OSTI's Efforts Advance Energy Secretary Goals

Energy Secretary Steven Chu aims to better integrate basic and applied sciences.[1] OSTI's mission [2], products, and services support this goal. Secretary Chu sees the need to build networks to connect research within national labs, universities, and industry. A number of OSTI's research offerings directly facilitate open communication. Secretary Chu seeks to expand international science collaboration. WorldWideScience.org, conceived at OSTI, promotes such collaboration. Secretary Chu wants to link research with solutions to our nation's pressing problems. OSTI, through the DOE SBIR program, encourages small businesses to develop and commercialize technologies that advance the acceleration of science. Secretary Chu values development of engineering talent. OSTI is developing technology that will improve science education.

As Walt Warnick explained in a previous article, "Science Depends on the Diffusion of Knowledge," [2] the fabric of science is constructed from the billions of knowledge transactions that transpire every year. Science advances to the extent that we can increase the number of such transactions and their contact rate with scientists new to particular transactions. Secretary Chu's goal is identical to OSTI's: connect researchers regardless of the type of facility -- national lab, academic, or commercial -- anywhere in the world. WorldWideScience.org serves as a global gateway to science. WorldWideScience.org is built upon a foundation of global government and government-approved scientific databases that are mined through federated search technology. This technology, advanced by OSTI, penetrates the deep Web, where this high quality content resides, and makes global discovery, the diffusion of important science ideas, possible, practical, and efficient. Participating nations freely share their science with the world, ensuring the vital cross-fertilization of ideas needed to solve the world's pressing science problems.

OSTI advances the kind of collaboration networks that Secretary Chu cares about via a three-step model:

1. Conceive and develop wonderful tools that foster global discovery of R&D results in any area of interest. Science.gov, WorldWideScience.org, the E-print Network, and the Conferences Proceedings portal are prime examples, all built by OSTI.
   

2. Create the network by allowing any researcher to find and identify other researchers from around the world in any area of interest.
   

3. Grow and sustain the network by enabling any researcher to create and tailor alerts for new developments and new people to join the network.

Secretary Chu believes it's critical to invest in science education:

"Developing Science and Engineering Talent: Several years ago, I had the honor and privilege of working on the “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report commissioned by Chairman Bingaman and Senator Alexander. One of the key recommendations was to step up efforts to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers." [4]

OSTI has taken the lead to develop an inter-agency science education portal specifically to connect students and teachers with the very best material to stimulate learning and to produce that next generation of scientists.

OSTI understands the challenges of advancing science. OSTI's mission of advancing science goes far beyond making R&D findings available to DOE researchers and to the public. The mission aims at nothing less than accelerating the spread of important ideas through the fabric that is science.

Sol Lederman

Consultant

References:

[1] DOE: Chu pledges R&D overhaul, Ben Geman, March 5, 2009 (http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2009/03/05/5/)

[2] OSTI Mission (http://www.osti.gov/about/mission)

[3] Science Depends on the Diffusion of Knowledge, Dr. Walter Warnick, OSTIblog, March 10, 2009 (http://www.osti.gov/ostiblog/home/entry/science_depends_on_the_diffusion)

[4] Statement of Steven Chu Secretary of Energy before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, March 5, 2009 (http://www.energy.gov/news2009/6964.htm)