Semiconductor Industry Association
Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is the voice of the semiconductor industry, one of America’s top export industries and a key driver of our economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness.
The Voice of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) advances policies that help the industry grow and unites semiconductor companies around common challenges.
SIA seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research by working with Congress, the Administration, and key industry stakeholders to encourage policies and regulations that fuel innovation, propel business, and drive international competition.
SIA advocates and organizes industry action on:
> Defining strategies to promote and maintain world leadership in technology for our members
> Advocating for public policies that provide a fair field for competition
> Promoting fair and open trade
> Tracking and distributing statistical information of market trends
Uniting the Industry for 40 Years
Since 1977, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has been the voice of the U.S. semiconductor industry, one of America’s top export industries, and a key driver of America’s economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness.
Become A Member
Shaping policy to strengthen the industry in Washington and around the world
Engaging in government affairs when you have a problem is too late. Successfully advocating for critical policy and regulatory changes that impact the semiconductor industry requires a sustained and thoughtful approach for maximum effectiveness.
Benefits of SIA Membership
Not every company has the time or resources to support dedicated staff to monitor, inform, and advocate for favorable policies and outcomes. Being a part of SIA gives you that access when you need it and the sustained advocacy where it counts the most while leveraging the collective resources from the broader industry.
SIA Member Benefits:
> Shape Policy to Strengthen the Industry: SIA ensures a seat at the table when major decisions are made to help shape laws and policies around the world.
> Build Your Network: Through its national and international network of CEOs and working committees, SIA provides valuable business-to-business networking and branding opportunities to help build strong partnerships within the industry.
> Vital Industry Insights: SIA provides vital information about industry priorities allowing your company to make more informed business decisions.
> Coalition of Competitors: SIA is the channel leveraged by semiconductor companies to work collectively to advance the competitiveness of industry.
Types of SIA Membership:
> Charter Members: Charter Membership is reserved for semiconductor design and manufacturing companies (integrated device manufacturers, foundries, fablite, and fabless firms) headquartered in the United States.
> International Semiconductor Members: International Semiconductor Membership is for semiconductor design and manufacturing companies headquartered outside of the United States but that have a significant presence in the United States.
> Corporate Members: This category is designed for companies within the semiconductor industry supply chain that want to have a larger voice on SIA public policy initiatives. Corporate Members are invited to participate in SIA’s advocacy efforts.
> Corporate Partners: Corporate Partnership is available to any company that does not design or manufacture semiconductors, but that has an interest in the health and growth of the industry.
Semiconductors are the Brains of Modern Electronics
Semiconductors are an essential component of electronic devices, enabling advances in communications, computing, healthcare, military systems, transportation, clean energy, and countless other applications.
Semiconductors, sometimes referred to as integrated circuits (ICs) or microchips, are made from pure elements, typically silicon or germanium, or compounds such as gallium arsenide. In a process called doping, small amounts of impurities are added to these pure elements, causing large changes in the conductivity of the material.
Due to their role in the fabrication of electronic devices, semiconductors are an important part of our lives. Imagine life without electronic devices. There would be no smartphones, radios, TVs, computers, video games, or advanced medical diagnostic equipment.
Developments in semiconductor technology during the past 50 years have made electronic devices smaller, faster, and more reliable. Think for a minute of all the encounters you have with electronic devices. How many have you seen or used in the last 24 hours? Each has important components that have been manufactured with electronic materials.
A single semiconductor chip has as many transistors as all of the stones in the Great Pyramid in Giza, and today there are more than 100 billion integrated circuits in daily use around the world—that’s equal to the number of stars in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy.
It is truly a modern marvel, a feat of human ingenuity and engineering unmatched by any other industry.
Semiconductor firms generally organize their activities around the two main stages of semiconductor production: design and manufacturing. Companies that focus only on design are referred to as “fabless” firms, while companies that focus only on manufacturing are called “foundries.” Semiconductor firms that do both are called Integrated Device Manufacturers, or IDMs.
Maintaining a vibrant U.S. semiconductor industry is strategic to America’s continued strength
A strong semiconductor industry is vital to America’s economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness. SIA seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership of semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research by working with Congress, the Administration and other key industry stakeholders to encourage policies and regulations that fuel innovation, propel business, and drive international competition.
Increase Federal Investment in Semiconductor Research
Research is the lifeblood of innovation. Funding for scientific research has enabled some of the most revolutionary inventions of the last 60 years, including the Internet, the Global Positioning System (GPS), the laser, and the large-scale integrated circuit.
For decades, federal government and private sector investments in semiconductor research and development (R&D) have propelled the rapid pace of innovation in the U.S. semiconductor industry, making it the global leader and spurring tremendous growth throughout the U.S. economy.
Unfortunately, U.S. investments in R&D as a share of GDP have been on the decline, while other countries around the globe are doubling down on these critical investments. Policymakers should reverse this trend by supporting funding for basic scientific research programs at federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science.
Long-term fundamental science research performed at universities and funded by the industry and the federal government is critical to sustaining the pipeline of new discoveries that will fuel the semiconductor industry, our nation’s economy and new job creation in America. Today, with increasingly fierce competition for global technology leadership, it’s critical that research collaborations be maintained and strengthened, not undermined.
CONTACT SIA:
SIA Office
1101 K Street NW
Suite 450
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-862-1018
info@semiconductors.org
