The Past, Present, and Future Course of the U.S. Strategy for Technology Leadership

About the Speakers

Jacob Smith is a Policy Advisor for Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) where he handles a legislative portfolio that includes technology, telecommunications, science, semiconductors, and commerce issues. Since coming to Washington in 2016, he has also served in policy positions with U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and as Professional Staff on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee – where he led CHIPS program oversight and policy development for AI and quantum. Notable legislative achievements include authoring the Save our Stages Act, the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, and the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act. 
 

A native of Corinth, Mississippi, Jacob holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Mississippi and a master's degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University. 
 

Jon Cardinal is Director of Economic Development for United States Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. In this capacity, he works on the Senator’s legislative agenda on various economic policy areas, including innovation and industrial policy, small business and entrepreneurship, and workforce development. In this capacity, he played a central role in developing and passing into law the CHIPS and Science Act as well as industrial investments in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. He also manages the Senator’s relationships with CEOs and the broader private sector.

Jon has over 16 years of experience working in the United States Senate. Before his current role with Senator Schumer, he served in a similar economic policy position with United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He began his career on Capitol Hill in 2007 working for former United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

A native of Ogdensburg, New York, Jon is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and a recipient of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for public service.  
 

J.D. Grom joined the Commerce Department in October 2021 where he currently serves as senior advisor to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for CHIPS Implementation. In his current role, J.D. oversees the policy development and implementation of the Commerce Department’s $39 billion CHIPS incentives program and $11 billion CHIPS R&D programs and leads coordination with the White House CHIPS Implementation Steering Council. Prior to his current role, J.D. performed the duties of the Commerce Assistant Secretary for Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs from October 2021 to August 2022. In that role, J.D. led the Administration’s legislative strategy to pass the CHIPS and Science Act among other Department priorities. Prior to Commerce, J.D. had two stints working in the House of Representatives. First for his hometown representative, Congresswoman Melissa Bean (IL-08) and later as Executive Director of the House New Democrat Coalition. In between those roles, he served at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he advised on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) primarily as a Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary Timothy Massad.

J.D. holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he double majored in Political Science and Economics.”
 

Sujai Shivakumar directs the Renewing American Innovation (RAI) Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he also serves as a senior fellow.

Dr. Shivakumar brings over two decades of experience in policy studies related to U.S. competitiveness and innovation. Previously, he directed the Innovation Policy Forum at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and led major studies of U.S. policies supporting advanced manufacturing, small business growth, workforce development, and entrepreneurship. He was also a lead contributor to a seminal National Academies study of strategies adopted by U.S. states and regions to foster entrepreneurship, drive technology transfer, and encourage regional high-tech ecosystems. He also helped prepare National Academy of Public Administration studies on laboratory technology transfer and the management of space situational awareness. He holds a doctorate in Economics from George Mason University and served as an Earhart Foundation scholar at the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University Bloomington.
 

About the Moderators

Constanza Vidal Bustamante, Ph.D., is a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, where she is supporting the organization of cross-sectoral initiatives to advance U.S. innovation, workforce development, and competitiveness in semiconductors, AI, medicine, and other strategic fields. As a researcher with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, she has written about strategic technologies and their implications for national security and economic policy. Her latest Belfer report examines the political dynamics behind the US strategy for technology leadership, with a focus on the CHIPS and Science Act. Constanza served as President of the Harvard Science Policy Group and holds Doctoral, Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in psychology and cognitive neuroscience from Harvard University.

Doug Calidas serves as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). ARI's mission is to help U.S. policymakers develop a thoughtful governance framework for rapidly advancing technologies that protects the public from harm while continuing to foster innovation, and Doug leads ARI's policy development process and outreach to policymakers. He is also a former Technology and Public Purpose Fellow (2022-2023).

Doug previously served as Chief of Staff to Senator Amy Klobuchar, a senior member of the Senate Democratic leadership team. As Chief of Staff to Senator Klobuchar, Doug managed a team of approximately 50 staffers and served as the Senator’s top strategist for policy initiatives, media relations, and constituent services. He led all staff in supporting the Senator’s work as Chair of the Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee and a senior member of the Commerce and Agriculture Committees. Doug spent five years with Senator Klobuchar, having previously served as the Senator’s Legislative Director, Deputy Legislative Director, and Senior Economic Adviser. Before advising Senator Klobuchar, Doug served as Chief Counsel for Senator Joe Manchin. He began his time in the Senate as a Fellow on the staff of the Senate Finance Committee under Senator Ron Wyden.

Prior to working on Capitol Hill, Doug spent six years as an attorney in private practice at the Steptoe law firm in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Duke University School of Law – where he was an Editor of the Duke Law Journal and a member of the moot court board – and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he studied finance, economics, and international relations. He lives in Rockville, Maryland with his wife Katie and their four young children.