"but the software our systems depend on is fragile"...

Text LI-I – questions 11 to 15

1____The explosive growth of information technology has fueled

an unprecedented demand for new software. Software is needed to

support new products, to provide fundamental services on the

4 Internet, and to solve important national problems. At the same

time, the resources needed to develop this software have not kept

pace with the demand, producing what might be called a

7 “software gap”.

An interaction of factors has caused this software gap:

accelerated demand for software, increased complexity of systems,

10 labor-intensity of development, variable quality in the labor pool,

labor shortages, and lack of adequate science technology to support

robust development. Since cost-effective improvements in hardware

13 lead to a strong demand for more software, the demand will

continue to accelerate. Today’s systems and applications software

are substantially more complex than in the past. Software systems

16 are now among the most complex of human-engineered structures.

The situation threatens to inhibit the progress of the current

boom in information technology and may threaten the health and

19 welfare of the Nation by reducing the rate at which solutions to

software-intensive problems, like aviation security and crisis

management, can be solved. The Federal Government must take

22 steps to address the situation by investing in research on new

strategies to improve software development productivity and by

helping to increase the pool of information technology professionals

25 capable of developing good software.

The Nation needs robust systems, but the software our

systems depend on is fragile.

_{Internet: <http://www.itrd.gov/ac/interim/section-3.html>. Access on August 13, 2001 (adapted).}

In text LI-I,