CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos Updated October 5 2020 Congressional Research Service https crsreports congress gov R45517 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos Contents Advanced Battery Energy Storage 1 Artificial Intelligence 2 Autonomous Vehicles 2 Blockchain 3 Commercial Spaceflight 4 Cybersecurity 5 Gene Editing 5 Quantum Information Science 6 Contacts Author Information 6 Congressional Research Service CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos ew technologies and those that represent an evolutionary improvement of an existing tool or process that exhibit the potential to have large-scale effects on social and economic activity are often referred to as “disruptive” technologies They can disrupt existing markets practices and processes by displacing and replacing incumbent technologies and actors The emergence of smartphones through the convergence of mobile phone and computing technologies for example profoundly affected the telecommunications sector— including its relevant market actors service offerings and hardware and software infrastructures It has also impacted how individuals and groups communicate through voice text images and video consume and create media access and disseminate information and engage in leisure activities N The positive and negative short- medium- and long-term effects emerging technologies may have are difficult to predict and present a range of issues for Congress Since the development trajectories and potential outcomes of emerging technologies are uncertain—some that show great promise may ultimately fail to develop as expected and others may have unintended yet profound impacts—systematic data to help guide policy development and legislation is sparse To support Congress in examining these opportunities and issues CRS has held a series of seminars for Congress designed to provide an opportunity for congressional staff to better understand the possible impacts of disruptive technologies of interest 1 In the seminars held to date over 30 government and private-sector experts discussed technical economic policy and legal aspects of eight disruptive technology topics advanced battery energy storage artificial intelligence autonomous vehicles blockchain commercial spaceflight cybersecurity gene editing and quantum information science This report describes each of the seminars in the series and provides links to videos of them that are available on the CRS website Advanced Battery Energy Storage Advanced battery energy storage ABES technology has the potential to revolutionize the nation’s electric power industry and the transportation sector ABES could not only improve grid reliability but also enhance the attractiveness of wind and solar power which may lead to lower electricity-related emissions Energy storage technologies could facilitate increased generation by intermittent renewable energy technologies but storage technologies could also promote electricity generated from fossil fuel technologies Were the transportation system to rely primarily on plug-in electric vehicles energy load profiles might shift creating additional energy demand during work hours and a greater overnight demand once residents return home New energy producers at the distribution level e g customer-generated power with energy storage may challenge local markets Electricity supply may shift from the utility-scale to the consumer as buildings and vehicles can store and discharge electricity as needed This seminar provided an overview of ABES technologies including examples of existing and future applications in the energy and transportation sectors and a discussion of related policy considerations The speakers were 1   Ray Hohenstein Market Applications Director Fluence Energy Patricia Hutchins Renewable Energy and Electric Power Analyst U S Energy Information Administration and  Max Parness Program Manager for Energy and Climate Toyota Motor North America Product Regulatory Affairs This series was made possible in part by a grant from the Democracy Fund Congressional Research Service 1 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos CRS Video WVB00315 Potential Disruption from Advanced Battery Storage on Electricity and Other Economic Sectors by Corrie E Clark For Further Information Corrie E Clark Analyst in Energy Policy Artificial Intelligence Advances in artificial intelligence AI are affecting many sectors of the U S economy such as health care defense and manufacturing As investments and innovations in AI grow new technologies have demonstrated many potential benefits from improvements in health and safety to economic growth Concurrently rapid advancements in AI have raised concerns such as job losses and potential social ethical and security risks as well as policy and regulatory questions Further questions regarding federal support for AI and subsequent impacts on U S innovation and competitiveness are underscored by China’s recent announcement of its goal to become the global leader in AI by 2030 This seminar focused on broad cross-sector issues in AI A panel of experts discussed advances in AI technologies and applications the federal role in research and development of these technologies and coordination with academia and industry projected impacts on the U S workforce and cross-sector policy considerations for Congress The speakers were    Ryan Calo Assistant Professor of Law and Faculty Director Tech Policy Lab University of Washington School of Law Tom Mitchell Professor School of Computer Science and Department Head Machine Learning Department Carnegie Mellon University and Lynne Parker Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Engagement Tickle College of Engineering and Professor Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of Tennessee CRS Video WVB00177 Artificial Intelligence Innovation Impacts Policy Considerations for the 115th Congress by Laurie A Harris For Further Information Laurie A Harris Analyst in Science and Technology Policy Autonomous