Frontier Foundry's Public Comment on National Standards for Critical and Emerging Tech

Frontier Foundry is pleased to contribute to the national conversation on standards surround critical and emerging technology. We recently submitted a public comment in response to a request for information from the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). The full comment may be accessed on regulations.gov, or see below.

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Key points

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1. Standards are voted on internationally so the US cannot go it alone. Success requires international partnerships.
2. Intellectual property protection is becoming a national security issue and must be treated as such.
3. Federal R&D funding should be protected from politically motivated budget cuts in statute.
4. Clear a path for foreign STEM students educated in the US to become citizens.

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Executive Summary

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The NSSCET was originally published in recognition that emerging technology is a central geopolitical issue that directly affects our national and homeland security. Technology standards are central to how the U.S. will ensure that continued technological innovation inspires trust and includes our democratic values at the design and development level. Even with prioritization, funding, and motivation, the U.S. cannot substantively change the outcome of standards making processes alone. For this reason, our implementation recommendations begin with a focused diplomatic effort that seeks to incentivize partnerships, research and development (R&D) agreements, protect intellectual property, and build foreign capacity in order to create a broad coalition of like-minded partners who will present a formidable block of voters in any technology standards process. FF views the emerging technology as the up and coming internationally compatible issue for diplomatic engagement for the next decade or more. Much in the same way the U.S. used counterterrorism cooperation to build coalitions during the Global War on Terror, emerging technology cooperation will be that issue that the U.S. should lean into to build partners and build capacity.

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The international effort required to effectively execute the NSSCET will be unlike efforts before it. It will require a true partnership with the private sector and academia to provide the most up to date technical specifications that should be prioritized for a given standard. This is why our approach focuses on the creation of a domestic commercial-academic-diplomatic (CAD) alliance to fully define the international outreach. The CAD will also be responsible for mapping innovation centers around the world that are researching and developing new technologies so the international effort can focus on high impact areas. Finally, we will provide actions on investment and workforce based on our unique experience with technology investments and emerging technology workforce upskilling.  

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The importance of this issue demands accountability and actions that can be clearly measured and mapped back to NSSCET objectives and actions. Our approach assigns recommended U.S. federal government agencies to be the lead for each action. The plan covers three years of activity with specific milestones to be met. It includes both foundational activities and activities that are intended to provide direct investment to innovators and international partners within the first two years of implementation. This type of short term action combined with long term foundation building with set the NSSCET implementation up for success for years to come.

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Framing

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Since the first International Telegraph Convention which held in 1865, the process to develop each generation of telecommunications standards has brought countries around the world together to vote on and adopt what most people know as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wifi6 and beyond. About every ten years a new generation of telecommunication standard is adopted, and it is rolled out commercially a couple of years later. Though this technology touches billion of people around the world, the importance of the process is little understood outside of a select group of innovators, specialized engineers, and the telecommunications industry. However, the outcome of each of these standards processes are highly consequential and today translates into a potential national security challenge for the United States.  

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Technical standards shape how a given technology will be designed, developed, deployed, and used for years into the future. While commonly associated with the concept of interoperability, standards may also be created to encompasses philosophies such as the protection of privacy and other democratic values the same way they can be created to allow for state-sponsored surveillance. Using the telecommunications example, it is entirely possible that 6G and future generation standards could be dominated by patents by researchers from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other nation states that are not aligned with democratic values, potentially placing the U.S. and our allies at a strategic disadvantage.

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Frontier Foundry commends the White House for its recognition of the importance of standards not only for telecommunications but for technologies that are on a trajectory to be standardized in the future. Standards form an important foundation for the innovation ecosystem in the U.S. and its allies because they will ultimately drive public trust, equity, and national security applications. However, the U.S. cannot solve this problem alone, which is why our approach prioritizes a focused diplomatic effort that views international partnerships through the emerging technology lens. Using this lens, the U.S. can directly address the issue at the center of Great Power Competition, but it must have partners to do so. The recommendations that follow are meant to be built upon a strong diplomatic foundation that leverages all international partnership opportunities including law enforcement, intelligence, military, and traditional diplomacy. This foundation will build a stronger coalition at standards organizations and ultimately ensure that democratic values are a part of future technologies at the most fundamental level.

