California Council on Science and Technology

Last updated April 13, 2019

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization designed to offer expert advice to the California state government and to recommend solutions to science and technology-related policy issues. CCST is modeled after the National Academies - the official scholarly body serving the United States of America - to provide the State of California with a parallel network of institutional and individual advisors.

The government of California is the governmental structure of the state of California as established by the California Constitution. It is composed of three branches: the executive, consisting of the Governor of California and the other constitutionally elected and appointed officers and offices; the legislative, consisting of the California State Legislature, which includes the Assembly and the Senate; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. There is also local government, consisting of counties, cities, special districts, and school districts, as well as government entities and offices that operate independently on a constitutional, statutory, or common law basis. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall and ratification.

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. Technology can be the knowledge of techniques, processes, and the like, or it can be embedded in machines to allow for operation without detailed knowledge of their workings. Systems applying technology by taking an input, changing it according to the system's use, and then producing an outcome are referred to as technology systems or technological systems.

History

CCST was founded during a period of heightened concern about California's future following the loss of several national competitions for important research facilities.^[1] It was established via Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 162)^[2] in 1988 by a unanimous vote of the California Legislature, charged to "report to [university] presidents... and respond to the Governor, the Legislature, and other entities on public policy issues related to science and technology." The first CCST meetings took place in 1989.

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

Governor of California head of state and of government of the U.S. state of California

The Governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The California Governor is the chief executive of the state government and the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Military Reserve.

Core support was initially provided by five institutions of higher education specified in the ACR (the University of California, California State University, Stanford University, Caltech, and the University of Southern California). In 1994, the California Community College System joined as a sustaining institution. In 2005, six of the largest federal funded laboratories in California joined as affiliate members Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories/California, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the NASA Ames Research Center).

The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-system public higher education plan, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges System.

The California State University is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 484,300 students with 26,858 faculty and 25,305 staff, CSU is the largest four-year public university system in the United States. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, with the other two being the University of California system and the California Community Colleges System. The CSU System is incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University. The California State University system headquarters are at 401 Golden Shore in Long Beach, California.

Leland Stanford Junior University is a private research university in Stanford, California. Stanford is known for its academic strength, wealth, proximity to Silicon Valley, and ranking as one of the world's top universities.

Since its founding, CCST has worked on an ever-increasing number and variety of projects including energy research, science and math education, intellectual property policy, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, among others. It has also collaborated extensively with the National Academies and worked to make a variety of national reports produced by the Academies more accessible to state policy makers.

Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The learners may be children, college students, or adults within the general public; the field of science education includes work in science content, science process, some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their K-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are physical, life, earth, space, and human sciences.

Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. Intellectual property encompasses two types of rights; industrial property rights and copyright. It was not until the 19th century that the term "intellectual property" began to be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became commonplace in the majority of the world.

Biotechnology Use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products

Biotechnology is the broad area of biology involving living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use". Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the (related) fields of molecular biology, bio-engineering, biomedical engineering, biomanufacturing, molecular engineering, etc.

CCST has had two executive directors to date: Donald Shields (1989–1995), former president of Southern Methodist University and Susan Hackwood, professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Riverside (1995–2018).

An executive director is a chief executive officer (CEO) or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. The title is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though many United States nonprofits have adopted the title president or CEO.

Southern Methodist University is a private research university in metropolitan Dallas, with its main campus located in University Park. SMU also operates satellite campuses in Plano, Texas and Taos, New Mexico.

Susan Hackwood is the executive director of the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST). She is a professor and researcher of electrical engineering credited for inventing the concept of electrowetting with Gerardo Beni in 1981.

Organization

The founding legislation incorporated two key ideas. First, it called for the Council to consist of experts from business as well as from the educational sector. Second, CCST was funded in a way that was both sustainable and independent from government.

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body or the process of making it. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to as "legislation", while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to outlaw, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict. It may be contrasted with a non-legislative act which is adopted by an executive or administrative body under the authority of a legislative act or for implementing a legislative act.

An expert is someone who has a prolonged or intense experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by peers or the public in a specific well-distinguished domain. An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular area of study. Experts are called in for advice on their respective subject, but they do not always agree on the particulars of a field of study. An expert can be believed, by virtue of credential, training, education, profession, publication or experience, to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially rely upon the individual's opinion. Historically, an expert was referred to as a sage (Sophos). The individual was usually a profound thinker distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment.

CCST is governed by a Board of Directors composed of distinguished leaders from academia and industry, representing members of its sustaining institutions and Federal Laboratories, from the corporate and business community, as well as from the philanthropic community. The CCST Board is assisted by a larger CCST Council, a larger group of corporate CEOs, academicians, and scientists that provides advice in their areas of expertise. As of 2017, there are also 137 CCST Senior Fellows who are available to provide expert advice as needed. Seventy-six members and fellows are also members of the National Academies, six are Nobel laureates, nine are National Medal of Science recipients and two are recipients of the National Medal of Technology.

CCST implements additional programs when it identifies unmet needs at the intersection of science and policy in the state of California. Current programs include:

The Science & Technology Policy Fellows. Each year CCST trains and mentors up to 10 scientists and engineers in the policymaking process, than places them alongside staffers in California Assembly and Senate offices. These PhD-level experts experience a year of public service and leadership training, and get the chance to explore a career in California’s policy arena.

California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal TAC). A group of 12 master teachers who provide a valuable connection between the teaching community and the educational experts and policymakers who are shaping California's educational system.

Federal Laboratory Affiliates in California. CCST represents Federal Laboratory Affiliates, helping State leaders identify and solicit expertise from Federal research institutions located in California to inform their policy priorities.

Science and State Policy Beyond California. A network of similar organizations which provide independent scientific advice in other states. CCST shares materials and resources with these partners and interfaces with relevant national organizations as appropriate.

External links

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References

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[1] CCST Annual Report 2007-2008: The First 20 Years

[2] CCST Legislative Charge