[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57806-57807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22763]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Industry and Security

[Docket No. 211013-0208]
RIN 0694-XC077


Notice of Virtual Forum for Risks in the Information 
Communication Technology Supply Chain

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology 
Evaluation, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of virtual forum.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is announcing a 
virtual forum that will occur on October 29, 2021, and that will allow 
participants to provide recommendations to strengthen the resiliency of 
critical supply chains supporting the U.S. information and 
communications technology (ICT) industrial base that are at risk of 
disruption, strain, compromise, or elimination. See Background for the 
definition of ICT industrial base. This notice sets forth the 
procedures for public participation in the virtual forum.

DATES: 
    Virtual forum: The virtual forum will be held on October 29, 2021. 
The virtual forum will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) 
and conclude at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Registration for the virtual forum: 
Requests to attend the virtual forum must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. EDT 
on October 27, 2021. Speaker requests must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. 
EDT on October 22, 2021. See the ADDRESSES section of this notice for 
more information regarding registration. Registration for the virtual 
forum will open on October 14, 2021.
    Confirmation of registration and/or speaking slot: The Department 
will contact each person that has been confirmed to provide oral 
comments in the virtual forum by email no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT on 
October 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES: BIS has created a web page on the BIS website for the 
virtual forum. This web page will be used by the public to register for 
the virtual forum, including submitting requests to speak at the 
virtual forum. The landing page for the virtual forum will be accessed 
through this web page on https://www.bis.doc.gov/ictforum.
    Click on the link for `Register for the Virtual Forum' on this web 
page to register for the virtual forum. People interested in providing 
oral statements during the virtual forum should make this request when 
registering for the virtual forum, including submitting a brief 
overview of their anticipated remarks.
    After registration is completed by the Department, this web page 
will include the agenda and the list of the scheduled speakers for the 
virtual forum. Registered attendees will receive an email notification 
from BIS with information needed to access the virtual forum on October 
28, 2021. Registrants that requested to provide oral comments at the 
virtual forum will be notified by email if their request has been 
accepted and will be provided the allotted amount of time for their 
comments at the virtual forum. Anyone not selected to make a 
presentation may provide written comments and submit those in response 
to the notice of request for public comments entitled Risks in the 
Information Communications Technology Supply Chain (86 FR 52127) 
(September 20 Notice) by the comment deadline of November 4, 2021. See 
the September 20 Notice for instructions on submitting written 
comments. Participants should be prepared to attend the virtual forum 
in its entirety as allotted speaker time slots are subject to change 
and the program will continue if a speaker is not available when called 
to speak. Within 7 business days after the virtual forum is completed, 
BIS will add a link to a recording of the virtual forum and a written 
transcript to make the recording physically accessible to people with 
disabilities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erika Maynard, Defense Industrial Base 
Division, Office of Technology Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and 
Security, at 202-482-5572 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 24, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14017, 
``America's Supply Chains'' (86 FR 11849) (E.O. 14017), which directs 
several Federal agency actions to secure and strengthen America's 
supply chains. E.O. 14017 focuses on the need for resilient, diverse, 
and secure supply chains to ensure U.S. economic prosperity and 
national security. Such supply chains are needed to address conditions 
that can reduce U.S. critical manufacturing capacity, as well as the 
availability and integrity of critical goods, products, and services. 
In relevant part, E.O. 14017 directs that within one year of the date 
of the order, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, in consultation with the heads of appropriate agencies, shall 
submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the 
President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) and the Assistant to 
the President for Economic Policy (APEP), on supply chains for critical 
sectors and subsectors of the ICT industrial base (as determined by the 
Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Homeland Security), 
including the industrial base for the development of ICT software, 
data, and associated services.
    On September 20, 2021, BIS published a notice of request for public 
comments, Risks in the Information Communications Technology Supply 
Chain (86 FR 52127) (the September 20 Notice). The September 20 Notice 
requests comments and information from the public to assist the 
Department of Commerce (the Department) in preparing the report 
required by E.O. 14017.
    In developing this report, the Secretary of Commerce and the 
Secretary of Homeland Security will consult with the heads of 
appropriate agencies and will be advised by all relevant bureaus and 
components of the Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security.
    BIS is publishing this notice to announce a virtual forum that will 
occur on October 29, 2021, that will allow selected speakers to address 
the policy objectives listed in E.O. 14017 including recommendations to 
strengthen the resiliency of critical supply chains supporting the U.S. 
ICT industrial base that are at risk of disruption, strain, compromise 
or elimination. For the purposes of the report, the scope of the ICT 
industrial base shall consist of component hardware that enables 
terrestrial distribution, broadcast/wireless transport, satellite 
support, data storage to include data center and cloud technologies, 
and end user devices including home devices such as routers, antennae, 
and receivers, and mobile devices; and software and services that have 
direct dependencies on one or more of the enabling hardware. Examples 
of component hardware include printed circuit boards and fiber optic 
cables, electronic

[[Page 57807]]

manufacturing services and assembly, and downstream products such as 
networking devices and radio base stations. BIS is particularly 
interested in recommendations to strengthen the critical supply chains 
of the ICT industrial base as defined in the report. This notice sets 
forth the procedures for public participation in the virtual forum.

