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U.S. Senate Passes Bill to Boost U.S. Tech Industry

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The U.S. Senate approved a bill that aims to reinvigorate the nation’s technological footprint in the face of growing international competition. The legislation, called the Innovation and Competition Act, was lauded by the U.S. President. This bill would make generational investments in research and development and advanced manufacturing to help grow critical tech industries and win the jobs of the future.

The legislation will discover, build, and enhance tomorrow’s most vital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), computer chips, semiconductor production, robotics lithium batteries used in smart devices and electric vehicles. By strengthening innovation infrastructure, more jobs in manufacturing and technology will be created.

The centrepiece of the bill is a $50 billion emergency allotment to the Commerce Department to stand up semiconductor development and manufacturing through research and incentive programs previously authorised by Congress. This is the biggest investment in scientific research that the country has seen in decades.

If America wants to keep leading the world in science and technology, the federal government must invest in science, basic research and technological innovation. Whoever wins the race to the technologies of the future is going to be the global economic leader with profound consequences for foreign policy and national security.

One of the bill’s provisions would create a new directorate focused on AI and quantum science with the National Science Foundation (NSF). The bill would authorise up to $29 billion over five years for the new branch within the foundation with an additional $52 billion for its programs.  The agency finances about a quarter of all federally supported sci-tech research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.

According to an article, the expanded legislation would provide $52 billion in assistance to semiconductor manufacturing companies to make computer chips, which have been in a global shortage since last summer. The shortage has affected manufacturers and automakers that use the chips in vehicles, cellphones and video game consoles. In addition, it would establish tech hubs in places they have not traditionally existed.

Investment in tech education is one of the most important aspects of the bill, along with the fundamental focus on applied science research. Supporting the geographical spread of innovation will be transformative.

Moreover, the House has introduced another similar piece of legislation: the NSF for the Future Act. Both bills focus on expanding the NSF’s budget to boost American innovation. The Act also includes a new directorate for science and engineering solutions. Some senates wanted legislation that focuses more on applied science with a new tech directorate instead of tech competition with other countries.

The solutions-driven approach in the NSF for the Future Act offers the nation a win-win science and innovation strategy. History teaches that problem-solving can itself drive the innovation that in turn gives rise to new industries and achieves competitive advantage.

To maintain the position as a leader in sci-tech innovations, the U.S. continues to invent advanced technologies, such as building the world’s fastest AI supercomputer. As reported by OpenGov Asia, The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) today formally unveiled the first phase of its next-generation supercomputer, called Perlmutter. The new system will greatly increase the high-performance computing (HPC) capability for a broad spectrum of unclassified scientific research within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science.

Perlmutter features a heterogeneous architecture that will provide four times the computational power or scientific simulation, data analysis, and artificial intelligence applications. The Perlmutter system will play a key role in advancing scientific research in the U.S. and is front and centre in several critical technologies, including advanced computing, artificial intelligence, and data science.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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