The US government has taken a significant step towards promoting American industry’s competitiveness on the global stage through its National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET). The strategy, released in May 2023, focuses on critical and emerging technologies such as communication and networking technologies, quantum information technologies, semiconductors and microelectronics, artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, and clean energy technologies.
Last week, the White House hosted a summit where representatives from government agencies, industry, and standards development organizations discussed the implementation roadmap for this strategy. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio emphasized the need for collective effort to sustain the US’s proven, voluntary, consensus-driven, private sector-led standards system.
The roadmap recommends actions to increase investment in pre-standards development activities, broaden participation, grow a standards-savvy workforce, and ensure inclusivity and integrity in the standards development process. Key stakeholders involved include the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and industry leaders.
NIST Participates in White House Summit on Critical and Emerging Technology Standards
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently participated in a summit at the White House, where representatives from government agencies, industry, and standards development organizations gathered to discuss the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET). This strategy aims to promote technologically sound standards that help American industries compete internationally on a level playing field.
The USG NSSCET Implementation Roadmap, released alongside the strategy, outlines recommendations and actions for implementing the plan. The roadmap 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.
The development of the Implementation Roadmap involved extensive feedback from the private sector and broader stakeholder community. The roadmap recommends actions that the U.S. government can take to increase investment in pre-standards development activities for CETs, broaden CET standards participation, grow a CET standards-savvy workforce, and ensure inclusivity and integrity in the CET standards development process.
Strengthening U.S. Economic and National Security through Standards Development
The USG NSSCET Implementation Roadmap defines how the U.S. government can bolster support for the private sector-led standards system in the United States. The roadmap recommends actions to enhance standards coordination across the federal government, provide strong and sustained funding for CET research and development (R&D), and improve workforce development and partnership models.
The roadmap’s recommendations are critical to achieving widely shared policy goals of expanded U.S. leadership and innovation on the global stage. As Mary Saunders, ANSI senior vice president of government relations and public policy, noted, “U.S. government actions to enhance standards coordination across the federal government — at both the technical and policy levels — and to provide strong and sustained funding for CET R&D are important.”
Fostering Public-Private Partnerships for Critical and Emerging Technology Standards
The USG NSSCET Implementation Roadmap emphasizes the importance of public-private partnerships in fostering U.S. commitment to CET standards development. The roadmap recommends increasing support for federal programs that remove barriers and promote U.S. stakeholder participation in international standards development.
Additionally, the roadmap suggests enhancing communication, information sharing, and cooperative efforts between the U.S. government and the private sector. This includes expanding educational efforts for current and future standards leaders, as well as enhancing academic engagement by providing critical partnerships that sustain global standards innovation ecosystems.
NIST’s Role in Implementing the USG NSSCET
NIST played a key role in developing the Implementation Roadmap, publishing a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register in fall 2023 and holding listening sessions and stakeholder events. The agency also announced a funding opportunity to establish and maintain a Standardization Center of Excellence as a public-private partnership through a cooperative agreement.
This initiative aims to support U.S. engagement in international standardization for CETs essential to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. 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.
As Jayne Morrow, NIST senior advisor for standards policy, noted, “Today we received a charge, a call to action to work together as public and private sectors to build capacity and coordinate our efforts to sustain U.S. engagement in the international standards system and leverage our combined expertise to advance critical and emerging technologies and U.S. innovation.”
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