Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

Following today's launch of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket, John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, issued a statement congratulating the Antares and NASA teams.

Last year, the Obama Administration announced the National Big Data Research and Development Initiative. “Big Data” are data sets so large and complex that they can’t be processed by traditional means. As we enter the second year of the Initiative, we're encouraging partners in government, industry, academia, and non-profits to step up to the challenge and opportunity of Big Data by developing and participating in their own Big Data initiatives across the country.

Today, the Obama Administration released its final plan for translating the National Ocean Policy into on-the-ground actions to benefit the American people.Without creating any new regulations or authorities, the plan will ensure the many Federal agencies involved in ocean management work together to reduce duplication and red tape and use taxpayer dollars more efficiently.

Yesterday, we hosted the first-ever White House Forum to Combat Human Trafficking. The event brought together leaders from government, the private sector, advocates and survivors, faith leaders, law enforcement, and academia to talk about what we can do, together, to end human trafficking. We took time to honor the stories and lives of brave survivors.

Today in the East Room of the White House, President Obama launched the Administration’s BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative—a bold new research effort to unlock mysteries of the human mind and advance the President’s vision for creating jobs and building a thriving middle class by investing in R&D and Innovation.

One of the many ways the Federal Government is contributing to the transformation of health care is by unleashing vast amounts of data from the vaults of government, while rigorously protecting privacy. These public data resources, made openly available in machine-readable form, include a broad range of useful information that fuel for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a new "SaferCar" app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. This new app puts the power of NHTSA's tremendous volume of vehicle safety data, including real-time vehicle safety information from NHTSA’s SaferCar.gov site, at the fingertips of American consumers.

Last week, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the winners of the Mayors Challenge, a competition designed to encourage American cities to generate innovative ideas that solve tough problems. Proving that there is plenty of room for big ideas in a small state, Providence, RI, won the Mayors Challenge Grand Prize for its cutting-edge early education initiative.

This week, school leaders, researchers, entrepreneurs, and leading educational thinkers gathered in New York City to share innovative ideas about how technology can improve education. The gathering is being led by the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools—a national center created by Congress and launched at the White House in 2011 to advance technologies to transform teaching and learning.

Wireless technology continues to drive innovation and productivity in the United States, fueling economic growth and creating jobs.The President’s strategy for expanding the capacity of high-speed wireless broadband services across the Nation may get a boost from a new Defense Department Initiative to fund research and development of innovative new approaches to spectrum sharing.

Meet Presidential Innovation Fellow (PIF) Kara DeFrias. Kara is user-experience expert who has worked on production teams for the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and TEDx. She was inspired to delve into public service, in part, by the Dalai Lama. DeFrias' stint as PIF was based at the General Services Administration, where she worked on the myUSA project.

On Wednesday, ViiV Healthcare announced it would grant a voluntary license to enable low-cost supply of a key pediatric HIV medicine in the 118 countries in which 98.7% of all HIV-positive children reside. Voluntary licenses like this one play an important role in making affordable HIV medicines available in developing countries and stimulating innovation for those markets.

Today, the Obama Administration’s National Science and Technology Council released A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid: A Progress Report—an update highlighting the Administration’s recent achievements to make the Nation’s electric grid stronger, smarter, and cleaner than ever before. Modernizing the grid is a common sense approach to enhance energy reliability and speed the Nation’s transition to a clean-energy economy.

Today, OSTP released for public review and comment a proposed policy aimed at maximizing the benefits of life sciences research while minimizing the odds that the results of such research will be misused. The proposed policy, posted on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Science Safety Security (S3) Website, was crafted collaboratively by several Federal agencies and is now open for public comment for 60 days.