Science and the environment: Federal Research (2019-15)
Implementing leading practices for collaboration to better manage fragmentation could help agencies improve their research efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness in quantum computing and synthetic biology.
Year Identified: 2019
Area Number: 15
Area Type: Fragmentation, Overlap & Duplication
5 Total Action(s)
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
OSTP agreed with GAO's September 2018 recommendation despite expressing some concerns about required resources and, as of January 2022, had taken steps to work with the other co-chairs of the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science (SCQIS) to implement it. The SCQIS, created pursuant to the National Quantum Initiative Act, enacted in 2018, continues to be led by four co-chairs from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation (NSF), and OSTP. In addition, the National Quantum Initiative Act called for the establishment of a National Quantum Coordination Office to support the SCQIS, which OSTP formed in March 2019. Pub. L. No. 115-368, § 102, 132 Stat. 5092, 5094-95 (2018).
Following this, the SCQIS created several interagency groups to support work under six policy thrusts identified in a September 2018 National Strategic Overview for Quantum Information Science. OSTP has provided information at several points, including in January 2022, on the various activities and products resulting from these efforts. For example, OSTP provided a December 2021 report that highlights agency activities undertaken in support of the six policy thrusts in the September 2018 strategic overview. The report demonstrates the substantial investments federal agencies are making in quantum information science, and provides high-level information on the organization of these activities.
Interagency coordination to identify and document efforts aligned with the six policy thrusts for federal quantum information science, as communicated in the September 2018 strategic overview and the December 2021 report, represent important steps toward implementing certain leading collaboration practices such as defining and articulating a common outcome. However, at a more granular level, it is less clear how these efforts address other leading collaboration practices, such as identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources; agreeing on roles and responsibilities; and developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results. According to the December 2021 report, the SCQIS will work with other interagency groups to identify metrics to chart progress towards goals and priorities, and will develop new policies and update current ones to ensure activities are in alignment with the current and future needs of the quantum information science ecosystem. Also, according to information provided by the Department of Energy in December 2021, the SCQIS has drafted but not yet finalized a National Strategic Plan for Quantum Information Science.
Fully implementing the leading collaboration practices GAO has identified across the SCQIS's areas of effort will help to enhance and strengthen interagency collaboration and could help ensure that agencies effectively marshal their efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness in quantum computing.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the Department of Commerce co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the Department of Commerce co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
Commerce agreed with GAO's September 2018 recommendation and, as of January 2022, had taken steps to work with the other co-chairs of the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science (SCQIS) to implement it. The SCQIS, created pursuant to the National Quantum Initiative Act, enacted in 2018, continues to be led by four co-chairs from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Energy, National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Pub. L. No. 115-368, § 103, 132 Stat. 5092, 5095-96 (2018).
The SCQIS created several interagency groups to support work under six policy thrusts identified in a September 2018 National Strategic Overview for Quantum Information Science. OSTP has provided information at several points, including in January 2022, on the various activities and products resulting from these efforts. For example, OSTP provided a December 2021 report that highlights agency activities undertaken in support of the six policy thrusts in the September 2018 strategic overview. The report demonstrates the substantial investments federal agencies are making in quantum information science, and provides high-level information on the organization of these activities.
Interagency coordination to identify and document efforts aligned with the six policy thrusts for federal quantum information science, as communicated in the September 2018 strategic overview and the December 2021 report, represent important steps toward implementing certain leading collaboration practices such as defining and articulating a common outcome. However, at a more granular level, it is less clear how these efforts address other leading collaboration practices, such as identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources; agreeing on roles and responsibilities; and developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results. According to the December 2021 report, the SCQIS will work with other interagency groups to identify metrics to chart progress towards goals and priorities, and will develop new policies and update current ones to ensure activities are in alignment with the current and future needs of the quantum information science ecosystem. Also, according to information provided by the Department of Energy in December 2021, the SCQIS has drafted but not yet finalized a National Strategic Plan for Quantum Information Science.
In December 2021, NIST reiterated a prior recommendation update response stating that interagency coordination was being handled through the National Quantum Coordination Office within OSTP. This Office was created pursuant to the National Quantum Initiative Act to support the efforts of the SCQIS and oversee interagency coordination on a National Quantum Initiative Program (also called for by the Act), among other responsibilities. However, under the National Quantum Initiative Act, the SCQIS is also responsible for coordinating different aspects of agencies' quantum information science efforts.
Fully implementing the leading collaboration practices GAO has identified across the SCQIS's areas of effort will help to enhance and strengthen interagency collaboration and could help ensure that agencies effectively marshal their efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness in quantum computing.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the Department of Energy (DOE) co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the Department of Energy (DOE) co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
DOE agreed with GAO's September 2018 recommendation and, as of January 2022, had taken steps to work with the other co-chairs of the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science (SCQIS) to implement it. The SCQIS, created pursuant to the National Quantum Initiative Act, enacted in 2018, continues to be led by four co-chairs from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Pub. L. No. 115-368, § 103, 132 Stat. 5092, 5095-96 (2018).
