Penn State’s Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative (EIC) has entered into a partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the newly launched “Year of Evidence for Action” to fortify and expand evidence-based policymaking.

The new partnership was announced on April 7 during the first-ever “White House Summit on Evidence for Action,” co-hosted by OSTP and OMB. The summit kicked off a year intended to advance efforts across and within the federal government to leverage data and evidence to support more equitable outcomes for Americans.

“This partnership between the White House and Penn State’s Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative is an important part of expanding evidence-based policymaking,” said Lora Weiss, senior vice president for research at Penn State. “Penn State will be leading research and demonstrating the value of using research in the policy community. Close collaborations like this one, between leading research universities and government at the highest levels, highlights the importance of cross-sector information-sharing and community-building to address big-picture challenges, and it is especially apropos during this ‘Year of Evidence for Action.’”

The effort is intended to strengthen and develop new strategies and structures to promote consistent evidence-based decision-making inside the federal government, and increase connection and collaboration among researchers, knowledge producers and decision-makers inside and outside of the federal government, according to the White House release. Strong institutional commitments to scientific integrity and equity undergird this effort.

The EIC will support this effort by co-convening programming with the White House during the upcoming year as a partner with demonstrated expertise in translating research evidence to practice and policy, according to the release.

“All of us at the EIC are grateful for the opportunity to partner with the White House in this important mission, which was enabled by the support of Penn State’s Office of the Vice President for Research, the Office of General Counsel, and the Office of Government and Community Relations,” said Michael Donovan, associate director of the EIC.

The EIC is a research center for the science of scientific impact — aiming to improve the relevance, value and use of research evidence to increase societal well-being.  The EIC leverages expertise in administrative data, program design and evaluation, and researcher-policymaker relationships to optimize public and private investments. The EIC is a unit of the Social Science Research Institute and supported by the College of Health and Human Development.

More information on the announcement can be found on the White House website. More information on the EIC can be found here. Follow the EIC on Twitter @Evidence2Impact.