- The plan identifies five “seismic shifts” shaping the future of chip technology and calls for an annual $3.4 billion federal investment over the next decade to fund semiconductor R&D across five areas
- The areas that required focus are smart sensing, memory and storage, communication, security and energy efficiency
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) have released a preview of their upcoming “Decadal Plan for Semiconductors,” a report outlining chip research and funding priorities over the next decade that will help strengthen U.S. semiconductor technology. The report also shows the plan to boost growth in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced wireless communications.
The Decadal Plan, developed with contributions from a broad cross-section of leaders in academia, government, and industry, identifies five “seismic shifts” shaping the future of chip technology and calls for an annual $3.4 billion federal investment over the next decade to fund semiconductor R&D across these five areas.
John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO said, “Federal government and private sector investments in semiconductor R&D have propelled the rapid pace of innovation in the U.S. semiconductor industry, spurring tremendous growth throughout the U.S. and global economies. As we enter a new era, however, a renewed focus on public-private research partnerships is necessary to address the seismic shifts facing chip technology. The federal government must invest ambitiously in semiconductor research to keep America on top in semiconductors and the game-changing future technologies they enable.”
Additional federal investment of $3.4 billion
The Decadal Plan’s proposed additional federal investment of $3.4 billion annually would strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry’s global leadership position, add $161 billion to U.S. GDP, and create half a million U.S. jobs in the next 10 years, according to findings from an earlier SIA study.
The areas that required focus are smart sensing, memory and storage, communication, security and energy efficiency. For smart sensing, fundamental breakthroughs in analog hardware are required to generate smarter world-machine interfaces that can sense, perceive and reason. For memory and storage, the growth of memory demands will outstrip global silicon supply presenting opportunities for radically new memory and storage solutions.
In terms of security, breakthrough in hardware research are needed to address emerging security challenges in highly interconnected systems and Artificial Intelligence. For energy efficiency, rising rising energy demands for computing is creating new risks while new computing paradigms offer opportunities with dramatically improved energy efficiency.
Dr. Todd Younkin, SRC president and CEO said, “The future holds unlimited potential for semiconductor technology, with emerging applications such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced wireless technologies promising incalculable societal benefit. The Decadal Plan provides a blueprint for how we can convert this potential into a reality. Working together, we can boost semiconductor technology to keep it strong, competitive, and at the tip of the spear of innovation.”
