The U.S. Senate passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) on June 8th, a major step forward in providing support and financial investment in furthering the United States' competitive capabilities in technology, including semiconductor capabilities. The USICA is bipartisan legislation intended to give federal funding to key science and technology areas, including STEM research, technology transfer, semiconductor research and manufacturing, as well as NASA research activities. The bill also seeks to establish a framework for agencies including the NSF and DOE to collaborate in these areas, to help ensure U.S. leadership in science and technology.

The August 2021 issue of the International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), a peer-reviewed research journal, included a paper based on the work of three researchers from India's St. Francis Institute of Technology (SFIT) summarizing their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods to help alleviate water shortages in India caused by population growth, urbanization, and climate change. Verlekar, Shah, and Kulkarni used a machine learning model to create a proactive scheme for managing local water resources, work that was prompted by a 2019 drought that impacted the Chennai area of India.