WASHINGTON — A proposal in Congress to boost U.S. competitiveness in advanced technology could mean millions of education and industry dollars for the region and be a “generational opportunity” for Pittsburgh, a city that boasts its status as the birthplace of driverless tech and the cradle of numerous start-ups.
Bills in both chambers outline billions in investment to support initiatives all the way from K-12 STEM education to semiconductors, quantum computing, climate science research and “high intensity laser” exploration. And could ensure U.S. leadership and security — namely from China’s creeping dominance — for decades to come, advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say.
While the D.C. spotlight has been focused on the massive bipartisan infrastructure law and President Joe Biden’s stalled social and climate spending bill, tech insiders in Pittsburgh see the innovation-focused legislation as one of the most significant moves the U.S. could make.
Under consideration is an estimated $200 billion Senate bill titled the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, or USICA. The sprawling, bipartisan 2,000-page proposal aims to establish National Science Foundation programs for the commercialization of artificial intelligence, advanced computing and other areas while also protecting domestic research and expanding trade provisions with China.
On the House side, bipartisan support is strong for multiple bills that would double the National Science Foundation research funding to $78 billion over five years and direct $50 billion over the same time period for Department of Energy projects.
“This is a generational scale investment in that type of economic development, in strengthening our core research universities, but also putting money in there for translational research [to private industry],” said Brian Kennedy, senior vice president of operations and government affairs for the Pittsburgh Technology Council, which represents 1,000 companies in the Pittsburgh region.
The tech leader estimates that in “the very short term” roughly $100 million to $200 million in funding could roll into southwestern Pennsylvania.
“But in all honesty I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Mr. Kennedy, who cited what previous investments have done for the university lab-to-company pipeline.
“If you look at Pittsburgh’s story in terms of tech, it’s really hard to tell it without mentioning Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh,” he continued.
Mr. Kennedy traced the thread from inside the robotics and computer science labs to the marquee Pittsburgh-based manufacturing hubs and tech companies across the city. Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Robotics Institute established itself where once the city’s steel mills sat on Hazelwood Green. Argo AI has led Pittsburgh to the forefront of autonomous vehicle testing, he said, and Astrobotic soon will direct a mission to the moon from its North Side-based control room.
“It’s the kind of investments that are front-and-center on the planet right now — AI, biotechnology, cybersecurity. These are all the core capabilities of Pittsburgh, and they’re also the core things pressing everyone on the planet.”
China
China’s advances in technological innovation have become a top concern among tech leaders, defense officials and lawmakers.
The world’s second largest economy became the top manufacturer of high-tech goods in 2020, and it either already has sped ahead or is poised to overtake the U.S. in the next decade in various advanced technologies, according to a report published this month by the Harvard Kennedy School.
China has become a major competitor to the U.S. in artificial intelligence, and America’s 5G infrastructure rollout is years behind its rival, the study reported. Additionally, the report asserts that while the U.S. is a leader in other areas, including semiconductor design, green energy and cell therapy, China is building competitive capacity in manufacturing and biotechnology.
This leads some experts to conclude that America’s plan is behind the curve.
“I wish they passed this bill 10 years ago,” said Kevin Chen, a professor with the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering.
“This is really a no brainer. I can tell you what happens if this bill is not passed. The United States as a country is going to continue to under invest in technology, especially in this important technology,” he said.
“Think about 5G. The U.S. government didn’t invest a lot of R&D into 5G. Who’s leading right now? I think you know that: Huawei,” he said, referring to the Chinese tech company. “... You don’t want to be in that situation for semiconductors.”
In either substance or rhetoric, both U.S. chambers point to the innovation bills as an answer to this threat.
The Senate version cites China hundreds of times regarding policies limiting cooperation with the nation, lists page after page on the flow of goods, and promotes a “Buy America” strategy.
The bill also outlines ways to tackle security of research developed in the United States, which Mr. Kennedy sees as a possible snag in the proposal for academics.
“There’s a lot of concern about how that might get played out in actuality, how that might actually hurt competitiveness of American universities and hurt the transparency of research we do that’s meant for the world,” he said.
A Republican aide who is knowledgeable of the House versions said that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are trying to chart a middle path between global innovation and U.S. intellectual property.
“International collaboration is critical for scientific progress, and we certainly don’t want to harm that, but we need to find a balance between protecting taxpayer-funded research from theft while encouraging the collaboration that has always made science successful,” the aide said.
However, Mr. Kennedy and others say the potential fruits of the plan appear too sweet to limit the focus just to China.
Zoning in on China is a “one dimensional way of thinking of it,” said Stephen Herzenberg, economist and executive director of the progressive Keystone Research Center.
“Many other countries have been constructively nationalist when it comes to manufacturing policy for a long time, think of Germany and Japan,” he said. “... The bottom line is [a nationwide manufacturing policy] would help a lot.”
A Democratic House aide noted that the “bills are certainly broader than China.”
“It’s very much sort of taking stock of U.S. leadership and U.S. competitiveness challenged by any comer and making sure that U.S. is equipped to respond and lead and succeed in the face of the rest of the world, which is not standing idly by,” the aide said.
Can Congress get it done?
As Christmas approaches and half of the 50-50 Senate faces disappointment at the unfinished Build Back Better agenda, both parties see the innovation bills as a doable bipartisan task in the new year.
Both the Senate and House passed their respective versions in June with support across the aisle.
Just before Thanksgiving Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., convened Democratic committee leaders to task them with combining the multiple House bills into one large companion proposal alongside the Senate’s version.
A senior Democrat House aide expects the legislation to be introduced in the coming weeks, and with an additional focus on supply chain remedies.
“These bills were hammered out over a year. We did quite a bit of work, and we feel very good about all of them,” said a Republican House aide. “... This could set us up for success for [the] next generation, and we need to get to work on it.”
Ashley Murray: amurray@post-gazette.com
First Published: December 19, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
