This Dictionary covers information and communication technology (ICT), including hardware and software; information networks, including the Internet and the World Wide Web; automatic control; and ICT-related computer-aided fields. The Dictionary also lists abbreviated names of relevant organizations, conferences, symposia and workshops. This reference is important for all practitioners and users in the areas mentioned above, and those who consult or write technical material. This Second Edition contains 10,000 new entries, for a total of 33,000.

Acronym agglomeration is an affliction of the age, and there are acronym addicts who, in their weakness, find it impossible to resist them. More than once in recent months my peers have cautioned me about my apparent readiness to use not only acronyms, but abbreviations, foreign isms, codes, and other cryptic symbols rather than common, ordinary American words. Many among us, though, either have not received or have chosen to ignore such advice. As a consequence, what we write and speak is full of mystery and confusion. It is then for the reader and listener and for the writer and speaker that Reta C. Moser has compiled this guide. Its effective application to the art of communication is urged. Such use should help avoid many of the misunderstandings involving terminology which occur daily. Although such misunderstandings are certainly crucial in humanistic and social situations, they are often of immediate import and the trigger to disaster in scientific, technical, and political situations. Some 15,000 acronyms and 25,000 definitions are provided (a 50- and 47 -percent increase over the 1964 edition!), with due credit to Miss Moser's diligence in making the compilation and with the acknowledgment that the acronymical phenomenon is very much with us. This edition, like the first, is certain to be of value to writers, librarians, editors, and others who must identify and deal with acronyms.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC), which are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs.

The U.S. Navy's ship inventory and the shipbuilding and repair industrial base that supports these ships have experienced significant changes. In the next 30 years, additional significant changes to the fleet composition and the maintenance requirements of the fleet are likely. This report assesses possible supply and demand capabilities in the ship maintenance workload for the Navy and notes long-term challenges facing mitigation efforts.