EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 


WASHINGTON. D .C. 


July 31, 2018 

M-18-22 


MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXE:iTE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES 

FROM: 	 MICK MULVANEY ~ 

DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAG MENT AND BUDGET 

DEPUTY 

MICHAELKRATSIOS 

ASSISTANT TO 

~ 

THE PRESIDENT 

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY 

SUBJECT: 	 FY 2020 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities 

The United States is a nation of thinkers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. Empowered by 

free-market capitalism and driven by bold ideas, Americans created an ecosystem of innovation 

that is the envy ofthe world, advancing science and technology and making the Nation prosperous 

and strong. America brought the miracle of electric light to people's homes, placed millennia of 

knowledge in people's pockets, and put men on the Moon and brought them safely back to Earth. 

Building on a foundation of Federal research and development (R&D) investments, 

America will also be the nation that leads in today's emerging technologies, from artificial 

intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, to biotechnology, advanced wireless communications, 

and space commercialization. 

Federal R&D dollars focused primarily on basic and early-stage applied research, paired 

with targeted deregulation, and investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

(STEM) education and workforce development, will strengthen the Nation's innovation base and 

position the United States for unparalleled job growth, continued prosperity, and national security. 

This memorandum highlights the Administration's R&D priorities and provides guidance 

to agencies as they formulate their Fiscal Year 2020 budget submissions. This memorandum also 

details priority practices to effectively leverage R&D resources, including R&D workforce and 

infrastructure. 
R&D Priority Areas 

Security of the American People 

In the National Security Strategy, the President calls for leadership in research, technology, 

invention, and innovation to "ensure we will be able to fight and win the wars of the future." As 

adversaries leverage emerging technologies to threaten the nation, it is imperative that we invest 

in R&D to maintain military superiority and keep the American people safe. This requires 

prioritized investment in AI, autonomous systems, hypersonics, a modernized nuclear deterrent, 

and advanced microelectronics, computing, and cyber capabilities. Advanced cyber capabilities 

at scale require investment in new computing and technology paradigms, including adaptive and 

automated defensive measures. 

Agencies should also invest in R&D to improve the security and resilience of the Nation and its 

critical infrastructure from natural hazards, physical threats, cyber-attacks, and emerging threats 

from autonomous systems and biological agents. In order to develop stronger air, land, and maritime 

border defenses, agencies should invest in technologies for border surveillance and capabilities to 

detect and interdict illegal activity, including the smuggling of contraband or other illicit materials. 

Agencies should enhance decision-making before, during, and after natural disasters by investing 

in geospatial decision support tools and innovative approaches to improve weather prediction. 

American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Sciences, and 

Strategic Computing 

Continued leadership in AI, quantum information science (QIS), and strategic computing is 

critically important to our national security and economic competitiveness. Advances in these 

areas promise opportunities for major scientific breakthroughs and are quickly transforming 

American life and industry. Agencies should invest in fundamental and applied AI research, 

including machine learning, autonomous systems, and applications at the human-technology 

frontier. Agencies should prioritize QIS R&D, which will build the technical and scientific base 

necessary to explore the next generation ofQIS theory, devices, and applications. Agencies should 

prioritize investment in research and infrastructure to maintain U.S. leadership in strategic 

computing, from edge devices to high-performance computing, that accelerates delivery of lowpower, high performance devices; supports a national high-performance computing ecosystem; 

and explores novel pathways to advance computing in a post.,.Moore's Law era. 

American Connectivity and Autonomy 

Advanced communications networks, including 5G wireless networks and beyond, will be critical 

to an increasingly connected society. Agencies should support the development and deployment 

of these networks, including by prioritizing R&D to manage spectrum, secure networks, and 

increase access to high-speed internet. Connected systems, including autonomous and unmanned 

systems such as drones and self-driving cars, rely heavily on robust and secure connectivity to 

provide novel, low-cost capabilities across a broad range of commercial sectors, including 

transportation. Additional R&D is needed to safely and efficiently integrate autonomous driving 

systems and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), including urban air mobility aircraft, onto our 

roadways and into the national airspace. Specifically, agencies should prioritize R&D to lower 

barriers to the deployment ofautonomous vehicles and to develop operating standards and a traffic 

management system for U AS. 

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American Manufacturing 

The next generation of manufacturing technologies will help keep jobs in America, ensure 

products are made in America, and strengthen our national manufacturing industrial base. Priority 

technology areas for ag~ncy investment include smart and digital manufacturing, and advanced 

industrial robotics, especially systems enabled by the industrial internet of things (loT), machine 

learning, and AL Agencies should also invest in the development of advanced materials and the 

associated processing technologies, including high performance materials, critical materials, and 

additive manufacturing. Agencies should invest in R&D of methods for low-cost distributed 

manufacturing and continuous manufacturing, including investments in bio-based manufacturing 

to ensure domestic access to needed medicines. In order for the United States to maintain 

leadership in semiconductor design and fabrication, including assured access to advanced 

microelectronics, agencies should work in collaboration, and, when appropriate, in partnership, 

· with industry to develop new design tools, materials, devices, interconnect solutions, and 

architectures needed for future computing and storage paradigms. 

American Space Exploration & Commercialization 

Research and innovation in space have a direct impact on Earth, generating advancements in our 

basic understanding of the universe and our own planet, and inspiring the next generation of 

scientists and engineers. Research investments should be focused on ensuring American leadership 

in space for long-duration spaceflight, in-space manufacturing, in-situ resource utilization, longterm cryogenic fuel storage and management, and advanced space-related power and propulsion 

capabilities. Agencies should prioritize demonstrations and flight tests to ensure an industrial base 

for commercial activity in space and on celestial bodies. One area of potential scientific and 

commercial importance is microgravity-related research that has the potential for near-term 

breakthroughs in biopharmaceuticals and materials science. Finally, agencies should seek 

opportunities to work with advanced materials, additive manufacturing, optical communications, 

and machine learning-capabilities that have broad potential applications in space and on Earth. 

