Notice2022-24250
Accelerating Innovations in Emerging Technologies
Primary source
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Published
November 8, 2022
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The Office of Science in the Department of Energy (DOE) invites interested parties to provide input relevant to developing approaches for accelerating innovations in emerging technologies to drive scientific discovery to sustainable production of new technologies across the innovation continuum; train a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce to support 21st century industries; and meet the nation's needs for abundant clean energy, a sustainable environment, and national security.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67459-67461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24250]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Accelerating Innovations in Emerging Technologies
AGENCY: Office of Science, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The Office of Science in the Department of Energy (DOE)
invites interested parties to provide input relevant to developing
approaches for accelerating innovations in emerging technologies to
drive scientific discovery to sustainable production of new
technologies across the innovation continuum; train a science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce to support
21st century industries; and meet the nation's needs for abundant clean
energy, a sustainable environment, and national security.
DATES: Responses to the RFI must be received by December 23, 2022.
ADDRESSES: DOE is using the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> system for the
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submission and posting of public comments in this proceeding. All
comments in response to this RFI are, therefore, to be submitted
electronically through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> via the web form accessed by
following the ``Submit a Formal Comment'' link.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be submitted to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e7868484828b8295869382a794848e82898482c9838882c9808891"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d5b4b6b6b0b9b0a7b4a1b095a6b6bcb0bbb6b0fbb1bab0fbb2baa3">[email protected]</span></a> or Natalia Melcer at (301) 903-0821.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Research drives innovations in technologies that ensure a vibrant
economy and secure the future of the nation. The United States is a
global leader in research and development (R&D), with activities
generally focused on two areas. Federally-funded scientific research
focuses on discovery and use-inspired research, which is commonly
conducted at universities and national/federal laboratories. Applied
research, development, and technology demonstration activities are
funded by both federal sources and industry and are conducted in
university, national laboratory, and industry settings, focusing on
demonstrating the application of an innovation to yield a product that
can be prototyped, scaled up, and deployed in the marketplace. The gap
between these two areas of R&D is often referred to as the ``valley of
death'' because science-driven research often does not consider the
factors required to drive innovations to sustainable production, and
applied R&D and industry often find it difficult to transform early-
stage discoveries to mature, deployable technologies. As a result,
transitioning fundamental discoveries to new technologies in the
marketplace has traditionally been challenging. Further, the innovation
process is not linear, and technical bottlenecks arising on the
technology demonstration side often require fundamental science
breakthroughs (``technology pull''); conversely, fundamental science
breakthroughs can drive new technologies (``science push''). Closely
coupling these research, development, demonstration, and deployment
(RDD&D) processes in a more circular manner will optimize and expedite
the development and deployment of next generation technologies.
Bridging these gaps requires a holistic, ``end to end'' approach
that closely integrates basic scientific and engineering research
across multiple disciplines with applied and industrial activities to
ensure that innovations reach the marketplace. Long-term success in
driving the innovation continuum of research, development,
demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) will also require STEM workers
who are trained broadly across the spectrum of science and engineering
to propel discovery, innovation, scale-up, and production of new
technologies for the future.
Beyond accelerating innovations in emerging technologies, these
research activities have the potential to contribute to local and
regional ecosystems to catalyze more innovation, workforce development,
entrepreneurship, and economic growth in these regions. This ``place-
based innovation'' will leverage partnerships with local or regional
private and public organizations that can further lead to a vibrant
culture to support innovation and industries of the future.
The DOE Office of Science (SC) seeks input on research approaches
that have the potential to push the discovery and creation of
innovations towards the production/commercialization of future
technologies that will have important public and commercial impact.
These approaches would necessarily bring together trans-disciplinary
teams of scientists and engineers in diverse fields, taking advantage
of talent from national laboratories, regional universities, and
industry. These teams will combine key technology focus areas
(described later) to achieve the overarching goal of accelerating
place-based innovation with an ``end to end'' approach that fully
integrates ``science push'' and ``technology pull'' processes to guide
the S&T research. Further, to emphasize place-based research growth,
approaches should be considered that draw on regional resources and
expertise to support the innovation process and allow wholly new
concepts and processes to thrive.
