National Network for Critical Technology Assessment

Rena Conti, TPRI’s Faculty Director will lead the Opportunities for Biotechnology to Improve Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Resiliency pilot project (one of six pilot projects) in the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment.The project will systematically assess vulnerabilities in the supply chain of essential medicines and identify opportunities to improve supply chain resiliency. As part of the NNCTA Academic Advisory Council, Rena Conti will also lead the Biopharmaceuticals Advisory Board. Professor Conti is an internationally reknown expert on the market for prescription drugs.

About the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment:
The National Network for Critical Technology Assessment funded by the National Science Foundation’s new Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) directorate aspires to build the data and analytic tools needed to support the U.S.’s National Technology Strategy.

In keeping with the legislative mandate in the CHIPS and Science Act, the National Network’s activities address three fundamental questions:

• How do we assess where the U.S. (as a whole and in individual regions) stands with respect to global competitiveness?
• What are the bottlenecks to enhancing U.S. global competitiveness and the social well-being of U.S. citizens?
• Are there science and technology investments (and more broadly policy actions) that can serve to overcome these bottlenecks?

The pilot brings together leaders in analytics to inform science and technology policy from 13 tier I research universities across the country, and seeks to catalyze the multilateral problem-solving between these academics and practitioners from government, industry, and nonprofits on specific policy problems. The Network’s first-year demonstrations focus on global situational awareness and four deep dives: AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, and energy technologies. The goal of the one-year pilot is to produce a vision for critical technology assessment including current capabilities (and demonstrations thereof), gaps, and the investment and organizational form necessary to achieve that vision.

The NNCTA and Professor Rena Conti’s role in the network was recently discussed in the New York Times article “Understanding America’s Greatest Vulnerabilities”, on January 18, 2023. Professor Conti’s research article “Building Resilience Into US Prescription Drug Supply Chains” about supply chain resiliency was published in Health Affairs ForeFront Live on January 30, 2023