Science, Technology, and Public Policy

Some of America’s most distinguished leaders in academia, science, and technology gathered at Harvard in September to celebrate the 75th birthday of renowned Harvard scientist Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti—and to discuss the future of innovation in America.

"Laura Diaz Anadon is Associate Director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, and a member of the Belfer Center Board of Directors. In May, she was named Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School."

At the heart of STPP fellow Tolu Odumosu’s work is the practical application and social interactions of technological research and innovation. He believes the way humans reflect on the changes in life wrought by our tools has led to passivity when it comes to assessing the impact of technologies on man, as well as the impact of different peoples on the same technologies.

Questions about the very nature of scientific discovery are being raised by Belfer Center experts Venkatesh (Venky) Narayanamurti, Tolu Odumosu, and Lee Vinsel...Their new discussion paper, entitled “The Discovery-Invention Cycle: Bridging the Basic/Applied Dichotomy,” describes the longstanding  paradigm that separates  basic research and discovery from applied research and implementation – for example, separating the study of  the DNA of a bacteria from the application of  that knowledge to develop new drugs and compounds.

Laura Diaz Anadon is the associate director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, and adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She investigates the patterns and processes of technology innovation, especially the role of government policy in the development and deployment of advanced and cleaner energy technologies.

Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work offers a platform for exchange of views on matters at the intersection of science, technology and public policy. Principal bloggers are Harvard faculty and Fellows from across the Belfer Center, the Kennedy School, and Harvard University.

The key authors of Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation released the report at an event in Washington, D.C.in November.Hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, report authors Venky Narayanamurti, Laura Diaz Anadon, and Matthew Bunn presented the study process, findings, and recommendations.

The U.S. government could save the economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year by 2050 by spending a few billion dollars more a year to spur innovations in energy technology, according to a new report by the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group.

The Winter 2010/11 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights a major Belfer Center conference on technology and governance, the Center's involvement in the nuclear threat documentary Countdown to Zero, and a celebration of Belfer Center founder Paul Doty.

Leaders of the Science, Technology and Public Policy (STPP) program at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center brought together about 80 of the nation's top policy makers and entrepreneurs for a two-day conference in September to brainstorm ideas for a new HKS initiative on technology and governance.