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Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

  • Scientific Integrity Policies Released

    Posted by John P. Holdren on April 6, 2012 at 9:03 AM EDT

    Responding to an initial call by the President—amplified in a memorandum developed by my office with significant input from science stakeholders and the public—departments and agencies across the Federal government have been diligently crafting scientific-integrity policies to guide them as they pursue their diverse missions. As I’ve documented in previous blog posts, the number of agencies that have worked this complex process to completion has grown steadily in the past year. By December 2011, all departments and agencies with science and technology as core parts of their mission had either completed or were very close to completing their policies. But most were still conducting internal reviews and had not made their policies public.

    In February, in keeping with this Administration’s commitment to maximizing openness and transparency, I asked all departments and agencies to make their policies public by March 30, whether those policies were final or still in final draft form. The response was positive; as of this week almost every covered Federal entity is in compliance, and the few remaining others report they are very close to unveiling their final policies.

    Specifically, the following departments and agencies have released their scientific integrity policies: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Justice, State, and Transportation, as well as the US Agency for International Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Marine Mammal Commission, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation,  Intelligence Community, and Veterans Affairs.

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  • Ask an Entrepreneur: What's Crowdfunding?

    Posted by Doug Rand on April 5, 2012 at 12:49 PM EDT

    President Obama today signs the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, a bill that enacts many of his policies to encourage startups and support our nation’s small businesses. One key element of this legislation will allow small businesses and startups to harness "crowdfunding" as a means of accessing capital. How does "crowdfunding" work, you may wonder? StartUp America asked an entreprenuer, Dana Mauriello, Founder and President of ProFounder,  which was created to give entrepreneurs and small business access to an easy and simple fundraising platform. Here's what she said:

     

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  • Announcing the Summer Jobs+ Code Sprint

    Posted by Brian Forde on April 2, 2012 at 4:01 PM EDT

    UPDATE: The deadline for the Summer Jobs+ Code Sprint has been extended until Monday, April 16 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.

    Today we’re announcing the first ever White House Code Sprint. This is a call to developers around the country to use the Summer Jobs+ API to build job search apps for your favorite browsers, social networking platforms, smart phones and feature phones. Submit your apps using this form by Monday April 16th at 8 a.m. EST, and we’ll pick the most innovative ones to feature on WhiteHouse.gov.

    Summer Jobs+ is an initiative of the White House and the Department of Labor to provide low-income and disconnected youth, ages 16-24, access to summer jobs, internships, mentorships and training opportunities. Over the last three months companies throughout the nation have been making commitments to provide opportunities to support the country’s next generation workforce. These commitments have been tagged using the Job Posting standard established by schema.org creating an open database of summer opportunities.

    We’re excited to tap the collective knowledge and innovation of the app developer community. Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems said it best when he said, “No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else.” Some ideas we’d love to see include an easy way to receive job opportunities through SMS, localized job search apps for the city you live in, map based interfaces or easy ways to create summer training playlists that help youth plan a summer of job skills development. These are just a few of our ideas but we’re confident that you have even better ones so get coding, and we’ll feature the most innovative apps on WhiteHouse.gov.

    Brian Forde is Advisor to the CTO on Mobile and Data Innovation

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  • LAUNCHing Ideas for a Waste-less Tomorrow

    Posted by Ron Garan on April 2, 2012 at 3:25 PM EDT

    As a participant of the first LAUNCH forum, LAUNCH: Water, and someone who recently returned from six months experiencing the orbital perspective of our planet from 240 miles above the Earth, I invite innovators from around the world to participate in LAUNCH: Beyond Waste.

    LAUNCH, a social entrepreneurship forum, is in its third year of existence,and is taking public/private partnerships to new heights—literally and figuratively. A partnership among NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Department, and NIKE, it has become a testbed for collaboration across non-traditional disciplines and organizations, bringing innovative solutions to difficult sustainability challenges around and above the world.

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  • Green Button: A Smart Decision

    Posted by Nick Sinai on March 30, 2012 at 6:00 PM EDT

    Last week at The Ohio State University, in a speech on his “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, President Obama said: “We've got to build homes and businesses that waste less energy, and put consumers in control of their energy bills.”   The President believes that we need to make information and tools available to consumers so they can make informed energy decisions.

    Inspired by a White House call to action, utility and electricity suppliers across the country last week committed to provide more than 15 million households access to data about their own energy use with a simple click of an online “Green Button”—bringing to 27 million the number of households that have gained such commitments from their utilities this year. Armed with their own data, homeowners and building owners will have more opportunities and choices to use a growing array of online services that help manage energy use and save on their bills.

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  • Young Visitors Stir up Interest in Science and Engineering

    Posted by Steve Robinson and Lauren Andersen on March 30, 2012 at 3:53 PM EDT

    4-H Club STEM Leaders

    Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science & Technology, center, greets 4H students during their visit to the White House March 28, 2012. (by Phil Larson, OSTP)


    Matthew, a high school senior from Oklahoma, has dreamed of becoming an engineer since he built his first “robot” in a 4H club years ago. Despite his passion and exuberance, his efforts to share exciting, fun, and accessible activities—and eventual career opportunities— in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) don’t always resonate with other students.

    Matthew was one of 40 young leaders from 4H clubs around the country addressing a crowd on Wednesday at the White House. He offered the analogy of a cool beverage on a hot southern day—to him, STEM activities can be as appealing as sugar in sweet tea, but someone must stir the ingredients to spread the flavor.

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