A presidential determination (PD) was signed, authorizing the use of Defense Production Act to support the nation’s domestic Printed Circuit Boards (PrCB) and Advanced Packaging industrial base. The PD allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to utilize its Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities to invest in advanced microelectronics capacity and ensure the production of state-of-the-art integrated circuits in the United States. PrCBs are critical components in all electronics used in the national defense, economic, environmental, energy, and healthcare management sectors.  Advanced packaging allows multiple devices to be packaged and mounted on a single electronic device.  Advances in materials, manufacturing tooling, and process development are imperative in advanced packaging to support rapidly evolving technology and the continuously shrinking feature sizes. Click here to read more.

The U.S. Department of Defense signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. General Services Administration to help expedite bringing environmental innovations into the federal marketplace. Under the agreement, GSA will use DoD’s Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration Program information on product performance and pricing to streamline the acquisition process and make sustainable technology alternatives more readily available to federal agencies. Click here to read more.

Improving the nation’s public health and infrastructure through technological innovation, as well as setting standards for emerging technologies, are among the chief goals for the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy following the release of the Biden 2024 Budget last week. Speaking during a press conference, federal leadership itemized agency research priorities pursuant to budget funding. The range of technologies slated to receive a solid influx in funding runs the gamut from green tech to quantum information systems. To read more, click here.

A Wisconsin resource that protects information technology (IT) systems and critical infrastructure across the state is seeing an uptick in volunteers who are ready to defend against cyber attacks. Over the past two years, the Cyber Response Team (CRT) has grown from 119 voluntary members to more than 400. A majority of those are considered general members, which allows people working in the public and private sectors to share information and get plugged into what threat indicators are occurring around the state. Click here to read more.

The Biden administration is proposing a $842 billion Pentagon budget for 2024 that boosts spending on new drones, combat jets, hypersonic missiles, and submarines. The spending plan, announced on Thursday, highlights how Pentagon’s priorities are shifting in response to China’s weapons developments. Pentagon officials are expected to hold briefings about the 2024 spending plan on Monday, when more detailed budget justification documents are sent to Congress. Click here to read more.