Missed this…
Maybe I was in the woods last summer when this came out, or maybe it passed under the radar? On July 16 of last year, the House of Representatives (on a voice vote, no record) passed House Resolution 487:
Recognizing the contribution of modeling and simulation technology to the security and prosperity of the United States, and recognizing modeling and simulation as a National Critical Technology.
Wow, what I do is critical! And here I thought I was just having fun and doing good… I found out about this when it was cited in an RFP we (partner organization and I) were responding to. Not quite sure what this means, practically. I can be somewhat naive of governmental subterfuge (while cynical of the whole thing), but item 7 caught my eye:
(7) encourages the development and implementation of ways to protect intellectual property of modeling and simulation enterprises.
So, maybe this is a way to give some legal ammunition to an organization that’s fighting to wall-off certain approaches? If so, hopefully prior art will prevail (c.f. Blackboard).
At least it did prod a governmental organization to prioritize simulations (read: scenarios, better yet: tuned into games). If we can get organizations, governmental and not, to think harder about deep practice (when needed, and this instance is a case of resistance and complex new procedures), we’re increasing the likelihood of effective outcomes. Which is what I really care about.