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Diplomatic Efforts

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For twenty years, the most compatible diplomatic issue around the world was counterterrorism. The U.S. built lasting partnerships with non-traditional allies through counterterrorism capacity building, cooperation, and aid. Success begets success and as counterterrorism relationships grew so did opportunities for other cooperation. In the same way, emerging technology is the compatible issue for this geopolitical era. Countries around the world can agree that leadership in emerging technology development and STEM talent cultivation are important for individual innovation ecosystems and for international economic opportunities.  

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In alignment with the strategic vision of the NSSCET, the implementation plan should include specific diplomatic tasks that build general cooperation on emerging technology topics that will lead to larger cooperation opportunities on standards.  

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Action 1: Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements

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1. State Department leads an effort to update the bilateral and multilateral agreements to which the U.S. is a party concerning illicit technology transfer and intellectual property theft.  
   1. GOAL: Create an international environment where intellectual property and trade secrets are safe from illicit theft, particularly by state-sponsored actors.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: State Department leads the drafting and presentation of at least 10 such agreements in the first year of the implementation plan.  
      1. Year 1: 4-6 signed bilateral/multilateral agreements on the protection of intellectual property rights and the prevention of illicit technology transfer to include extradition of offenders.  
      2. Year 2: 10 signed bilateral/multilateral agreements.
      3. Year 3: Public introduction of a new international norm protecting intellectual property rights. Introduction of a binding resolution at the United Nations.
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Action 2: Law Enforcement Capacity Building

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1. Department of Justice leads an international capacity building effort that compliments State’s bilateral and multilateral agreement effort to help secure intellectual property, investigate crimes, and extradite offenders.  
   1. GOAL: Build a cooperative international partnership on emerging technology topics through the law enforcement channel.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: Justice uses existing law enforcement training forums to deliver intellectual property theft investigation training to foreign partners.
      1. Year 1: Justice develops and approves IP theft training curricula.  
      2. Year 2: Justice delivers training to at least 5 foreign partners as proof of concept.
      3. Year 3: Justice and DHS deliver the training in all of its law enforcement training forums.

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Action 3: Standards-focused events in the U.S. with international partners and academia

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1. State Department in coordination with the Department of Commerce (NIST) plans and executes multiple events in the U.S. focused on specific technology areas that are prioritized for standards development.
   1. GOAL: Build a coalition of like-minded innovators and policy makers who prioritize democratic values in the standards process.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: State and Commerce plan a series of events in the U.S. that include U.S. academic institutions and international partners to collaborate on technology development and security by design.
      1. Year 1: State and Commerce hold 3 events in the U.S. focused on 6G, quantum, and AI development.
      2. Year 2: Hold one event per month at different research universities in the U.S. and collaborate specifically on the importance of standards.  
      3. Year 3: Produce a public joint statement on the imperative of including democratic values in standards processes as foundational principles.

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Action 4: Intelligence Requirements

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1. The Director of National Intelligence leads an effort to produce intelligence requirements focused on the progress of key technology areas aligned with the NSSCET.
   1. GOAL: Provide critical insights into technology development abroad and efforts by nation states to influence the adoption of technical standards for both national security impacts and investment opportunities.  
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: ODNI will prioritize the collection and analysis of critical science and technology intelligence and produce collection requirements.
      1. Year 1: ODNI will do a full review of its S&T related collection requirements and analysis products over the last 5 years. ODNI will submit a report to the NSC on its findings.
      2. Year 2: ODNI, in cooperation with the NSC, produces a list of critical technology areas for collection requirement prioritization.  
      3. Year 3: ODNI produces and distributes new collection requirements and shares with Five Eye partners.

