[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8893-8894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03071]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Request for Information--Partnerships in Ocean Science and 
Technology

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of Request for Information on opportunities and 
constraints to building and sustaining partnerships in ocean science 
and technology.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF), on behalf of the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), requests input from all 
interested parties on opportunities for and constraints on building and 
sustaining partnerships in ocean science and technology (S&T). The 
public input provided in response to this Request for Information (RFI) 
will inform OSTP as it works with the Council on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ), Federal agencies, and other stakeholders to identify 
opportunities to build and sustain partnerships in ocean science and 
technology.

[[Page 8894]]


DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
March 19, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Responses should be submitted via email to 
[email protected]. Include ``Partnerships in Ocean Science and 
Technology'' in the subject line of the message.
    Instructions: Response to this RFI is voluntary. Respondents need 
not reply to all questions listed. For submissions via email, clearly 
indicate which questions are being answered. Email attachments will be 
accepted in plain text, Microsoft Word, or Adobe PDF formats only. Each 
individual or institution is requested to submit only one response. 
OSTP may post responses to this RFI, without change, on a Federal 
website. OSTP, therefore, requests that no business proprietary 
information, copyrighted information, or personally identifiable 
information be submitted in response to this RFI. Please note that the 
U.S. Government will not pay for response preparation, or for the use 
of any information contained in the response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deerin Babb-Brott, OSTP, 
[email protected], 202-456-4444.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2018, the Trump Administration issued 
Science and Technology for America's Oceans: A Decadal Vision (Decadal 
Vision), which identified five goals to advance U.S. ocean S&T in the 
coming decade, including: (1) Understand the ocean in the earth system; 
(2) promote economic prosperity; (3) ensure maritime security; (4) 
safeguard human health; and (5) develop resilient coastal communities. 
The Decadal Vision also described areas of immediate ocean research and 
technology opportunities, including (1) fully integrating Big Data 
approaches in Earth system science; (2) advancing monitoring and 
predictive modeling capabilities; (3) improving data integration in 
decision-support tools; (4) supporting ocean exploration and 
characterization; and (5) supporting ongoing research and technology 
partnerships.
    On November 14, 2019, OSTP and CEQ hosted The White House Summit on 
Partnerships in Ocean Science and Technology (Ocean S&T Summit). The 
Ocean S&T Summit brought together over 100 leaders and experts from 
philanthropy, the private sector, academia, and the Federal government 
to identify opportunities for S&T partnerships that advance the goals 
framed by the Decadal Vision. The Ocean S&T Summit addressed the 
following specific themes: (1) Exploring the Ocean; (2) Conserving 
Marine Living Resources; (3) Protecting Coastal Health and Safety; (4) 
Sustaining Ocean Observations; (5) Promoting Food Security; (6) 
Enabling Ocean Energy; (7) Characterizing Ocean Life; and (8) 
Leveraging Big Data. A summary of the Ocean S&T Summit is available at: 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Ocean-ST-Summit-Readout-Final.pdf.
    OSTP is soliciting public input through this RFI to obtain 
information from a wide range of stakeholders, including academia, 
private sector, philanthropy, and other relevant organizations and 
institutions, in order to inform OSTP and CEQ as they prepare to 
identify these opportunities and develop recommendations for 
collaboration across the ocean S&T enterprise.

Questions To Inform Development of the Recommendations

    Through this RFI, OSTP seeks responses to the following questions 
to identify opportunities and inform development of recommendations 
that will address opportunities and barriers to partnerships in ocean 
science and technology across and among academia, private industry, 
philanthropy, and government sectors.
    1. Please describe opportunities for cross-sector partnerships and 
collaborations in ocean S&T where the Federal government's 
participation or facilitation could advance the development and 
application of ocean S&T. The term ``partnership'' is defined broadly 
to include all Federal mechanisms available to engage, collaborate, and 
exchange resources, among other activities, with non-Federal 
organizations.
    2. Please identify existing effective cross-sector partnerships in 
ocean S&T and the characteristics that cause them to be successful. 
Please specify what kinds of institutions (including the Federal 
government) are involved and describe their roles.
    3. Please describe opportunities for the Federal government to 
strengthen or facilitate existing ocean S&T partnerships in the 
private, nonprofit, and other sectors. In what specific types of 
partnerships should they play a larger role and why?
    4. Executive Order 13840, titled, Ocean Policy to Advance the 
Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States, 
highlights and supports Federal participation in projects conducted 
under the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (www.nopp.org) to 
maximize the effectiveness of agency investments in ocean research. 
Please describe opportunities to enhance utilization of the program by 
both Federal agencies and non-Federal partners.
    5. Please describe existing barriers or constraints that limit 
opportunities for cross-sector partnerships in ocean S&T, including 
barriers limiting partnerships with the Federal government. Barriers or 
constraints may include legal authorities, regulatory, policy, 
cultural, lack of expertise, or other procedural hurdles that limit or 
prevent partnership opportunities.

    Dated: February 11, 2020.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2020-03071 Filed 2-14-20; 8:45 am]
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