President Obama has issued an Executive Order establishing the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI), which is an effort to create a cohesive, multi-agency strategic vision, and Federal investment strategy in high-performance computing (HPC). HPC systems, through their high levels of computing power and large amounts of storage capacity, are essential to economic competitiveness, scientific discovery, and national security. The NSCI will ensure that the United States continues leading in this field over the coming decades. As the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has concluded, high-performance computing “must now assume a broader meaning, encompassing not only flops, but also the ability, for example, to efficiently manipulate vast and rapidly increasing […]

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Internship Program provides a unique opportunity to work closely with senior White House officials and science and technology (S&T) policy analysts in OSTP’s topic-based divisions. These internships are open to interested students from all majors and programs. Applicants are encouraged to apply for one of three terms (Fall, Spring, or Summer), each term lasting no more than 90 days. Currently, the application for the Fall 2015 term is open. These positions are without compensation; however, students may be eligible to receive academic credit from their respective college or university. Please see the How to Apply and Frequently Asked Questions pages for more information on […]

The following is from the Office of Science and Technology Blog by Jo Handelsman, the Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. People’s appreciation of game-changing new technologies frequently ignores the long, often twisting path that transforms an idea from fundamental discovery to practical application.  Those who pay for the national research agenda may not always be aware of the early and fundamental work that makes today’s technologies possible.  For example, it was basic research presented in a then-obscure scientific paper by Albert Einstein in 1917 that ultimately translated into the invention of laser technology four decades later.  The development of similarly groundbreaking […]

The organizing committee for the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Human Computation Roadmap Summit have released their Workshop Report. The visioning workshop, hosted by the CCC, explored the design and analysis of information processing systems in which humans participate as computational agents. The workshop included over 60 participants from a variety of disciplines, representing academia, private industry and federal agencies (NSF, NIH, NIST, NITRD, OSTP). The rapid advancement of the human computation field toward repeatable and sustainable success models requires a concerted effort by policy-makers, federal funding agencies, multidisciplinary research institutions, private industry, and the public. This report advocates for a new national initiative in human computation, with policy and funding support […]