The following statement can be attributed to Chris Mohr, President, SIIA and Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy.
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) welcomes the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (the “CHIPS Act”) and commends President Biden for signing this important legislation. Our 450-plus member companies depend on advanced semiconductors (or “chips”) to deliver artificial intelligence tools, data analytics, and many other valuable tools. The CHIPS Act will stimulate the creation of new products and services in the information industry and facilitate science and technology research.
Though less widely reported, the CHIPS Act will enable critical investments in the innovation infrastructure of the United States through new programs and funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Act authorizes a doubling of NSF’s budget over 5 years, a 45% increase in DOE’s Office of Science budget, and a 50% increase in NIST’s budget. These increases include funds to invest in the future through STEM education and teaching. But, these funds are authorized, not committed. We urge Congress to follow through on this critical funding.
We also commend Congress on formalizing and extending programmatic authority for the critical work of NIST on emerging technologies. The CHIPS Act will advance NIST’s efforts around safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI), risk management of AI systems, privacy enhancing technologies, digital identification standards, and biometric research, among others. We believe these efforts are essential to develop a strong democratic framework for data governance and promote continued U.S. innovation.
