3 Bills Focused on Securing Tech Superiority Over China – By Frank Konkel (Nextgov) / June 19 2020
Lawmakers aim to beef up the government’s tech prowess and put protections on American intellectual property and talent.
Bipartisan bills introduced in the House and Senate promote tech talent increases in the government ranks—especially the Defense Department—and call for more transparency among Chinese-funded investments and gifts made by China to U.S. academic institutions.
Artificial Intelligence for the Armed Forces Act
On Tuesday, Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., introduced the AI for the Armed Forces Act. The bill further elevates the importance of AI across the Defense Department, ensuring the director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is a three-star equivalent and reports directly to the defense secretary.
The bill would also require the defense secretary to “develop a training and certification program to better enable” the department’s human resources workforce to recruit AI and cybersecurity talent. Lastly, the bill calls for the defense secretary to issue guidance regarding how the Pentagon and sub-agencies could make better use of existing direct hire authorities to onboard AI talent.
National Security Innovation Pathway Act
Reps. Jim Langevin, D-RI, and Elise Stefanik, R-NY—the chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Armed Services subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities—introduced the National Security Innovation Pathway Act Wednesday.
Continue to article: https://www.nextgov.com/policy/2020/06/3-bills-focused-securing-tech-superiority-over-china/166271/
