U.S. government & public affairs

Technology is a foundation for American infrastructure innovation, and investment in technology is a differentiator for our economy. Fundamental to this innovation is the equitable deployment of next-generation communications infrastructure that will invite a new level of intelligence — from smart cities to efficient and safe transportation — while enabling a reimagining of rich data experiences for all.

Micron believes that every house, office and community should have access to affordable high-speed broadband, 5G networks and other emerging digital infrastructure technologies. We applaud Congress’ focus on providing equitable connections to rural and low-income areas and the federal support given to school districts to secure devices for students or improve their networks.

However, we shouldn’t stop at broadband infrastructure; we need to seize this moment and change the way we think about infrastructure. Part of investing in infrastructure is building smarter — including adopting technology solutions that will help communities gather and analyze data to make informed, inclusive and environmentally friendly policy decisions on issues related to development, transit, safety and resource allocation. Micron champions using infrastructure investments to drive innovation in smart cities, energy distribution, transit systems, highway safety and autonomous vehicles. Simultaneously, the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior should work collaboratively with industry to create standards for smart infrastructure investments that improve safety, privacy, access and equity.

Semiconductors play a foundational role in our everyday lives, and memory is at the heart of it all. Increased investments in memory will play an essential role in enabling key technologies and strengthening America’s technological leadership and critical infrastructure. As the only U.S.-based supplier of DRAM and one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers of leading-edge memory and storage technologies, Micron stands ready to explore new partnerships with the U.S. government to further strengthen our critical infrastructure and meaningfully enhance America’s innovation and technology leadership.

Trusted and assured memory products and related semiconductor devices and electronics are fundamental to the safety and reliability of U.S. critical infrastructure systems. Any resilience and security assessment of the semiconductor supply chain must include an assessment of memory technology and products. To appropriately address semiconductor supply chain issues, it is imperative to understand the critical role memory plays in the semiconductor ecosystem.

Semiconductor manufacturing is extremely capital intensive and the investments required both up front and on an ongoing basis to operate a manufacturing facility are significant. Particularly, advanced manufacturing memory fabs which require larger investments and generate greater economic return than other semiconductor fabs. To maintain and increase American semiconductor leadership, Congress needs to advance a well-funded manufacturing grants program, increase research investments in memory and other semiconductor-related technologies, and implement refundable tax credits. These programs, combined with targeted state-level efforts, will create high-paying jobs, build resilience into the country’s supply chain and boost local economies.
 

Slowing climate change is both too global and too local for any one government, business or community to address alone. Technology is a critical tool to bridge this ecosystem and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, from smart interconnected grids capable of transporting and using large volumes of renewable energy to efficient intelligent transportation and industrial internet applications. Micron is committed to increasing the efficiency of our own products, supporting the development of advanced IT systems, and enabling the deployment of IT to address climate change, including smart grids, transportation networks and monitoring systems.

At the global level, Micron supports aggressive U.S. goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. To meet these goals, all levels of government in the U.S. and around the globe should work together to increase the supply of renewable energy and incentivize efficiency, greenhouse gas reductions, and green, resilient infrastructure. There should be a heightened focus on increasing wind and solar generation and on funding battery storage research. Programs supporting solar panel installation on individual housing units, solar gardens and solar power plants should all be considered — as should how and to what extent diverse, exurban and rural communities can affordably access renewable energy.

In communities across the U.S., we need ways to address multiple issues — climate change, environmental justice, transportation and culture — simultaneously. By funding the relocation or removal of highways and other infrastructure that separates communities and disproportionately pollutes underserved neighborhoods, we could connect communities. Using the latest smart, green building design and technology to replace those highways with trails, parks, libraries and community centers will provide the surrounding neighborhoods with increased mobility and opportunity.

Learn more about Micron’s commitments to the planet.

Technology is catalyzing a future full of endless opportunity. Moving from auto safety to autonomous vehicles (AVs) or from smart homes to smart cities requires data — and lots of it. But there are growing concerns about how this data is protected and secured. Micron is focused on how we use data in a responsible and ethical way to make transportation safer and more efficient, to make cities greener and to drive progress for all.

Data governance is a good place to start. Micron supports initially bringing together the G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — to reach consensus on how data should flow, how it should be secured, how it should be used for artificial intelligence (AI) and how governments should protect privacy and promote inclusion. Establishing global norms and standards that are rooted in best practices will help ensure that incremental adoption of AI, AV and smart infrastructure does not lead to fragmented standards.

Concurrently, the U.S. Department of Transportation should keep driving high auto safety standards at the component level to reap the benefit of data-driven safety advancements before AVs get here. Congress and the administration should incentivize building smart infrastructure. Educators, researchers, governments and corporations should partner to develop the workforce and optimize the research and development needed to create breakthroughs in AI and AV technology.

Technology can be used as a great equalizer, empowering communities passed over by the highway system or rail lines and driving businesses to launch and grow from wherever they are founded. Technology can also exacerbate existing gaps between urban and rural or wealthy and low-income communities. Micron supports government efforts to use technology to empower the economic development of disadvantaged communities.

