National Science and Technology Council

The National Science and Technology Council was created by Executive Order on November 23, 1993. A Cabinet-level Council, it is the principal means within the executive branch to coordinate science and technology policy across the diverse entities that comprise the Federal government's research and development enterprise.

Mission
According to the U.S. government web page for the NSTC, "A primary objective of the NSTC is the establishment of clear national goals for Federal science and technology investments in a broad array of areas spanning virtually all the mission areas of the executive branch."

Membership
According to the Executive Order that created the National Science and Technology Council, membership is as follows:
 * "Section 2. Membership. The Council shall comprise the:
 * (a) President, who shall serve as Chairman of the Council;
 * (b) Vice President;
 * (c) Secretary of Commerce;
 * (d) Secretary of Defense;
 * (e) Secretary of Energy;
 * (f) Secretary of Health and Human Services;
 * (g) Secretary of State;
 * (h) Secretary of the Interior;
 * (i) Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
 * (j) Director, National Science Foundation;
 * (k) Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
 * (l) Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency;
 * (m) Assistant to the President for Science and Technology;
 * (n) National Security Adviser;
 * (o) Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
 * (p) Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
 * (q) Secretary of Agriculture
 * (r) Secretary of Labor
 * (s) Secretary of Transportation
 * (t) Secretary of Education
 * (u) Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
 * :* (v) Director of Central Intelligence
 * (w) Director of the National Institutes of Health
 * (x) Department of Homeland Security; and
 * (y) Such other officials of executive departments and agencies as the President may, from time to time, designate."

Committees
The five committees of NSTC are:
 * Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education
 * Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability
 * Homeland and National Security
 * Science
 * Technology

Sub-committees are as follows:

Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability:
 * Air Quality Research
 * Critical & Strategic Mineral Supply Chains
 * National Earth Observations
 * Disaster Reduction
 * Ecological Services
 * Global Change Research
 * Ocean Science & Technology
 * Water Availability & Quality
 * Toxics & Risk
 * U.S. Group on Earth Observations
 * [Proposed] Interagency Arctic Research Policy
 * [Proposed] Integration for Science and Technology for Sustainability
 * [Proposed] Roundtable on Climate Information & Services

Homeland and National Security:
 * Chemical Defense Research and Development
 * Domestic IEDs
 * Biological Defense Research & Development
 * Human Factors for Homeland & National Security
 * Homeland Security S&T Policy
 * Standards
 * Infrastructure
 * Nuclear Defense Research & Development
 * [Proposed] International Science, Engineering & Technology

Science:
 * Digital Data
 * Life Science
 * Public Access to Scholarly Publications
 * Physical Science
 * Social, Behavioral, & Economic Science
 * Forensic Scince

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education:
 * Federal Coordination in STEM Education
 * Federal Investment in STEM Education

Technology:
 * Aeronautics Science & Technology
 * Biometrics & Identity Management
 * Building Technology Research & Development
 * Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
 * Advanced Manufacturing
 * Networking & Information Technology Research
 * Nanoscale Science Engineering & Technology
 * Privacy & Internet Policy
 * Smart Grid
 * Standards
 * Smart Disclosure

External Resources

 * Agricultural Biotechnology Risk Analysis Research in The Federal Government, National Science and Technology Council, 2007.
 * Biotechnology for the 21st Century: New Horizons, 1995.

External Articles

 * John Howard "Jack" Gibbons, "Biotechnology: Opportunity and Challenge," National Biotechnology Summit, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C., January 24, 1994.