The Office of Budget and Management published a set of proposed reforms to streamline the federal grant process by consolidating the multiple federal regulations with duplicative requirements into a single, comprehensive uniform policy guide. The office hopes to augment efficiency and effectiveness, strengthen oversight and reduce fraud and waste, which is a growing concern.
In his fifth State of the Union address, President Obama announced education and immigration reform as core issues for his second term and laid out a plan for innovation and job creation policies that would be fundamental drivers for broad-based, long-term economic growth. While acknowledging the need for entitlement reform and deficit reduction, President Obama held firm in his conviction that public investment is necessary to ensure that the United States remains an economic superpower in the 21st century.
Are we on the threshold of a new federal acquisitions process? Instead of the traditional Request for Proposal (RFP) process, federal agencies have been turning slowly to crowdsourcing as a model to address some of the most pressing problems for both federal agencies and the nation. Through crowdsourcing, a collaborative method of design, government entities like the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA hope to create a more innovative, streamlined design-to-production process at a fraction of the cost.
Early January 2nd, President Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (AFTA) into law after it passed in the House by a 90-vote margin the previous evening. While the deal postponed difficult decisions concerning spending cuts and long-term debt reduction measures by delaying the FY13 sequester until March 1, 2013, AFTA averted steep, across-the-board spending cuts and tax hikes set to take place at the beginning of the year.
In a report, the President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology recommends that the federal government should launch a coordinated effort to boost American agricultural science by increasing public investments.
While Washington remains in political gridlock and the national economy continues sluggish growth, one key trend for political and economic success is apparent: U.S. metro regions experiencing high economic growth have invested federal, state, and private funds in high-speed broadband access.
With U.S. private sector R&D activity declining and global competition intensifying in areas of U.S. expertise, it is clear the U.S. must take strategic action to maintain its position as the world leader in R&D and prevent innovation from leaving our shores. Last week, the Department of Energy announced 66 breakthrough energy-related projects would receive a total of $130 million through its OPEN 2012 program.
Fostering regional innovation is imperative to strengthening our national economy and crafting public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a key strategy for catalyzing regional economic growth. While states should continue to lead regional innovation efforts, the federal government can play a critical supporting role. The Brookings Institution proposes the establishment of a PPP unit within the White House to coordinate Federal assistance.
Manufacturers across the nation celebrated National Manufacturing Day on Friday and the topic on many people's minds was reshoring.
Unless Congress and the White House take action by the end of the year, across-the-board spending reductions will go into effect for all federal agencies as a result of provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The budget sequestration would reduce defense discretionary funding by 9.4 percent and non-defense funding by 8.2 percent from the 2011 baseline.