It is President Barack Obama’s priority to find new ways for this administration to partner across government and across sectors in addressing our nation’s greatest challenges. Given the nature of the problems we face, the ability of government to forge effective relationships with organizations of all types will be critical in making progress on the President’s agenda –particularly in areas like energy innovation.
Last Friday, the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation co-convened a conference on Energy Innovation that included participation by five White House offices, four federal departments, three federal agencies, entrepreneurs, state government officials, academia, private sector leaders, nonprofits and innovators. Through this convening, we sought to embrace these actors as our partners in three areas: advancement of shared policy objectives, enhancement of visibility around these issues, and the coordination of resources so as to improve the government’s ability to fulfill specific objectives of the Administration.