Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

Today, at a White House roundtable on impact investing, senior Administration officials met with more than 20 private-sector investors answering the President’s call to action by announcing their new commitments to make more than $1.5 billion in investments that intentionally generate sound financial return as well as measurable social or environmental impact.

To celebrate the end of National Oceans Month and one year of progress on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the White House and the Weather Channel will host “We the Geeks: SUBMERGED!” on Wednesday, June 25, at 2:00pm ET.

We are delighted to announce a new collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to empower entrepreneurial scientists and advance the Lab-to-Market priorities set forth in the President’s Management Agenda.

Whether by cutting pollution, unleashing troves of climate data to empower American communities to prepare for the future, or leading international efforts to combat global climate change, agencies across the Administration are taking bold actions to grow the economy while leaving a green legacy for future generations. Federally-funded research has helped lead to the ideas and inventions behind Google and smartphones. Some of the most exciting breakthroughs in green technology are likewise getting their start in our federal labs on a daily basis.

On June 19, the Obama Administration will continue the conversation on big data as we co-host our fourth big data conference, this time with the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute. The conference, “Improving Government Performance in the Era of Big Data; Opportunities and Challenges for Federal Agencies”, will build on prior workshops at MIT, NYU, and Berkeley, and continue to engage both subject matter experts and the public in a national discussion about the future of data innovation and policy.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy recently hosted representatives from communities across the country at the White House to share their experiences with participatory budgeting, learn about work already underway across the country, and brainstorm new ways to expand outreach and engagement, improve city processes, and create projects that can help transform neighborhoods.

If you’ve ever checked the weather forecast or used a digital map, you’re likely among the millions of people who have benefited from U.S. Open Government data.

Today, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a report to the President, Better Health Care and Lower Costs: Accelerating Improvement through Systems Engineering. The report comes at a critical time for the United States and for the health-care system in particular, with millions of Americans recently gaining health-care coverage due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

This week, we’re introducing you to some of the amazing young minds who’ll be sharing their wares at the White House on May 27 at the 4th-ever White House Science Fair. You already met Girl Scout Troop 2612 – a group of amazing seven- and eight-year-olds who designed a flood-safe bridge out of motors and legos. Now meet two ambitious high-schoolers who built a company specializing in online games for good.

Today U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet kicked off National Small Business Week by launching a $2.5 million competition for startup accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each to fund their operating budgets. To award the prizes, an expert panel of judges will consider each applicant’s stated mission, founding team members, and business goals among other core components.

Today OSTP released its third annual comprehensive report detailing the use of prizes and competitions by Federal agencies to spur innovation, engage citizen solvers, address tough problems, and advance their core missions.

Today, PCAST is releasing its analysis via a new report, Big Data: A Technological Perspective, which details the technical aspects of big data and privacy. The ubiquity of computing and electronic communication technologies has led to the exponential growth of data from both digital and analog sources. New technical abilities to gather, analyze, disseminate, and preserve vast quantities of data raise new concerns about the nature of privacy and the means by which individual privacy might be compromised or protected.

This weekend at the USA Science and Engineering Festival, we’re teaming up with NASA to figure out what Extra Terrestrials (if they’re out there!) might be eating on planets outside of our Solar System.

Tune in to the upcoming We the Geeks Google+ Hangout to hear from some incredible scientists who are doing research at the edges of the Earth and beyond in pursuit of extreme science!