  Our modern society and competitive economy depend on a strong digital
foundation and, in turn, on sustained research and innovation in computer
systems and networks (CompSys). With this manifesto, we draw attention to
CompSys as a vital part of ICT. Among ICT technologies, CompSys covers all the
hardware and all the operational software layers that enable applications; only
application-specific details, and often only application-specific algorithms,
are not part of CompSys. Each of the Top Sectors of the Dutch Economy, each
route in the National Research Agenda, and each of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals pose challenges that cannot be addressed without
groundbreaking CompSys advances. Looking at the 2030-2035 horizon, important
new applications will emerge only when enabled by CompSys developments.
Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, millions moved abruptly online, raising
infrastructure scalability and data sovereignty issues; but governments
processing social data and responsible social networks still require a paradigm
shift in data sovereignty and sharing. AI already requires massive computer
systems which can cost millions per training task, but the current technology
leaves an unsustainable energy footprint including large carbon emissions.
Computational sciences such as bioinformatics, and "Humanities for all" and
"citizen data science", cannot become affordable and efficient until computer
systems take a generational leap. Similarly, the emerging quantum internet
depends on (traditional) CompSys to bootstrap operation for the foreseeable
future. Large commercial sectors, including finance and manufacturing, require
specialized computing and networking or risk becoming uncompetitive. And, at
the core of Dutch innovation, promising technology hubs, deltas, ports, and
smart cities, could see their promise stagger due to critical dependency on
non-European technology.
