New White House Research Initiative Will Advance Semiconductor-Driven Technologies

by Semiconductor Industry Association

SIA’s efforts to shape the federal research agenda took an important step forward this week with the announcement of a new federal initiative that addresses research needs brought to light recently by SIA and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC).

In September, SIA and SRC released a report titled Rebooting the IT Revolution: A Call to Action, which found that new, semiconductor-driven technologies like the Internet of Things are revolutionizing the tech sector, and that ambitious research investments are needed to harness these new technologies. This week, the White House began the process of addressing these research needs, announcing a new research initiative called Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenge for Future Computing. The new initiative is intended to address recommendations from the Rebooting the IT Revolution report, which compiled opinions offered by tech and academic leaders at a March workshop sponsored by SIA and SRC and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The new Future Computing initiative will conduct research to develop new concepts, devices architectures, and software to explore and enable novel solutions for brain-like computing. In addition to the Rebooting the IT Revolution report, the Future Computing effort was also guided in part by recommendations SIA and SRC submitted in July to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in response to an OSTP initiative called “Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges for the Next Decade.” The Future Computing initiative also aligns with the National Strategic Computing Initiative announced by an Executive Order on July 29.

Basic scientific research funded through agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science has yielded tremendous dividends, helping launch technologies that underpin America’s economic strength and global competiveness. The U.S. semiconductor industry has been a reliable partner in funding research, investing about one-fifth of revenues each year in R&D – the highest share of any industry.

This week’s announcement marks a significant step toward helping the United States harness the new technologies that will keep America at the forefront of innovation. SIA will continue to advocate for research investments that will strengthen our industry and America’s global technology leadership.