|
Science Policy Alerts
Click on Special Initiatives when you designate your gift, and select Capitol Cause. President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology Meet
14 January 2010
ASLA 10-02
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) held its first meeting of 2010 on Thursday, 7 January. The meeting began with a welcome speech from Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). He began by noting that the positive roles of science and technology have been very important to the current Administration and that the President has emphasized the significance of science in addressing the nation’s challenges. Dr. Holdren added he would like to see more international collaboration, an improvement to visa procedures, and more open government. He also stated that PCAST initiatives include Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) education, energy research and development, and carbon offsets science. Finally, Dr. Holdren noted the President understands the need for investment in research and human talent in order to meet our nation’s challenges.
Dr. Kristina Johnson, Undersecretary of Energy at the Department of Energy, re-emphasized the Administration’s goals of restoring U.S. leadership in science discovery and innovation, increasing energy security, and rebuilding the U.S. economy. She cited several examples of how the Administration is working towards these goals by pointing to energy frontier research centers, which have been funded with American Reinvestment and Recovery Act money, as well as ARPA-E, which provides funding for innovative ideas that may create major breakthroughs in clean energy technology. She also discussed the importance of focusing on projects that will keep America competitive and addressing critical science workforce issues.
Finally, Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce, spoke about the role of science and technology in boosting the American economy. To begin, Mr. Locke stated the current goal of the Department of Commerce is to help save and create American jobs as well as maintaining the U.S.’s position as the strongest economy in the world. However, he mentioned that position is in crisis because the U.S. economy is not innovating as much as in the past and many of the newest industries are being dominated by foreign companies. The U.S. has created no net new jobs in the last decade and wages have been flat, partially because there is no efficient system for taking new ideas and translating them into commercially viable industries. Secretary Locke also noted Federal investment in physical sciences has dropped by half since the 1950s. He mentioned Commerce’s new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, whose mandate is to help drive policies that will propel growth through innovation and entrepreneurship.
PCAST meetings are held several times each year with the purpose of assessing the current status of science and technology policies in order to make recommendations to the President. For more information on PCAST, please click here.