Charles Wessner

Senior Adviser (Non-Resident), Renewing American Innovation Project
Charles Wessner

Charles Wessner is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches global innovation policy while also serving as a senior adviser (non-resident) to the CSIS Renewing American Innovation Program. He is active as a speaker, researcher, and writer with a global lens on innovation policy and has frequently advised technology agencies, universities, and governments on effective innovation policies. He served for two decades as a National Academies scholar, where he founded and directed the National Academy of Sciences' Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program. At the National Academies, Dr. Wessner’s research addressed the importance of semiconductor research and production to innovation and national security.  In collaboration with Gordon Moore and Bill Spencer, his influential reports included Securing the Future: Regional and National Programs to Support the Semiconductor Industry and Innovative Flanders: Innovation Policies for the 21st Century, which reviewed the role of IMEC, the cooperative research center. His most recent publication with Thomas Howell, Regional Renaissance: How New York’s Capital Region Became a Nanotechnology Powerhouse (Springer, 2020), documents how state investments in universities, new institutions, and infrastructure created a vibrant semiconductor cluster creating thousands of jobs and regional growth.  He is also a leading U.S. expert on Sematech, the U.S. semiconductor consortium, and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which provides awards to promising small businesses and start-ups. Reflecting his commitment to transatlantic cooperation, he was awarded the Order of Merit by the president of France.

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Toward a New Multilateral Export Control Regime

Halting Chinese progress in achieving advanced semiconductor capabilities calls for moving past the limitations of the Wassenaar Arrangement.

Commentary by Sujai Shivakumar , Charles Wessner , and Hideki Uno — January 10, 2023

Photo: Kadmy/Adobe Stock

Reshoring Semiconductor Manufacturing: Addressing the Workforce Challenge

Despite new investment in domestic chip-making, chip makers encounter a shortage of construction workers to build new facilities and a lack of qualified workers to run them. This report discusses increasing development of U.S. talent toward semiconductor chip production.

Report by Sujai Shivakumar , Charles Wessner , and Thomas Howell — October 6, 2022

Photo: Kzenon/Adobe Stock

Renew SBIR, Just Defend the Recipients against China

With the SBIR program up for reauthorization, it is more important than ever to reflect on this hugely successful program’s impacts on the U.S. economy and innovation.

Report by Charles Wessner and Sujai Shivakumar — September 14, 2022

Photo: maciek905/Adobe Stock

Can Semiconductor Reshoring Prime a U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance?

The new strategic focus on semiconductor manufacturing represents a more comprehensive understanding of the industry’s importance beyond a secure supply of chips for defense applications.

Commentary by Sujai Shivakumar , Charles Wessner , and Tom Howell — September 1, 2022

Photo: Kostiantyn/Adobe Stock

The Great Rewiring: How Global Supply Chains Are Reacting to Today’s Geopolitics

The rise of an aggressive and revisionist China, a devastating global pandemic, the disruptive churn of technological advancement, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are prompting a dramatic rethinking of the value of globally distributed supply chains.

Commentary by Sujai Shivakumar , Gregory Arcuri , and Charles Wessner — July 25, 2022

Photo: Edelweiss/Adobe Stock

Semiconductors and National Defense: What Are the Stakes?

The erosion of U.S. capabilities in microelectronics is a direct threat to the United States’ ability to defend itself and its allies. Ensuring U.S. leadership in semiconductor technology is the preeminent national security concern of the modern era.

Commentary by Sujai Shivakumar and Charles Wessner — June 8, 2022

Photo: golibtolibov/Adobe Stock

The Pillars Necessary for a Strong Domestic Semiconductor Industry

U.S. leadership in semiconductor design and production is of strategic importance and is essential for competitiveness; however, the domestic semiconductor industry currently confronts a range of challenges that need to be addressed moving forward.

Report by Sujai Shivakumar , Charles Wessner , and Thomas Howell — May 20, 2022

Photo: Maha Heang 245789/Adobestock