Gina Raimondo, U.S. secretary of commerce, throughout a “First Tool-In” ceremony on the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility beneath development in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022.
Caitlin O’Hara | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The U.S. authorities is looking for to show metro areas in center America into the subsequent sizzling spots of tech innovation with an preliminary $500 million funding.
The Department of Commerce introduced Friday its first discover of funding alternative, or NOFO, for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub program, often known as Tech Hubs. It kicks off the method for eligible teams across the nation to use to be designated as Tech Hubs. That designation provides them the prospect to benefit from the funds to make their areas engaging locations for entrepreneurs and technologists to stay and work.
“America leads the world in technological innovation. But the sad reality is that our tech ecosystem is extremely concentrated,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo instructed reporters on a briefing name Thursday, noting that 80% of U.S. enterprise capital cash is invested within the San Francisco Bay Area, the Northeast and Southern California. “There’s so much more potential for tech innovation all across the country. In the U.S. we have the best research institutions in the world. That’s indisputable. And frankly, many of them are in America’s heartland, far from the coast.”
Congress approved $10 billion for this system between fiscal years 2023 and 2027, of which $500 million is out there to be distributed this 12 months. Under the present funding alternative, a complete of $15 million in planning grants might be made accessible to candidates designated as Tech Hubs. Later this 12 months, 5 to 10 designated Tech Hubs might be awarded grants of $50 million to $75 million every to assist construct out capability of their area, based on a Department of Commerce official.
President Joe Biden requested $4 billion be made accessible for Tech Hubs in subsequent 12 months’s funds.
Eligible candidates are teams made up of a minimum of one entity from every of the next classes: the next training establishment, subdivision of native or state authorities, business or agency in related tech or manufacturing discipline, financial growth group, and labor group or workforce coaching group.
Under the statute, Tech Hubs ought to deal with a particular set of key areas of know-how, which embrace synthetic intelligence, robotics, pure catastrophe prevention, biotechnology, cybersecurity, vitality effectivity and extra. The division should designate a minimum of 20 Tech Hubs beneath the legislation.
The hope is that the infusion of funds will assist areas throughout the nation change into important facilities of innovation and create extra well-paying jobs throughout a larger swath of the nation.
“President Biden is so clear on one point, which is that everyone in America deserves a fair shot at economic opportunity, no matter where they live, and they shouldn’t have to move in order to get a good job,” Raimondo mentioned. “Nobody should have to leave their family or support system or network to move to New York or San Francisco just to get a good job.”
Raimondo additionally framed this system as an vital funding in U.S. nationwide safety. She pointed to the nation’s present efforts via the Chips and Science Act to put money into home semiconductor manufacturing, which grew to become an pressing bipartisan precedence when the pandemic highlighted how fragile the pc chip provide chain was. That’s as a result of most superior chips will not be produced within the U.S., and the business’s dependence on chips made in Taiwan makes the provision chain particularly weak, given tensions with China.
Raimondo mentioned the U.S. “ceded our leadership on manufacturing and innovation for this critical technology. And now we’re in the difficult position of having to catch up.”
The “Tech Hubs program is about making sure that doesn’t happen again, ensuring we stay ahead of the curve on other essential technologies, from quantum to artificial intelligence to biotech,” she mentioned.
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