An Update on Implementing the National Spectrum Strategy: The National Spectrum Research and Development Plan

By: Shiva Goel, Senior Advisor for Spectrum Policy, NTIA & Mike DiFrancisco, Senior Technical Advisor, NTIA Office of Spectrum Management & Co-chair of NITRD Wireless Spectrum R&D interagency working group

We are thrilled by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's publication of the National Spectrum Research and Development Plan. Whether you're talking about 5G, WiFi, advanced manufacturing, or missions to the moon and beyond, 21st-century American innovation often depends on sufficient access to spectrum. Coordinated, effective research and development can help us expand the overall capacity and usability of that spectrum -- and raise our technological ambitions as a Nation.

That's why the National Spectrum Strategy committed "to improving collective understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum through coordinated, focused, and sophisticated research and development (R&D)" and called for the U.S. government to develop the R&D Plan working through OSTP. As a result, we now have a plan that identifies top priorities within the following research categories:

• Innovation areas for use-inspired research;
• Innovation areas for fundamental research;
• Research accelerators; and
• Organizational improvements.

More fundamentally, we have a blueprint that will guide government support for spectrum-related research, shape private-sector R&D efforts, and provide a shared reference for the collaboration that makes wireless R&D effective.

Speaking of collaboration, and in keeping with the Strategy's all-of-government approach, many agencies and organizations played a role in developing the R&D Plan. OSTP tasked the Wireless Spectrum Research and Development Interagency Working Group (WSRD IWG) of the National Information Technology R&D (NITRD) Program to lead the Plan's development. The WSRD IWG co-chairs, from NSF and NTIA, led an authoring committee that included members from DHS, DOD, DOE, DOT, FCC, NIST, NSF, and NTIA. U.S. universities, companies, and industry trade organizations also submitted their views in response to a public request for information. Federal agency inputs, meanwhile, were gathered through the WSRD IWG, the NITRD Subcommittee, and the National Science and Technology Council.

We are thankful to OSTP for its leadership and to all who engaged and contributed to the final product.