WASHINGTON — The nation is still facing a shortage of computer chips which Congress has been actively trying to alleviate through legislation.
Sen. Todd Young’s Endless Frontiers Act, as part of the larger United States Innovation and Competition Act, would play a big role in that effort, but the bill is aimed at going beyond computer chips.
“We talk all the time about chips, but the tech hubs are every bit as important and they are designed to create ecosystems of innovation in communities around the country that have been overlooked,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo while being questioned by Young in a Senate hearing Monday.
The goal of the bill is to encourage the creation of “technology hubs”, similar to that of Silicon Valley in California, throughout the rest of the country where research universities, like Purdue University, can partner with local entrepreneurs to create new and more modern products.
Young said that this will help maximize the use of talent all over the U.S so that they do not have to go across the country to where the innovation is happening.
“Building on existing assets and existing bases of talent, whether it’s in the universities or outside the walls of the universities,” said Young. “We have incredible talent across this country, it just needs to be harnessed.”
Bringing the tech hubs to the talent, he says, will make it much easier for young entrepreneurs to get their products off the ground much quicker. Young adds that doing that will also help the U.S. stay competitive with countries like China.
