Broadband Breakfast Announces Made in America Summit on June 22
The event will examine how domestic procurement requirements will impact a historic wave of federal funding for infrastructure.
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2023 – Broadband Breakfast on Thursday announced its upcoming Made in America Summit, taking place on Thursday, June 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
This timely event will examine the historic wave of federal funding for semiconductor manufacturing, green energy and broadband through the lens of the Biden Administration’s Made in America approach.
The event will consider the challenges and benefits that accompany this pivotal moment in U.S. technological development.
In his State of the Union address on Feb. 7, President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of “Made in America” rules in these monumental federal investments in infrastructure.
“When we do these projects, we’re going to buy American,” he said. “Tonight, I’m also announcing new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America: American-made lumber, glass, drywall, fiber optic cables.”
Broadband Breakfast’s Made in America Summit will start by looking at the big picture of these domestic procurement requirements, and then examine them more closely in the context of three major pieces of legislation: the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Panel 1: Scaling up the Smart Grid
The Inflation Reduction Act invests billions of dollars in clean energy projects that work to limit carbon emissions and other pollutants, including solar, wind, nuclear, clean hydrogen and more. But will its investments in clean energy founder on the lack of infrastructure deployment, or by delays in federal, state and local permitting? This session will also consider the intersection of “smart grid” infrastructure, long-haul and local, and the synchronicities between the broadband and energy economies.
Panel 2: Domestic Manufacturing and the Chips Race
The CHIPS and Science Act provides $280 billion in funding to spur semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States. Semiconductors are key components of consumer electronics, military systems and countless other applications, making a domestic supply chain critically important — particularly amid an increasingly hostile technological race with China. How successful will efforts be to bring semiconductor manufacturing to America?
Panel 3: The Future of Buy America Requirements
The Build America Buy America Act, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, established a domestic content procurement preference for all federally subsidized infrastructure projects. Although waivers of Buy America requirements have been proposed for certain projects — such as Middle Mile Grant Program recipients — it appears unlikely that these will be extended to initiatives such as the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, despite requests and warnings from industry leaders. Although fiber-optic cable production is on the rise, significant issues remain in America’s semiconductor and electronic equipment supply. How will these issues be addressed in broadband and other infrastructure projects?
Panel 4: Creating an American Green Energy Industry
The Inflation Reduction Act establishes requirements for the use of American-made equipment in clean energy production. How will those requirements impact green energy development? How will the resulting projects interact with other ongoing infrastructure initiatives? What will it take for America to establish itself as a clean energy superpower?
