Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

Last month marked the third anniversary of Startup America, a White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the Nation. In 2011, President Obama issued an all-hands-on-deck call to action for Federal agencies, Congress, and the private sector to help increase the success of entrepreneurs across the country.

This Friday, to wrap up an exciting week of action by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in celebration of Black History Month, to shine a light on the importance of engaging America’s full STEM talent pool, OSTP Director John P. Holdren will visit Morgan State University, a Baltimore-based Historically Black College or University (HBCU).

Today marks an important milestone for Detroit city government’s technological revitalization: it is the first day on the job for the City of Detroit’s first-ever cabinet-level Chief Information Officer, Beth Niblock. Beth, an accomplished and innovative leader, was a member of our municipal Tech Team. She brings to Detroit a wealth of valuable experience through the incredible work she did over the past decade in the same position for the City of Louisville, Kentucky.

The Office of Science and Technology is hosting and participating in a series of activities to highlight diverse STEM role models and the urgent need to help minority students across the country envision themselves as tomorrow’s discoverers, explorers, developers, and STEM innovators.

Today, as part of the growing movement to help customers access and securely share their own health information, several of the Nation’s largest retail pharmacy chains and associations are pledging to support the Blue Button initiative—a public-private partnership between the health care industry and the Federal Government that aims to empower all Americans with access to their own electronic health information. These steps will help patients access their prescription information and further empower millions of Americans to better manage their healthcare.

Today, President Obama and the US Department of Energy honored two exceptional scientists whose long and productive research careers earned them one of the Nation’s oldest and most prestigious honors for scientific achievement: the Enrico Fermi Award. Bestowed annually upon a select few of the Nation’s most outstanding scientists, the Fermi Award recognizes individuals for their achievements related to science and research supported by the Energy Department.

The Obama Administration is taking steps to ensure that the Nation’s STEM workforce is equipped with the education and skills to discover, create, and invent. And the Federal Government isn’t acting alone.Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, OSTP caught up with New York Giants wide-receiver Victor Cruz, who is harnessing his football fame to highlight the importance of STEM education.

We convened a portion of the Nation’s geeky brain trust to discuss continuing the tradition of scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.

We at OSTP are geeking out about the news that among the esteemed guests who will be sitting with the First Lady during tomorrow’s State of the Union address will be 16-year old science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) all-star and “Maker” extraordinaire Joey Hudy, who, as a middle-schooler in 2012, gained national fame after demonstrating his surprisingly explosive invention for the President at the White House Science Fair.

Last week, at a series of meetings in Geneva, the United States marked its founding role in establishing the international Group on Earth Observations (GEO) a decade ago—which today comprises 90 members and 77 participating organizations—and celebrated an important milestone as GEO’s charter was renewed for another 10 years.

At yesterday’s event on College Opportunity, the President and First Lady called for a sustained all-hands-on-deck effort to increase college opportunities for low-income and disadvantaged students in America. The event included the announcement of more than 100 new commitments in support of this critical goal.

The Second Annual White House Safety Datapalooza with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture highlights innovators from the private, nonprofit, and academic sectors who are using freely available government data to build products, services, and apps that advance public safety in creative and powerful ways.

Today the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) named the inaugural members of their jointly created National Commission on Forensic Science—an expert advisory committee that will provide independent advice to the Justice Department in the important domain of forensic science.

As more than 30 heads of space agencies from around the world prepare to gather in Washington January 9-10 for an unprecedented summit on the future of space exploration, we are pleased to announce that the Obama Administration has approved an extension of the International Space Station (ISS) until at least 2024.