3Com Chairman Eric Benhamou Calls on Congress for Increased Government Funding for IT Research and Development.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2001

Benhamou, Member of President's Information Technology Advisory

Committee (PITAC), Testifies on Capitol Hill

"Federal information technology R&D investment is inadequate," said Eric Benhamou during remarks made Tuesday, June 26 to the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Research. "Measured in constant dollars, federal support in the most critical areas has been flat or declining for nearly a decade, while the importance of information technology to our nation's economy and to society has increased dramatically."

During the hearing, which was called to examine the role of the federal government in promoting innovation in information technology (IT), Benhamou noted that several key sectors of the IT industry owe their existence to basic research funded by the federal government in the 1960's and 1970's. These sectors include the Internet, supercomputing, multiprocessors, local area networks and graphic displays. Benhamou said, "A retreat from this kind of investment cannot be allowed to continue if we are to sustain our nation's prosperity in the coming decades."

"The technology industry is very good at building innovative products and solutions. U.S. firms have leading market shares in most of the sectors that comprise the IT industry," said Benhamou. "This is in part because technology companies have proven very adept at leveraging the fundamental research carried out by universities and national labs for commercial purposes and for creating shareholder value."

Benhamou said, "If you look at actual funding for R&D across all agencies from 1995 through 1998, spending was basically stagnant at around $1 billion per year. At the time PITAC was being created, the fiscal year 1999 budget increased funding by about $300 million but the increase from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2002 was only $40 million. This simply cannot be considered enough. This must become a national priority."

Benhamou concluded his comments, "We must act now with the legislation to reinvigorate long-term IT research. If we do not, the flow of ideas that have fueled the information revolution over the past decades may slow to a trickle in the next decade. We risk losing the momentum and promise of technological innovation."

Eric Benhamou is chairman of the Board of Directors of 3Com Corporation, Palm, Inc. and Cypress Semiconductor. He serves on the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee and on the Executive Council of TechNet, a national bipartisan political network of 250 high tech industry leaders.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com simplifies how people connect to information and services through easy-to-use, connectivity products and solutions for consumers and commercial organizations. The company also provides access infrastructures and IP services platforms for network service providers. For further information, visit www.3com.com or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox.