National critical technologies report.

  • United States. Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Date:
1995
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: National critical technologies report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    74/226 (page 48)
    government as well as in the private sector conducting high-quality research in this area, most of these efforts will never move beyond the research stage. Many European governments recognize parallel processing as a critical technology for the next generation of high performance computers, and have initiated a number of research programs to address Europe's shortcomings. Many of these programs are highly speculative in nature and likely will not result in any significant technology or competitive advantage. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT The ability to control and manage the increasing amounts of information available to us today remains a major technological challenge. The elements of this that are particularly critical are: data fusion, i.e., the ability to integrate data from a variety of different sources into a meaningful form; the design and manufacture of increasingly more complicated information systems to manipulate and analyze the available information; health information systems and services, and integrated navigation systems that increasingly control more and more of the nation’s transportation system. Data fusion Data fusion involves forming useful relationships between data from different sources to provide salient information which is more readily assimilated. Examples of data fusion are: — Sensor fusion: where an image is synthesized which combines the key information from disparate sensors, such as infrared and radar. In this case key information would be emphasizing objects which have both the desired thermal and range (or scatterer) characteristics. — Visualization: where complicated relationships between otherwise abstract or multi-dimensional variables are displayed in some metaphor space. For instance, a three-dimensional space could be constructed which clarifies the “volume” of acceptable combinations of output, cost, time, and risk. On one hand the information age imposes a certain degree of information overload, and on the other hand it can provide the filters, “digesters,” and human interfaces, both to highlight key relationships and to suppress extraneous data. These have direct application to economic optimization by decision-makers and their staffs, and by organizations which provide input to decision-makers. Alternatively they provide the tools for modeling and synthesizing new products, such as pharmaceuticals, exotic materials, lower cost common materials. Therefore, data fusion is an important part of harnessing information technology, and to obtaining better information for other endeavors.