Private Sector’s Role in National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies

Key Takeaways:

• The National Security for Critical and Emerging Technologies outlines 20 technologies vital to national security, set as priorities in U.S. government missions.
• The strategy acknowledges the private sector’s role in driving the U.S. technology base, promising support and advancement of efforts through the strategy’s framework.
• Federal actions outlined by the strategy to support private sector innovation in critical and emerging technologies include prioritizing R&D budgets, limiting the hindrance of regulations, and appealing to U.S. industry as desirable customers.

Last week, the White House issued the National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (C&ET) to unify efforts in maintaining U.S. leadership in science and technology against strategic competitors. The strategy take a holistic and “market-oriented” approach to address the advancement of 20 emerging technologies outlined by the strategy:

• Advanced Computing
• Advanced Conventional Weapons Technologies
• Advanced Engineering Materials
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Advanced Sensing
• Aero-Engine Technologies
• Agricultural Technologies
• Artificial Intelligence
• Autonomous Systems
• Biotechnologies
• Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Mitigation Technologies
• Communication and Networking Technologies
• Data Science and Storage
• Distributed Ledger Technologies
• Energy Technologies
• Human-Machine Interfaces
• Medical and Public Health Technologies
• Quantum Information Science
• Semiconductors and Microelectronics
• Space Technologies

The strategy lays out two pillars to improve U.S. leadership in C&ET: Promote the National Security Innovation Base (NSIB), and Protect Technology Advantage. While the latter emphasizes importance in U.S. allies and international collaboration among companies and academia, the NSIB pillar emphasizes the American private sector’s role to support the nation as technology leaders in security. In particular, the strategy provides a framework of actions to bolster support of the private sector’s role in cultivating emerging technologies, among them:

• Reducing burdensome regulations and bureaucratic processes inhibiting innovation and industry growth
• Supporting development of academia, laboratories, venture funding and U.S. industry
• Prioritizing research and development in U.S. federal budgets
• Developing advanced technologies applications within the federal space by improving the appeal of government as a customer of the private sector
• Encouraging public-private partnerships
• Creating a positive messages alongside the private sector to increase public acceptance of C&ET