INFORMS Open Forum

While the last two weeks in Washington have been dominated by the President's State of the Union address and the unfolding U.S. military operation in Iran, important developments continue across the broader science, technology, and policy landscape.

Congress

First, A significant update on STEM education legislation:

The Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act, which INFORMS has supported since before its original introduction in 2021 and worked to ensure explicitly included operations research and analytics, has cleared another key legislative hurdle.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted 22-1 to advance the bill to the full Senate. This comes nearly a year after the House passed its version of the legislation.

The Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act reimagines math education by embedding real-world problem-solving, data science and computational thinking into the K-12 learning experience. The bill also specifically identifies operations research as a foundational element of data-driven decision-making, and directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide competitive grants to modernize STEM education through mathematical and statistical modeling, including data-driven and computational thinking.

INFORMS will continue working with the bill's Senate sponsors, Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), to build momentum for Senate floor action and to help move this important legislation across the finish line.

White House

• U.S. Promotes AI Adoption, Sovereignty, and Exports at India AI Impact Summit. Read more here.

Federal Agencies

• Department of Defense (DoD) notice: Establishment of Department of War Federal Advisory Committee-Science, Technical, and Innovation. Read more about the Science, Technology, and Innovation Board (STIB) here.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) news release: NSF launches $100M National Quantum and Nanotechnology Research Infrastructure program
• Letters of intent due March 16, 2026; full proposals due May 14, 2026. All application materials must be submitted via Research.gov or Grants.gov. 
• Full submission details here.  
• For more information, contact NQNI@nsf.gov.
• NSF news release: NSF announces first AI-ENGAGE awards to modernize global agriculture. Learn more about Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative here.
• The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, held its Genesis Mission University/Science Philanthropy Summit on February 18, 2026. Learn more here.

In the News

• NextGov: Lawmakers from both parties back data center permitting reform
  • Related report- White House: "Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan"
  • Related (past) event- Washington Post: Building America: Powering the AI Age
  • Related (past) hearing- House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee hearing): Powering America's AI Future: Assessing Policy Options to Increase Data Center Infrastructure
• Science: Trump's NSF pick is a stranger to its research community
• Nature: White House stalls release of approved US science budgets

As always, I will continue tracking these and other developments and sharing updates relevant to the INFORMS community.

Don't forget, if you want to get more involved in or learn more about INFORMS advocacy efforts, please reach out to me at: jcohen@informs.org

Best regards,

Jeff Cohen

 

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Jeffrey M. Cohen, MBA | PhD Candidate
Chief Strategy Officer
INFORMS
jcohen@informs.org
linkedin.com/in/jmcsc
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