White House announces Equity in Science and Technology Ideation Challenge

The White House is seeking public input to help remove barriers to equity in the science and technology ecosystem. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) launched the Time is Now: Advancing Equity in Science and Technology Ideation Challenge that asks for ideas from the public in answering a central question: “How can we guarantee all Americans can fully participate in, and contribute to, science and technology?” OSTP is asking for ideas and examples of successful programs to help advance equitable science and technology and to contribute to America’s global competitiveness in the 21st century.

The ideation challenge is a new way to engage the public through its use of the Challenge.Gov site, according to the White House press release. The challenge site calls out that “by almost every measure, the U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ecosystem is inequitable” and acknowledges that while progress is being made, more remains to be done.

The ideation challenge does not offer a monetary prize. It is the second phase of OSTP’s Time in Now: Advancing Equity in Science and Technology initiative and builds on a series of roundtables with researchers, thought leaders and advocates on themes related to science and technology equity. The ideation challenge is meant to explore how to advance equity in science and technology and hopes to gather a large variety of experiences and perspectives to drive new domestic innovation.

Submission for this project remains open until Nov. 19, 2021.