To meet our pilot year goals, we purposively and simultaneously take a top-down and bottom-up approach: a top-down, “30,000-foot” view to scan global capabilities in knowledge, production, human capital, and funding across nations, matched with four (“bottom-up”) bottle-neck focused deep dives on specific issues in AI, biotechnology, energy storage, and semiconductors. Here, our scanning activities benefit from the expertise drawn into our deep dives, and the deep dives can benefit from learning where machine activities may outperform humans. For each deep dive demonstration, we focus on a narrow, pressing issue, and look at how science and technology investments might support overcoming a bottleneck central to U.S. competitiveness and the well-being of all citizens. While these cases are important, we do not mean that they are more important than other potential cases. Rather, we use each case to develop and demonstrate methods and identify opportunities to further advance the country’s overall capabilities in critical technology assessment. Lastly, we undertake a cross-cutting effort that qualtifies equity in domestic science and technology activities and in the allocation of funding, as well as in the outcomes of science and technology investments.
Situational awareness
What are the relative national capabilities in S&T? What is the relationship between national and international funding patterns and national capabilities? Where are the next scientific discoveries and technological disruptions most likely to happen? Who domestically has capabilities but is being left out of scientific discovery and commercialization?
Artificial Intelligence
How do we measure the implications of innovations in Artifical Intelligence for prosperity, human capital (jobs) and equity? What is the potential for AI to accelerate discovery and commercialization in critical emerging technologies?
Advanced manufacturing
What are the bottlenecks to transition to next generation (beyond Moore’s Law) semiconductor technologies? What are the implications of different semiconductor investments for security, resiliency, jobs, and the economy?
What are the opportunities for innovations in biotechnology (continuous manufacturing, biotechnology) to improve biopharmaceutical supply chain resiliency? What technologies are “critical” from the perspective of security, jobs, equity, and the economy?
What are the opportunities for innovations in energy technology (recycling, alternative battery chemistries, alternative material extraction techniques, synthetic mineral production) to improve electric vehicle (in particular battery) supply chain resiliency? What are the implications of these innovations for security, jobs, and the economy?
Cross-cutting thrusts
How can we leverage experts and citizens to identify bottlenecks to the commercialization and adoption of specific critical technologies?
What are the implications of technologies for jobs, and how to advance equity as a fundamental component of critical and emerging technology capabilities?