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Investment

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Innovation requires the ability to experiment and possibly fail and the U.S. has lost its tolerance for moonshots. Investments in pre-standardized technologies can result in patents that define how technology is designed and developed for decades providing substantial economic opportunities and opportunities for global leadership. The investment structure, particularly as it relates to government investment, should change to become more risk tolerant. The risk can be distributed through joint R&D with international partners and through public-private partnerships. This leg of the implementation plan builds directly on top of the diplomatic effort described above. Creating an international cadre of like-minded nations and directly investing in capacity building will ease the follow-on conversations about investment and joint programs that require monetary outlays. The plan below prioritizes risk-tolerant investment, international partnership, and public-private partnerships.

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Action 1: Legislative Proposal to Protect Technology R&D Funding

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1. R&D funding is often the easiest funding to cut in government circles because it is not directly tied to a current mission requirement. This approach often results in R&D budget cuts and what money is left must be used for the requirements of today. The Department of Commerce and the National Science Foundation will collaborate on producing a legislative proposal closely tied to the CHIPS and Science Act that prevents R&D funding from being among the first cuts to agency budgets. The proposal should call technology R&D funding a strategic priority and incentivize future-facing technology projects.
   1. GOAL: Ensure consistent funding for technology R&D projects.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: Commerce and NSF will draft a legislative proposal and submit it through legislative affairs channels for consideration by Congress.
      1. Year 1: NSF and Commerce agree on the framework for the proposal and complete a draft.
      2. Year 2: Final proposal is submitted to Congress and language is made public.

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Action 2: Explore Technological Approaches Standardizing Democratic Values

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1. Department of Commerce, through NIST, will leverage existing academic and research relationships with U.S. commercial and international partners to explore technological approaches for standardizing democratic values in technology products.
   1. GOAL: Identify specific technologies to support for patents and standardization.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: NIST will use existing, and create new, public-private partnerships that identify promising technological approaches.
      1. Year 1: Identify forums to be used for technology exploration.
      2. Year 2: Create and submit a report on technological approaches that support democratic values to the federal executive branch agencies.  
      3. Year 3: Provide funding to support R&D technologies that align to democratic values.

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Action 3: Map international technology innovation and development centers to focus international cooperation on areas that show promise for joint R&D investment.

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1. State Department and the Director of National Intelligence will lead an effort to locate and map innovation centers around the world where innovation is occurring on smaller scales. This is in pursuit of incubation opportunities that will also support diversity and inclusion goals.
   1. GOAL: Identify opportunities for early stage and incubator investment in developing nations and areas in partnership to increase joint investment opportunities.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: State approach key partners building on the above diplomatic effort to identify small innovator communities and centers of STEM talent for incubation.  
      1. Year 1: State approaches 5 key governments about joint R&D projects focused on underdeveloped innovation areas.  
         1. ODNI leverages its relationships with local intelligence services to identify key personnel and educators to support.
      2. Year 2: The U.S. enters into at least 2 joint R&D projects supporting small community innovators.
      3. Year 3: The U.S. grows the program to over 20 joint R&D projects and makes the program public.

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Action 4: Publicly Call for Technology Standards on Risk and Resilience Topics

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1. DHS, supported by the White House, will lead a public campaign to call for the standardization of specific technologies that support resilience and address risk. This call will lead to more patents and incentivize innovators by providing the opportunity to have their specific technology standardized.
   1. GOAL: Catalyze innovation on risk and resilience technology areas that could be standardized for the benefit of risk detection, security, and resilience of critical infrastructure.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: As an initial step, DHS will lead a series of public events calling for standardization of technology supporting risk and resilience.
      1. Year 1: DHS submits a report and budget for a series of events to the White House.
      2. Year 2: DHS leverages academic and private sector partnerships to hold 6 events and creates specific content for social media outreach.

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Action 5: Incentivize state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to develop standards to incorporate CET into the delivery of government services.

