-20 GAO staff working on NSF in-house review issues (Ph.D. shortfall projections and peer review procedures) met with OTA staff for discussion and comparison of information. Office of Science and Technology Policy staff asked for a briefing by OTA staff following the publication of Federally-Funded Research. This briefing identified a number of helpful portions of the report that will assist OSTP in planning research strategies. OTA transportation staff worked closely with GAO and CRS transportation staff, exchanging information, reviewing documents, participating in workshops and generally providing mutual support for related studies, including studies on infrastructure, surface transportation policy and tiltrotor/magnetic levitation analysis. CBO staff was involved in infrastructure study. OTA staff has briefed Science. Technology, and the Constitution approximately six times for OMB/Federal Executive Center audiences, in all about 250 Federal executives. At its request, OTA staff sent the Senate Finance Committee (requestor of the planned international telecommunications assessment) a memo about meetings in Hungary with telecommunications company officials. Computer Software and Intellectual Property (ongoing): Throughout the study, OTA has maintained close contact with the American Law Division of CRS. The relevant ALD staffer, as well as staff contacts from the CRS Science Policy Research Division, were invited to all panel meetings and technology/legal workshops held during the course of the study; CRS staff served as reviewers for various drafts of the report. GAO and CBO staff were included on the project mailing list and were invited to all panel meetings and workshops. One of the CBO staff contacts provided review comments on the draft report. The OTA project staff had frequent telephone interactions and several meetings with staff members at the Copyright Office and the Patent and Trademark Office, who were invited to panel meetings and workshops. Staff contacts at other relevant agencies were established at the start of the study and were included on the project mailing list for notification of panel meetings and workshops. OTA staff interviewed some of these and many of the agency contacts were solicited as reviewers for the draft report. Individuals from the Copyright Office, the Library of Congress, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Library of Medicine served as workshop participants. The Miniaturization Technologies study was an example of interagency coordination at OTA. In the data gathering phase of the study, a researcher from the National Institute of Standards and Technology was temporarily detailed to the project. He supplied data on manufacturing technologies, the electronics industry, and advancements in molecular scale technologies. OTA staff met with Library of Congress staff to discuss the Library's plans to develop a science data base, and provided them with information and contacts about existing -21 CRS participated in OTA's study of automated firearm purchaser record checks by providing comments on review drafts; the U.S. Department of Justice extensively used OTA's report Automated Record Checks of Firearm Purchasers and background paper The FBI Fingerprint Identification Automation Program in developing plans and priorities for improving the nation's criminal record and identification system; the FBI Director cited both OTA documents as providing balanced, objective, and useful analysis and suggestions on Federal law enforcement agency firearm purchaser check and record improvement actions; the Chairman of the FBI's National Crime Information Center Advisory Policy Board cited both documents for making a useful contribution to state/local law enforcement firearm purchaser check and criminal history record and fingerprint identification improvement actions. 6. Changes in OTA's Prior Plans for FY 1991 During FY 1991, OTA essentially accomplished its goals, with approved modifications, negotiated reductions, and additions to meet the changing needs of Congress. These changes reflect the inherent uncertainty of research and the attendant need to make adjustments, and also the fact that the agency must operate with a reduced level of resources. The chart below shows the variations in actual obligations for the OTA divisions for FY 1991 from the planned obligations for FY 1991 provided on Schedule A in the FY 1992 budget justification. The chart on page 26 provides a summary by object class of projections and actual expenditures for FY 1991. - 22 7. OTA's Goals for FY 1993 Congress' agenda in FY 1993 is only partially predictable, and some of the events that could dominate its attention are not even predictable at this point. This means that OTA must carefully manage its ability for "flexible response", by continuing to stay abreast of key issues involving science and technology. We fully expect that a number of current issues will remain high on our agenda and may become even more so: the strengthening of the U.S. civilian industry to compete in a global economy, improved ways to assure quality health care, the peaceful transformation of centrally planned economies into market economies, the management of local, regional, and global environments, and the restructuring of U.S. security to match the uncertain and changing nature of threats. Without question, advances in science and technology are increasingly central drivers of public policy. Technological change provides most of the precious few, new options for our citizens to achieve goals. Thus, OTA sees as its highest priority to use the resources provided by Congress in