Vehicles Motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with technologies that supplement or supplant driver behavior to reduce the nearly 40 000 annual U S motor vehicle deaths as well as related injuries The rising automation of vehicles may lead in the future to widespread use of vehicles where there is no driver Two seminars in the series addressed the topic with the first providing an overview and the second focusing on specific technology and policy issues The first seminar on this topic provided an introduction to autonomous vehicles and how federal and state laws and policies may change to address their possible economic and social effects Speakers addressed implications for transportation and vehicle safety legal liability issues changes in insurance ways to educate the public about pending transportation changes and federal and state regulatory options The speakers were  Robin Chase Transportation Entrepreneur Former CEO of Zipcar Congressional Research Service 2 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos    James Lynch Vice President Data and Information and Chief Actuary Insurance Information Institute Robert Molloy Director of the Office of Highway Safety National Transportation Safety Board and Bryant Walker Smith Professor University of South Carolina Law School CRS Video WVB00163 Autonomous Vehicles and the 115th Congress by Bill Canis The second seminar addressed three topics ways that disruptive vehicle technologies affect the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles different testing methods and their impact on future recalls and the challenge of ensuring vehicle cybersecurity The three invited speakers offered their professional perspectives on technological and policy issues addressed in the legislative proposals in the 115th Congress The speakers were    Joshua Corman Chief Security Officer and Senior Vice President PTC Steven E Shladover Research Engineer Retired University of California PATH Program and Michael Wagner Chief Executive Officer Edge Case Research CRS Video WVB00218 Autonomous Vehicles Technology and Cybersecurity Issues by Bill Canis For Further Information Bill Canis Specialist in Industrial Organization and Business Blockchain Applications of blockchain technology could potentially disrupt a wide range of recordkeeping systems integral to finance trade government and other sectors The technology provides an innovative way of using existing information technologies to manage track and secure transactions online which may yield time and cost savings in processing and recording transactions accurately and efficiently Private companies and investors are using it to create or develop cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin trading networks and supply chain management systems Governments are looking to the technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public services and regulatory compliance Still other possible future applications include systems used in title transfers medical recordkeeping and personal identity verification among others The growth of Bitcoin and other blockchain applications is leading some Members of Congress and their staffs to seek objective information on the technology the potential for disruptive economic and social impacts and policy implications for Congress To assist Congress in understanding this disruptive technology CRS brought together a panel of nationally recognized experts to provide a primer on what the technology is and how it works to discuss selected applications and to explore policy implications and options Questions addressed included the following What is blockchain technology and how does it work How does it differ from other technology used in recording and managing transactions What are its advantages disadvantages and potential impacts When is blockchain technology useful and when is it not What are the major current and proposed applications of blockchain What policy implications does blockchain raise What options might Congress consider to address them The speakers were Congressional Research Service 3 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos  Christian Catalini Assistant Professor Technological Innovation Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management MIT Sloan School of Management  Samantha Pelosi Senior Vice President for Payments and Innovation Bankers Association for Finance and Trade and Dylan Yaga Computer Scientist Computer Science Division National Institute of Standards and Technology  CRS Video WVB00200 Understanding Blockchain Technology and Its Policy Implications by Chris Jaikaran For Further Information Chris Jaikaran Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy Rachel F Fefer Analyst in International Trade and Finance David W Perkins Analyst in Macroeconomic Policy Commercial Spaceflight The increasing role of the private sector in spaceflight has expanded congressional and public interest in space For many years spaceflight was the exclusive province of national governments with commercial contractors providing most of the hardware and many services Commercial launch providers began to launch commercial satellites in the 1980s but human spaceflight and most other activities in space have remained largely in government hands Recently new technologies the emergence of new entrepreneurial companies and changes in government policy have created growing interest in the commercial space sector Technologies driving this interest include the recovery and reuse of rocket stages which proponents hope will significantly reduce the cost of space launch the substitution of fleets of small satellites for single large satellites which may reduce costs and enable new applications and robotics which may enable cost efficiencies such as in-space satellite refueling and potential new applications such as asteroid mining This seminar addressed emerging space technologies with the potential to disrupt the commercial space sector how the sector may evolve taking advantage of these