NSF announces investment roadmap for the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Directorate

The congressionally mandated report outlines the strategic vision for NSF's new directorate that will, in turn, guide its initial technology investment decisions

The U.S. National Science Foundation published an investment roadmap for the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), outlining the directorate's strategic vision that will, in turn, guide initial investment decisions focused on advancing U.S. competitiveness in key technology areas.

"U.S. competitiveness hinges on harnessing breakthroughs in key technology areas and training the American workforce for the jobs of tomorrow," said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for TIP. "The roadmap will help TIP stage our efforts to make demonstrable progress in key technology focus areas and address societal, national and geostrategic challenges, all while maintaining flexibility in a dynamic technological and geopolitical landscape."

The "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022" authorized the establishment of the TIP Directorate and charged NSF with publishing a report defining how the agency will cultivate targeted investments in key technology areas over a three-year window to increase U.S. competitiveness. Assessments of the key technology areas will be conducted every three years by updating the TIP roadmap, informing the directorate's plans for staging investments for maximal effect on U.S. competitiveness.

To create the roadmap, TIP leveraged a risk analysis to identify key technology areas that most urgently require acceleration to enhance U.S. competitiveness. Additionally, TIP sought to identify the opportunities or vulnerabilities within the key technology areas that were most closely aligned with the directorate's emphasis on use-inspired and translational research and development, as well as associated funding mechanisms. To incorporate feedback from individuals and organizations across all sectors — industry, academia, nonprofits, government, venture capital, civil society and others — TIP gathered feedback through a request for information in summer 2023. This process resulted in identifying four primary key technology areas for near-term TIP investment: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced communications technology, and data storage and management.

The four near-term TIP focus areas will drive the development of new use-inspired and translational funding opportunities, infrastructure investments and workforce development efforts to address key vulnerabilities to U.S. competitiveness. In tandem with these technology-specific investments, many of the TIP Directorate's programs will remain technology-agnostic, welcoming proposals spanning the full breadth of key technology focus areas.

For more information about TIP, visit https://new.nsf.gov/tip/latest.