The National Academies and CCST have initiated a unique statewide collaboration to focus the nation's top science, technology and public policy talent on helping policymakers make more informed decisions. This collaboration could create systemic change and greatly improve the decision making process of the state government and other state leaders who set policy and allocate resources that determine the state's agenda in education, security, health care, the environment and many other areas. This is the first such endeavor nationally, and marks an important step in professionalizing the quality of science and technology advice available to the state of California.

The National Academies are comprised of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and the National Research Council (NRC). They have served as advisors to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine since the Civil War. The primary audiences for the National Academies' work are Congress and federal agencies, which utilize the analyses and recommendations of expert panels to inform federal policies. Their work impacts both policy for science (how we nurture the health of the research enterprise) and science for policy (how we use knowledge more effectively to achieve social goals). The National Academies' work, however, is intended to inform national-level policies. With few exceptions, its reports are not targeted to state-level concerns.

Via this new partnership, CCST will be able to draw upon this nationwide expertise and distill the information that is necessary and relevant for California policymakers, to a degree never before accomplished. The specific objectives of this initiative are to:

• Firmly establish CCST as the premier source of high-quality, evidence-based policy advice for science and technology issues in California.
• Through CCST, build the capacity for providing advice on science and technology issues to state leaders that is adapted from, and consistent with, the kind of policy advice provided at the national level by the National Academies.
• Provide a means of getting vital information to decision makers in a timely way and in a useable form.
• Create an effective and efficient mechanism through which science and technology policy issues that emerge at the state level can be shared more effectively with national-level leaders.
• Develop a cadre of highly trained and highly effective science and technology policy fellows to work with state governmental and legislative leaders.
• Develop a California Science and Math Teachers Advisory Council comprised of expert science and mathematics educators at the K-14 level to inform leaders in higher education, industry, and government about significant issues in science and mathematics education.
• Establish a formal relationship with Issues in Science and Technology, the nation's premier S&T policy journal, and thereby increase opportunities for timely and informed discussions about S&T policy issues that are of concern to states.

There is already substantial overlap between the National Academies and CCST: approximately one third of the members of the National Academies are in California and half of CCST members are also members of the National Academies.

The proposed initiative has three major programmatic areas: collaboration between CCST and the National Academies; building expert capacity to advise state leaders; and providing specific information and policy reports. Each of these three areas includes multiple projects, and are closely related and designed to complement and build on each other.

With the National Academies' strong presence in Washington and CCST's in Sacramento, the two combined will be effectively connected to the policy process. Engaging with CCST will enable the National Academies to gain a clearer perspective of the science and technology issues that are important at the state level, and enable CCST to continue expanding its ability to provide impartial and expert perspective on the politically contentious issues related to science, technology, and education in the state. The collaboration will provide technical knowledge and expertise in a relevant and useable format to policymakers, and allow CCST and the Academies to target new research based on the experience of working with policymakers.