Virtual Forum

    Consistent with the interest of the Department in soliciting public 
comments on issues affecting risks in the manufacturing of ICT products 
and critical supply chains as described in the September 20 Notice, the 
Department is holding a virtual forum. The virtual forum will assist 
the Department in preparing the report required by E.O. 14017. Oral 
comments at the virtual forum should address the policy objectives 
listed in E.O. 14017 as they affect the U.S. ICT supply chains, 
including recommendations to strengthen critical, at-risk supply 
chains. See the September 20 Notice and E.O. 14017 for the policy 
objectives. The virtual forum will be held on October 29, 2021. The 
forum will begin at 9:00 a.m. EDT and conclude at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

Procedure for Requesting Participation

    See the ADDRESSES section of this notice for how to register and 
access the virtual forum. The Department encourages interested public 
participants to present their views orally at the virtual forum. Any 
person wishing to make an oral presentation at the virtual forum must 
register with the Department at the web address indicated in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice. The request to speak in the virtual 
forum must be accompanied by an overview of the oral presentation. 
Speakers' registration, including overviews of planned remarks, must be 
received by the Department no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT on October 22, 
2021. BIS will not accept any registrations after that time for the 
virtual forum.
    Please note that the submission of overviews of presentations at 
the virtual forum is separate from the request for written comments 
described in the September 20 Notice. Since it may be necessary to 
limit the number of persons making presentations, the overview of the 
presentation should describe the individual's interest in the virtual 
forum and, where appropriate, explain why the individual is a proper 
representative of a group or class of persons that has such an 
interest. If all interested parties cannot be accommodated at the 
virtual forum, the overviews of the oral presentations will be used to 
allocate speaking time and to ensure that a full range of comments is 
heard.
    Each person selected to make a presentation will be notified by the 
Department no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT on October 26, 2021. The 
Department will arrange the presentation times for the speakers. 
Representatives from the Department and other U.S. Government agencies, 
as appropriate, will make up the virtual forum panel. Written overview 
submissions by persons not selected to make presentations will be made 
part of the public record of the proceeding, as will the overview 
submission of those persons selected to make presentations. 
Confidential business information may not be submitted at a virtual 
forum. The virtual forum will be recorded.
    Copies of the requests to speak at the virtual forum and the 
transcript of the forum will be maintained on BIS's web page, which can 
be found at https://www.bis.doc.gov (see Freedom of Information Act 
link at the bottom of the page) and at https://www.bis.doc.gov/ictforum. These documents will also be posted through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov under docket number 
BIS-2021-0021, which is the docket number for the September 20 Notice. 
If the requesters cannot access the website, they may call (202) 482-
0795 for assistance. The records related to this assessment are made 
accessible in accordance with the regulations published in part 4 of 
title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations (15 CFR 4.1 through 4.11).

Conduct of the Virtual Forum

    The Department reserves the right to select the persons to be heard 
at the virtual forum, to schedule their respective presentations, and 
to establish the procedures governing the conduct of the virtual forum. 
Each speaker will be limited to a time set by the Department and 
comments must be directly related to the policy objectives listed in 
E.O. 14017 as they affect the U.S. ICT supply chains, including 
recommendations to strengthen critical, at-risk supply chains.
    A Department official will be designated to preside at the virtual 
forum. The presiding officer shall determine all procedural matters 
during the virtual forum. Representatives from the Department, and 
other U.S. Government agencies, as appropriate, will make up the 
virtual forum panel. This will be a fact-finding proceeding. It will 
not be a judicial or evidentiary-type virtual forum. Only members of 
the virtual forum panel may ask questions and there will be no cross-
examination of persons presenting statements. No formal rules of 
evidence will apply to the virtual forum. Any further procedural rules 
for the proper conduct of the virtual forum will be announced by the 
presiding officer.

Special Accommodations

    This virtual forum is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. See the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

Matthew S. Borman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-22763 Filed 10-14-21; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-33-P