white house

The White House recently published a data tool, accompanied by a downloadable excel file housing two datasets, with recent investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The tool and data provide a view of the spending that is occurring across the United States from the two acts. In addition to a categorical breakdown of awards, agency, department, project name, funding source, and more are available for each award.

On June 26, 2023, the U.S. government announced allocations from the $42.45 Billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. These funds, allocated to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories, are intended to close the digital divide in the U.S., as funding will be used to deploy or upgrade broadband networks to ensure that everyone in the U.S. has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.

A new fact sheet released today from the White House outlines three recent activities related to artificial intelligence. First, the National Science Foundation is announcing today its latest investments in National AI Research Institutes; the new $140 million across seven awardees brings the total number of institutes funded since 2020 to 25. Second, the administration is supporting an AI “red team” event at DEF CON 31 that intends to have thousands of hackers explore large language models from Google, Open AI, NVIDIA and others. Third, the Office of Management and Budget will release draft policy guidance on the use of AI systems by the federal government this summer.

With the Dec. 20 release of two Requests for Information (RFIs), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy seeks public input to help guide the development and deployment of the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, which is intended to use the two disciplines to advance innovative solutions in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, and supply chain resilience.

Seeking fundamental changes in access to and equity in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) education, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and participants from across sectors met and sought ways to ensure the STEMM ecosystem is equitable and inclusive. OSTP, along with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), have launched the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA), a national initiative to lead and coordinate this and future cross-sector action to achieve equity across STEMM fields. To date, more than $4 million has been committed to launch SOA with more than 90 partners signing onto the effort.

The White House announced a new Office on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation to coordinate the policymaking process for the energy and infrastructure provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, legislation that has been called the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history. The executive order also established a National Climate Task Force that will be chaired by the head of the new office and consist of the heads of a number of agencies, offices and departments.

On the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy's Moonshot Address, President Biden traveled to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to highlight progress toward his administration's Moonshot Program to combat cancer and expand the U.S. bioeconomy. This announcement included Biden's pick for the inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and the signing of an executive order to institute a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative.

A recent announcement from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) included major updates requiring open access to federally funded research. The new guidance will require federal agencies to ensure that all taxpayer-funded research is immediately available to the public, disallowing the previous optional 12-month embargos.

President Biden announced his intent to nominate Arati Prabhakar to serve as the next director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and once confirmed she would also become his chief science advisor. The nomination earned praise from members of Congress, scientists, R&D advocates, and former OSTP directors of both Democratic and Republic administrations. The nomination is historic with Prabhakar being the first woman, immigrant, or person of color nominated to serve as Senate-confirmed director of OSTP. She previously led the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 1993 to 1997, starting when she was 34 years old and being the first woman to hold that position. She also served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2012 to 2017. Prabhakar has worked with startups, large companies, universities, government labs, and nonprofits across a wide variety of sectors and is both an engineer and applied physicist.

The White House has released its proposed budget for FY 2023. While funding levels will ultimately be determined by Congress (see SSTI’s previous commentary putting the proposal in context), the president’s budget identifies administration priorities that can indicate future agency actions — for example, last year’s proposal for the National Science Foundation (NSF) included the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, and the agency moved forward with the directorate despite receiving no formal authorization or funding level. The FY 2023 budget proposal contains many helpful priorities for regional innovation economies.