|
Scientific Partnerships
The world’s current foreign assistance resources are insufficient to address the major global development problems we face. To achieve our development goals, we must leverage other resources within the public and private sector. The S&T Office seeks to leverage the resources of a wide range of federal science agencies.
Many of these agencies and institutions have technologies and knowledge that could benefit development, but remain an untapped resource. We hope to expand and develop partnerships that increase USAID’s technical capacity, identify areas where we may apply domestic scientific research and technologies to shared development problems, and identify shared challenges that affect us at home and abroad.
Some of our partnerships include:
 National Science Foundation Partnership (NSF) USAID is working with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to build and strengthen science and technology capacity in developing countries through cooperative research grants, improved access to scientific knowledge, and higher education and training opportunities.
As a first step in this partnership, USAID announced a new program called Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) on July 7, 2011. PEER will use USAID funding to directly support scientists in developing countries to work with U.S. scientists who are supported by NSF and are doing research in their country. The goal of the program is to build long-term relationships between developing country scientists and American scientists, and, in the process, provide funding to developing country scientists to build their labs, fund their students and research, and empower them to use science and technology to address local development problems.
Information on how to participate in the the PEER program will be available shortly.
 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Partnership (NASA) USAID and NASA signed an umbrella Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in April 2011 in which the agencies agreed to expand their already significant partnership and joint activities. The unparalleled engineering and technical expertise of NASA and USAID’s deep development expertise have combined to produce several activities of great value to both agencies and our constituents. To date, these have included two flagship partnerships:
SERVIR, a program in the bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, is an initiative that applies earth observations and predictive models to support decision-making by government officials, managers, scientists, researchers, students, and the public. Currently, SERVIR addresses eight of the societal benefit areas highlighted by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO): disasters, ecosystems, biodiversity, weather, water, climate, health, and agriculture. The program maintains regional nodes in Panama City, Panama, Nairobi, Kenya, and Khatmandu, Nepal.
LAUNCH is a unique government and private-sector partnership led by USAID and NASA. Its goal is to identify, support and help take to market creative technologies and other solutions that address global sustainability problems — especially those related to international development. Its first two “cycles” focused on water and health, while the third (currently in development) will focus on energy.
The agencies also agreed to explore potential new or expanded collaborations in several areas such as Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and Science, Technology, Math, and Engineering (STEM) Education.
Other partnerships the S&T Office is expanding or developing include those with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), Smithsonian.
| 
