Who can argue with these two phrases?
Whereas the United States of America is a great and prosperous Nation, and modeling and simulation contribute significantly to that greatness and prosperity
Whereas modeling and simulation in the United States is a unique application of computer science and mathematics that depends on the validity, verification, and reproducibility of the model or simulation, and depends also on the capability of the thousands of Americans in modeling and simulation careers to develop these models
This is an excerpt from legislation passed (H. Res. 487
) by the U.S. House of Representatives in July that gives a national mandate to the modeling and simulation (M&S) field.
Specifically, the House voted to:
- Commend those who have contributed to M&S field
- Urge that science, technology, engineering and mathematics remain key disciplines for primary and secondary education
- Encourage the expansion of M&S as a tool and subject within higher education
- Recognize M&S as a National Critical Technology
- Support the development and implementation of governmental classification codes for M&S occupations
- Encourage the development and implementation of ways to protect the intellectual property of M&S enterprises
This legislation was championed by U.S. Representative J. Randy Forbes of Virginia and the resolution earned bipartisan support. Forbes has also started the M&S Congressional Caucus which currently includes 23 Representatives.
While the scope of M&S as currently seen as a major component in the defense industry, modeling and simulation have also been responsible for developments in health care, homeland security, construction and transportation. The specific examples of M&S cited in the legislation included weather forecasting, simulating national disasters, assessing stream simulations, medical simulation training, and accelerating the effectiveness of joint training simulations.
The M&S legislation is a definite step in the right direction for increasing the importance of software simulation. iRise will be following up with Rep. Forbes and other in the M&S Caucus to ensure that iRise and software simulation are included in future discussions in the M&S caucus. Since many M&S scenarios include building the right software the first time, using software prototypes or mock-ups or having easy-to-use interfaces, simulation with iRise should play an important part in this community.
Stay tuned here for future updates.
In the meantime, here are some additional links to pursue if you want to learn more about Modeling and Simulation:
- Press release from July 16, 2007 announcing the legislation
- Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC)
