Sustainable Infrastructure 

Draft Recommendations

Pete Tseronis

Tom Katsioulas

Nicole Coughlin

Steve Griffith

Arman Shehabi

Benson Chan

July 18-19 2023

Draft – In Progress Work for Discussion Only
DRAFT – U.S. Department of Commerce Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB)

Justification

Implementation Barriers

Agencies Federal considerations

#8: Establish Emerging Technology (EmT) office in federal agencies

The Federal Government should 

establish an Emerging 

Technology (EmT) office within 

each of the federal agencies. 

• EmT is rapidly evolving, with 

transformational value, and 

unexplored opportunities

• Agencies lack expertise, 

resources and capacity to plan 

and implement agency 

strategy, policy development 

and support, practices, 

programs and actions

• Limited EmT coordination 

between agencies lead to 

uneven treatment, policies and 

siloed execution

• Use language specified in the Oversee 

Emerging Technology Act (S.1577, 5/11/2023)

• advising on responsible use of emerging 

technologies

• providing expertise on responsible policies 

and practices, collaborate with officials and 

coordinating bodies across the Federal 

government, and offer input for 

responsible procurement policies

• identify the official and provide a 

description of the official’s authorities and 

responsibilities to Congress

• Establish specialized capabilities – smart 

cities, AI, etc., in each office

• Limited funding

• Limited expertise and 

resources in-agency

• “emerging tech” is broad 

(AI, IoT, quantum, etc.)

• Some agencies may have 

some existing EmT roles

The 24 CFO Act agencies, with 

consideration being given to 

the non-CFO Act agencies

• Agencies consider participating in a 

Community of Practice, like the Federal 

CIO Council format, which, in turn, will 

serve to convene EmT officials across all 

agencies

• Recommendation in parallel with the 

National Emerging Technologies (EmT) 

Office

• Establish new and/or leverage existing 

FACAs to augment knowledge and 

expertise gaps

• Establish process for defining what EmT is, 

and a list of EmT

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DRAFT – U.S. Department of Commerce Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB)

Justification

Implementation Barriers

Agencies Federal considerations

3

#11: Establish a national Emerging Technology program office

The Federal Government should 

establish a national Emerging 

Technologies Program Office within the 

Executive office of the President to 

ensure that the federal government, 

state, and local government entities can 

effectively plan, implement, and manage 

emerging technology initiatives across 

the United States. 

• Lack of coordination from the 

Executive Office leads to siloed 

planning, policies, execution, 

suboptimal utilization of 

resources, duplicate programs, 

monitoring

• Slow adoption and integration of 

emerging technologies into US 

economy and infrastructure, thus 

limiting realization of economic, 

social, security and other values 

and benefits

• Use language specified in the Global Technology 

Leadership Act (S.__, 6/8/2023) for some of the 

functions

• Identify technologies that matter most to US 

economic and national security

• Assess US capacity with each, including 

manufacturing, workforce, supply chain, 

capital access and R&D

• Evaluate technology leadership relative to 

other countries

• Determine appropriate policy response

• Establish specialized capabilities within the 

program office – smart cities, AI, etc.

• align with the U.S. Chief Technology Officer Team

• Siloed execution and Lack of 

coordination from the Executive 

Office

• Minimal support from 

designated agency leadership

• Lack of branding

• Lack of coordination, stakeholder 

engagement, resource allocation, 

and performance monitoring

This office should be aligned with the Office of 

Science and Technology Policy to: 1) work with 

federal departments and agencies and with 

Congress to create bold visions, unified 

strategies, clear plans, wise policies, and 

effective, equitable programs for IoT and 

Smart Cities modernization; 2) engage with 

external partners, including industry, 

academia, philanthropic organizations, and 

civil society; state, local, Tribal and territorial 

governments; and other nations; and 3) 

ensure equity, inclusion, and integrity in all 

aspects of IoT implementations

• Roles, responsibilities and interactions with 

the EmT function in the federal agencies 

• Roles, responsibilities and interactions with 

states

• Establish new and/or leverage existing FACAs 

to augment knowledge and expertise gaps

• Ensure that the Coordination and Integration 

with the NIST (FWIoT and GCTC) protocols are 

in place, i.e. IoT implementations involve the 

integration of multiple technologies, systems, 

and stakeholders. 
DRAFT – U.S. Department of Commerce Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB)

Justification

Implementation Barriers

Agencies Federal considerations

#13: Promote development and adoption of industry standards in sustainable infrastructure

The federal government should promote 

the development and adoption of existing 

industry standards activities with respect 

to energy efficient, clean, and renewable 

energy technologies that are used in 

sustainable infrastructure.

