When the Chips are Down: Navigating Strengths and Strategic Vulnerabilities in the Semiconductor Industry
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
12:30 pm – 3:00 pm ET | 9:30 am – 12 pm PT
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Overview

Join CITRIS and the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program for a closer look at the market dynamics and national security concerns associated with the semiconductor industry.

Increasingly, semiconductors have been recognized for their unique role as a key component for promoting economic growth and scientific advancement as well as ensuring national security. Given recent shifts in the global semiconductor industry and the use-cases it supports as well as growing geostrategic competition between the U.S. and China, the U.S. faces increasing pressure to locate timely and effective policy solutions. What global market dynamics and security concerns must be addressed, and how? Our ability to effectively answer this pressing question relies on a nuanced understanding of the market and security dynamics at play in the semiconductor industry at home and abroad. Join us for this two-and-a-half-hour event where we will examine both the evolving global market and national security concerns in depth with leading experts in the field.

This event will be webcast live on the Wilson Center’s website; bookmark the page to stay informed of agenda updates.

Agenda

Introduction – Meg King, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Additional Remarks – Costas Spanos, Director of CITRIS & the Banatao Institute, University of California; Andrew S. Grove Distinguished Professor, EECS, UC Berkeley

Keynote – Victoria Coleman, Senior Advisor to the Director at CITRIS & the Banatao Institute, University of California; Former Director of DARPA

Panel: Competing in a Global Market – What are the market dynamics at play affecting the position of firms around design, production, and materials required to produce state-of-the-art integrated circuits? The recent focus has been on manufacturing facilities, but is that sufficient? What will assure sustained innovation and supply for the firms using integrated circuits in their products, noting that the needs of different industry segments are quite different? What U.S. policies hold the most promise for bolstering the competitiveness of producers and users of semiconductors?

• Moderator: John Zysman, Faculty Director of the Future of Work at CITRIS and Co-Director of BRIE; Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
• Panelists:
  • Ajit Manocha, CEO of SEMI
  • Vladimir Bulović, Director of MIT.nano, Professor of Engineering, MacVicar Fellow MIT

Panel: Mitigating National Security Concerns – Growing attention has been paid to the national security implications of the semiconductor industry. Much of that conversation, however, is often simplified to a single concern: China. Yet, the question is not simply, ‘is China a national security concern’ but rather, ‘how and why are we at risk and from whom’ and ‘what policy options provide the best leverage for addressing those risks.’ To that end, this panel focuses on two sets of questions: framing the national security problem and assessing solutions. We will begin by exploring the types of security concerns present, including the availability and security of supply chains, cybersecurity concerns, and critical dependencies in applications such as 5G and AI. We will then examine potential solutions, including the role of international cooperation in developing solutions, the strengths and shortcomings of the U.S. approach to date, and how we navigate two sets of interests in practice: addressing pressing national security concerns and ensuring industry’s ability to innovate and compete on a global stage.

• Moderator: Melissa K. Griffith, Public Policy Fellow with the Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC)
• Panelists:
  • Meg Hardon, Head of Government Affairs at Infineon Technologies
  • Eric W. Burger, Research Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University