Forward

CPS has extraordinary significance for the future of the U.S. industry. There is much more at stake than just extending our leadership in networking and information technology to an exploding new market segment. Falling behind in the foundations of CPS may render our scientific and technological infrastructure obsolete, leading to rapid loss in our competitiveness in major industrial segments including automotive, aerospace, defense, energy, health/medical equipment, and critical infrastructure. Advancements in CPS science and technology are a national priority 1 with a wide range of stakeholders in academia, industry and federal agencies. Effectiveness of Federal investment and urgency of achieving impact require coordinated investment across agencies and a new collaboration framework for academic and industry research that facilitates interaction and dramatically improves transition of new research results into applications. The primary goal for the workshop was to explore the dichotomy between the strong motivation of both industry and academia to conduct joint research in CPS and the challenge of making the collaborative efforts effective. The workshop provided a forum for scientists and engineers from industry and academy to discuss desired characteristics of industry-academy partnerships that make the required close integration of research activities feasible. Acknowledgement This workshop was supported by the Computer Community Consortium (CCC). Participants are grateful to Prof. Anita K. Jones (University of Virginia) for her attention and advice during the execution of this community initiative. Executive Summary Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are engineered systems comprising interacting physical and computational components. The technology is pervasive, transcends industrial sectors and serves as the engine of innovation for new generation of products. CPS is disruptive technology that transforms established industries, creates new ones and rearranges the status quo in entire industrial sectors. Current industrial experience tells us that we have reached the limits of our knowledge of how to integrate computers and physical systems. The shortcomings range from technical limitations in the foundations of cyber-physical systems to the way we educate engineers and scientists that support cyber-physical system design. Over the past three years industry and university communities have collaborated extensively and developed a broad, comprehensive agenda of pre-competitive research as a foundation for a National CPS Initiative. This White Paper presents recommendations for the creation and structure of a National CPS Initiative in science and technology integration, governance and operation. These recommendations are the results of an extended exchange of ideas between industry and academic communities over the last …