National Science and Technology Council

The National Science and Technology Council is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government.

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History

The National Science and Technology Council was established by President Bill Clinton through Executive Order on November 23, 1993. Each presidential administration has utilized the NSTC in varying ways. During the Clinton administration, the NSTC wrote 6 Presidential Review Directives, used for President Clinton's own future directives. The council has not issued any of these since. Instead, the council's recommendations often serve as advice for other committees as policy is drafted. Members of the science and technology community have debated whether the NSTC should play a more direct role in policymaking by issuing formal directives and having increased authority.
The structure of the NSTC has changed multiple times in the last few decades. Under the Obama administration, the Council's subcommittees were restructured and a new committee for directing STEM education was added. A committee focused on science and technology enterprise was added under the first Trump administration, as well as special committees on artificial intelligence and research environments.

Mission

The primary functions of the NSTC are:

to coordinate the science and technology policy-making process;
to ensure science and technology policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's stated goals;
to help integrate the President's science and technology policy agenda across the Federal Government;
to ensure science and technology are considered in development and implementation of Federal policies and programs; and
to further international cooperation in science and technology.

Another objective of the NSTC is the establishment of clear national goals for federal science and technology investments in virtually all the mission areas of the executive branch. The Council prepares research and development strategies that are coordinated across federal agencies to form investment packages aimed at accomplishing multiple national goals. While a fundamental mission of the NSTC is to further the President's scientific policies, it also has been directly and indirectly charged by Congress to coordinate activities in a number of federal projects. These include combating ocean acidification, overseeing the National Nanotechnology Program, and supporting STEM education.

Committees

At present, the work of the NSTC is organized under six primary committees and two special committees. Each committee oversees theme-specific subcommittees and working groups.

List of Committees

Primary Committees:''Special Committees:''

Committee Membership

The NSTC is chaired by the President. The rest of the NSTC membership is made up of Cabinet Secretaries and Agency Heads with significant science and technology responsibilities, and other White House officials and advisors where necessary. The APST is responsible for managing the NSTC. The Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier managed the NSTC under the first Trump administration even though Executive Order 12881 does not include the OSTP Director in the NSTC. The president and cabinet-level officials are rarely present at meetings of the NSTC. Therefore, NSTC activities are carried out by OSTP and NSTC staff in collaboration with federal agency staff. Federal agencies assign staff to the NSTC and their numbers have ranged from 5 to 21 members in previous years.

Member Agencies

Agencies represented in the NSTC include:

Funding

As the NSTC does not receive direct appropriations, member agencies contribute funding to the projects that the NSTC oversees. From FY2010 to FY2018, their contributions ranged from $12 million to $18 million per year and funding was $17.1 million in FY2018. These funds go towards multi-agency projects. The rest of the funding comes from agency contributions to their own internal NSTC projects or the OSTP infrastructure contributions.

Key Staff

Chair: President Donald Trump
* Managing Authority: Arati Prabhakar, Director of OSTP
*Executive Director: OSTP
*Former Executive Directors include: Chloe Kontos, Afua Bruce, Jayne B. Morrow, Pedro Espina

Primary Committees:
Committee on Science & Technology Enterprise

Co-Chair: Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of OSTP
Co-Chair: Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology
Co-Chair: Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation
Co-Chair: Paul Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy

Committee on Environment

Co-Chair: Deerin Babb-Brott, OSTP
Co-Chair: Neil Jacobs, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction at the NOAA
Co-Chair: David Ross, Assistant Administrator for Water
Co-Chair: Tim Petty, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of Interior

Committee on Homeland and National Security

Co-Chair: Aaron Miles, OSTP
Co-Chair: Jih-Fen Lei, Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Research and Technology at the Department of Defense
Co-Chair: Bill Bryan, Undersecretary for Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security

Committee on Science

Co-Chair: Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of OSTP
Co-Chair: Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation
Co-Chair: Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health

Committee on STEM Education

Co-Chair: Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of OSTP
Co-Chair: Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation
Co-Chair: Jim Bridenstine, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Committee on Technology

Co-Chair: Michael Kratsios, U.S. Chief Technology Officer
Co-Chair: Walter Copan, NIST
Co-Chair: Paul Dabbar, DOE

Special Committees:
Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence

Co-Chair: Michael Kratsios, U.S. Chief Technology Officer
Co-Chair: Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation
Co-Chair: Peter Highnam, Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Joint Committee on Research Environment

Co-Chair: Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of OSTP
Co-Chair: Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology
Co-Chair: Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation
Co-Chair: Paul Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy
Co-Chair: Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health