§3334p Increased Intelligence-related Engineering, Research, and Development Capabilities of Minority Institutions

Summary

The Director of National Intelligence must make a plan to grow intelligence-related engineering, research, and development at certain colleges and universities so they can help the United States keep an intelligence edge. The plan must look at chances to support work in computer science (including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and machine learning) and synthetic biology, plus workforce and research space needs. It must check how to help these schools join and compete for intelligence research work, how to expand partnerships with other research organizations, and what investments or actions are needed. The plan must give recommendations for the Director, Congress, the schools, and others, and include clear goals, incentives, and ways to measure progress. The Director must talk with the covered schools and other government or private groups while making the plan. The plan must be sent to the congressional intelligence committees and the Defense Subcommittees of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, and posted on the Director’s website within one year after December 23, 2022. If money is available, the Director may set up a competitive program to award contracts, grants, or other agreements to help these schools build workforce and research capacity or for other ways to boost their ability to do intelligence-related work. The Director must also set goals and incentives to encourage the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) to partner with these schools and, if useful, help them make similar ties with IARPA’s partners. A “covered institution” means either a Part B institution (under title 20) or a college where at least 50 percent of students are from ethnic groups the Director finds are underrepresented in science and engineering.