In today’s edition of Countdown to MerITocracy, we’re taking a look at what may change for the better in the near-term U.S. outlook – how about having the government help recreate the U.S. semiconductor sector that mostly drifted overseas a generation ago – plus billions in Federal R&D funding that stands ready to be put to work in pending legislation in Congress. That money would flow through the National Science Foundation – whose director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan is a featured speaker at MerITocracy. […]

The House of Representatives approved a pair of bills May 10 to bolster Federal cybersecurity by creating a Federal cybersecurity rotational workforce program and developing a training program for Federal officials with supply chain risk management responsibilities. […]

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today voted to approve the National Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Supply Chain Database Act of 2021, and the Network Equipment Transparency Act. […]

Historically, Federal agencies have been instructed to be secretive on cyber matters, but a key step in fortifying the software supply chain is clear and constant information sharing, according to Jeanette McMillian, the assistant director for Supply Chain and Cyber at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. […]

The White House announced today it is launching an information-sharing initiative aimed to improve freight information exchange and speed up the movement of goods to address a wide range of supply chain problems. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) is seeking information from the microelectronics (ME) research and development (R&D) community to help establish a public-private partnership to aid in domestic production of ME-related technologies, according to a request for information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov Feb. 24. […]

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Commerce (DoC) calls for Federal government action to revitalize U.S.-based production of semiconductors and printed circuit boards (PCBs) as one of several actions to boost the nation’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry supply chain security. […]

President Biden was set to meet with administration officials and industry partners today to announce new investments in the domestic production of critical minerals and materials, which are crucial to many modern technologies. […]

A Department of Defense (DoD) report on the state of competition in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) underscores the need to bring in more small businesses, and implement sector-specific supply chain resiliency plans in order to increase competition and innovation in the DIB. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking a deeper look to evaluate its supply chain management system, the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS), which the VA adopted from the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Logistics Agency in 2019. […]

The House of Representatives passed the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act of 2022 (COMPETES) today by a 220-210 vote. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted on Feb. 2 to approve the Supply Chain Security Training Act.  The committee’s approval of the bill sends it to the full House of Representatives for consideration. […]

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to electronics recycling for innovative ways to extract critical elements and help minimize the impact of supply chain disruptions. […]

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) released the first-ever supply chain security standard (SCS 9001), developed specifically to aid the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.  […]

President Biden’s December 8 executive order on steps the Federal government will take to reduce carbon emissions across the government features provisions that direct Federal agencies to evaluate supply chain sustainability and supplier emissions as part of that larger effort. […]

The Department of Commerce is proposing new safety criteria for connected software to help better secure information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chains, including potential third-party audits of connected software and ICTS transactions, according to a proposed rule posted to the Federal Register Nov. 26. […]

 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is requesting information from all stakeholders involved directly or indirectly with the energy sector supply chain to help inform the DoE’s efforts in building an energy sector industrial base that is diverse, resilient, and competitive while meeting economic, national security, and climate objectives. […]

The House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better (BBB) Act this morning, sending the more than $1.75 trillion reconciliation package to the Senate. The bill includes billions for supply chain resiliency, as well as additional cybersecurity and IT modernization funding. […]

Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress announced Nov. 17 that they will form a conference committee to resolve differences between the Senate-passed United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) and the House-passed National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Future Act – thus creating a pathway to passage for the supply chain and research investment bills. […]

With the House consideration of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) – Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus budget reconciliation bill – pushed to this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the Senate will begin consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week. […]

The Department of Transportation has been tasked with seeking private sector input to create standardized data exchange requirements for goods movement in the transportation supply chain, according to a White House announcement of administration plans to fund ports and waterways improvements aimed at improving supply chain resiliency. […]

The National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) – a group of private sector experts that advises the White House on telecom availability and reliability issues – has drafted several recommendations for the Biden administration including one to establish a task force for software assurance in information and communications technology and services supply chains. […]

The House of Representatives passed the DHS Software Supply Chain Risk Management Act of 2021 this week with a 412-2 vote. […]

There are many facets to Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM), from building trust with vendors and users to assessing manufacturing specs. During a virtual summit hosted by FCW on Oct. 20, current and former officials from NASA explained the must-have factors in the agency’s SCRM to decide what products are safe to use for applications. […]

Federal cyber leaders and government agencies are pushing forward with Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) and Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) initiatives to address vulnerabilities and prevent further incidents from compromising critical systems. […]

As we approach the home stretch for the two trillion-dollar-plus infrastructure bills that have consumed an extraordinary amount of legislative energy over the past few months, it’s easy to become confused. […]

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said on Sept. 15 that the United States’ supply chains are not resilient, and strengthening those supply chains is going to be critical for U.S. competitiveness going forward. […]

Proposed funding for a host of new tech-related spending projects are springing forth from new House committee legislative prints contributing to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, and now it’s wait-and-see on which – if any – of them survive what is likely to be a free-wheeling House-Senate negotiation on the giant spending bill. […]

The Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) published a final rule in the Federal Register this week to assess Federal government supply chain risk information, as well as remove and exclude IT products, systems, or services that pose a national security risk. […]

The Biden administration has tasked the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to work with industry and other parties to come up with a new framework “to improve the security and integrity of the technology supply chain.” […]