A new report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) says the White House and Congress should carry out a series of measures to protect U.S. competitiveness in 6G, the sixth generation of wireless technology.
The report calls on the White House to create a strategic roadmap outlining a vision for U.S. leadership in 6G, provide additional research funding for 6G technologies, use existing capabilities for testing, experimentation and verification of such technologies and open more experimental spectrum licenses to advance research and development efforts, CNAS said Thursday.
The executive branch should also create a spectrum working group focused on 6G and foster the development of new use cases by using the U.S. government’s purchasing power.
The document recommends that Congress designate the Department of Commerce as a member of the Intelligence Community to enhance information sharing on policy development related to foreign technology, enact R&D funding to address challenges facing rural 6G development and initiate immigration reform to retain and attract foreign talent in the field of science and technology.
Authors of the CNAS report said the National Science Foundation should expand the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research Program and form an equivalent of the Resilient & Intelligent NextG Systems program for startups.
They also called on Congress to establish a technology partnership office at the State Department and work with the White House to create a 6G security fund and promote the development of open and interoperable tech platforms.
The report was written by Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow and director of the Technology and National Security Program at CNAS; Ainikki Riikonen, a research associate for the program; and Henry Wu, a former intern for the program.