American Energy Dominance 

Fueling America's greatness requires access to domestic sources of clean, affordable, and reliable 

energy. Unleashing these abundant energy resources will require investment in next-generation 

energy technologies to efficiently convert them into useful energy services (e.g., light, heat, 

mobility, power, etc.). Agencies should invest in early-stage, innovative technologies that show 

promise in harnessing American energy resources safely and efficiently. Federally funded energy 

R&D should continue to reflect an increased reliance on the private sector to fund later-stage 

research, development, and commercialization of energy technologies. Agencies should invest in 

user facilities that can improve collaboration with industry and academia and achieve 

advancements across the full spectrum of discovery, from incremental improvements to gamechanging breakthroughs. 

American Medical Innovation 

Billions of people around the world benefit from American medical breakthroughs. Agencies 

should prioritize basic medical research, particularly for personalized medicine, areas underserved 

by industry, disease prevention and health promotion, and the translation of these biomedical 

discoveries into life-saving diagnostics, treatments, and cures. Agencies should work together to 

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ensure health data security, interoperability, accessibility, and portability- including data 

generated through emerging medical technologies. Federally funded R&D should continue to 

support efforts to combat the opioid crisis, contain infectious diseases, and confront other public 

health threats. Agencies should prioritize R&D efforts that will lead to more efficient and effective 

healthcare for veterans, with a particular focus on mental health and suicide prevention. Agencies 

should also invest to enhance the independence, safety, well-being, and health of aging adults and 

those with disabilities. 

American Agriculture 

American agriculture is the most productive in the world, largely due to a long history of R&D 

investments that yielded vast improvements in crop efficiency, nutrition, resilience, and variety. 

Agencies should prioritize R&D that enables advanced and precision agriculture and aquaculture 

technologies, including the use of embedded sensors, data analytics, and machine learning 

techniques to minimize agricultural inputs and maximize the quantity and quality of agricultural 

products. Agencies should prioritize investments in pre-competitive research regarding the safety 

ofmicroorganisms, plants, and animals developed using gene editing, in order to greater leverage 

biotechnology products for agriculture. 

R&D Priority Practices 

Educating and Training a Workforce for the 21st Century Economy 

An American workforce capable of succeeding in the 21st century economy will require 

adaptability to the increasingly technical nature of work across all employment sectors and 

ongoing technical training. Experiential learning, such as apprenticeships, internships, jobshadows, and other employer-educator partnerships will help ensure the alignment of curriculum 

with workplace demands. Agencies should prioritize initiatives that reskill Americans for the jobs 

oftoday and the future. Education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), 

including computer science, will be foundational to preparing America's future workforce, and 

should be integrated into instruction through application to real world challenges. Agencies should 

work to ensure the STEM workforce includes all Americans, including those from urban and rural 

areas as well as underrepresented groups. 

Managing and Modernizing R&D Infrastructure 

State-of-the-art Federal science and technology infrastructure is critical to the continued success 

ofour Nation. Maintaining these assets requires on-going investments to ensure the Nation has the 

most up-to-date capabilities managed in the most efficient manner. Agencies should prioritize 

infrastructure investments that enable shared resources and improve capabilities across a range of 

disciplines. Innovative management approaches that enable a broad set of users, outside of 

government as well as within, should also be prioritized. Long-term stewardship of scientific 

infrastructure also necessitates that agencies decommission or divest out-of-date or obsolete 

facilities quickly and efficiently. 

Maximizing Interagency Coordination and Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration 

Coordinated interagency initiatives play an important role in achieving national R&D priorities. 

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the primary means to coordinate high 

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priority science and technology initiatives across the Federal government, and agencies should 

leverage the NSTC to coordinate and plan their R&D programs. Additionally, agencies should 

support cross-disciplinary teams and novel programs that allow experts from a variety of 

disciplines to converge on shared challenges, combining their strengths to uncover new and 

innovative solutions to difficult problems. 

Transferring Technology from Laboratory to Marketplace 

Federally funded R&D can lead to transformative products and services that solve problems from 

the boardroom to the classroom. Agencies should continue to focus on the basic and early-stage 

applied research that provides the fundamental building blocks of new technological advances, 

and expand efforts that empower the private sector to accelerate the transfer ofresearch discoveries 

from the laboratory to the marketplace. Agency budget proposals should prioritize and highlight 

lab-to-market initiatives, such as efforts to identify more efficient regulatory and administrative 

approaches to technology transfer, enhancements to small business innovation programs, 

entrepreneurial workforce development initiatives, and other programs that improve the transition 

of federally funded technologies from discovery to practical use. 

Partnering with Industry and Academia 

The U.S. R&D enterprise requires a strong foundation of academic, industry, and government 

collaboration. Agencies should engage in public-private collaborations to help align basic research 

with future private sector needs, establish testbeds and datasets reflective ofreal-world conditions, 

transfer techniques and technologies across sectors, and more quickly diffuse basic research results 

to the private sector. Agencies should consider methods to reduce regulatory and administrative 

barriers and align incentives to engage with non-Federal actors, including through personnel 

exchanges and acquisition reform. Innovative partnership models involving other agencies, state 

and local governments, the private sector, academia, and international parties can help maximize 

utilization ofFederal facilities and lead to sharing the costs ofnew R&D facilities. Agencies should 

seek to rapidly field innovative technologies from the private sector, where possible, that are easily 

adaptable to Federal needs, rather than reinventing solutions in parallel. 

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