TESTIMONY OF
PHILLIP J. BOND
UNDER SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
BEFORE THE HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, TECHNOLOGY AND STANDARDS
MARCH 14, 2002
Mr.
Chairman and members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before you today
to testify on behalf of the Technology Administration, and to share with you
the Agency’s approach to fulfilling our mission of maximizing technology’s
contribution to the national economy. A
strong economy and a strong national defense are the bedrock on which our
freedom, global leadership, standard of living, and quality of life are
built. More than ever before, technology
is vital to maintaining and building these U.S. strengths.
Rapid
advances in technology, especially information technology, have driven our
country’s remarkable economic performance for the past decade. Technological innovation has underpinned
sustained periods of economic growth, higher rates of investment, low
inflation, high-wage job growth, low unemployment, and solid increases in
productivity- the true path for producing higher standards of living. There can be little doubt that our technology
producers and technology-intensive industries will lead the way in returning
our nation to a path of robust economic growth.
As
we have all witnessed in the past few months, technology is our
force-multiplier in the war on terrorism and in homeland security. Thanks to technology, we can put the world’s
finest tools in the hands of our military, law enforcement and public safety
personnel, intelligence community, and others who are fighting these forces of
evil around the globe. These advanced
technologies are significantly reducing the risk to these American men and
women in service to their country. There
is every reason to believe that technology will continue to be a significant
force in our economy and in the defense of our nation in the years ahead.
It
is no accident that the United States leads the world in high technology, both
civilian and defense. Our achievements
are the dividends that flow from sustained public and private sector
investments in research and development, coupled with America’s entrepreneurial
spirit and willingness to take risks.
While the private sector must take the driver’s seat, the Federal
government does have an important role to play in ensuring that the United
States remains on the leading edge of technology and competitive in the world’s
high-tech markets. This Administration
is committed to ensuring our global technology leadership through
forward-thinking policies and investments.
In
support of the President’s priorities for science, technology, and U.S.
competitiveness, the Technology Administration’s Office of Technology Policy is
developing and advocating national policies and initiatives that use technology
to build America’s economic strength.
Its role includes:
·
Promoting innovation through leadership and advocating policies that
encourage research, development, and commercialization of new technologies
(such as nanotechnology and biotechnology);
-
OTP is chairing an interagency group on technology transfer to improve
technology commercialization practices and realize Congress’ vision in the
Stevenson-Wydler, Bayh-Dole
and Technology Transfer Acts.
-
OTP is also leading a series of discussions on innovation in America at
the start of the 21st century.
We will listen to our foremost experts from industry, the labs, and
universities, learn the critical issues and challenges to sustained U.S. leadership,
and then lead by proposing new initiatives and policies to maintain that
leadership.
·
Supporting entrepreneurship by representing the interests of U.S.
innovators and entrepreneurs in multinational forums and international forums
and partnerships;
·
working with states, localities, and federal labs to institute policies
that promote technology-led economic development;
·
Improving the innovation infrastructure by fostering national workforce
policies that improve the education and training of future scientists and
engineers, and by recognizing excellence through the National Medal of
Technology program;
-
For example, OTP is leading efforts within the Department to better
understand how U.S. businesses can use new high-speed, high-capacity
applications to improve American competitiveness and productivity – the demand
side of broadband.
·
Empowering citizens by working with industry to increase consumer
confidence and employ technologies in new ways for greater productivity and
higher standards of living, such as telemedicine and e-government applications,
and by working to encourage more students to pursue careers in science and
technology through the GetTech public-private
partnership.
The
Office of Space Commercialization is tasked to foster an economic and policy
environment that ensures the growth and international competitiveness of the
U.S. commercial space industry. To this
end, the Office conducts activities in three primary areas—policy development,
market analysis, and outreach/education.
Recently, the Office conducted two major workshops in collaboration with
the private sector. In October of 2001,
the Office partnered with George Washington University Space Policy Institute
to host a workshop on space economic data.
In November 2001, the Office partnered with the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce’s Space Enterprise Council and the Space Transportation Association to
host a workshop focusing on emerging space markets. In the coming months, the Office plans to release
additional material concerning commercial space issues, and to continue to work
through the National Security Council’s Space Policy Coordinating Committee and
in other interagency fora to advocate appropriate
policies to enhance space commerce.
Let
me say a few words about the National Technical Information Service and its
role in enhancing public access to federally generated scientific and technical
information. I am pleased to report that
NTIS is operating on a self-sustaining basis.
Part of its revenue is derived from the sale of technical reports. But, consistent with Congress’ 1988 mandate
to NTIS to develop new ways to disseminate information and it 1992 mandate to
focus on electronic media, NTIS is also generating revenue through services to
other federal agencies that help them communicate more effectively with their
own constituencies online.
For
example, NTIS has developed a new web site and “virtual library” to make it
much easier for the public to locate scientific and technical information
produced by or for federal agencies.
Consistent with the Administration’s effort to make Government more
user-friendly and accessible, the new web site will offer a “one search, one
source, one solution” for their scientific and technical information
needs. For the first time, users will be
able to download full-text reports from the NTIS collection. We released a version of the new web site to
coincide with National Technology Week and we expect to make ongoing
improvements to its search capability.
In
addition, thanks to a new e-government initiative, NTIS and the Social Security
Administration (SSA) are offering the SSA Death Master File (DMF) more
frequently and with fewer delays.
Investigations have revealed that Social Security Numbers of deceased
individuals were used illegally to commit identity fraud. Until now, financial institutions, insurance
companies, security firms and state and local governments had to wait to check
applications against month-old rosters of recent deaths. Now, due to the new services being offered by
NTIS and SSA, they will be able to verify applications far more frequently to
guard against fraud, while assuring that this verification system is designed
to protect privacy and guard against misuse of the information to commit
identity theft. The DMF Updates files,
containing new deaths, changes and deletions, are now being distributed as a
weekly subscription. The weekly and
monthly updates files are also available electronically, which also reduces
handling and production time. Users who
opt for electronic distribution can access the DMF almost as soon as the SSA
releases it. In short, Mr. Chairman and
members of the Committee, NTIS remains a healthy, forward-looking organization
that plays a key role in helping the Technology Administration support the
Department’s overall goal of improving the Nation’s R&D infrastructure by
enhancing access to technical information.
Lastly,
but by no means least, the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) continues to be a world-class organization committed to developing and
promoting measurements, standards, and technology to enhance productivity,
facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life.
NIST’s standards and measurements activities actively support efforts to
strengthen homeland security. Currently,
NIST is conducting more than 75 projects that support law enforcement, military
operations, emergency services, airport and building security, cyber security,
and efforts to develop new types of security technologies. The list goes on and on and Dr. Bement will provide more information on all of the
initiatives and contributions that supports our belief that NIST is truly the
“crown jewel” of the Federal lab system.
Mr.
Chairman, I am honored to lead an organization that has contributed much to our
economic and national security. I look
forward to continuing this important work and would be pleased to answer any
questions you may have.