Breakthrough scientific discoveries and technological innovation
are needed in areas vital to building an innovation economy for the
21st century. As the nation's lead federal agency supporting
fundamental scientific research related to energy, SC seeks to drive
scientific discovery in ten key areas to yield sustainable production
of new technologies and meet the nation's needs for abundant clean
energy, a sustainable environment, and national security. These ten key
technology focus areas include:
<bullet> Artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomy, and
related advances;
<bullet> High performance computing, microelectronics, and advanced
computer hardware and software;
<bullet> Quantum information science and technology;
<bullet> Advanced manufacturing and automation;
<bullet> Biopreparedness;
<bullet> Advanced communications technology and immersive
technology;
<bullet> Biotechnology, medical technology, genomics, and synthetic
biology;
<bullet> Data storage, data management, distributed ledger
technologies, and cybersecurity, including biometrics;
<bullet> Advanced energy and industrial efficiency technologies,
such as batteries and advanced nuclear technologies, including but not
limited to for the purposes of electric generation; and
<bullet> Advanced materials science, including composites, 2D
materials, other next-generation materials, and related manufacturing
technologies.
The SC mission is to deliver scientific discoveries and major
scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance
the energy, economic, and national security of the United States.
Within this mission, SC supports fundamental research in applied
mathematics, biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, isotope
R&D, materials science, and physics that catalyze technical
breakthroughs and innovations across these ten key technology focus
areas. For example, fundamental advances in materials and chemical
processes are required to achieve goals for clean, affordable, and
abundant energy generation, storage, and use. Breakthroughs in 2D
materials and new electrolytes could enhance ion transport in next-
generation batteries to achieve fast-charging, high-power, and high-
energy-density requirements needed to power the nation's transportation
fleet. Similarly, new materials that can withstand extremes of
radiation and temperature could support the development of future
fission and fusion reactors with high efficiencies and long lifetimes.
To minimize energy costs and wastes and meet demanding design
requirements, new approaches will be needed for the manufacturing of
next-generation energy technologies, requiring control of materials and
chemical processes from the atomic and molecular levels. Revealing the
rules of nature could produce breakthroughs in biotechnology, medical
technology, and biopreparedness by tailoring biological processes to
produce new chemicals, materials, or medical therapeutics. To enable
continued advances in computing and power technologies, a fundamental
rethinking is needed of the science behind the materials and chemistry,
physics, synthesis and fabrication technologies, architectures,
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algorithms, and software for microelectronics. Computational modeling
could enable the design of highly selective separation media to
increase the efficiency of isotope production approaches. Finally, to
realize a next-generation technology may require advances in multiple
key technology areas, such as combining advances in new manufacturing,
materials, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to produce
next-generation batteries.
Questions for Input
This RFI is an initial step in improving SC's understanding of the
challenges and opportunities associated with transitioning new
discoveries to high-value technologies to drive the economy of the
future. The RFI is a solicitation for public input to help identify
approaches that can accelerate the process from scientific discovery to
sustainable production of new technologies across the innovation
continuum. Responses should be limited to the SC mission areas, as
described in the Background section. (Note: Responses submitted to the
request for information on advanced computing ecosystems do not need to
be submitted again: <a href="https://sam.gov/opp/8c35a6cc1692492e94c337ba645ecce5/view">https://sam.gov/opp/8c35a6cc1692492e94c337ba645ecce5/view</a>).
Responses are requested for the questions listed. Respondents may
provide input regarding any or all of these questions. Each response
should be numbered to match the specific question listed.
(1) What are the barriers or challenges that need to be addressed
to transition basic scientific discoveries to applied technologies?
(2) What opportunities are there to build research teams that
bridge the discovery to production spectrum, providing an ``end to
end'' approach that fully integrates ``science push'' and ``technology
pull'' processes to guide research to realize new technologies?
(3) What new opportunities could be realized by combining two or
more of the ten key technologies to accelerate the development of
innovative products?
(4) What specific metrics should be used to measure the success of
new approaches for accelerating technology development?
(5) To prepare for future industries, what opportunities are there
for ensuring a robust workforce related to the ten key technologies?
What skills are needed for students preparing for a career, and which
of these skills are not commonly available in educational institutions?
(6) What specialized facilities or capabilities are needed to
support research activities related to the ten key technology areas?
Are there new capabilities needed that could be provided through the
scientific user facilities at the DOE National Laboratories, such as
the light and neutron sources, particle accelerators, nanoscience
centers, and high-performance computing facilities (<a href="https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities">https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities</a>)?
(7) What new mechanisms will help a region, especially those
centered on underserved communities, establish a vibrant innovation
ecosystem to foster training, recruitment, and retention of technical
personnel, support spinoffs, and growth of existing companies, develop
entrepreneurs, and catalyze future industries in the key technologies?
Comments containing references, studies, research, and other
empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of
the referenced materials. Note that comments will be made publicly
available as submitted.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on November 2,
2022, by Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director, Office of Science, pursuant to
delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. The document with the
original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative
purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the
Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer
has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic
format for publication, as an official document of the Department of
Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect
of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on November 2, 2022.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2022-24250 Filed 11-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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