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Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

  • NASA, FAA: Working Together to Expand U.S. Space Travel

    Posted by Bobby Dresser on June 18, 2012 at 5:43 PM EDT

    The Dragon Spacecraft (May 25, 2012)

    The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft approaches the International Space Station, May 25, 2012. (Photo courtesy NASA)

    Today, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a historic agreement to coordinate standards for transporting both government and non-government astronauts to space. The two agencies will provide a stable framework for the U.S. space industry, avoid conflicting requirements and multiple sets of standards, and advance both public and crew safety. Today marks an important step towards the success of the new public-private partnership model that is the future of America’s space industry.

    "This agreement is the next step in bringing the business of launching Americans back to American soil," Charles Bolden, NASA administrator said. "We are fostering private sector innovation while maintaining high standards of safety and reliability to re-establish U.S.-crewed access to low-Earth orbit, in-sourcing work to American companies and encouraging the development of dynamic and cost-effective spaceflight capabilities built to last."


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  • Unleashing Innovation & Deepening Democracy Through Prizes

    Posted by Jean Case on June 12, 2012 at 2:15 PM EDT

    Prizes have a long history of driving important breakthroughs: Napoleon's 1800 Food Preservation Prize resulted in the invention of canning; the 1927 Orteig Prize helped inspire Charles Lindbergh to make the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris. More recently, the 2011 Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge spurred an Illinois company to create a cleanup method for oil slicks that is four times more effective than any previous one.

    It is with that powerful history in mind that today, in Washington, hundreds of leaders from the White House and Federal agencies joined their peers from some of the Nation's most recognizable companies and organizations to develop strategies to use prizes and competitions as a key method to spark innovation and deepen citizen engagement.

    You may ask: Are prizes still relevant? Absolutely. New social media tools have enabled smarter and more cost-effective approaches, and the public sector has begun to take advantage of prizes as a way of tackling some of the most perplexing challenges that affect us all – with promising results.

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  • Disability Employment App Challenge: Educating Employers and Job Seekers with Disabilities

    Posted by Kareem Dale and Brian Forde on June 12, 2012 at 11:57 AM EDT

    Nearly 22 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law and 39 years after the passage of the Rehabilitation Act, employment outcomes for people with disabilities still lag far behind their non-disabled peers. According to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (April 2012), individuals with disabilities have an unemployment rate of 12.5%, compared to 7.6% for those without disabilities. And those numbers don’t even tell the whole story: currently 8 in 10 Americans with disabilities aren’t even part of the labor force. 

    But the continued expansion of accessible technology can play a critical role in enabling Americans with disabilities to gain access to the labor force and ultimately find jobs that match their interests and skills.  Technology can make jobs that were once impossible for an individual with a disability accessible, and it can be used to educate employers about the value people with disabilities can bring to the workplace.

    That’s why the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) recently launched the Disability Employment App Challenge.

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  • Income-Based Repayment: Tell Us Your Story!

    Posted by Doug Rand on June 11, 2012 at 2:20 PM EDT

    Last week, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum that will streamline the application process for “Income-Based Repayment” (IBR), a way for borrowers to cap their monthly student loan payments at 15% of income. The President has also taken action to lower this cap to just 10% by the end of 2012, likely reducing monthly student loan payments for over 1.6 million responsible student borrowers. 

    Have questions? Here’s everything you need to know about IBR. 

    Have you already taken advantage of IBR since the program launched in 2009?  Has IBR allowed you to pursue your dream career, perhaps as a teacher or entrepreneur?  Click here to tell us your story!

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  • Participate Tomorrow in Online Public-Sector Prizes Event

    Posted by Cristin Dorgelo on June 11, 2012 at 11:15 AM EDT

    The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Case Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation invite you to virtually attend tomorrow’s Collaborative Innovation: Public Sector Prizes event. Public- and private-sector innovators will share noteworthy examples to help inspire the creation of additional high-impact incentive prizes, challenges, and other open innovation-initiatives in the public sector.

    A recent Office of Science and Technology Policy report to Congress highlighted the innovation and impact created to date through public-sector incentive prizes, and we will learn what’s next for public-sector prizes at tomorrow’s event.

    Learn more and sign up to watch the live stream tomorrow, Tuesday, June 12th from 12-2pm ET.

    Presenters include Todd Park, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, several public- and private-sector prize administrators, and Karim Lakhani of Harvard Business School.

    You can also participate in the conversation during the event using #PublicPrizes on Twitter.

    Cristin Dorgelo is Assistant Director for Grand Challenges in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

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  • Dr. Holdren Highlights Tech Development and Commercialization in New Mexico

    Posted by Bobby Dresser on June 8, 2012 at 5:52 PM EDT

    Dr. Holdren and John Freisinger

    Dr. John Holdren participated in a business roundtable in New Mexico yesterday hosted by John Freisinger, President and CEO of Technology Ventures Corporation (TVC), a company that helps startups commercialize technology developed at the National Laboratories.

    OSTP Director John Holdren met with about 50 New Mexico science and technology business leaders in Albuquerque yesterday to discuss Administration initiatives that support technology development and commercialization, and to find out what issues are at the top of the New Mexico tech community’s agenda.

    The business roundtable—hosted by John Freisinger, President and CEO of Technology Ventures Corporation (TVC), which helps startup companies commercialize technology developed at the National Laboratories—was the kickoff of Dr. Holdren's two-day visit in New Mexico that included meetings at Sandia National Laboratories, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Air Force Research Lab at Kirtland Air Force Base.

    Those three research complexes—together with academic and commercial partners—have nurtured an innovation ecosystem in New Mexico like no other in the Nation, populated by technology companies focused on bringing new discoveries to the marketplace.

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