Agencies including the National Science Foundation will receive a significant increase in funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to research and develop new technologies.
The federal government will pour billions into science and technology research and development through the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and organizations distributing the funds are looking to partner with the private sector. See the article : Coatue’s secret presentation rocks high-tech with serious foreboding.
While one of the most significant parts of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 is the $52 billion allocated to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the US, the remaining funds within the overall $280 billion competition package will go to agencies such as the National Science Foundation. (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Commerce and the Department of Energy.
Across the competition package, these agencies are tasked with working with academia and the private sector to raise funds and conduct research and develop new and existing technologies. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law this week.
“The truth is, academia alone cannot do this, government alone cannot do this, and the private sector alone cannot do this,” said Forrester Research analyst Glenn O Donnell. “You have to have that three-way partnership at the heart of everything that comes from here. And yes, the private sector – technology companies will be part of that.”
Distribution of CHIPS and Science Act funding
NSF will receive a significant $81 billion over the next five years, once Biden signs the bill as expected. On the same subject : Director of the National Science Foundation visits San Diego to talk NSF mission, investments.
He will use $20 billion of those funds to establish a Technology, Innovation and Partnership (TIP) Directorate to rapidly develop technologies such as artificial intelligence, 6G communications and quantum computing.
The new directorate crosses all subject areas, helping more ideas make it across what entrepreneurs call the “valley of death” for deployment, said Margaret Martonosi, assistant director for NSF’s Computing and Information and Engineering directorate. The “valley of death” refers to the period before a startup makes any money after launching a product.
With the additional dollars NSF will receive from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, Martonosi said NSF could fund a “richer set of entities.” NSF currently funds 2,000 entities a year — primarily universities, although it also has programs to fund startups. NSF receives proposals annually that go through a merit review process before being selected for funding.
The new technology directorate will manage NSF programs related to small business funding, as well as “transfer to scale” awards that help commercialize technologies, she said. TIP is about “creating a framework that will make it happen more often, more easily and across larger subject areas,” Martonosi said.
“Every year, we have billions of dollars of highly rated, worthy proposals that we cannot fund because we only have the resources for a small fraction of them,” she said. “The idea of something like the science part of [the CHIPS and Science Act] is to combine more of those ideas with the resources they need to really benefit the nation.”
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department will receive $11 billion over five years to establish regional technology hubs focused on expanding US technology development and innovation capacity.
NIST would receive $9 billion and “greater flexibility” to partner with the private sector on critical technology research and standards development for emerging technology industries, including quantum information science, semiconductors and advanced communications technologies.
The bill also authorizes $40.5 million through 2027 to establish an Energy Security and Innovation Foundation affiliated with the Department of Energy. The foundation is tasked with working with the private sector to raise funds to support “the creation, development and commercialization of innovative technologies that address tomorrow’s energy challenges,” according to a legislative summary.
Oversight of federal funds
The bill introduces various oversight measures for the distribution of funds.
For example, the bill requires NSF to provide an annual report on the technology directorate’s activities and an outline describing how NSF will make future investment decisions. To see also : China’s real estate crisis is deepening as a major Shanghai developer has predefined.
It also calls for the establishment of an interagency working group headed by the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to coordinate spending.
Congress has not approved a new OSTP director since former director Eric Lander resigned earlier this year. Biden has nominated Arati Prabhakar for the role. Prabhakar previously served as director of NIST, as well as a Silicon Valley company and venture capital executive, leading research and development projects.
“There must also be some technical leadership here so that whoever is running this program has enough understanding of the technology sector to ensure that these funds are being distributed correctly,” said Ó Domhnaill.
He added that government policy makers and leaders overseeing the distribution of the competition package funds will have to proceed carefully to ensure that they are distributed fairly and appropriately.
“If this smells like a handout to any of these technology companies, it will be a political storm,” said Ó Domhnaill.
Makenzie Holland is a news writer covering major technology and federal regulation. Prior to joining TechTarget, she was a general reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.
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