An Update on Implementing the National Spectrum Strategy: The National Spectrum Research and Development Plan

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is thrilled by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s publication of the National Spectrum Research and Development Plan. Whether you’re talking about 5G, WiFi, advanced manufacturing, or missions to the moon and beyond, 21st-century American innovation often depends on sufficient access to spectrum. Coordinated, effective research and development can help us expand the overall capacity and usability of that spectrum—and raise our technological ambitions as a Nation. That’s why the National Spectrum Strategy committed “to improving collective understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum through coordinated, focused, and sophisticated research and development (R&D)” and called for the U.S. government to develop the R&D Plan working through OSTP.  As a result, we now have a plan that identifies top priorities within the following research categories:

• Innovation areas for use-inspired research;
• Innovation areas for fundamental research;
• Research accelerators; and
• Organizational improvements.