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1. The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) with support from the Federal Communications Commission, Bureau of Indian Affairs, NIST, and DHS should encourage partnerships between academic institutions and state, local, and tribal governments to incorporate CETs into the delivery of government services. State, local, and tribal institutions are the most intimate forms of government, having a direct, and noticeable impact on the constituents they serve.
   1. GOAL: Build partnerships between state, local, and tribal entities to develop, test, and deploy CET and CET standards in the delivery of government services.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: As an initial step, NTIA will convene a working group consisting of DHS, FCC, BIA and solicit stakeholder participation from state, local, and tribal governments as well as relevant professional associations.
      1. Year 1: NTIA will publish an RFI inviting existing or proposed use cases of CET in the delivery of local government services.  
      2. Year 2: NTIA publishes voluntary guidelines on the adoption of CET in the delivery of services for state, local, and tribal governments.  

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Workforce

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According to a 2021 study by researchers at the Georgetown University Center for Security and Emerging Technology, China is projected to produce 77,000 STEM PhDs by 2025 while the U.S. is projected to produce 40,000. There are other factors beyond the pure numbers of STEM graduates, but this story tells an interesting tale of the future of STEM workforce in the U.S. From the PhD programs at the most prestigious universities to certificate programs, the U.S. is in need of a workforce that has a higher overall STEM understanding across all professional fields. STEM PhDs generate cutting edge research and patents that are directly relevant to the standards conversation and should be prioritized, however, the users and implementers of technology that comes to market must also have a higher competency in emerging technologies generally and in standards more broadly.  

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In addition, the U.S. leads the world in STEM education from its world class institutions to its cutting-edge research. The U.S. also boasts an attractive innovation ecosystem to which entrepreneurs from around the world are attracted to patent and commercialize their innovations. The U.S. should capitalize on these two advantages by creating paths for foreign students educated in STEM programs in the U.S. to obtain citizenship. With this framing, Frontier Foundry recommends the following actions based around raising the overall floor of STEM topics from cutting edge research to professional upskilling and beyond.

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Action 1: Legislative Proposal for a Clear Path from STEM Education to Citizenship

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1. The Departments of Commerce, State, Homeland Security, and Education will lead an effort to put forward a legislative proposal to create clear paths to citizenship for foreign STEM students using existing F, M, O, E3 and EW3 visa categories.
   1. GOAL: Grow the number of foreign-born STEM students who become U.S. citizens and gain employment in STEM fields in the U.S.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: The aforementioned Departments will deliver a legislative proposal to the Congress and release it publicly within two years of the implementation of the NSSCET.
      1. Year 1: Create a cross-government working group using NSC convening authority to identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities in the current immigration and visa systems.
      2. Year 2: Deliver a legislative proposal that creates a clear path from the F and M visas to O and eventually to E3 and EW3.

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Action 2: Create an Online Repository of Emerging Technology Courses  

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1. Partnering with academia and private sector organizations, Commerce and Education will lead an effort to create accessible professional upskilling courses applicable to a variety of non-technical fields. This approach will raise the floor of STEM and emerging technology talent in fields outside of the research and technical arenas. This material should be made available at a subsidized cost to individuals and a different cost structure will be created for organizations.
   1. GOAL: Increase technical and standards knowledge across non-technical professional fields and reach professionals who have completed their traditional post-high school education.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: The program will be developed with the aid of academic institutions and private companies. The challenge is creating a platform for such material.
      1. Year 1: Convene a group of academic and private sector partners to define a scope and create a vision for the program.
      2. Year 2: Using the report from year 1, create a plan for course rollouts, certifications, and syllabi for the first set of courses. Release an RFP to create the learning platform and one to create content.
      3. Year 3: Roll out the first courses according to the plan created in year 2 and offer the first courses for free.
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Action 3: Improve and Streamline the Process for Employer Sponsored Immigrant Visas

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1. DHS will lead an effort to reduce the burden on employers that sponsor immigrant visas for specific types of STEM talent. This plan will include incentives for hiring foreign STEM talent educated in the U.S.
   1. GOAL: Increase the number of foreign-born students educated in the U.S. that become U.S. citizens and work in STEM fields in the U.S.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: Some of the changes will require Congressional action but others can be done as a matter of policy. DHS should seek to find ways to leverage policy to reduce burdens in the employer sponsorship of immigrant visas.
      1. Year 1: DHS will partner with State to find ways to streamline and fast track the immigrant visa process to include improving record keeping, information sharing, and automating manual processes to reduce administrative processing times.
      2. Year 2: DHS will publicize its first policy changes. DHS will work with Commerce and Department of Treasury to identify potential incentives that can be provided to employers for retaining foreign-born STEM talent educated in the U.S.
      3. Year 3: DHS leads an effort to demonstrate success of the program to Congress and make the case for legislative change consistent with the legislative proposal in Action 1.

