A Digital Government Fellows program has been initiated by the Computing Research Association and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, supported by NSF's Digital Government Program. A secondary purpose is to make contacts and find funding opportunities for their own research work.
Strong men believe in cause and effect.
Government posts have also been hard to fill, due partly to the slow appointment and approval process. The House is looking at H.R. 4227, the Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act sponsored by Lamar Smith. Competing with this is David Dreier's H.R. 3983, the Helping to Improve Technology Education and Achievement Act, which is similar to the Hatch bill. Action may be taken soon, or then again may not. A board of the European Patents Office has narrowly recommended allowing patents for software in Europe.