National Technology Roadmap for Pandemic Response and Recovery
The manufacturing sector is at the center of a stronger, faster and more coordinated U.S. response to COVID-19 and future pandemics. The National Technology Roadmap for Pandemic Response and Recovery—the first pandemic roadmap driven by the manufacturing sector—outlines a technology-based action plan for strengthening and accelerating U.S. pandemic response and preparedness.
This roadmap informs industry, non-profit and government organizations on:
- How the United States can ensure longevity through intentional regulatory and deployment frameworks
- Optimized predictive capabilities
- Stronger data infrastructure for manufacturing and supply chain networks, which drives down response time on everything from personal protective equipment and medical workforce to vaccine development and delivery.
Funding for this project was provided by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through a CARES Act grant. ARMI | BioFabUSA partnered with Nexight Group on this project. The technical roadmap resulting from this initiative has been developed to guide a wide variety of stakeholders on the technologies, platforms, and infrastructure needed to accelerate their response and recovery to COVID-19 and future pandemics.
Using lessons learned from COVID-19 as we begin the recovery, the roadmap outlines how such an improved response can be achieved through investment in technologies, platforms and infrastructure improvements in six key technical focus areas:
Supply Chains — to ensure access to all raw materials and components needed for manufacturing
Manufacturing — to rapidly and flexibly meet demands for PPE, medical devices, therapeutics and vaccines
Deployment and Access — to ensure products and support are available when and where they are needed most
Data Infrastructure — to help inform public health response decisions
Predictive Capabilities — to enhance early detection and tracing, prediction of new outbreaks, prediction of prognosis, drug development and vaccine design
Regulatory Processes — to facilitate the accelerated approval of safe and effective medical products critical to pandemic response
For each area, the roadmap recommends specific technology development and commercialization efforts that can be implemented immediately to respond to COVID-19, as well as longer-term research and development priorities needed to improve readiness for future pandemics.
To develop this national initiative, ARMI | BioFabUSA drew upon input from more than 75 multidisciplinary experts and senior leaders from the frontlines of pandemic response, representing academia, government, manufacturers, healthcare, supply chain, data infrastructure, biosecurity, professional societies and consortia.
