Inspection of the Office of Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary

Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the Department’s decision five years ago to reinvigorate the role of science and technology in American foreign policy was warranted. In conjunction with that decision, the Department established the position of Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary (STAS) to ensure the Department’s awareness of the nation’s science resources and improve its ability to draw upon the American scientific community for advice and counsel.

The Department believes STAS, which consists of an adviser and two support staff, must coordinate with, but not supplant, existing diplomatic functions. The Department’s 2000 re-creation of the deputy assistant secretary for science position in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) reflected the Department’s intent to maintain responsibility for diplomacy related to science programs and negotiations in OES, not in the STAS’s office.

OIG also found that a lack of clarity about the respective roles and responsibilities of OES and the STAS results in competition and confusion. The Department’s leadership must define the roles, responsibilities, authority, and accountability of the respective entities involved in science and technology.

Another concern is that Department officials, leaders of science-oriented agencies in Washington, and representatives of the science and technology community told OIG that the Department has not made fundamental change with regard to increased attention to science.

STAS has expanded some of its activities, such as its science fellows program, and created several innovative programs. At the same time, OIG determined that this small office is overstretched in trying to manage so many complex initiatives. There should be a mechanism to evaluate its initiatives, manage donated funds, and eventually transfer the projects to appropriate, willing operational bureaus.

Two respected scientists have served in the science adviser position, for which there is no specific term. With the arrival of a new Secretary of State, the time is right for developing a more thorough, transparent, and efficacious process for the identification and appointment of suitable candidates for this prestigious, visible position. Consideration of the science adviser’s future role must take into account the Assistant Secretary for OES’s responsibility to “formulate and implement policies and proposals relating to the environmental, marine, health, scientific, and technological aspects of U.S. foreign policy.” (OIG reviewed OES concurrently with STAS.)

Background

The Department’s diplomatic efforts address such scientific topics as nuclear nonproliferation, civilian use of outer space, population growth, adequate and safe food supply, climate change, diseases, energy resources, and technological competitiveness. In 1998, the Department asked the National Research Council (NRC) for suggestions, and NRC produced a report that recommended establishment of a science and technology adviser to the Secretary of State. Congress responded with a FY 2000 budget authorization directing that such a position be established. In due course, Secretary of State Madeline Albright created the position, appointing to it a distinguished scientist with Washington experience.

The NRC also recommended a comprehensive approach within the Department for integrating science, technology, and health competence into policy and program development. The NRC report suggested that the Department should increase its awareness of the science and technology considerations in foreign policy; improve its science, technology, and health resources; develop mechanisms to reach out to the American science, technology, and health communities for expertise and support; and find ways to draw on other departments and agencies to carry out the science, technology, and health activities they are best equipped to address.

October 7, 2005