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  • Connecting America

    Posted by Aneesh Chopra on March 16, 2010 at 5:54 PM EDT

    Today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the National Broadband Plan, called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to identify ways to expand access to broadband and promote economic growth and job creation.

    In his statement on the plan’s release, President Obama committed to “build upon our efforts over the past year to make America's nationwide broadband infrastructure the world’s most powerful platform for economic growth and prosperity.” To that end, I’ve established a Broadband Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Technology, co-chaired by Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce, and Scott Blake Harris, General Counsel at the Department of Energy. This interagency group will focus closely on the plan by the FCC—an independent agency—and advise the Administration on actions it can take to promote broadband as a platform to improve the lives of everyday Americans and drive innovation in the economy.

    The Obama Administration is committed to continuing to build upon the nearly $2 billion already committed by the Commerce and Agriculture Departments to deliver broadband to unserved and underserved communities, stimulate job creation, and foster long-term economic growth. It has also undertaken initiatives to bring the efficiencies and innovations of broadband to many sectors of the economy. These initiatives include the Department of Health and Human Services’ commitment to facilitating the movement of healthcare information safely and securely from where it is collected to where it is needed in order to reduce costs and improve patient care; the Department of Energy’s investment of more than $11 billion in Recovery Act funds to use Internet-like technologies to modernize our electricity transmission system with an interactive “Smart Grid”; the Department of Homeland Security’s work to integrate broadband and next-generation technologies into the National Emergency Communications Plan, which will extend the developing advanced-information technology ecosystem to include emergency response; and the collaboration across all Departments and agencies throughout the Administration to ensure that new broadband platforms and the services that travel over them are secure.

    The Administration will continue to engage the public on this issue, as Secretary Arne Duncan did last week when he called for public input on the draft National Education Technology Plan, which articulates a bold vision of a world-class education environment powered by technology that relies on broadband access both in and out of school. The Administration also continues to implement its Open Government Directive, which is seeking public input on how each Federal agency should achieve greater transparency, participation, and collaboration, in part by taking fuller advantage of the capabilities of broadband.

    Thank you, Chairman Genachowski, the Commissioners, Executive Director Blair Levin, and the FCC staff for your tireless work and your dedication to the broadband future of the country.

    Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Associate Director for Technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

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  • Last Chance to Nominate for National Medals Awards

    Posted by Phil Larson on March 15, 2010 at 2:47 PM EDT

    Just two weeks remain to nominate colleagues for the 2010 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation awards. The nomination period for both medals ends on March 31.

    The National Medal of Science, established in 1959, is the Nation’s highest honor for American scientists and egineers. The Presidential Award is given to individuals deemed deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or behavioral sciences. It is administered by the National Science Foundation and, to date, has been awarded to 458 individuals. An independent twelve-member presidentially-appointed committee of scientists and engineers reviews nominations and makes its recommendations to the President, who selects the laureates.

    The National Medal of Technology and Innovation, first awarded in 1985, is the highest honor awarded by the White House for technological achievement. The Medal is given to individuals, teams, companies, or divisions for their outstanding contributions to the Nation’s economic, environmental, and social well-being through the development and commercialization of technology products, processes, and concepts; technological innovation; and development of the Nation’s technological manpower. An independent committee representing both private and public sectors evaluates the merits of all candidates nominated through an open, competitive solicitation process. The Committee forwards its recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce, who makes recommendations to the President for final decision.

    To nominate someone for the National Medal of Science, please visit the National Science Foundation. For the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, please visit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

    Click here for the official “Call for Nominations” flyer (pdf)

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  • Special Edition of SEED Features OSTP Director Holdren

    Posted by Phillip Larson on March 9, 2010 at 12:47 PM EDT

    Recently, OSTP Director John Holdren was among a plethora of distinguished contributors to “Global Reset,” a special edition of SEED magazine. Dr. Holdren wrote about President Obama’s relentless support for science and technology initiatives and the President’s appreciation of the immensely positive consequences they can have for our Nation.

    President Obama understands with crystal clarity the indispensable role that science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) will need to play if the great challenges of our time are to be successfully met.

    He has communicated this understanding with uncommon eloquence, but even more important, he has put his understanding of the importance of ST&I into practice in the appointments he has made, the budgets he has proposed and pushed through, and the policy initiatives he has launched.

    Additionally, Dr. Holdren’s essay focuses on general science policy in the Obama Administration, including STEM education, international collaboration, research and development budgets, and a number of pressing ST&I challenges.

