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CONTRIBUTE YOUR IDEA

What's your idea for action?

 

The Day One Project is on a mission to collect, refine, and support implementation of the best science & technology policy ideas.

 

You need not be an expert in policy making to contribute—you just need to be passionate about a promising idea.

  

Share your idea below—every week our team of policy veterans will review submissions and select the most promising ideas to convert into concrete and actionable memos.

An Open Call for New Ideas​

We give anyone with a promising science and technology policy idea the tools to develop a concrete proposal for action—and advocate for it.

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The Day One Project works with a diverse set of contributors from the science and technology community to develop policy proposals that are ready for action.

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Share your idea for policy change by completing the form below. Our team reviews submissions weekly. Selected contributors will have the opportunity to work with our team to develop an ambitious and actionable policy memo proposal for publication and dissemination.

SEE OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Before You Submit

  1. Check out the submission FAQ.

  2. Review our policy papers.

  3. Preview the questions in the submission form below.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should submit an idea?

Anyone with an idea! We want the best ideas from people with firsthand experiences solving problems with solutions rooted in science, technology and innovation. The call is open to anyone including researchers, policy experts, entrepreneurs, academics, technologists, past and current policy makers, scientists, innovators, and any person with a good idea for a policy related to science, technology and/or innovation.



Can you share more about the kinds of ideas that you are looking for?

We are open to considering ideas that touch any policy area related to the pursuit or use of science, technology and innovation. Within these broad areas, the categories below offer a flavor of our focus areas with a sample of relevant topics. We consider these areas to represent opportunities for creative policy ideas but emphasize the list is not exhaustive! Applied Innovation in the Public Sector—behavioral science, evidence-based policy, federal innovation tools and training, digital services, the use of grand challenges, open federal data, OIRA innovation agenda, increasing the science, technology and innovation capacities of government agencies, personnel reform, the use of prizes and challenges, and new approaches for procurement. Clean Energy and Climate—arctic issues, battery technology, biofuels, clean energy technologies, climate adaptation and resilience, fusion, energy grid modernization, nuclear energy, oceans, and solar. Emerging Technology Policy—autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and machine learning, biotechnology, blockchain, cybersecurity, internet of things, data science, data use, data privacy, drones/UAVs, encryption, facial recognition, nanotechnology, quantum computing, regulatory experimentation for emerging technology, and supercomputing. Health and Life Sciences—aging, antibiotic resistant bacteria, biotechnology, BRAIN initiative, cancer moonshot, artificial intelligence for neuroscience, drug discovery, drug development, drug evaluation, emerging diseases, pandemics, health information technology, healthcare costs, platform technology for biomedical research, precision medicine, and regenerative medicine. Innovation and Economic Competitiveness—advanced manufacturing, high-growth entrepreneurship, antitrust and promoting competition, bioeconomy, broadband, economic dynamism, export controls, financial innovation, global development, high-skill immigration, income share agreements, intellectual property, market shaping mechanisms, maker movement, net neutrality, opportunity zone policy agenda, research and experimentation tax credits, regional innovation and clusters, smart cities, revenue based entrepreneurial finance, smart infrastructure, US-China competition, and wireless. National Security—science diplomacy, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense countering weapons of mass destruction, existential risks, critical infrastructure and resilience, and lethal autonomous weapons. Research and Development—the federal research and development budget, high risk/high return research, portfolio analysis, advanced research project agency model replication, research commercialization, university-federal partnerships, and research administration. Science Policy—citizen science, entrepreneurial scientists, forensic science, geoengineering, international competitiveness of U.S. science, materials genome, microbiome, national labs, national robotics initiative, national user facilities, open science, peer review, physical sciences, remote sensing, reproducibility, the science of science policy, and synthetic biology fellowships. Space—advancing space technology, astronomical discovery, the future of space exploration, Mars and planetary discovery, space force, and space policy. ​ We encourage interested participants to review our existing policy papers to get a sense of existing topics in our portfolio for Day One proposals.



Can I submit more than one idea?

Yes, you are welcome to submit more than one idea, but each idea requires its own submission, and only one will be accepted.



How will my submission be evaluated?

Ideas will be evaluated across two primary dimensions: 1) potential for impact and 2) feasibility to implement. Within these categories, we consider various factors as we evaluate submissions. Your idea does not need to address each and every question. We offer the below categories and questions as a guide to help authors as they consider their proposal: ​ Understanding of the problem—Does the author articulate an understanding of the issue and experience working on this particular problem within or outside of government? Novelty of solution—Is the idea new? Does the idea impact a new area of policy, or present an opportunity for an agency or department to apply an idea in a new way? Does the idea have potential to grow and scale as a result of the federal government taking action? Urgency and need—Does the proposal aim to take on a burning issue on a national stage lacking creative ideas for how to solve it? Does the idea draw attention to an issue that is an emerging opportunity or potential threat? Does the idea propose an action that would otherwise not happen if the government failed to act? Potential for implementation—Is the proposal aligned with any ongoing or existing actions? Is there any historical precedent from previous/current administrations taking on the issue, and are there current ongoing efforts to address it? Does the idea have potential to appeal to a bipartisan audience? Does it already have a champion or sponsor within the government working on the issue? Required resources—What financial resources might be required to move the idea forward? Does it require new investment? Is there a way to utilize existing funds in a new way to provide financial support? Target audience/customer—Does the idea have a clear policy platform and audience to act on it? Is it something that can be executed on by the executive branch, or is it better suited for a specific agency or congress to work on? Is it something appropriately scoped or scaled for a particular high-level policymaker? ​We seek a wide range of ideas covering diverse topics and plan to select the best ideas that are submitted.



Where will my idea be published if it is accepted?

We host all papers on our website upon completion. Authors retain the rights to share, use, post, and disseminate the paper wherever they choose.