Abstract
The role of information technology in today's science and technology enterprise is analogous to the mythological thread of Ariadne which guided the Greek hero through the treacherous labyrinth. We can follow this thread back, tracing NSF's role in the history of the Internet, and forward to glimpse future frontiers. Today, we find the thread of IT connects all disciplines of science and engineering. The IT-squared initiative (Information Technology for the 21st Century), led by NSF, will strengthen the fiber of IT and its links to all fields. Advances in other NSF priority areas--biocomplexity and educating our future workforce--are intertwined with progress in IT. We need to connect the thread to new areas-extending science and engineering education to underrepresented groups and bringing advanced networking to the broader higher education community.