    No less important is recognition by the President and his ST&I appointees that meeting the practical challenges listed above will depend on adequate investment in and care for the cross-cutting, foundational “pillars of progress” in ST&I, notably:

    • the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and training, from pre-school to grad school to lifelong learning;
    • the capabilities, financial health, and productivity of the institutions that conduct most of society’s fundamental research, namely our research universities and national and private laboratories;
    • the capacity and robustness of infrastructures for information/communication, transportation, and energy;
    • our competence in space, which is invaluable not only for expanding our understanding of the universe and other realms of basic science but also for its roles in communications, geopositioning, and Earth observations for a multitude of purposes;
    • an economic and political environment that promotes and rewards research, entrepreneurship, and innovation while also providing appropriate protections for the public’s interests in health, safety, personal and national security, privacy, and so on;
    • and encouragement and support for a variety of partnerships—across academic disciplines, governmental bodies, the public and private sectors, and nations around the world—in order to combine skills and insights, share costs and risks, engage all the stakeholders, undertake projects at the needed scale, and optimally distribute solutions and benefits.

    The full version of Dr. Holdren’s essay (pdf) is available in OSTP’s Resource Library.

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  • Public Access Policy Update

    Posted by Phillip Larson on March 8, 2010 at 6:51 PM EDT

    OSTP launched a Public Access Policy Forum on Dec. 10, 2009. The forum was designed to be a public consultation on access to publicly funded research results, such as those that appear in academic and scholarly journal articles. In response to your pleas, the forum was extended past its initial Jan. 7 deadline and closed on Jan. 21, 2010.

    Since then you may have noticed some changes in OSTP’s online presence—including the disappearance of the hundreds of comments submitted during the course of the forum. Here’s what happened: After the forum closed, we transitioned from http://blog.ostp.gov—the site we used to host the forum—to our new blog at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/blog. As we noted in the introductory message on our new site, not all of our old content migrated with us, and we are still in the process of moving it to our new digs and integrating comment functionality.

    Of course, before we closed up shop we made sure to capture all of the input from our previous host, and we are gradually reposting that content.

    Today we are posting two valuable resources that are direct products of the Public Access Policy Forum. While we continue the process of analyzing the literature and comments, below you will find all of the blog posts and their respective comments, as well as never-before-seen submissions that were sent directly to our publicaccess@ostp.gov inbox.

    The past month-and-a-half has given OSTP staff the chance to sift through the mounds of fantastic input we received. We were very gratified by the amount of participation the forum generated and are diligently scouring through the data to find common themes, dissenting opinions, concerns, and suggestions that will ultimately help us craft policy recommendations.

    We’d like to again thank all of you who have contributed so generously to this process, and we look forward to reporting back on our progress toward developing policy recommendations. This has been an example of the true potential of democracy through the foundations of open government—transparency, collaboration, and participation.

    Original blog posts with attached comments:

    PublicAccess@ostp.gov submissions:

    Phillip Larson is a Research Assistant at the Office of Science and Technology Policy

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  • RSS Feed for OSTP Blog Restored

    Posted by Phillip Larson on March 5, 2010 at 3:45 PM EDT

    As some of our loyal readers have noticed (many thanks for contacting us), we lost the RSS feed for our blog during the transition from our old web site to the new whitehouse.gov/ostp.

    Well, it’s back. If you wish to subscribe to the new OSTP Blog via RSS, please do so using http://www.whitehouse.gov/feed/blog/ostp — the subscribe button in the upper right corner of the page is still having some issues.

    We hope you continue reading and enjoying the many goings on here at OSTP via our blog and other areas of our site. And please, keep letting us know how we’re doing!

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  • Director Holdren Advocates for President’s R&D Budget, Science Education

    Posted by Phillip Larson on March 2, 2010 at 11:48 AM EDT

    OSTP Director John Holdren holds forth in two Beltway publications today. In an op-ed for Politico entitled “The Science Budget and the Future,” he spotlights a number of FY2011 budget priorities geared towards science, engineering, and innovation and the importance they hold for our national well being and economic future.

    President Barack Obama understands the importance of the leadership role the federal government must play in nurturing the science and engineering capabilities needed to meet the challenges before us. That is why his recently released budget for fiscal year 2011 provides continued strong, strategic investments in this area, despite the overall budget austerity that our country’s fiscal circumstances require. Now we need Congress to match the president’s leadership, so that this budget’s vision for investing in science, engineering, innovation and education becomes a reality.

    Continue to Politico to read the full column.

    Dr. Holdren has also co-authored with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan an op-ed in today’s issue of The Hill that highlights the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. “How the U.S. Can Stay on Top” introduces Li Boynton and Gabriela Farfan, the two young women science students who joined the First Lady in the President’s box during the State of the Union address. It details this Administration’s Educate to Innovate initiative and events promoting STEM education, such as Astronomy Night on the White House lawn, National Lab Day, and the Education Department’s Race to the Top program.

    When we were elementary and high school students, neither of us had any idea that we would someday be secretary of education or serve in the White House as the president’s science adviser. But like Li Boynton and Gabriela Farfan, we were fortunate to have excellent teachers and well-equipped schools that nourished our curiosity and cultivated in us a passion for learning. Today we owe it to students like Li and Gabriela — and to the nation and the world — to keep that chain of opportunity alive by boldly supporting the innovative teachers and schools that will help make America, as the president has urged, once again a nation of creators and not just consumers.

    Continue to The Hill to read the full column.

    Learn more about Education, Technology