ANCHOR Act

Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act or the ANCHOR Act

This bill requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF). The plan must be provided to Congress within one year after the bill is enacted.

ARF is comprised of U.S.-flagged vessels that provide at-sea laboratories where oceanographic scientists, educators, and students research and learn about marine science. 

The bill requires a plan to include assessments of (1) telecommunications and networking needs of ARF, consistent with typical scientific missions; (2) cybersecurity needs appropriate for the ownership of ARF vessels and their typical functions; (3) the costs necessary to meet these needs; and (4) the time required to implement necessary upgrades. The plan must also include a spending plan and a proposal for adopting common solutions, consortial licensing agreements, or a solution for centralizing cybersecurity, telecommunications, and data systems at a single facility.

Among other factors specified in the bill, the NSF must consider approaches to align with international standards for encryption of sensitive information, requirements for controlled classified or unclassified information, and the network capabilities necessary to meet particular mission needs (such as to upload data to shoreside servers or to enable video communications with K-12 classrooms).

The NSF must provide Congress with a report on the plan's implementation within two years after the plan is provided to Congress.