II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1493 

To promote innovation and basic research in advanced information and communications technologies that will enhance or facilitate the availability 

and affordability of advanced communications services to all Americans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To promote innovation and basic research in advanced information and communications technologies that will enhance or facilitate the availability and affordability of 

advanced communications services to all Americans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Information 

5 and Communications Technology Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SPECTRUM-SHARING INNOVATION TESTBED. 

7 (a) SPECTRUM-SHARING PLAN.—Within 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal CommuVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:07 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1493.IS S1493

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1 nications Commission and the Assistant Secretary of Com2 merce for Communications and Information, in coordina3 tion with other Federal agencies, shall— 

4 (1) develop a plan to increase sharing of spec5 trum between Federal and non-Federal government 

6 users; and 

7 (2) establish a pilot program for implementa8 tion of the plan. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.—The Commission 

10 and the Assistant Secretary— 

11 (1) shall each identify a segment of spectrum of 

12 equal bandwidth within their respective jurisdiction 

13 for the pilot program that is approximately 10 

14 megaHertz in width for assignment on a shared 

15 basis to Federal and non-Federal government use; 

16 and 

17 (2) may take the spectrum for the pilot pro18 gram from bands currently allocated on either an ex19 clusive or shared basis. 

20 (c) REPORT.—The Commission and the Assistant 

21 Secretary shall transmit a report to the Senate Committee 

22 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House 

23 of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce 

24 2 years after the inception of the pilot program describing 


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1 the results of the program and suggesting appropriate 

2 procedures for expanding the program as appropriate. 

3 SEC. 3. TELECOMMUNICATIONS INNOVATION ACCELERA4 TION. 

5 (a) PROGRAM.—In order to accelerate the pace of in6 novation with respect to telecommunications services (as 

7 defined in section 3(46) of the Communications Act of 

8 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(46)), equipment, and technology, the 

9 Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech10 nology shall— 

11 (1) establish a program linked to the goals and 

12 objectives of the measurement laboratories, to be 

13 known as the ‘‘Telecommunications Standards and 

14 Technology Acceleration Research Program’’, to sup15 port and promote innovation in the United States 

16 through high-risk, high-reward telecommunications 

17 research; and 

18 (2) set aside, from funds available to the meas19 urement laboratories, an amount equal to not less 

20 than 8 percent of the funds available to the Institute 

21 each fiscal year for such Program. 

22 (b) EXTERNAL FUNDING.—The Director shall ensure 

23 that at least 80 percent of the funds available for such 

24 Program shall be used to award competitive, merit-re25 viewed grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to 


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1 public or private entities, including businesses and univer2 sities. In selecting entities to receive such assistance, the 

3 Director shall ensure that the project proposed by an enti4 ty has scientific and technical merit and that any resulting 

5 intellectual property shall vest in a United States entity 

6 that can commercialize the technology in a timely manner. 

7 Each external project shall involve at least one small or 

8 medium-sized business and the Director shall give priority 

9 to joint ventures between small or medium-sized busi10 nesses and educational institutions. Any grant shall be for 

11 a period not to exceed 3 years. 

12 (c) COMPETITIONS.—The Director shall solicit pro13 posals annually to address areas of national need for high14 risk, high-reward telecommunications research, as identi15 fied by the Director. 

16 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year the Director shall 

17 issue an annual report describing the program’s activities, 

18 including include a description of the metrics upon which 

19 grant funding decisions were made in the previous fiscal 

20 year, any proposed changes to those metrics, metrics for 

21 evaluating the success of ongoing and completed grants, 

22 and an evaluation of ongoing and completed grants. The 

23 first annual report shall include best practices for manage24 ment of programs to stimulate high-risk, high-reward tele25 communications research. 


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1 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—No more than 5 

2 percent of the finding available to the program may be 

3 used for administrative expenses. 

