by Gary Jones
FLC Washington, DC Representative
Greetings from DC. Federal agencies often make use of the outstanding expertise available from outside government—from industry, academia, non-profits, others—to provide policy guidance on a variety of issues.
One mechanism for accessing this talent is to establish a federal advisory committee to provide input and recommendations for policy makers. Federal advisory committees are generally small groups of experts reflecting a depth and breadth of experience on a particular subject, brought together by an agency for a specific duration to focus their attention and output on a unique topic.
According to the government's federal advisory committee website, "an average of 1,000 advisory committees government-wide" are operating at any time.
The Department of Commerce recently (summer/fall 2006) established two new advisory committees to study topics of general interest to the science and technology (S&T) and technology transfer communities (the Deemed Exports Advisory Committee, DOC 29122; and the Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy Advisory Committee, DOC 29147). Both committees have now been staffed and are just beginning their activities. Although there is no output to date, given their topics and potential importance to the FLC community, I though it instructive to highlight their charter and path forward.
The Deemed Exports Advisory Committee (DEAC) was established to "develop recommendations for possible improvements to policies on the transfer of technology or source code subject to the Export Administration Regulations to persons within the
United States." The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security defines a deemed export as follows: "An export of
technology or source code (except encryption source code) is 'deemed' to take place when it is released to a foreign national within the United States…[T]echnology is 'released' for export when it is available to foreign nationals for visual inspection (such as reading technical specifications, plans, blueprints, etc.); when technology is exchanged orally; or when technology is made available by practice or application under the guidance of persons with knowledge of the technology."
The announcement to convene the panel came on the heels of the Department of Commerce's decision to withdraw a proposed rulemaking on deemed exports in May 2006. That decision was based in part on public comments suggesting the then-proposed rule may have been too restrictive for foreign persons working on S&T issues in the U.S.—potentially sending the signal that the U.S. is not a welcoming destination for foreign nationals working in high technology areas. Given the recognized importance of foreign nationals to U.S. technological innovation and the concerns for national security associated with high tech initiatives, Commerce Secretary Gutierrez established this committee to "address evolving export policies to strike a balance between protecting national security and ensuring that the United States continues to build upon its position as a leading innovator of technology,"
Secretary Gutierrez appointed 12 industry and academic leaders to the DEAC in September 2006, and they held their first meeting in October 2006—with over 130 members of the public and press in attendance. The challenge to the committee was summed up nicely at the kickoff meeting by an attendee from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, who highlighted that foreign nationals make "profound" contributions to U.S. national security, particularly in the S&T environment. Despite this, she added, the threats are real and the difficult issue is determining who the bad actors are while not "stifling research by choking off the influx of the best and the brightest from around the world."
The DEAC is scheduled to convene its second meeting on January 22, 2007 (just after this column went to press) and is set to discuss current export control policy, tech transfer issues, competitiveness issues, concerns from the academic and government research communities, and other comments that arise.
The Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy Advisory Committee (MIAC) was established to assist the Department of Commerce by "advising the Secretary on new or improved measures of innovation in the economy that will help explain how innovation
occurs in different sectors of the economy, how it is diffused across the economy (emphasis added), and how it impacts economic growth and productivity."
While possibly not affecting the FLC community as directly as the DEAC, the MIAC will address an issue of great importance to the U.S. S&T establishment—focusing on the metrics for measuring innovation and its economic impacts—and by extension potentially informing the topic of technology transfer impacts (in the form of technology diffusion). This remains to be seen. Fifteen panel members were selected in early December 2006, and the committee holds its first meeting February 22, 2007.
Both advisory committees are in the early, primarily information gathering, stages—soliciting input from a variety of sources. Eventually, however, output from these advisory committees may influence public policy in several areas of concern to the tech transfer community (i.e., deemed export controls and technology diffusion metrics). We'll keep an eye on both efforts and
report back as appropriate.
You can access advisory committee profiles at the federal FACA database website).
Also, see the DEAC charter, DEAC press release, and first DEAC meeting minutes.
Gary can be reached at gkjones@federallabs.org.
