White House instructs agencies to prioritize emerging tech and ‘Gold Standard Science’

The White House released its fiscal year 2027 science and technology research and development priorities on Tuesday, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum information sciences, nuclear energy generation and semiconductor manufacturing took center stage.

The memo, sent by Office of Management and Budget Director Russel Vought and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, identifies five R&D priorities fields for the executive branch — AI; quantum information science and tech; semiconductors and microelectronics; advanced communication networks; future computing technologies; and advanced manufacturing — alongside five crosscutting strategies in adjacent areas to ensure that the U.S. can sustain innovation in these priority fields. 

The memo also aligns with previously stated Trump administration policies surrounding technology, particularly in its imperative to remove “woke” ideology from emerging tech development at the federal government level.

“Following years of unfocused Federal investments weighed down by woke ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, we are realigning the Federal R&D portfolio to serve its core purposes: driving economic growth and high-wage employment for all Americans, promoting high quality of life, and ensuring U.S. leadership in critical sectors to our national security,” the memo reads.

The budgetary action items will leverage the five priority, emergent fields to secure American leadership in sciences and technology; identify American energy sources; fortify U.S. security; secure U.S. health and biotechnology; and secure American dominance in space.

The outlined steps will work to support both the priority science and tech fields, as well as action items. They include scaling a robust research infrastructure; developing a tech-savvy workforce; revitalizing federal funding for critical R&D; and focusing on high-value research efforts. 

The guidance also asks agencies to prioritize the adoption of “Gold Standard Science,” a term first introduced in a May executive order that defined the standard as keeping federal research “transparent, rigorous, and impactful, and that Federal decisions are informed by the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available.” The memo furthers this through a policy action item for federal agencies to implement. 

“In addition to establishing appropriate requirements for the conduct, management, and communication of scientific activities, agencies should foster training and support relevant efforts to advance Gold Standard Science,” the memo reads. “For example, where possible, agencies should support replication studies and statistical validation methods in addition to funding potential breakthrough science programs.”