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For over 25 years, the Potomac Institute has worked with each presidential administration to ensure that our nation takes full advantage of scientific and technological advancements. We know that science & technology (S&T) play a critical role in domestic and international policy and are dedicated to the premise that S&T be non-partisan and policy is based on data.

The world looks very different from how it did at our organization's founding in 1994. The Digital Age is fully upon us. Economic development hangs on S&T progress at a degree unseen since the Industrial Revolution. As such, we are greatly encouraged by the new administration’s elevation of the Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) to a Cabinet-level position. There is no agency, no branch or level of government, where science and technology does not or will not play an integral role in the coming years. The Potomac Institute looks forward to utilizing our experience and knowledge to assist the empowered OSTP at the highest levels.

Further, the announced appointees and designates to OSTP reflect the changing nature of the office, and we are confident in their abilities to provide a first line of S&T knowledge to the new administration. OSTP Director-designate Dr. Eric Lander is one of the foremost geneticists in the world with a wealth of policy knowledge, serving in the past as a principle leader of the Human Genome Project and as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He will be joined by Deputy Director Dr. Alondra Nelson, whose pioneering research into the interconnectedness of S&T and social inequality led in part to her selection as president of the Social Science Research Council.

“In the face of a global pandemic, we saw the domestic and international scientific communities come together to save lives through vaccine development at record-setting speeds. We now have an opportunity to build on our S&T progress, and I am hopeful that the new administration, aided by OSTP and organizations like the Potomac Institute, will lead in innovative, data-driven ways,” said Potomac Institute CEO Dr. Jennifer Buss. "The best time to ensure that policy is based on sound scientific reasoning was yesterday; the second-best time is now."