In addition, the Biden-Harris administration has released the USG NSSCET Implementation Road Map, which includes recommendations and actions for implementing the strategy, along with a fact sheet about the road map.
To develop the road map, NIST published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register in fall 2023 seeking public input on how best to implement the USG NSSCET, and held a series of listening sessions and stakeholder events about the strategy while the RFI was open.
The USG NSSCET, released in May 2023, focuses on critical and emerging technologies (CETs), including communication and networking technologies, quantum information technologies, semiconductors and microelectronics, artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, and clean energy technologies, among others.
“The fact that our U.S. system is open, market-driven, and private sector-led is critical to achieving the widely shared policy goals of expanded U.S. leadership and innovation on the global stage,” says Mary Saunders, ANSI senior vice president of government relations and public policy. “U.S. government actions to enhance standards coordination across the federal government—at both the technical and policy levels—and providing strong and sustained funding for CET R&D are important. Enhanced educational efforts across the government will also contribute to a stronger, more informed public-private partnership and a robust standardization system.”
Actions and outcomes spelled out in the USG NSSCET Implementation Road Map also define how the U.S. government can bolster support for the private sector-led standards system in the U.S. and the U.S. Standards Strategy published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The road map recommends immediate and long-term actions for the government to achieve sustained implementation outcomes, including:
• Increase investment in CET R&D and standardization to sustain U.S. technical leadership.
• Increase support for federal programs to remove barriers and promote U.S. stakeholder participation in international standards development.
• Enhance coordination across U.S. government departments and agencies to sustain and grow participation in standardization.
• Expand communication, information sharing, and other cooperative efforts between the U.S. government and the private sector.
• Enhance educational efforts for current and future standards leaders.
• Enhance the representation and sustained influence of the U.S. government and governments of like-minded nations in the international standards system.
• Enhance academic engagement by providing critical partnerships that sustain the global standards innovation ecosystems.
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) participated in a summit at the White House last week where representatives of government agencies, industry, and standards development organizations discussed the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET). This strategy promotes technologically sound standards that help American industry compete internationally on a level playing field. It’s intended to support and complement existing private, sector-led standards activities.
Earlier this month, NIST announced a funding opportunity to establish and maintain a Standardization Center of Excellence as a public-private partnership through a cooperative agreement that will support U.S. engagement in international standardization for CETs that are essential to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. In fiscal year 2024, NIST anticipates funding one award of up to $6 million for a performance period of two years, then up to $3 million per year for up to three additional years. More information is available on Grants.gov.
Additional initiatives aimed at fostering greater engagement in international standards development will be announced on Standards.gov.