US Department of Commerce

Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves, Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Mayor Bill Peduto (D-PA) hosted a roundtable discussion to address the increasing need for high-speed, affordable internet access in the Pittsburgh (PA) area and across the US. At the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh, Deputy Secretary Graves opened the roundtable by stressing the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how wide the digital divide is in America and how much Americans rely on broadband for schools, jobs and telemedicine.

The US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2.4 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to Ann Arbor SPARK, Ann Arbor (MI), to construct 20 miles of underground fiber optic cable in the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to attract and retain high-tech businesses, specifically in the growing mobility sector.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation, of Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Corporation”) and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. of Hi-New Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Kangxun”) (collectively, “ZTE”) has agreed to severe additional penalties and compliance measures to replace the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) denial order imposed as a result of ZTE’s violations of its March 2017 settlement agreement.

The US Department of Commerce and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) announced that all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands have accepted FirstNet and AT&T’s proposals to design and build a broadband network for the public safety community. Guam, the Pacific Territories of American Samoa, and the Mariana Islands have until March 12, 2018, to make their decision. 

The US Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) introduced CyberSeek, an interactive online tool designed to make it easier for cybersecurity job seekers to find openings and for employers to identify the skilled workers they need. CyberSeek was announced at the 2016 NICE Conference in Kansas City (MO), by Rodney Petersen, director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), which funded development of the tool.

The NIST-led NICE focuses on cybersecurity education, training and workforce development. The CyberSeek tool fills in knowledge gaps so policy makers, employers, security professionals and others will have greater visibility into the demand for cybersecurity professionals around the country. It will allow them to see the skills and types of workers that employers are looking for, as well as the true supply of professionals to fill those positions.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered a keynote address to executives, technology industry leaders, and high-ranking government and national security officials at the US Chamber of Commerce’s fifth-annual Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, DC. During her remarks, Sec Pritzker argued for fundamentally changing the value proposition for businesses to engage with federal agencies on cyberthreats, pointing to the risk of punitive action as a deterrent for the dynamic, continuous collaboration between industry and government necessary to secure the digital economy. Sec Pritzker called for federal agencies and businesses to fully embrace a common language for cyberrisk management, highlighted the need for new legal structures to support greater public-private sector cooperation, and urged industry and government to work together to design and deploy technical solutions for emerging threats in cyberspace.

Sec Pritzker is floating the idea of giving businesses "reverse Miranda" rights so that they can discuss cyberattacks with officials without risking any punishment. Sec Pritzker said that with regulations and Federal Trade Commission actions there are often civil, legal and regulatory risks that discourage businesses from acknowledging cyberattacks. She said that led to a relationship between regulators and businesses that is “inherently adversarial, not collaborative."