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Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

  • Drawing Inspiration on Smart Grid Innovation from America’s Youth

    Posted by Aneesh Chopra on April 27, 2011 at 9:57 AM EDT

    Last week, I met two high school students who compelled their school to measure energy usage and—wouldn’t you know—empowered with this information, the school was able to realize a 13 percent energy reduction and a 250 percent return on investment. 

    These two young women, Shreya Indukuri and Daniela Lapidous, high school juniors at the Harker Upper School in San Jose, California, convinced their school administration to adopt simple off-the-shelf sub-metering technology which helped the school discover that the air conditioning switched on in the gymnasium each night.

    Sparked by the ease at which such savings can be achieved, Shreya and Daniela founded their own non-profit organization, SmartPowerEd, which helps other schools in the Bay Area to save energy and money.   

    My colleagues and I, as part of the National Science and Technology Council’s Smart Grid Subcommittee, have been engaged on these issues over the last year. Consistent with the President’s commitment to an open government, members of the Subcommittee have reached out to over 100 stakeholders to better understand how the Federal Government can collaborate with partners across the country and set policies to make America’s electric grid smarter. Our outreach efforts have also included Department of Energy Requests for Information and a collaborative blog facilitated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

    In fact, two weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting a coalition to discuss how the deployment of smart grid and smart building technologies can foster innovation in the energy sector, reduce energy waste, and help consumers save money on their electricity bills.  At the meeting, participants emphasized the energy saving potential of enabling electronic access to energy data for all homes and buildings, including examples of how consumers are benefiting through a number of pilot programs around the country.  The comments shared during this meeting will help inform our ongoing efforts to provide policy recommendations and guidance for development of the Administration’s Smart Grid policy.  We also asked members of this group, as we have of other such groups, what efforts they were taking—like the students at SmartPowerEd—to enable consumers to use energy more efficiently. 

    Enabling greater levels of energy efficiency is part of why making America’s electric grid smarter is an important part of the President’s vision for a clean energy economy and is a critical part of our Nation’s ability to “out innovate” the global competition on energy technologies while helping Americans keep money in their pockets by lowering electricity bills.

    Thanks for all of the input.  Stay tuned for more.

    Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

    Learn more about Energy and Environment, Technology

  • North Carolina Universities Join Together to Create More Startups and Quality Jobs

    Posted by Ginger Lew on April 25, 2011 at 11:38 AM EDT

    When the White House launched the Startup America initiative less than 90 days ago, the President issued a call to action to the private sector, challenging leaders of companies, universities, and foundations to dramatically accelerate the success of America’s high-growth entrepreneurs.

    The Blackstone Charitable Foundation was among the first to answer this call to action, with its commitment to a five-year, five-region expansion of Blackstone LaunchPad, a successful program that transforms university career centers to encourage entrepreneurship as a career path for undergrads, graduate students, and alumni. 

    Today, I’ll be traveling to Durham, North Carolina to help celebrate the launch of the Blackstone Foundation’s latest commitment to high-growth entrepreneurship as an engine of job creation and economic development.  The new Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network represents a remarkable collaboration among four great universities -- Duke University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – all joining together to identify and accelerate the highest-potential startups in the Research Triangle Park region.

    This $3.6 million program will recruit a group of 15 highly successful “master entrepreneurs” committed to advising 30 promising startup teams from the university ecosystem every year, for a total of 150 startups over the next five years.  UNC Chapel Hill estimates that this model could more than double the number of startups launching out of the region, dramatically increasing their success rate and creating more than 17,000 net new jobs over the next decade.

    This is an admirable example of top university leaders taking concrete measures to turn their institutions into even more powerful engines of innovation and entrepreneurship.  Building a bridge between the lab and the marketplace, entrepreneurs enable universities to generate positive impact at every level – from regionally vital job creation to globally significant breakthroughs in biotech, cleantech, and other 21st century technologies.

    The Federal government also has a fundamental role to play, by investing $148 billion each year in research and development.  The Obama Administration will continue to champion and protect this essential investment in our Nation’s future, while also pursuing the most effective ways to bring research breakthroughs from the lab to the marketplace.  For example, as a part of the Startup America initiative, five Federal agencies have joined forces to fund new regional “proof of concept centers” that accelerate green technology innovation and entrepreneurship.  (Note that letters of intent for this i6 Green Challenge are due by May 2.)

    Meanwhile, North Carolina is already taking the lead in fostering high-impact regional collaborations.  I look forward to joining Governor Beverly Perdue, Senator Kay Hagan, Blackstone Group co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp, and other university leaders to celebrate the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, and to think about how other universities, foundations, and entrepreneurs might adapt such models to other regions of the country.

