Richard M. Jones at the American Institute of Physics (AIP) reports in a Dec. 9, 2011 article in the AIP Bulletin no. 145,

Members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology [PCAST] were briefed last month on the implementation of the council’s recommendations regarding the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).  Now in its tenth year, federal agencies participating in the NNI expend about $2 billion per year, having spent a cumulative $14 billion on nanotechnology R&D since its inception.

Jones summarized the presentations (here’s a sampling),

Sally Tinkle, Deputy Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office was the first of four speakers in this sixty-minute briefing. … As examples, she described an increase in the number of public-private partnerships (citing examples from the NIH and NIST), outreach to states (including a full-time employee dedicated to this effort), interactions with officials from the European Union,  better information dissemination programs, and research on health, environmental, safety, ethical, and legal matters.  …

Carlos Pena, Director of Emerging Technology at the Office of Science and Health Coordination of the Food and Drug Administration was the second speaker. He described FDA’s efforts to carefully protect human health while fostering the development of nanotechnology, using science-based decision making. Among those steps it has taken is increasing training of its staff and improved coordination and cooperation with other agencies. …

Other topics covered in a concluding question-and-answer period included monthly inter-agency briefings, meetings with the European Union, products awaiting FDA approval, federal agency funding collaborations, the desirability of a multi-agency roadmap to support further development of nanotechnology, the engagement of nongovernmental stakeholders, and computational support.

You can access the webcast, briefing materials, minutes, etc. from the Nov. 2, 2011 meeting here.

You can view the webcast here.

What I find most interesting is that this particular US government administration is making a big effort at offering access and information about science matters. It seems strange to me that I rarely come across similar information from the Canadian government, which makes no great effort to let us know about their (it is most definitely theirs and not ours) science.