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Membership for the NSTC is open. To learn more and apply, please visit Natcast.org.
Department of Commerce Finalizes Long-Term Partnership with Natcast to Operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center
CHIPS for America award will support critical research and development to drive U.S. leadership in semiconductor innovation, economic growth, and national security
On January 16, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded Natcast up to $6.3 billion to operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) under a long-term agreement with NIST. Through this partnership, Natcast will continue to build the NSTC as an enduring institution that will extend U.S. leadership in semiconductor technology, reduce the time and cost to prototype, and build and sustain a semiconductor workforce ecosystem, consistent with the vision laid out in the CHIPS and Science Act. This award follows the previously announced intent to invest over $5 billion in the NSTC.
Spanning 10 years, the award will federally fund the programs and activities the NSTC will undertake to meet its strategic goals consistent with the NSTC Strategic Plan released in October 2024. This includes funding for Natcast to invest in research and development, workforce development, an investment fund, the Design Enablement Gateway, silicon aggregation services, technical centers, and to operate the CHIPS for America R&D flagship facilities on behalf of the NSTC.
Read the full press release here.
Learn more about the CHIPS for America R&D Flagship facilities here.
Learn more about Natcast here.
Establishing U.S. Leadership in Future Semiconductor Technologies
The National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), is a public-private consortium dedicated to semiconductor research and development in the United States. The NSTC will convene the U.S. government, organizations across the semiconductor ecosystem—including academia and businesses of all kinds—to address the most challenging barriers to continued technological progress in the domestic semiconductor industry, including the need for a capable workforce.
NSTC Strategic Plan
On October 24, 2024, Natcast released the inaugural NSTC Strategic plan. The plan outlines a comprehensive strategy for building the NSTC as an enduring institution that will strengthen and extend U.S. leadership in semiconductor technology.
You can read the full plan at Natcast.org.
Why Do We Need the NSTC?
Semiconductors power everything, including computers, smartphones, appliances, automobiles, gaming hardware, medical equipment and other critical devices, and more. Since Jack Kilby demonstrated the first integrated circuit in 1958, the rate of advancement has been astonishing. Despite many predictions of fundamental barriers along the way, semiconductors have arguably become the most sophisticated systems known to mankind, and progress continues today. Society will rely on yet more progress as semiconductors continue to be the building blocks of the technologies that will shape our future, including artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and clean energy. Because semiconductors are a critical technology that underpins society, we must ensure that the U.S. leads the world in both innovation and manufacturing.
As semiconductor technology becomes more sophisticated, this progress comes at an increasing cost. New innovations require a greater investment to make it to market. Making an impact with a new invention can require more capital than most start-ups can afford. In some cases, even the largest companies cannot take on the risk required to bring new technologies into production.
The NSTC reflects a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the U.S. to drive the pace of innovation, set standards, and re-establish global leadership in semiconductor design and manufacturing.
The NSTC has three strategic goals:
- Extend U.S. leadership in foundational technologies for future applications and industries and strengthen the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem
- Significantly reduce the time and cost to prototype innovative ideas
- Build and sustain a semiconductor workforce development ecosystem
How will the NSTC work?
There are three key components to enabling the work of the NSTC:
The NSTC Consortium
The National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology (Natcast)
The CHIPS R&D Program Office
The Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Energy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the CEO of Natcast signed an agreement to establish the NSTC as a public-private consortium.
The agreement outlines the goals and processes for determining the strategy and membership structure of the NSTC Consortium. The NSTC Consortium is not a legal entity and does not have a staff. Rather, it has a Steering Committee as its governing body, and will include members from a wide range of stakeholders including industry, academic institutions, investors, and government bodies.
As a new purpose-built, non-profit entity, Natcast was created to operate the programs of the NSTC Consortium.
The NSTC Consortium, Natcast, and the CHIPS R&D Office will work together as a team to create a best-in-class new research center for the nation, based on input from members of the NSTC Consortium and to fulfill the vision of the CHIPS and Science Act.
Fact Sheet: Learn more about the NSTC Consortium and CHIPS R&D Programs.
To learn more about the goals and vision for the NSTC, read May 2024 NSTC Roadmap and the 2023 vision and strategy paper.