Absent leadership, cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions cascade

This viewpoint is one of several reasons that the United States for decades has been losing out on deep tech innovation such as quantum, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, semiconductors, biotech, and advanced manufacturing. And it’s also one of the reasons China has taken the lead in 5G hardware and global deployment.

The world follows whichever country leads the deployment of a new technology. The Chinese telecom giant Huawei has amassed an ever-increasing share of the world’s 5G infrastructure. The Chinese government has long seen the importance of gaining global power and influence through economic and technological dominance. Control of the hardware is part of their growth. As the rest of the world continues to buy Chinese hardware, over time, the world will buy its software as well.

Are we going to let the same thing happen with 6G? If so, not only will we lose out on jobs and economic growth, but we’ll also put our businesses, and our country, at greater risk. It’s easy to imagine a major cyberattack on critical infrastructure, but an even more prosaic approach can be just as devastating — cutting supply lines.

This type of supply chain risk was clear during the pandemic, when we saw how dependent we were upon China and other countries for masks and ventilators. The United States, the country whose massive manufacturing capabilities were critical to winning World War II, was flummoxed.

Consider the potential impact on transportation alone. If we continue on our current path, in a relatively short time our autonomous vehicles — including trucking of goods across the United States — may become dependent upon Chinese-built hardware and software.

What if China decides to stop delivering parts to 6G hardware? What will we do? What will other countries do?