The SCQIS created several interagency groups to support work under six policy thrusts identified in a September 2018 National Strategic Overview for Quantum Information Science. OSTP has provided information at several points, including in January 2022, on the various activities and products resulting from these efforts. For example, OSTP provided a December 2021 report that highlights agency activities undertaken in support of the six policy thrusts in the September 2018 strategic overview. The report demonstrates the substantial investments federal agencies are making in quantum information science, and provides high-level information on the organization of these activities.
Interagency coordination to identify and document efforts aligned with the six policy thrusts for federal quantum information science, as communicated in the September 2018 strategic overview and the December 2021 report, represent important steps toward implementing certain leading collaboration practices such as defining and articulating a common outcome. However, at a more granular level, it is less clear how these efforts address other leading collaboration practices, such as identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources; agreeing on roles and responsibilities; and developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results. According to the December 2021 report, the SCQIS will work with other interagency groups to identify metrics to chart progress towards goals and priorities, and will develop new policies and update current ones to ensure activities are in alignment with the current and future needs of the quantum information science ecosystem. Also, according to information provided by the Department of Energy in December 2021, the SCQIS has drafted but not yet finalized a National Strategic Plan for Quantum Information Science.
Fully implementing the leading collaboration practices GAO has identified across the SCQIS's areas of effort will help to enhance and strengthen interagency collaboration and could help ensure that agencies effectively marshal their efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness in quantum computing.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the National Science Foundation (NSF) co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
As the Quantum Information Science Subcommittee moves forward, the National Science Foundation (NSF) co-chair, in coordination with other co-chairs and participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
NSF agreed with GAO's September 2018 recommendation and, as of January 2022, had taken steps to work with the other co-chairs of the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science (SCQIS) to implement it. The SCQIS, created pursuant to the National Quantum Initiative Act, enacted in 2018, continues to be led by four co-chairs from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Pub. L. No. 115-368, § 103, 132 Stat. 5092, 5095-96 (2018).
The SCQIS created several interagency groups to support work under six policy thrusts identified in a September 2018 National Strategic Overview for Quantum Information Science. OSTP has provided information at several points, including in January 2022, on the various activities and products resulting from these efforts. For example, OSTP provided a December 2021 report that highlights agency activities undertaken in support of the six policy thrusts in the September 2018 strategic overview. The report demonstrates the substantial investments federal agencies are making in quantum information science, and provides high-level information on the organization of these activities.
Interagency coordination to identify and document efforts aligned with the six policy thrusts for federal quantum information science, as communicated in the September 2018 strategic overview and the December 2021 report, represent important steps toward implementing certain leading collaboration practices such as defining and articulating a common outcome. However, at a more granular level, it is less clear how these efforts address other leading collaboration practices, such as identifying and addressing needs by leveraging resources; agreeing on roles and responsibilities; and developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results. According to the December 2021 report, the SCQIS will work with other interagency groups to identify metrics to chart progress towards goals and priorities, and will develop new policies and update current ones to ensure activities are in alignment with the current and future needs of the quantum information science ecosystem. Also, according to information provided by the Department of Energy in December 2021, the SCQIS has drafted but not yet finalized a National Strategic Plan for Quantum Information Science.
Fully implementing the leading collaboration practices GAO has identified across the SCQIS's areas of effort will help to enhance and strengthen interagency collaboration and could help ensure that agencies effectively marshal their efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness in quantum computing.
As the Interagency Working Group on Synthetic Biology moves forward, the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), in coordination with participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
As the Interagency Working Group on Synthetic Biology moves forward, the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), in coordination with participating agency officials, should take steps to fully implement leading practices that enhance and sustain collaboration.
NSF agreed with GAO's September 2018 recommendation and, as of December 2021, had taken some steps to implement it. According to information NSF provided in January 2020, the Interagency Synthetic Biology Working Group was formally established under the Biological Sciences Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council in November 2018. The working group co-chairs included officials from the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and NSF. The working group was charged with facilitating coordination and collaboration across 16 federal agencies.
In October 2019, the working group hosted an interagency workshop to examine a roadmap that included basic science, enabling technologies, infrastructure, and workforce needs in the area of synthetic biology, according to the information NSF provided in January 2020. The workshop included 100 participants across the federal government, academia, and industry. Workshop participants from federal agencies used the input from the workshop to prepare a list of priority areas for investment along with agencies interested in participating in those priority areas. The information NSF provided in January 2020 indicated that one of the next steps for the working group was to develop a federal strategic roadmap for synthetic biology. NSF also reported that the working group was preparing a memorandum of understanding to create policies that would enable more sharing of information and collaboration.
According to information NSF provided, as of December 2021, a document that will provide a framework for coordination in the area of synthetic biology is under development. According to NSF, while the document is still in draft form, the working group continues to share information, hold retreats, identify strategic priorities, and develop opportunities to coordinate and collaborate on activities to advance the field. As this coordination framework is finalized, fully implementing the leading practices GAO has identified will help to enhance and strengthen interagency collaboration and could help ensure that agencies effectively marshal their efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness in synthetic biology.
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