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Action 4: Conduct Specific Public Outreach Targeting Working Professionals in Non-Technical Fields

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1. Central to the successful implementation of the NSSCET is to expand the understanding of the importance of technology standards processes beyond those who already engage in the work. This public outreach will prioritize standards and emerging technology knowledge and understanding in non-technical professions to promote awareness of the standards subject to professional such as policy makers, lawyers, managers, finance personnel, and beyond.
   1. GOAL: Promote the importance of technology standards to non-technical personnel.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: This program will offer education courses as a hook but will target the promotion and prioritization of standards as an economic, national, and homeland security issue.
      1. Year 1: NIST will partner with DHS to formulate a plan for public outreach to universities, critical infrastructure, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to promote standards as an issue important to the future of their organizations. A report will be submitted to NIST as the implementer of this strategy.
      2. Year 2: The outreach program pilots in limited areas with limited audiences. A report will be due to NIST by year’s end on refining content and approaches before the full roll out in year 3.
      3. Year 3: Full roll out of public messaging campaign.

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Action 5: Provide K-12 Schools with Maximum Flexibility to Use Funding Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to Pursue Technology Infrastructure Upgrades, Equipment Purchases, and Cybersecurity Systems.  

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1. In the United States, K-12 schools benefit from substantial federal funding for instructional technology under Title funding programs, integral to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Annually, ESSA allocates around $20 billion, primarily for educational technology enhancement in schools. Despite this, current Department of Education regulations impose restrictive conditions on the use of these funds, particularly concerning the procurement of information technology infrastructure and cybersecurity systems. It's proposed that the Department of Education reassess the ESSA guidelines to offer more flexibility in the use and allocation of Title funds, specifically for technology acquisition.
   1. GOAL: Encourage the modification or development of K-12 CET curricula, including faculty professional development, by providing greater flexibility in the utilization of federal funds for such initiatives.
   2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS: This program will look for opportunities to provide schools which receive ESSA funding more flexibility in the type of technology purchased and how that technology is used.  
      1. Year 1: The Department of Education will request feedback through an RFI (Request for Information) on enhancing ESSA regulations to provide K-12 schools with more leeway in upgrading their IT infrastructure, instructional technology, and cybersecurity.
      2. Year 2: The Department of Education will release updated guidance to maximize the flexibility in technology procurement and deployment for K-12 schools using ESSA funds, aligning with the new objectives.

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Conclusion

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The importance of technical standards internationally continues to grow and the NSSCET is an excellent framework for ensuring full U.S. participation in the processes. To achieve the goal of expanding U.S. participation, and the larger goal of ensuring democratic values are a part of standardization, the U.S. must build a foundation of standards-savvy individuals that can work in concert to innovate and to position the U.S. for the leadership role the NSSCET envisions. The implementers of the NSSCET should consider the following as guiding principles:  

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• The U.S. should lean into what it already leads such as STEM higher education. Incentivizing more U.S.-educated foreign STEM talent to stay in the U.S. is a step toward building the foundation of a standards-savvy workforce.  
• The U.S. must recognize that emerging technology is a central diplomatic issue globally and align its efforts to build capacity and partners in the emerging technology area.
  • Without a strong international coalition, the U.S. will not succeed in ensuring democratic values are reflected in standards processes.
• R&D budgets should be protected, and R&D costs should be shared with like-minded nations.
• The protection of intellectual property relating to pre-standards technology should be prioritized to incentivize more innovation and protect American leadership.

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Frontier Foundry appreciates the opportunity to collaborate with NIST on the implementation of the NSSCET and looks forward to more work together in the future. Questions about this RFI response can be directed to Nick Reese at nickreese@frontierfoundry.com.

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Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

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