases in Table~1B.  In fact, as
the NII does not yet exist except as the comparatively low
bandwidth internet, industrial interest will initially center on
those cases in Tables~1B and 1D which do not require the
pervasive multimegabit/second network for everybody, everywhere
and at every time promised by the NII.

\section{Technology Transfer and the Role of Grand Challenge
Teams}

The approximately 50 grand challenge teams have been correctly
set up as collaborations between computer scientists and
application types.  This can help the particular computer
scientists if the application uses, evaluates and motivates
further development of their technology.  I have seen this is
many grand challenges and it concerns me that this is
important, but only half the story.  Thus, we also need to
understand and develop the best computer technologies in the
world for this application.  From this point of view, we have
the application and not computer science driving the
technology.  This identifies another role for the computer
science members of the grand challenge team.  They should act as a
window (educational/knowledge source) into the best HPCC technology
that one can bring to bear on the application.  One needs application
to act as testbeds for new HPCC technologies.  However, in the grand
challenges, I suggest that an application pull is most appropriate,
and that in general other (funding) mechanisms be used for the
application testbeds (computer science pull) which are also definitely
needed, especially at the initial stages of technology development.

We have embodied this concept into the model for technology transfer
in InfoMall, which is illustrated from two points of view in Figures~4
and 5.  We have a world wide customer (application) pull (on right
side of figures) that feeds from a world wide pool of HPCC
technologies (left side of figures).  These are fed through the
``window'' discussed above into a software capitalization (InfoTech)
process that produces usable prototype systems, which can be
commercialization at lower risk than raw technologies.  Key to this
InfoMall engine is the entrepreneur or ISV (Independent Software
Vendor) who takes InfoTech products, and with traditional economic
development support, produces the HPCC products brought to the
customer by the marketing and system integration components of
InfoMall.  InfoMall offers to ISV's the special high technology
support (Table~3) needed for an entrepreneur in HPCC.  This includes
both access to facilities and educational resources, as mentioned
earlier, in context of our mid-Hudson project.

We believe that major efforts should be made to increase the role of
all parts of industry in the HPCC program.  This should include the
users with realistic estimates of the time scale on which HPCC will be
useful technology---as illustrated in Section~2, this will certainly
vary from case to case.  However, the ISV's are also critical for
there can be no HPCC hardware or systems business, and no significant
user base, without ISV's linking them.  We see at least three ways how
the HPCC program could encourage the HPCC software industry.
\begin{enumerate}
\item Encourage federal proposals that use commercial rather than home
grown software systems.  I am reminded of a story of one computer
vendor who complained that computer scientists could not buy their
system because the commercial systems software was too good---one
could get federal funding except to build software for systems where
the existing commercial offerings were poor.  Instead, we should
encourage research that builds on top of existing commercial software.
We should encourage the latter to offer open interfaces enabling this
strategy.

\item Change the funding of MPP to explicitly encourage purchase of
software, as well as hardware---recently, I was told that HPCC systems
software companies were nonviable.  One couldn't sell such software
unless it was bundled with an expensive piece of hardware.  That's why
we have so many MPP companies.....

\item Examine federal funding of software and structure it so that it
encourages ISV's.  This would include funding explicit software
capitalization (InfoTech) activities.  Secondly, one needs to ensure
that federal projects enhance rather than compete with commercial
activities.  We need open (free) interfaces and not necessarily free
software.
\end{enumerate}

The above picture is that of a virtual corporation with products built
of interoperable multiuse modules---each the principle built by a
separate organization, which are linked together in InfoMall.  The
HPCC national endeavor offers the possibility of a far larger and more
exciting and important virtual corporation.  This will only be
possible when greater encouragement is given for software and user
industries to participate in and benefit from HPCC.

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