Hello all, Here is the response to another petition I signed. It took about three months to get a response, and the petition was partly successful.
Helen Bushnell ----- Forwarded Message ----- >From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 5:54 PM >Subject: Fwd: Petition Response: Increasing Public Access to the Results of >Scientific Research > > > > >----- Original message ----- >From: The White House <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Subject: Petition Response: Increasing Public Access to the Results of >Scientific Research >Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:58:33 -0600 > > > >Increasing Public Access to the Results of Scientific Research >By Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and >Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy >Thank you for your participation in the We the People platform. The Obama >Administration agrees that citizens deserve easy access to the results of >research their tax dollars have paid for. As you may know, the Office of >Science and Technology Policy has been looking into this issue for some time >and has reached out to the public on two occasions for input on the question >of how best to achieve this goal of democratizing the results of >federally-funded research. Your petition has been important to our discussions >of this issue. >The logic behind enhanced public access is plain. We know that scientific >research supported by the Federal Government spurs scientific breakthroughs >and economic advances when research results are made available to innovators. >Policies that mobilize these intellectual assets for re-use through broader >access can accelerate scientific breakthroughs, increase innovation, and >promote economic growth. That’s why the Obama Administration is committed to >ensuring that the results of federally-funded scientific research are made >available to and useful for the public, industry, and the scientific community. >Moreover, this research was funded by taxpayer dollars. Americans should have >easy access to the results of research they help support. >To that end, I have issued a memorandum today (.pdf) to Federal agencies that >directs those with more than $100 million in research and development >expenditures to develop plans to make the results of federally-funded research >publically available free of charge within 12 months after original >publication. As you pointed out, the public access policy adopted by the >National Institutes of Health has been a great success. And while this new >policy call does not insist that every agency copy the NIH approach exactly, >it does ensure that similar policies will appear across government. >As I mentioned, these policies were developed carefully through extensive >public consultation. We wanted to strike the balance between the extraordinary >public benefit of increasing public access to the results of federally-funded >scientific research and the need to ensure that the valuable contributions >that the scientific publishing industry provides are not lost. This policy >reflects that balance, and it also provides the flexibility to make changes in >the future based on experience and evidence. For example, agencies have been >asked to use a 12-month embargo period as a guide for developing their >policies, but also to provide a mechanism for stakeholders to petition the >agency to change that period. As agencies move forward with developing and >implementing these polices, there will be ample opportunity for further public >input to ensure they are doing the best possible job of reconciling all of the >relevant interests. >In addition to addressing the issue of public access to scientific >publications, the memorandum requires that agencies start to address the need >to improve upon the management and sharing of scientific data produced with >Federal funding. Strengthening these policies will promote entrepreneurship >and jobs growth in addition to driving scientific progress. Access to >pre-existing data sets can accelerate growth by allowing companies to focus >resources and efforts on understanding and fully exploiting discoveries >instead of repeating basic, pre-competitive work already documented elsewhere. >For example, open weather data underpins the forecasting industry and provides >great public benefits, and making human genome sequences publically available >has spawned many biomedical innovations—not to mention many companies >generating billions of dollars in revenues and the jobs that go with them. >Going forward, wider availability of scientific data will create innovative economic markets for services related to data curation, preservation, analysis, and visualization, among others. >So thank you again for your petition. I hope you will agree that the >Administration has done its homework and responded substantively to your >request. >Tell us what you think about this response and We the People. >Stay Connected >Stay connected to the White House by signing up for periodic email updates >from President Obama and other senior administration officials. > > Facebook Twitter YouTube Flickr Google+ > > >This email was sent to [email protected] >Sign Up for Updates from the White House >Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy >Please do not reply to this email. Contact the White House > >The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • >202-456-1111 > >