    Ginger Lew is a Senior Counselor on the White House National Economic Council

    Learn more about Startup America

  • Agencies Report Scientific Integrity Progress

    Posted by Mira Atanassova on April 21, 2011 at 2:36 PM EDT

    Fully 30 executive branch departments, agencies, and offices have responded to OSTP Director John Holdren’s call for progress reports on the development of their respective scientific integrity policies, and six of those have submitted draft or completed policies for comment.  The responses, which were due this week pursuant to Dr. Holdren’s December 17, 2010, Memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, include representatives of every executive branch department—a gratifying first step to the assurance of scientific integrity across the executive branch as called for by President Obama.

    On March 9, 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Memorandum on scientific integrity, setting forth clearly and unconditionally the fundamental principles of the Administration’s stance on this subject and asking OSTP Director Holdren to develop recommendations for further Presidential action “to guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch.”

    Dr. Holdren’s December 17 Memorandum set forth minimum scientific integrity standards and called upon agencies and departments to undertake specific actions to develop and implement scientific integrity policies. Dr. Holdren requested that agencies provide OSTP with progress reports within 120 days.

    In the intervening months, OSTP reached out to agencies in various ways in order to help them with the development of their policies. In addition to providing consultations to individual agencies and maintaining a website with scientific integrity resources, OSTP hosted an interagency workshop in March to help executive agencies and departments craft their scientific integrity policies. Speakers from the General Services Administration, the Office of Government Ethics, and OSTP discussed components of Dr. Holdren’s December Memorandum, focusing on Federal Advisory Committees, professional associations, and media and communications policies, respectively. The workshop was attended by over forty representatives from over thirty departments and agencies, all of whom were clearly taking this important responsibility to heart.

    OSTP is pleased to report that it has received progress reports from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the State Department, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Executive Office of the President, as well as from the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce and a number of individual branches, agencies and offices within those last two departments.  

    OSTP will continue to work with agencies and departments in developing policies that will help provide ongoing assurance that science and technology are brought to bear by this Administration, and by future ones, with the greatest effectiveness and integrity. OSTP will also soon release updated deadlines for next stages of progress by agencies and departments, with the goal of maintaining the good momentum achieved to date.

    Mira Atanassova is a Student Volunteer at the Office of Science and Technology Policy

  • Diversity Fuels Innovation: A New Startup Alliance for Women in Technology

    Posted by Ping Fu on April 20, 2011 at 1:33 PM EDT

    Today, President Obama will visit Facebook’s Palo Alto headquarters for a town hall conversation on reducing the deficit (you can watch the town hall live at 1:45pm PT, 4:45pm EDT at www.facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse).  The Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity town hall hosted by the President will be followed by two panel discussions, one focused on the Startup America initiative to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship, and one focused on the role of Women in Technology.  These panels will include the announcement of a new entrepreneurial alliance organized by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT).  Today, I am also proud to announce that my company, Geomagic, will serve as as an anchor member of this alliance, which will give high-tech startups the research, practices, and community they need to create and maintain a gender-diverse technical workforce, right from the start. 

    Research shows that tech companies with a higher representation of women in their management teams have a higher return on investment; that startups run by women use less capital and are more likely to survive the transition to established company. Research also shows that including women in a group is more likely to increase its collective intelligence, helping it solve problems better and faster than homogenous groups.

    Yet the reality is that there are comparatively few female leaders in the business world, and even fewer in IT.

    read the rest
    Learn more about Startup America

  • MythBusters Team Up for Joining Forces

    Posted by Grant Imahara on April 20, 2011 at 11:20 AM EDT

    Editor’s Note:  Last Thursday, the First Lady and Dr. Biden were joined by stars from the television show MythBusters for a Science Bowl competition between parents and students at Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Colorado.  Read about the event here or watch video here.

    Grant Imahara

    On "MythBusters," we determine the plausibility of myths and legends by devising scientific experiments that stem from our own curious minds.  Basically, we have fun with science.  

    Additionally, we are proud partners in the Administration’s campaign for promoting science, technology, engineering, and math awareness, and even had the pleasure of filming a MythBusters episode with President Obama that aired on Discovery Channel last December.  I was, however, completely surprised to receive a phone call earlier this month, asking me if I would like to take part in a unique and incredible opportunity. My MythBusters co-host Jamie Hyneman and I were asked to participate in an event with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden that would support military families and promote interest in science as a part of the Joining Forces campaign.

    I immediately and enthusiastically said, “Yes!”

    read the rest
    Learn more about Defense, Education

  • Startup America Hits the Road: Talking with Entrepreneurs Across the Country

    Posted by Sean Greene on April 19, 2011 at 9:55 AM EDT

    Startup America is the White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the Nation.  Tomorrow, in conjunction with the President’s trip to Facebook, we will engage with entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to share more exciting news about Startup America – tune in to the panel discussion here.

    One core goal of the Startup America initiative is to reduce barriers that are hampering entrepreneurs’ ability to start and scale their businesses. 

    The White House, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, decided the best way to figure out which regulatory barriers are hindering entrepreneurs was to ask those who are directly affected.  Then the entrepreneurs can help identify solutions as well.

    read the rest
    Learn more about Startup America