Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce is continuing to take action against Russia and those who enable Russia’s war in Ukraine. We added trade restrictions to seven Iranian entities involved in Iran’s drone program for supporting Russia’s war efforts and trying to use U.S. items to do it. They join a list of more than 370 entities that the department has taken action against since Feb. 24, 2022...

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said in a new report Wednesday that the current mobile app store model is harmful to consumers and developers, and recommended policy changes to fix it. Mobile apps have become an essential tool for participation in much of daily life. Two companies – Apple and Google – act as gatekeepers over the apps...

An American Industrial Strategy for U.S. Tech Leadership: Investing in Competitiveness, Innovation, and Equity Thank you to the Informational Technology Industry Council for bringing us together for this summit. It’s an honor to be here. Today’s Tech and Policy Summit comes at the right time, as the United States and our allies are in a high-stakes technology competition with authoritarian...

Today, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo welcomed Australian Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic to Washington, D.C. The Secretary expressed her appreciation for Australia’s close coordination on a variety of initiatives such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and the Australia-United States Strategic Commercial Dialogue (SCD). Secretary Raimondo welcomed the...

First Convening of Department-wide Equity Councils The U.S. Department of Commerce convened today the first Congress of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Councils to accelerate a shared mission to deliver equitable services to underserved communities and create a culture where employees can succeed and thrive. The inaugural meeting of the Councils led by Commerce Deputy...

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today it has awarded 12 grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson announced the awards at Coppin State University (MD), one of the...

By Junish A. Arora As the new Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (CDO) at the Department of Commerce, I wanted to share my diversity story and some recent thoughts on the value proposition for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). Born in India, my family immigrated to the United States when I was five years old. I grew up in a community in south New Jersey, which at...

NOAA satellites, which are crucial in weather and climate forecasts, helped rescue 397 people from potentially life-threatening situations throughout the U.S. and its surrounding waters in 2022. NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites are part of the global Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking system, or COSPAS-SARSAT, which uses a network of U.S. and international spacecraft to...