technological developments potential impacts on industry government and society at large and potential policy issues for Congress The speakers were     Mathew Dunn Director of Government Affairs SpaceX Michael Gold Vice President Washington DC Operations and Business Development Space Systems Loral SSL Richard B Leshner Vice President Government Affairs and Policy Planet and Phil Smith Senior Space Analyst Bryce Space and Technology CRS Video WVB00187 Commercial Spaceflight New Technologies and Applications by Daniel Morgan For Further Information Daniel Morgan Specialist in Science and Technology Policy Congressional Research Service 4 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos Cybersecurity The rapid growth and evolution of cyberspace is generating substantial change and uncertainty in the cybersecurity environment Major technology innovations are driving many of those changes and are having increasingly disruptive effects which makes anticipatory legislative responses to cybersecurity challenges difficult To help Congress address that problem this seminar brought together a panel of experts in cybersecurity and policy to discuss three topics 1 the evolving cybersecurity landscape and the impacts of disruptive technologies including mobile computing cloud computing the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence 2 the challenges that such changes and uncertainty pose for legislation and policy and 3 options for more proactive legislative response and their advantages and disadvantages The speakers were     Margie Gilbert Program Manager Team Cymru Tom Kellermann Chief Executive Officer Strategic Cyber Ventures Martin Lindner Managing Principal Consultant SecureWorks and Phyllis Schneck Former Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications U S Department of Homeland Security CRS Video WVB00145 Cybersecurity How Can Congress Get Ahead of the Curve by Eric A Fischer For Further Information Chris Jaikaran Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy John W Rollins Specialist in Terrorism and National Security Gene Editing Since its discovery scientists science fiction writers and others have speculated on the implications of being able to control and modify DNA A new gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 offers the potential for substantial improvement over previous technologies with many in the scientific engineering and business communities asserting that CRISPR-Cas9 will lead to groundbreaking advances in the investigation prevention and treatment of diseases agriculture energy and ecosystem conservation To help Congress understand this innovative technology this seminar brought together a panel of experts to discuss the potential opportunities offered by CRISPR-Cas9 potential risks associated with CRISPR-related products and research and development including ethical legal and social implications and how the current federal regulatory framework addresses gene-edited products and research as well as the need for potential changes associated with advanced gene-editing technologies The speakers were     George M Church Professor Department of Genetics Harvard Medical School Barbara J Evans Director Center for Biotechnology and Law University of Houston Law Center Elizabeth Heitman Professor Program in Ethics in Science and Medicine University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Jeffrey Kahn Director Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics Congressional Research Service 5 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos CRS Video WVB00151 Advances in Gene Editing Balancing Promise and Risk by Marcy E Gallo For Further Information Marcy E Gallo Analyst in Science and Technology Policy Quantum Information Science Quantum information science QIS combines elements of mathematics computer science engineering and physical sciences and has the potential to provide capabilities far beyond what is possible with the most advanced technologies available today Examples of QIS applications include navigational devices atomic clocks secure cryptography using quantum key distribution and quantum computing Many experts divide QIS technologies into three application areas sensing and metrology communications and computing and simulation The government’s interest in QIS dates back at least to the mid-1990s when the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Defense held their first workshops on the topic QIS was first mentioned in the FY2008 budget of what is now the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program and has been a component of the program since then This seminar provided an overview of QIS technologies including examples of their existing and future applications brief summaries of funding and selected initiatives in research and development in the United States and elsewhere around the world and a discussion of related policy considerations The speakers were    Celia Merzbacher Associate Director Quantum Economic Development Consortium SRI International Martin Laforest Senior Product Manager and Quantum Technology Expert ISARA Corporation and Emily Grumbling Research Staff Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute CRS Video WVB00301 Quantum Information Science Applications Global Research and Development and Policy Considerations by Patricia Moloney Figliola For Further Information Patricia Moloney Figliola Specialist in Internet and Telecommunications Policy Author Information Jason A Gallo Section Research Manager Congressional Research Service 6 CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies Videos Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service CRS CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role CRS Reports as a work of the United States Government are not subject to copyright protection in the United States Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS However as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material Congressional Research Service R45517 · VERSION 4 · UPDATED 7