A unique view of 2012
Last week, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Equal Pay Act by President Kennedy, President Obama recognized innovators who have used open government data to build tools that address the wage gap.That gap has grown considerably smaller since the Kennedy era, but it has not disappeared.
OSTP today released the National Biosurveillance Science and Technology Roadmap, which identifies and prioritizes research and development (R&D) needs with the goal of giving decision makers and responders the information they need to protect the public from biological threats. The Roadmap builds upon the National Strategy for Biosurveillance, published in July 2012.
President Obama today issued a Presidential Memorandum that builds on the Administration’s commitment to make additional spectrum available for wireless broadband to drive innovation, expand consumer services, and increase job creation and economic growth. It establishes a set of measures that Federal agencies will now take to more aggressively enhance spectrum efficiency and enable access to more spectrum for consumer services and applications.
OSTP’s Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs Dr. Patricia Falcone provided keynote remarks yesterday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of the US Army Research Laboratory’s (ARL) new supercomputing center at Aberdeen Proving Ground in northern Maryland.
This past weekend, more than 11,000 people in 83 cities across America participated in 95 open data hacking events as part of the National Day of Civic Hacking. This huge turnout is an unmistakable mark of the growing interest and enthusiasm of American innovators in applying their tech skills for social good. At events across the country, participants in Civic Hacking Day were set loose on open government data.
Health Datapalooza IV has officially wrapped and with over 1900 attendees and 80 companies, this was the biggest palooza yet. Kicked off by Secretary Sebelius for the second year in a row, this year’s event was a tremendous display of health data in action.
This July, the White House will host a “Champions of Change” event to celebrate these local change-agents, whose exemplary leadership is helping to strengthen our democracy and increase participation in our government.We’re asking you to help us identify these standout local leaders by nominating a Champion of Change for Transformative Civic Engagement
Today, the Administration’s interagency National Science and Technology Council released Smart Disclosure and Consumer Decision Making: Report of the Task Force on Smart Disclosure—the first comprehensive description of the Federal Government’s efforts to promote the smart disclosure of information that can help consumers make wise decisions in the marketplace.
OPEN DATA:
On May 9, 2013, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing historic steps to make government-held data more accessible to the public and to entrepreneurs and others as fuel for innovation and economic growth. That same day, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a landmark policy to help implement the Executive Order. Learn more:
2013 WHITE HOUSE SCIENCE FAIR:
On April 22, 2013, President Obama hosted 100 student innovators from more than 40 states for the third-ever White House Science Fair. The event was a celebration of amazing and award-winning student-achievements in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The cohort of kids included app-coders, algae-growers, video-game designers, city-planners, roboticists, and rocket-scientists—most of them not yet old enough to drive. Learn more:
STEM EDUCATION:
On February 13, 2013, OSTP hosted the first-ever White House State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (SoSTEM) event, where nearly 100 middle- and high-schoolers spent an hour asking STEM-centric questions to some of the Nation’s top S&T innovators. The event highlighted the Obama Administration’s ongoing work to expand participation of American youth in STEM studies and equip the Nation’s future innovators with the skills they need to succeed in STEM careers. Learn more:
HONORING S&T ACHIEVEMENTS:
April 29, 2013 - Fact Sheet: Administration Partners with Industry to Get Service Members Credentialed for High-Demand Jobs
April 22, 2013 - NEW DETAILS: President Obama to Host White House Science Fair
April 16, 2013 - Press Release: Obama Administration Releases Plan to Promote Ocean Economy and Resilience
April 10, 2013 - Press Release: the FY 2014 Federal R&D Budget
April 2, 2013 - BRAIN Initiative Fact Sheet
March 22, 2013 - PCAST Releases New Climate Report
March 18, 2013 - Obama Administration Announces New Steps to Meet President’s Goal of Preparing 100,000 STEM Teachers
December 21, 2012 - President Obama Honors Nation’s Top Scientists and Innovators
December 7, 2012 - Presidential Report Calls for New “Innovation Ecosystem” for Agricultural Research (pdf)
November 30, 2012 - Report to President Calls for Renewed National Focus on Basic Research to Sustain Innovation, Create Jobs (pdf)
July 17, 2012 - Report to President Outlines Approaches to Spur Domestic Manufacturing Investment and Innovation (pdf)
June 20, 2012 - Statement of Dr. John P. Holdren to the Committee on Science, Space and Technology United States House of Representatives (pdf)
May 2, 2012 - New Industry Commitments to Give Over 3 Million New Households and Businesses Tools to Shrink Their Energy Bills (pdf)
April 26, 2012 - National Bioeconomy Blueprint (pdf)
April 10, 2012 - Implementation of Federal Prize Authority: Progress Report (pdf)
March 29, 2012 - Big Data Fact Sheet (pdf)
March 29, 2012 - Big Data Press Release (pdf)
March 22, 2012 - Statements of Support for Green Button Initiative
March 22, 2012 - New Industry Commitments to Give 15 Million Households Tools to Shrink Their Energy Bills