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February 19th, 2016
U.S.-Cuba Regulatory Dialogue
What another exciting week here at Commerce! Secretary Pritzker hosted Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca at the U.S.-Cuba Regulatory Dialogue in the same week that President Obama announced he will make a historic visit to Cuba in March. In her dialogue with the Cuban Minister, they discussed the need for continued cooperation between our two nations as well as the regulatory changes the Obama Administration is making to address the concerns private sector businesses have about doing business in Cuba. She also delivered remarks at the Cuba Consortium’s first annual Washington Conference, an assembly of public and private sector leaders organized to track the normalization process in both countries for its members to engage in Cuba.
Lastly, Secretary Pritzker announced the largest-ever U.S. delegation to attend the 2016 Hannover Messe Faire and, in a report to Congress, that the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation is already demonstrating success in spurring private-sector investment to support the development of manufacturing processes based on U.S. innovations.
Thanks for all that you do to help ensure America is Open for Business.
All the best,
Jim
Chief of Staff
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Photo of the Week
Secretary Penny Pritzker delivered the opening remarks at the second U.S.-Cuba Regulatory Dialogue, which was hosted by the Departments of Commerce and Treasury in Washington, D.C. this week.
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Trade and Investment
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to Travel to Mexico City for the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue
On February 24-25, 2016, Secretary Pritzker will travel to Mexico City, Mexico for the third U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) along with Vice President Joseph Biden. They will be joined by members of the Obama Administration and Mexican government officials.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews Concludes Successful India Trade Mission
Deputy Secretary Andrews traveled last week to India, where he led a delegation of 18 American companies on a Smart Cities Infrastructure Business Development Mission. The delegation focused on systems, technologies and services that can support sustainable growth of India’s infrastructure, including safety and security, intelligent transportation, water, wastewater, and clean energy, among other sectors.
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Explorers welcome here: Discover the new NOAA.gov
Based on the feedback of users like you, NOAA has re-engineered the site with the theme of “At Your Service.” They’ve made big changes to help you more quickly and easily find the NOAA news, data and information you’ve come to expect. It’s now easier to explore the breadth of NOAA’s 9 focus areas. This is just the first phase of a long-term effort to unify NOAA’s web properties with a more modern look and functionality.
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January 2016 brought record warm temperatures for the globe
The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for January 2016 was the highest for the month since record keeping began in 1880. Ocean surface temperatures were also highest for the month, while land surface temperatures were second highest on record.
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New Features for My Congressional District Expand Access to U.S. Census Bureau Data
Blog by John H. Thompson, Director, Census Bureau
In response to customer feedback, I am pleased to announce that latest phase of our digital transformation. For the first time, our County Business Patterns statistics are available by congressional district and to highlight them, we are making them available through a new update of our popular interactive Web app, My Congressional District. Now — in addition to demographic, socioeconomic and housing data — you can access business data at the congressional district level all in one place.
Data Releases Next Week
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President Obama Honors Six Extraordinary Early-Career Scientists at NOAA and NIST
President Obama named 106 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. The six award recipients from the Department of Commerce are:
- Nathan Bacheler, NOAA
- Adam Creuziger, NIST
- James Thorson, NOAA
- Andrew Ludlow, NIST
- Tara Lovestead, NIST
- Gijs de Boer, NOAA and University of Colorado-Boulder
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Video of the Week
From Olympic Coast to Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, octopuses are found in many of our national marine sanctuaries. Check out this video from the NOAA Sanctuaries team to learn about these intelligent ocean creatures.
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Next Week at Commerce
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On Monday and Tuesday, the NIST Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) will hold a series of meetings in Rio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. These public meetings will include presentations and discussions of progress and priorities for developing forensic science standards and guidelines for each forensic science discipline, including digital/media, biology/DNA, crime scene/death investigation, physics/pattern interpretation, and chemistry/instrumental.
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On Wednesday, USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee will attend the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) Conference. The AABANY is a not-for-profit corporation that represents the interests of New York Asian-American attorneys, judges, law professors, legal professionals, legal assistants or paralegals and law students. The mission of AABANY is to improve the study and practice of law, and the fair administration of justice for all by ensuring the meaningful participation of Asian-Americans in the legal profession.
Also on Wednesday, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Willie E. May will participate in a plenary session called “Transformation: Embracing Change” at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) 68th Annual Scientific Meeting at Rio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. NIST’s Forensic Science Advisor John Butler will moderate. The international panel discussion will focus on the impact of recent forensic science initiatives and the response of the global community.
Additionally, NTIA will hold its latest multistakeholder process meeting concerning privacy, transparency, and accountability issues regarding unmanned aircraft systems at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C.
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On Thursday and Friday, Secretary Penny Pritzker will travel to Mexico City, Mexico for the third U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) along with Vice President Joseph Biden. They will be joined by members of the Obama Administration and Mexican government officials. Announced by President Obama and President Peña Nieto in 2013, the HLED is a forum through which the U.S. and Mexican governments are collaborating to advance strategic economic and commercial priorities central to promoting economic growth and job creation in both countries.
Also on Thursday, Under Secretary for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Willie May will discuss the Internet of Things economy at the Industry of Things World USA event in San Diego, CA.
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On Friday, Census Bureau Deputy Director Nancy Potok will be part of an “executive roundtable” discussion with the Partnership for Public Service as part of the Ready to Govern series in Washington. Potok will discuss her experiences and lessons learned during a panel titled “Making Change Stick.” The event will be a small-scale forum for 20 to 40 political appointees that also will include group discussions and the sharing of best practices.
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Infographic of the Week
In celebration of Black History Month, the Census Bureau posted a graphic from recently released Survey of Business Owners data that shows there were 2.6 million black-owned businesses in 2012, with nearly 500,000 of them in the health care and social assistance sector.
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