September 10, 2020
Last month, Russell Vought, Director of Office of Management and Budget, and Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, issued a memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies regarding ‘FY 2022 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities and Cross-cutting Actions’.
The Memo builds on Administration priorities identified as Innovations of the Future (IotF) including Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Science, 5G/Advanced Communications; Advanced Manufacturing; and Biotechnology.
The 2020 priorities added a new research and development priority to advance ‘American Public Health Security and Innovation’. Two components beg the inclusion of behavioral and cognitive sciences – ‘Infectious Disease Modeling, Prediction, and Forecasting’, which specifies importance of whole-of-society approaches to addressing future infectious disease outbreaks, as well as the reference to non-pharmaceutical interventions in under ‘Biomedicine and Biotechnology.’ A third area of priority for the administration is ‘National Security’ with a focus on supporting ‘Resilience,’ including that of individuals, communities, and society.
Cross-cutting Actions outlined in the memo include areas of import to FABBS members including: Build the Science and Technology Workforce of the Future, Optimize Research Environment and Results and Leveraging the Power of Data. FABBS members competing for federal funding should note guidance around data sharing: ‘Departments and agencies should also make their data discoverable, accessible and useable, consistent with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies governing data use, disclosure, and sharing’. FABBS will be monitoring any changes to data management and sharing requirements closely and is regularly in touch with agencies and the administration.
