Tomorrow is another meeting of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) in Washington. The public portion of the meeting will from nine to noon Eastern time. As usual, there will be a webcast (access via the PCAST website), which will be archived following the meeting.
Per the current agenda, this meeting will have three briefings and a public comment period. It’s a rare PCAST meeting where there are no updates on pending reports, but that may not be covered in the formal agenda. All of the scheduled speakers are government officials. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and Chief Information Officer Steve Van Roekel will discuss the President’s Management Agenda (perhaps connected to the recently announced open data policy). The head of the Centers for Disease Control will speak on anti-microbial resistance, and several federal staffers will discuss the preservation of environmental capital. The last item was the subject of a July 2011 PCAST report, so this briefing may be a follow-up discussion about the report recommendations.
But this is not the only Presidential Council of scientific advisers busy of late. Check out this Tweet from the Chief Scientific Adviser to the European Union’s President:
The President’s Science and Technology Advisory Council is the EU edition of the U.S. PCAST. Formed earlier this year, it has met twice, primarily focused on organisational matters. There is a mention in the agenda for the second meeting about position papers for the Council as well as the ‘current debate on public acceptance of science.’ Let’s see if that is the focus of the report Dr. Glover suggested is coming soon.
Pasco Phronesis 