The modern bedrock of economic development is access to proper high-speed broadband. Reliable residential broadband connections have the power to improve the social and economic mobility of its users. Government efforts to increase deployment of broadband should specifically set aside funding and technical support for rural communities to be fully connected to the information superhighway. Not all communities are built the same; models to increase broadband penetration shouldn’t be either. Innovative public-private partnerships must be on the table, along with subsidies to effectively cover the country.

Connecting communities via broadband is just the start. The U.S. Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and Interior and the Small Business Administration should assist in building business infrastructure and creating a virtual ecosystem of entrepreneurs that connects founders with each other and with entrepreneurship ecosystem hubs like Austin, Boise, Boston, New York, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco. Augmenting these connections with streamlined business application and compliance systems, centralized and transparent government contracting and grant application processes, and expanded access to government-controlled data sets will build the infrastructure needed to spur entrepreneurship and economic development.

At Micron, diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) are not just about representation; DEI is critical to how we do business. Our commitment to DEI helps us live our vision of enriching life for all. Our best innovation springs from our team members' diverse experiences, perspectives and backgrounds. Our advocacy will reflect our commitments and defend the innovation that springs from our diversity.

Micron is a committed supporter of the Equality Act, which if passed would ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We are concerned by state and local legislation that impacts the ability of all our team members to thrive in the communities where Micron is located. We will stand up for state and local business climates that empower all our team members and their families and believe that federal legislation like the Equality Act is necessary to provide equal treatment under the law across the country.

The right to participate in elections and engage in the democratic process must be protected — for all. Over the years, brave Americans have protested, fought and died to secure voting equality. Micron wholeheartedly supports efforts to safeguard the right to vote, encourage voter participation, and guarantee access to the polls for all Americans. Proposals that inhibit the ability of Americans to vote in an attempt to protect voting integrity must be based in data and designed to correct existing, verifiable evidence of fraud.

While government action can drive and protect equality, communities, corporations and academia can step up and drive inclusion. From grade school through college and into the workplace, being intentional about including BIPOC and LBGTQ+ communities is critical. Inclusion also means addressing the availability and affordability of services like childcare so that working parents can fully engage in the workplace. Greater federal support for childcare, pre-kindergarten and family leave needs to be included in legislation and passed into law to ensure all Americans with families can fully participate in the economy, regardless of geography, gender, race, sexual orientation or income level.

Learn more about how Micron is championing equality and inclusion.

Every day we rely on algorithms to help us make faster, smarter decisions, but sometimes those algorithms are flawed based on the data used to create them. Data is inherently biased and often shaped by decisions on what information to collect, how to collect it, how to analyze it, and whether or how to share it. Communities of color and those who are economically disadvantaged have historically been disproportionately affected by biased data. The chance to make meaningful social progress has also been slowed by the lack of high-quality, publicly accessible data. Micron is committed to ensuring that data is fair, transparent and used responsibly.

To successfully analyze racial inequities, develop solutions and track progress, we need more accessible, robust and fair data. The Equitable Data Working Group (EDWG), established to identify inadequacies of federal data collection and develop strategies to improve it, is an important step. Based on the findings, the EDWG should establish partnerships with select communities around the country to model the work of the EDWG locally. Starting this work at the local level and engaging respected leaders of the community could help restore trust in data, particularly with communities of color who have often expressed concerns with what and how much data is being collected. Educating the community on how to understand data and building a stronger data capacity will enhance a community’s ability to make real change.

Identifying and eliminating unconscious biases that may exist in data is imperative, especially as we begin to rely on AI and algorithms to make decisions for us. To effectively use AI, we must follow good data practices and be transparent about the data collection. The idea of digital ethics is relatively new; there aren’t many frameworks or methodologies that organizations can use to shape their policies. Government, businesses, academia and communities should come together to develop and standardize methods to evaluate their data quality and be transparent about their processes to create a digital ethics roadmap that will ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI. If used appropriately, AI has the power to enable us to enrich life for all.

Micron believes in the power of data. Data, when available and used properly, can improve lives, create jobs and reform government systems. It is no secret the U.S. criminal justice system lacks the data to make the necessary reforms, but what data does exist on the disparities of the criminal justice system tells a clear story of a disproportionate and negative impact on communities of color. Better data — and better use of that data — can help us reform the system in meaningful, lasting ways.

Collecting higher-quality criminal justice data with a broader reach is the essential first step to any reform proposal. Empowering the U.S. Department of Justice to collect standardized data on use of force, police misconduct, and demographics related to law enforcement and court system interactions will undoubtedly reveal actionable insights to drive reform. Any data collected should be made readily available for review and analysis by the public so that everyone working on solutions has equitable access to quality data.

New, robust criminal justice system data should become a tool of reform. With access to more data, existing offerings like the Prosecutorial Performance Indicators and the Data-Driven Justice Initiative can improve the justice system in measurable ways by shifting the incentives, metrics and transparency of the end-to-end criminal justice system. These existing efforts alone won’t be enough — new laws will be needed to fund better interventions, increase accountability and create parity in sentencing, parole and bail.