S.Amdt. 6420

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Peters, aims to add a new section to the bill focused on Workforce Frameworks for Critical and Emerging Technologies. It expands the role of the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create and manage standardized guides for the skills and knowledge needed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains.

The purpose of these changes is to bolster education, training, and workforce development. The amendment specifically adds the following requirements:

• New Responsibilities for NIST: The Director must develop and maintain workforce frameworks and update them at least every 3 years. These frameworks should include professional skills, support roles (like law, ethics, and finance), and information on how people from nontraditional backgrounds can enter these careers.

• Cybersecurity Updates: The Director must report on the process for updating the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity and provide reports on how the framework is actually being used.

• Additional Frameworks: The Director must assess the need for new frameworks (such as for quantum information science) and is specifically required to create a workforce framework for artificial intelligence within 540 days.

• Accessibility: The Director is tasked with producing resources in multiple languages and disseminating career resources for all age groups, from kindergarten through adult workers.