Leadership Insight on The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Role in Shaping America's Innovation Ecosystem: A Fireside Chat with the Director of NIST

Session Overview

In this fireside chat, The Hon. Laurie Locascio, Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) highlighted her Department’s pivotal role in shaping the innovation landscape, focusing on maintaining competitive edge, fostering public-private partnerships, and preparing the U.S. innovation ecosystem for future technological advancements.

Key Session Insights

To kick off the conversation, The Hon. Laurie Locascio explained the crucial role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in fostering innovation. “Standards are really hard, and they underpin trillions of dollars of trade in the United States.” As China vies to supplant the United States as the global standards-setter, American inventors are encountering growing challenges in a rapidly shifting global market.

“We need to think more about standards, because for all scientists in the room, they can impact your innovations.”
The Hon. Laurie Locascio
Under Secretary of Commerce, Standards and Technology; Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Ms. Wince-Smith then asked about NIST’s responsibilities related to the implementation of the CHIPS & Science Act. This bipartisan initiative had allocated $52 billion, with $50 billion managed by NIST, aimed at enhancing both manufacturing incentives and research and development efforts. An important goal of the CHIPS & Science Act is to galvanize additional private investment to secure U.S. chip R&D and manufacturing. That is indeed happening. The Undersecretary noted, “[NIST has] announced $30 billion in manufacturing incentives...[and] unlocked $300 billion in private investment,” illustrating how public dollars have sparked far larger private sector investments. And an additional $9 billion is still being rolled out.

Due to these investments, the U.S. production of advanced semiconductors is set to increase from zero percent to 20 percent by 2030. This shift is vital to sure up supply chains—a need that became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when a lack of chips is attributed to 30 percent of inflationary costs in the automotive sector alone.

Another benefit of the CHIPS & Science act has been the national scope of these investments. Specifically, Dr. Locascio noted how strong public-private partnerships are supporting a growing number of semiconductor clusters across the Indiana-Illinois Corridor, Texas, Ohio, Idaho, and many other states. In fact, the CHIPS Act has spawned 26 manufacturing projects across 16 states, fostering entirely new supply chains.

The conversation then turned to the topic of quantum computing, which NIST has been at the forefront of from a research perspective since 2016, working closely with universities and other global experts. This long-term effort has helped prepare for the challenges posed by quantum computers, particularly when it comes to data security. Dr. Locascio also commented that NIST recently released new encryption standards to ensure sensitive information remains secure as quantum technology advances.

To wrap, Dr. Locascio left the audience with the tremendous opportunities becoming available through CHIPS. Growth in the semiconductor industry will become increasingly pivotal for future U.S. technological advancement and competitiveness. To conclude the fireside, Ms. Wince-Smith then noted how necessary it is to have bipartisan commitment to ensure the full appropriation of the science component of the CHIPS & Science Act.

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram