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Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

  • A (Draft) Mortgage Form Simplified by You, for You

    Posted by Aneesh Chopra on February 8, 2012 at 12:30 PM EDT

    Last week, President Obama laid out a plan to help responsible homeowners who were struck by the housing crisis. Atop the proposed “Homeowner Bill of Rights” is a pledge to simplify mortgage disclosure forms. Thankfully, inspired by the principles of running a “lean startup”, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tapped into the expertise of the American people through the “Know Before You Owe” initiative.

    As background, everyone who applies for a mortgage loan receives two federally mandated disclosures with information about the mortgage: the Truth in Lending form and the Good Faith Estimate. The Dodd-Frank Act required the CFPB to combine these two forms into a single simplified disclosure. Empowering consumers with information is only as helpful as the design that ensures the data helps them make purchase decisions. Thus, the Bureau focused on making the new combined disclosure clear to consumers and lenders alike.

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  • Don’t Mess With Texas … Science Students

    Posted by Chelsea Martinez on February 8, 2012 at 11:32 AM EDT

    President Obama meets with rocketry team from Presidio, Texas

    President Barack Obama hosts the second White House Science Fair celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country. The President viewed the work of Presidio, Texas, students Janet Nieto and Ana Karen, of Presidio High School's Rocketry Team, and 7th grade student Gwynelle Condino, of Lucy Franco Middle School, in the Red Room of the White House, Feb. 7, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

    Driving around Texas, where I moved to study chemistry in graduate school, there was a bumper sticker I’d often see slapped onto the trucks of transplants like myself: “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.” I was reminded of this aspirational slogan Tuesday at the White House Science Fair, where student teams from two towns in Texas were invited for the hard work and creativity they’ve applied to scientific and engineering problems—talents that will help them speed to whatever life and career they dream for themselves as fast as they can.

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  • Rewarding Inventors Who Work to Solve Global Challenges

    Posted by Quentin Palfrey and Hillary Chen on February 8, 2012 at 11:22 AM EDT

    Today at the White House, United States Patent & Trademark Office Director Dave Kappos launched the Patents for Humanity pilot program, which creates business incentives for patent holders to engage in humanitarian issues.  Under the new program, inventors who do the most to apply their technologies to pressing global challenges will be rewarded with a certificate that can be redeemed to accelerate a patent application, an appeal, or an ex parte reexamination proceeding before the USPTO.  The awardee may choose to accelerate any patent application in their portfolio, not just the humanitarian technology that qualifies for the award.

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  • Partnering to Modernize our Nation’s Air Transportation System

    Posted by Aneesh Chopra, John Porcari, and Michael Huerta on February 8, 2012 at 10:13 AM EDT

    On January 31st, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched a new, online dashboard providing increased transparency into a vital component of NextGen's modernization of our Nation’s air transportation system infrastructure. Referred to as Performance Based Navigation (PBN), the deployment of highly efficient flight routes takes advantage of GPS satellites and advanced equipment that is already installed on most commercial airliners.  The new dashboard on the NextGen website features PBN data that is accompanied by video depictions and an interactive map highlighting the benefits of PBN deployments and new flight paths around the country.

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  • Startups for Healthier Veterans, Smarter Kids, and Lower Utility Bills

    Posted by Aneesh Chopra and Nick Sinai on February 3, 2012 at 8:20 PM EDT

    What do healthier veterans, smarter kids, and lower utility bills have in common?  In each of these areas of national interest – health care, education, and energy – startups are already making a difference.

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  • Alaskan Permafrost Mapped from the Skies

    Posted by Becky Fried on February 3, 2012 at 5:06 PM EDT

    Last week, the Interior Department’s US Geological Survey (USGS) released details about a landmark airborne survey of permafrost in the Yukon Flats of Alaska that yielded some of the most detailed, data-rich maps of permafrost ever generated. Permafrost—frozen ground that remains at or below water’s freezing point for at least two years—accounts for only 0.022% of all water on Earth, but it covers more than 20% of exposed land of Earth’s northern high latitudes (in addition to areas of Antarctica and the Patagonia region), where it plays a potentially important role in climate dynamics. 

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