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The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is pleased to announce the February 2016 Issue 3 of STEPS: Science, Technology, and Engineering Policy Studies. Please enjoy this featured article:

It is important that the nation enacts sound policies, whether the issues are impacted by science and technology (S&T), or whether the policy impacts S&T development. Yet, national policymaking with respect to S&T are spread out among numerous federal, state, and private agencies and organizations. There is no one in charge, and no consensus on who speaks for which issues and at what level specific technology issues should be addressed. Even as S&T moves more quickly and becomes more complex, processes to formulate and maintain policies remain problematic. The author describes the mess that is our national S&T policy apparatus, and suggests the creation of an Office of Science Policy.

In 2003 the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies proposed a study to continue its earlier examinations of the status of selected areas of science and technology research in the US and abroad, projecting where this research might lead and how its products could affect national security. Numerous agencies and organizations sponsored the study. Its overarching goal was to suggest ways to improve the quality of S&T information involved in decisions made, or directly influenced, at the “highest levels” of government.

The study’s output fell into two subject matter areas, S&T trends and impacts, and implications on the processes of creating technical policy in the US. Communication of this output was accomplished through a final report, briefings presented to sponsors and industry; an article for the Review of Policy Research (RPR); and a presentation and published proceedings at the Policy Research for Science and Technology (PREST) conference at the University of Manchester in the UK.

Find the full article here.