4 (f) HIGH-RISK, HIGH-REWARD TELECOMMUNI5 CATIONS RESEARCH DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

6 ‘‘high-risk, high-reward telecommunications research’’ 

7 means research that— 

8 (1) has the potential for yielding results with 

9 far-ranging or wide-ranging implications; 

10 (2) addresses critical national needs related to 

11 measurement standards and technology; and 

12 (3) is too novel or spans too diverse a range of 

13 disciplines to fare well in the traditional peer review 

14 process. 

15 SEC. 4. ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES FOR ALL 

16 AMERICANS. 

17 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

18 and Technology shall continue to support research and 

19 support standards development in advanced information 

20 and communications technologies focused on enhancing or 

21 facilitating the availability and affordability of advanced 

22 communications services to all Americans, in order to im23 plement the Institute’s responsibilities under section 

24 2(c)(12) of the National Institute of Standards and Tech25 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)(12)). The Director shall 


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1 support intramural research and cooperative research with 

2 institutions of higher education (as defined in section 

3 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1001(a)) and industry. 

5 SEC. 5. ADVANCED INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS 

6 TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH. 

7 (a) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECH8 NOLOGY RESEARCH.—The Director of the National 

9 Science Foundation shall establish a program of basic re10 search in advanced information and communications tech11 nologies focused on enhancing or facilitating the avail12 ability and affordability of advanced communications serv13 ices to all Americans. In developing and carrying out the 

14 program, the Director shall consult with the Board estab15 lished under subsection (b). 

16 (b) FEDERAL ADVANCED INFORMATION AND COM17 MUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH BOARD.—There 

18 is established within the National Science Foundation a 

19 Federal Advanced Information and Communications 

20 Technology Board which shall advise the Director of the 

21 National Science Foundation in carrying out the program 

22 authorized by subsection (a). The Board Shall be com23 posed of individuals with expertise in information and 

24 communications technologies, including representatives 

25 from the National Telecommunications and Information 


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1 Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, 

2 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the 

3 Department of Defense, and representatives from industry 

4 and educational institutions. 

5 (c) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Director, in consultation 

6 with the Board, shall award grants for basic research into 

7 advanced information and communications technologies 

8 that will contribute to enhancing or facilitating the avail9 ability and affordability of advanced communications serv10 ices to all Americans. Areas of research to be supported 

11 through these grants include— 

12 (1) affordable broadband access, including wire13 less technologies; 

14 (2) network security and reliability; 

15 (3) communications interoperability; 

16 (4) networking protocols and architectures, in17 cluding resilience to outages or attacks; 

18 (5) trusted software; 

19 (6) privacy; 

20 (7) nanoelectronics for communications applica21 tions; 

22 (8) low-power communications electronics; 

23 (9) such other related areas as the Director, in 

24 consultation with the Board, finds appropriate; and 


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1 (10) implementation of equitable access to na2 tional advanced fiber optic research and educational 

3 networks, including access in noncontiguous States. 

4 (d) CENTERS.—The Director shall award multiyear 

5 grants, subject to the availability of appropriations, to in6 stitutions of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) 

7 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), 

8 nonprofit research institutions affiliated with institutions 

9 of higher education, or consortia thereof to establish mul10 tidisciplinary Centers for Communications Research. The 

11 purpose of the Centers shall be to generate innovative ap12 proaches to problems in communications and information 

13 technology research, including the research areas de14 scribed in subsection (c). Institutions of higher education, 

15 nonprofit research institutions affiliated with institutions 

16 of higher education, or consortia receiving such grants 

17 may partner with 1 or more government laboratories or 

18 for-profit entities, or other institutions of higher education 

19 or nonprofit research institutions. 

20 (e) APPLICATIONS.—The Director, in consultation 

21 with the Board, shall establish criteria for the award of 

22 grants under subsections (c) and (d). Grants shall be 

23 awarded under the program on a merit-reviewed competi24 tive basis. The Director shall give priority to grants that 


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1 offer the potential for revolutionary rather than evolution2 ary breakthroughs. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science 

5 Foundation to carry out this section— 

6 (1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

7 (2) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

8 (3) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

9 (4) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

10 (5) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


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