Prize competitions have played a prominent role in the Obama administration's innovation policy since the launch of the federal challenge.gov site in 2010. By announcing national Grand Challenges and allowing federal agencies to create their own prize competitions to encourage work in strategic areas, the administration has been able to generate interest and valuable contributions from a wide variety of untapped sources of innovation.

Last week, the White House released a comprehensive national strategy to guide federal investments and collaborations with the private sector in the life sciences. The National Bioeconomy Blueprint identifies five strategic objectives that will inform administration efforts to boost the bioeconomy. Key among these objectives is the expansion of foundational, cross-disciplinary research, which will require improved funding mechanisms that are flexible enough to support many kinds of collaborations and that encourage high-risk/high-reward research.

Earlier this month, President Obama announced plans to expand broadband and wireless Internet access to every school and library in the U.S. The new initiative, ConnectEd, has a goal of connecting 99 percent of students to the Internet within five years by having the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) modernize and leverage its existing E-Rate program. The president claimed that millions of students lack access to high-speed broadband and fewer than 20 percent of educators say that their school's internet connection meets their needs, particularly those in rural America.

The Office of Budget and Management published a set of proposed reforms to streamline the federal grant process by consolidating the multiple federal regulations with duplicative requirements into a single, comprehensive uniform policy guide. The office hopes to augment efficiency and effectiveness, strengthen oversight and reduce fraud and waste, which is a growing concern.

The White House recently released Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing, a blueprint intended to serve as a national framework for the sustainable resurgence in advanced manufacturing in the United States. The report was written by the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) steering committee, a national public-private partnership formed by the Obama administration in 2011 to help increase public and private investments in advanced manufacturing and create high-paying manufacturing jobs.

President Barack Obama recently announced the creation of a national Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) to accelerate the development of manufacturing technologies at top engineering universities. The AMP initiative, which was developed based on recommendations from a report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), would leverage existing programs and proposals to invest more than $500 million in university and private R&D. The partnership is being called an "umbrella" for federal innovation programs.

Fostering regional innovation is imperative to strengthening our national economy and crafting public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a key strategy for catalyzing regional economic growth. While states should continue to lead regional innovation efforts, the federal government can play a critical supporting role. The Brookings Institution proposes the establishment of a PPP unit within the White House to coordinate Federal assistance.

While Washington remains in political gridlock and the national economy continues sluggish growth, one key trend for political and economic success is apparent: U.S. metro regions experiencing high economic growth have invested federal, state, and private funds in high-speed broadband access.

In a report, the President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology recommends that the federal government should launch a coordinated effort to boost American agricultural science by increasing public investments.

This week, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a wide-ranging roundup of new and ongoing efforts to leverage availability of large, accessible data sets to spur innovation. While many of these efforts were focused on supporting research on the potential of big data, several agency efforts are using the model of open data app competitions to fuel private-sector business creation.

The White House released a "progress report" for Startup America—a White House and interagency initiative to "celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation." The report looks at public and private sector commitments in several key areas that will improve the environment for high-growth entrepreneurship. The report also provides status updates for current and future Startup America related initiatives.