Office of Science and Technology Policy 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on behalf of the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), will hold a series of webinars focusing on the experiences, successes, and challenges for small- and medium-sized businesses working in nanotechnology and on issues of interest to the business community. The first webinar in the series will be held Thursday, January 15, 2015.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input from interested parties on: (1) The current and near-term state of microsatellite technologies, and (2) whether microsatellite systems will be capable of meeting current and future civil Earth- observing needs. Public input provided in response to this RFI will inform the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as to the state of technologies associated with microsatellites to meet the Nation's civil Earth observational requirements.

On February 22, 2013, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) published a 60-day public notice in the Federal Register (Federal Register Volume 78, Number 36, Docket No. 2013-04127) to invite public comment on the proposed United States Government Policy for Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern (hereafter, Policy for Institutional DURC Oversight or Policy). This Notice responds to comments received during this 60-day public notice, sets forth final changes to the Policy for Institutional DURC Oversight, and implements the final Policy for Institutional DURC Oversight. The Policy for Institutional DURC Oversight will be updated, as needed, following domestic dialogue, international engagement, and input from interested communities including scientists, national security officials, and global health specialists and announced in the Federal Register and at https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse.

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on behalf of the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), will hold a technical interchange meeting entitled ``Realizing the Promise of Carbon NanotubesChallenges, Opportunities and the Pathway to Commercialization'' on September 15, 2014. The meeting will be sponsored by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and co-sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The objectives of this meeting are to identify, discuss, and report the technical barriers preventing the production of carbon nanotube-based materials with electrical and mechanical properties approaching theoretical values, and to explore ways to overcome these barriers. Obstacles preventing the full exploitation of the multifunctional nature of carbon nanotube materials will also be discussed. This one-day meeting will assemble some of the Nation's leading experts in carbon nanotube research and development, as well as executives and experts from the Federal government, academia, and private sector.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council request public comments to provide input into an upcoming update of the Strategy for American Innovation, which helps to guide the Administration's efforts to promote lasting economic growth and competitiveness through policies that support transformative American innovation in products, processes, and services and spur new fundamental discoveries that in the long run lead to growing economic prosperity and rising living standards. These efforts include policies to promote critical components of the American innovation ecosystem, including scientific research and development (R&D), technical workforce, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, advanced manufacturing, and others. The strategy also provides an important framework to channel these Federal investments in innovation capacity towards innovative activity for specific national priorities. The public input provided through this notice will inform the deliberations of the National Economic Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which are together responsible for publishing an updated Strategy for American Innovation.

This Request for Information (RFI) solicits input from the public regarding interagency research awards via competitive grants, contracts, or other vehicles provided by a Federal agency to a researcher at a Federal laboratory that is managed, owned, or operated by another Federal agency. Applicable research awards include extramural research awards awarded to intramural researchers in Federal laboratories. Federal laboratories include Government-Owned, Government-Operated laboratories (GOGOs) and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). Research awards pay for research projects and supporting resources, including the salaries of the principal investigators. The public input provided in response to this Notice will inform the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as it works with Federal agencies and other stakeholders to develop best practices for agencies.

On June 14, 2013, the President issued a Memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies on the subject of spectrum policy (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/14/ presidential-memorandum-expanding-americas-leadership-wireles s- innovatio). The Memorandum directs the White House Spectrum Policy Team to make recommendations regarding market-based or other approaches that could give departments and agencies greater incentive to share or relinquish spectrum, while protecting the mission capabilities of existing and future systems that rely on spectrum use. This notice solicits public input to inform the development of those recommendations.