The President's Information Technology Advisory Committee is set to hear testimony today on the government's investment in networking and information technology research.

Several individuals are expected to discuss barriers to implementation of a national healthcare information infrastructure during the daylong meeting, scheduled to last from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hotel Washington in the nation's capital.

PITAC, charged with providing advise to the President, Congress and federal agencies on advanced information technologies, will hear a presentation in the morning by the PITAC Health and IT Subcommittee, detailing its draft findings and recommendations.

Representatives from PITAC heard from about 40 witnesses during a February 25 fact-finding hearing conducted during the 2004 Annual Conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

In the open meeting at the conference in Orlando, Fla., presenters offered a variety of ideas about how the government could jump-start the use of information technology in healthcare, including taking a more active role in formulating standards and funding issues related to healthcare IT investments.

Draft findings and recommendations of PITAC's health and IT Subcommittee will be presented by co-chairs Jonathan Javitt, Peter Neupert and David Staelin. After a time for public discussion and comment, there will be time to discuss possible decisions based on the subcommittee's findings. In the afternoon, PITAC is expected to hear presentations on issues of interest to its Cyber Security Subcommittee. Testimony is expected from Amit Yoran and Simon Szykman, Department of Homeland Security; Carl Landwehr, National Science Foundation; David Clark, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Anthony Tether, Defense Advanced Research Projects.