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Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

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Celebrating National Manufacturing Day

Last week, White House staff joined people across the country in celebrating National Manufacturing Day.
October 5, 2015 at 4:48 PM ET by Megan Smith, Jason Miller

Celebrating the 5 Year Anniversary of Blue Button & Open Health Data

The Federal government has come a long way in open health data since the launch of the Blue Button five years ago.
October 1, 2015 at 11:28 AM ET by DJ Patil and Maya Uppaluru

Building Partnerships for Suicide Prevention

Using data for new opportunities to strengthen mental health awareness and suicide prevention as part of Global Suicide Prevention Month and Global Mental Health Day
September 30, 2015 at 5:23 PM ET by DJ Patil, Jo Handelsman

Accelerating Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing to Address Societal and Scientific Challenges

Today, the White House is hosting a forum on citizen science and crowdsourcing.
September 30, 2015 at 6:00 AM ET by Tom Kalil and Dave Wilkinson

Calling Citizen Scientists: You Can Help When Disasters Strike!

Citizen science can help support disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
September 28, 2015 at 4:05 PM ET by Jenn Gustetic, Jacqueline R. Meszaros, and Hannah Safford

What Basic Research Means to You

The results and impacts of basic research are sometimes unpredictable and unexpected, which is partly why it's so important. Thanks for sharing your favorite examples.
September 25, 2015 at 6:34 PM ET by Altaf Carim and Jo Handelsman

Announcing the National Climate Game Jam

On October 2-4, teams across the country will participate in a National Climate Game Jam.
September 25, 2015 at 3:43 PM ET by Hannah Safford and Peg Steffen

This October, the White House Celebrates Over $150 Million in Prize Competitions Since 2010

Announcing events on October 7 and 8 celebrating the successes of prizes and challenges in solving complex problems.
September 21, 2015 at 2:42 PM ET by Jenn Gustetic

On the Passing of White House Staffer Jake Brewer:

Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith offered the following statement on the passing of White House staffer Jake Brewer.
September 20, 2015 at 5:11 PM ET by Megan Smith

We Stand with Ahmed (and We Hope He'll Join Us for Astronomy Night):

U.S. Chief Data Scientist D.J. Patil shares why he's proud to see people across the country standing up for innovation and intellectual curiosity today.
September 16, 2015 at 8:00 PM ET by DJ Patil

Launching a Smart Cities Initiative to Tackle City Challenges with Innovative Approaches

Over $160M in Federal research investments and more than 25 new technology collaborations to help cities solve problems announced at the Smart Cities Forum this week.
September 16, 2015 at 3:03 PM ET by Dan Correa

Advancing Equity and Empowerment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

OSTP highlights ways in which the Administration is working to broaden participation in STEM.
September 15, 2015 at 6:09 PM ET by Jo Handelsman and Danielle Carnival

Designing Federal Programs with the American People in Mind

The President signs an Executive Order to establish the first-ever Social and Behavioral Science Team (SBST) to design human-centered federal programs.
September 15, 2015 at 2:19 PM ET by Maya Shankar

Open Science and Innovation: Of the People, By the People, For the People

On September 30, the White House will host a live-webcast forum on citizen science and crowdsourcing.
September 9, 2015 at 11:21 AM ET by Jenn Gustetic, Kristen Honey, and Lea Shanley

Launching the Clean Energy Solutions for Remote Communities Call-to-Action

The Administration is launching a new initiative to catalyze investment in clean energy solutions for remote communities.
September 8, 2015 at 11:57 AM ET by Austin Brown

Using Human-Centered Design to Make Government Work Better and Cost Less

OSTP's Tom Kalil learns more about how USDA is using human-centered design to improve the National School Lunch Program.
September 4, 2015 at 5:02 PM ET by Tom Kalil

Using New Elevation Data to Explore the Arctic

The Administration announces a collaboration to use high-resolution satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe to produce Digital Elevation Models of Alaska and the Arctic.
September 2, 2015 at 11:45 PM ET by Fabien Laurier, Hannah Safford

What I Saw in Alaska

OSTP Director John Holdren reflects on the two days he and other senior OSTP officials spent traveling in Alaska this past weekend.
September 1, 2015 at 10:09 AM ET by John P. Holdren

Using Green Infrastructure to Enhance Coastal Resilience

Today, the Administration released a new report on the role of green infrastructure can help enhance coastal resilience, with associated research recommendations.
August 27, 2015 at 5:05 PM ET by Tamara Dickinson

Next Steps in Developing the Precision Medicine Initiative

The President's Precision Medicine Initiative is looking for new activities that will help make this important program a reality.
August 21, 2015 at 7:48 PM ET by DJ Patil, Stephanie Devaney

White House Astronomy Night: A Celebration of Science, Technology, and Space

Scientists and amateur astronomers are also invited to host events and expand access to STEM experiences for the next generation of scientists, engineers, and inventors
August 21, 2015 at 5:32 PM ET by Meredith Drosback and Tamara Dickinson

Creating Smarter Cities through Science, Technology and Civic Participation

In advance of a White House Smart Cities event in mid-September, readers are invited to submit thoughts and potential commitments to help cities become smarter.
August 21, 2015 at 9:18 AM ET by Dan Correa

Entrepreneurs, Start-Ups and the American Economy: Celebrating National Start-up Day Across America

Megan Smith and Thomas Kalil highlight the importance of inclusive entrepreneurship and celebrating our start-up teams across the country.
August 19, 2015 at 6:00 PM ET by Megan Smith, Thomas Kalil

Announcing the Back-to-School Climate Education Event at the White House

OSTP is bringing together a diverse group of high school students, educators, and key education leaders for a climate education event that will also be livestreamed.
August 17, 2015 at 6:06 PM ET by Laura Petes and Miriam Posner

Ambassador Mark Brzezinski Appointed Executive Director of the Arctic Executive Steering Committee

OSTP Director John P. Holdren welcomes Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, the newly appointed Executive Director of the U.S. Government's Arctic Executive Steering Committee.
August 13, 2015 at 5:57 PM ET by John P. Holdren

PCAST Assesses Federal Information Technology R&D

Today, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released its latest report to the President and Congress, Ensuring Leadership in Federally Funded Research and Development in Information Technology.
August 11, 2015 at 5:08 PM ET by Susan Graham and Eric Schmidt

Entrepreneurs Demonstrate their Innovative Ideas at the First White House Demo Day

Today the President hosted the first-ever White House Demo Day, welcoming startup founders from across the country and diverse backgrounds to “demo” their success stories.
August 4, 2015 at 6:01 PM ET by Jennifer Erickson, Doug Rand

The Measure of Science

This week, OSTP staff visited the main campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where scientists spend their lives developing and calibrating the measurement standards that we rely on every day. By ensuring the accuracy and consistency of measurement standards, NIST makes reliable science possible.
July 31, 2015 at 12:44 PM ET by Jo Handelsman and Eleanor Celeste

Advancing U.S. Leadership in High-Performance Computing

Over the past 60 years, the United States has been a leader in the development and deployment of cutting-edge computing systems. Today, President Obama issued an Executive Order establishing the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) to ensure the United States continues leading in this field over the coming decades.
July 29, 2015 at 4:09 PM ET by Thomas Kalil, Jason Miller

Celebrating Five Years of the National Ocean Policy

This week marks the anniversary of a significant milestone in the journey to improve ocean governance in the United States: five years ago, on July 19, 2010, President Obama signed an Executive Order creating the first National Ocean Policy and a Federal interagency National Ocean Council (NOC), which we co-chair, to implement it.
July 22, 2015 at 9:50 AM ET by Christy Goldfuss and John Holdren