• Interoperability: Several 

proprietary technologies where 

standardization can address this

• Scalability: Provides consistency 

or uniformity

• Innovation and competition: Level 

playing field

• Cybersecurity: Mitigate risks 

associated with DERs

• Cost savings: Simplified 

Procurement

• Regulatory compliance: 

Foundation for future policies

• International Harmonization: 

Facilitate market entry

• Encourage Inclusiveness

• Prioritize identified gaps

• Build on existing standards

• Encourage flexibility and 

adaptability

• Promote adoption

• Global Collaboration

• Procurement/Grants

• Working with the States

• Time consuming and 

resource intensive efforts to 

achieve consensus

• Technological Advances

• International harmonization 

adds more complexity and 

time

• Fragmentation

• States adoption of standards

• NIST

• DHS

• DoT

• DoE

• CISA

• Others

• USDA

• EPA

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DRAFT – U.S. Department of Commerce Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB)

Justification

Implementation Barriers

Agencies Federal considerations

#14: Address the labor shortage in renewable energy industry

The federal government should 

develop and facilitate programs and 

grants to reskill existing workers, train 

future workers across manufacturing, 

construction, and clean 

tech/renewable industries

• IoT is a critical technology in 

renewable energy systems

• Ongoing labor shortage is 

exacerbated by IRA funding, 

which is estimated to create 

537K new jobs annually threaten 

to derail carbon free power 

generation by 2035 and carbon 

free economy by 2050

• Shortages are in power 

generation (28%), manufacturing 

energy components (11%), 

energy efficient buildings (18%)

• Electricians and installers 

(construction) hard to find

• Leverage existing initiatives and 

programs that address workforce 

development 

• Labor shortage in 

renewable and adjacent 

industries (manufacturing, 

construction)

• Lower wages in renewables 

than in other industries

• Department of Energy (renewable 

energy, electrification, etc.)

• Department of Commerce

• Department of Labor 

• Department of Education

• Consider integration with 

existing workforce 

development programs and 

infrastructure

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DRAFT – U.S. Department of Commerce Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB)

Justification

Implementation Barriers

Agencies Federal considerations

#15: Promote development and adoption procedures that accelerate and streamline planning, 

permitting, and interconnection aspects related to energy efficient technologies

The federal government should promote the 

development the development and adoption 

of procedures and methods that can 

accelerate and streamline planning, 

permitting, and interconnection aspects 

related to energy efficiency technology 

projects. Many of these energy efficient 

technologies incorporate the use of IoT

• Incorporation of technologies 

enabled by IoT (smart inverters, 

energy storage systems)

• Deployment of critical electric 

transmission to move electric 

power from location constrained 

renewables

• Installation and Operation of 

Rooftop Solar Panels- improving 

the permitting and 

interconnection process

• 70 to 80% of projects never make 

it past permitting and 

interconnection queue to 

commercial operation

• Permitting legislation being 

discussed in Congress

• DOE RFI designation of 

National Interest Electric 

Transmission Corridors 

(NIETCs)

• FERC-Back-stop siting authority

• Use of Existing Rights of Ways 

(railroads and highways)

• DOE Solar APP+

• Time consuming and resource 

intensive-developers lose 

interest and cancel projects

• Overcoming Resistance

• Cost- accounting for them 

accurately and acceptably

• Supply chain

• Grid infrastructure requires 

developers to pay for upgrades 

to support energy source

• FERC

• DoT

• DoE

• FRA

• Others

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DRAFT – U.S. Department of Commerce Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB)

Justification

Implementation Barriers

Agencies Federal considerations

#16: Accelerate the promotion and adoption of procedures and methods to make 

the electric grid more reliable and resilient

The federal government should accelerate 

the promotion and adoption of procedures 

and methods that include IoT technologies 

to make the electric grid more reliable and 

resilient. A more reliable and resilient grid 

can better accommodate the integration of 

renewable energy sources enabled by IoT

• Incorporation of 

technologies enabled by 

IoT (smart inverters, 

energy storage systems)

• Quicker restoration from 

natural and man-made 

threats

• Energy Efficiency- more 

efficient transmission of 

electricity

• Cost Reduction- both for 

utilities and consumers

• DOE Funding

• Near-term technologies to 

provide short-term solutions at 

a lower cost (Dynamic Line 

Ratings, Volt/Var, Power-Flow 

Controllers, Energy Storage, 

Distributed Energy Resources, 

and Demand Response

• Microgrids that operate and 

function as a grid resources

• Resources- significant labor 

and cost implications 

• Moving away from the 

traditional process that 

utilities use to determine 

rates

• Supply Chain- ongoing issue 

with distribution 

transformers

• FERC

• NERC

• DoE

• Others

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