Slots: One application per organization.
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Contact RII.
LOI: N/A
External Deadline: May 3, 2024, 11:59pm EST
Award Information
Award Type: Cooperative Agreement
Estimated Number of Awards: 1
Anticipated Award Amount: $1,400,000
Who May Serve as PI:
ISN/ECC welcomes applications from U.S.-based non-profit/nongovernmental organizations with or without 501(c) (3) status of the U.S. tax code; foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernment organizations (NGO); Public International Organizations; Foreign Public Organizations; U.S.-based private, public, or state institutions of higher education; Foreignbased institutions of higher education, and domestic or foreign for-profit organizations or businesses
Link to Award: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/352951
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/. Use the template provided here: RII Limited Submission Applicant Template
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Two-Page Proposal Summary (1” margins; single-spaced; standard font type, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 2-page limit will be excluded from review. You must use the template linked above.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The goal of this project is to address national security deficiencies in partner nations’ technology protection mechanisms centering on semiconductorrelated technology and intellectual property (IP). 5 Specifically, this project calls for the development and delivery of two (2) workshops of the ITSI Protect Semiconductor Security Academy (IPSSA) for foreign government officials. One iteration will invite working-level officials and the other will invite senior-level officials. The working-level iteration should last for no more than two weeks (i.e., applications may propose a duration anywhere in the range of one to two weeks); the senior-level iteration should not exceed five working days (i.e., should not last longer than one week). As appropriate, ISN/ECC may supplement implementers’ subject matter expertise with USG experts from the Departments of State, Commerce, Energy, Treasury, Homeland Security, and others. Their participation and travel would be covered separately.
ISN/ECC envisions: • The recipient shall develop and deliver two (2) iterations of the ITSI Protect Semiconductor Security Academy (IPSSA). Each IPSSA delivery will provide a comprehensive overview of technology protection mechanisms with a focus on semiconductor-related technologies. The recipient shall develop modules, scenario-based facilitated discussions, and/or table-top exercises. Sessions shall cover key capacities that governments need to address in safeguarding critical technologies from unauthorized acquisition and misuse, to include: o Strengthening strategic trade control legal-regulatory frameworks; o Adopting, implementing, and enforcing intangible technology transfer (ITT) and/or military end-use “catch-all” controls; o Crafting measures to conduct assessment of risks of foreign direct investment (FDI) into technology sectors with military end-use applications; o Improving public procurement regulations to protect relevant high-tech and critical infrastructure sectors; o Conducting outreach to private sector industry operating in the semiconductor space to improve research/IP protections and internal compliance measures; 6 o As well as sessions that elaborate on threats to semiconductor supply chains and identify end-uses and actors that pose potential security, privacy, and ethical concerns. This instruction should be comprehensive and explain how supply chains for legacy chips – especially those centered on assembly, testing, and packaging – also need to be protected from exploitation and misuse.
• ISN/ECC plans to invite up to 5 government officials per country, or 35 in total, from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and others as identified by ISN/ECC at each iteration of the Academy. One iteration will be attended by working-level officials and the other iteration by senior-level officials (in this instance, “senior-level” attendees would be Department Headequivalent and have decision-making authorities for their respective areas). Participant nominees from each government will be solicited by ISN/ECC via an invitation cable transmitted by the relevant U.S. embassy.
• Site: The Recipient shall identify a site in the United States that is cost-effective, in reasonable proximity to an international airport, and affords reasonable access to U.S. government experts. The Academy site should comfortably accommodate the foreign government attendees, instructors, any required instructor staff, and up to 12 ISN observers to include the ISN/ECC project leads. If desired and feasible within the funding ceiling, applicants are welcome to incorporate visits to relevant facilities as part of their applications, though this is not a requirement. Such visits would need to be incorporated within a twoweek maximum agenda and should not add additional time beyond two weeks.
• Logistics: The Recipient shall be responsible for making and paying for project-related logistics to include participant airline travel, travel insurance, airport transfers, lodging and meals, coffee breaks, venue, 7 high-quality audiovisual equipment, printing of training materials, paper and pens, and academy completion certificates. An emphasis should be placed on choosing a location that enables participants to easily explore the area surrounding the training site and shop for basic food and other needs. ISN/ECC will determine the composition of the Academy participants. The Recipient shall not be responsible for any travel-related costs for U.S. government personnel (e.g., ISN observers).
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.