ways that help the committee's understand both what's happening and what can be done through the legislative process to help the nation succeed. Our budget seeks to hold on to the capability we now possess. We must provide our analysts with the tools (e.g., computing power) necessary to maintain productivity. This is also an essential mechanism to attract and retain good people. After a number of years of no new permanent staff positions, we badly need to be able to offer appointments to seven professionals. This same request was made last year but not approved by the Subcommittee. As in the past, we have been unsuccessful in recruiting top notch people in these categories with the offer of temporary appointments. These positions are: 1. Physician. It is important to have doctors in the Health Program, both for their training and for the analytical capability. OTA has had an extremely high turnover rate with physicians, which we believe would improve if we were able to have another permanent position. 2. Biologist. With the increasing amount of work OTA is doing in the area of toxic chemicals and waste, we very much need a biologist who is expert in the field of statistically evaluating risks to human health. 3. Civil Engineer. OTA is being called on to do an increasing amount of work on transportation and infrastructure projects that require engineering expertise. 4. A Computer Scientist/Engineer. OTA is also anticipating an increasing number of studies on computer hardware and software, and having a permanent person on staff would give us that in-house expertise. 5. Engineer with industrial experience. OTA is doing considerable work on the competitiveness of our manufacturing industries. It would, therefore, be most valuable to add greater depth to our in-house staff with an expert on the relationship of technology to the entire manufacturing enterprise. 6. International Economist. Our work on global competitiveness necessitates someone with experience in trade issues, especially with high technology and military systems and a corporate background. We have been advised by the TAAC and other advisors to strengthen our expertise in economics. 7. Systems Integrator. OTA could further increase its productivity if it could recruit a permanent integrator who would be responsible for integrating the agency's sophisticated -23. Priorities in Program Work OTA's agenda is determined by the explicit needs of Congressional committees. Therefore, we cannot predict in detail the new assessments that will be undertaken in a given year. In response to the Appropriations Committees' request, however, OTA has prepared an illustrative list of subjects that are representative of the kinds of assessments that we may be asked to undertake. Such an exercise, using a wide variety of information sources, helps sharpen the discussions between OTA staff and Congressional committees. It also reflects one of the charges Congress assigned to OTA: foresight about emerging technology. The most recent list (see below) was derived from a much larger group of subjects that have come to OTA's attention via its own work, requests and inquiries that have already been received from committees, the technical literature, interactions with Members and staff of Congress, and from peers in the executive branch and outside of government. OTA can undertake only a limited number of assessments each year, so this list should be viewed only as representative. Because OTA works hard to be responsive to changing Congressional needs, work actually begun in a given year is often significantly different from OTA's prospective list, but new work usually does contain some of the identified issues. (Brief descriptions of the candidate studies are provided in the sections on divisions' priorities on pages 42, 59, and 74). Candidate Areas for New Assessments in Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 The topics given in this list have been identified by Congressional committees, OTA, and its advisers as typical technical issues that the Congress will face over the next several years. Note: 1) This list is not given in order of priority; and 2) the actual number of issues we can undertake as full assessments is no more than 1 in 3 or 4 of those listed. Energy and Materials Energy and Environmental Technology Transfer to Eastern Europe Energy and Urban Design Energy Research and Development: Responding to Changing Needs Smart Power Technical Assistance for the Former Soviet Republics Technology Cooperation with Japan - 24 International Security and Commerce Conventional Force Structure Future of U.S. Nuclear Forces Non-Provocative Defense in the Post-Cold War Era Technical Approaches to Preventing "Friendly Fire" Casualties Biological Applications Biological Privacy New Methods for the Detection of Breast Cancer Organ Transplantation: New Technologies and New Issues Synergistic, Antagonistic, and Additive Toxic Effects of Chemicals Food and Renewable Resources Food Safety Issues in the 90's Ecosystem Reclamation: Rural and Urban Integrating Agriculture and the Environment Means to Maintain Productive Agriculture with Reduced Commercial Pesticides Technology to Manage Arctic Resources Enhancing Fishery Production Health Information Technology and the Health Care System AIDS Studies Worldwide Transmission of Viruses and Tropical Diseases Health Technology Assessment Methods Health Care and the Inner City Intrauterine Surgical Treatment of Fetal Abnormalities Telecommunication and Computing Technologies Critical Computer Software for the Federal Government Telecommunications Standards: Protocols and Interoperability |