Gateway Celebration

Comments from Sarah Roper, of FirstGov

Good morning, and thanks for inviting me to this exciting event in Oak Ridge. My name is Sarah Roper, and I am a Senior Content Manager at FirstGov.gov, the U.S. government's official web portal.

Almost fifty years ago, under the leadership of President Eisenhower, a new idea took root in our nation's infrastructure. In 1956, the Federal-Aid Highway Act was passed – legislation that (at the time) seemed unthinkable – legislation that would ultimately lead to the development of the interstate highway system.

Thirty years later, long after the Interstate Highway system was completed and roads were well-traveled, another idea took root in our nation's infrastructure. Like Eisenhower's road system, this information highway would eventually connect millions of people around the United States (and the world) to the government, to vast stores of information, and to each other.

It seems appropriate, then, that we are here today in Oak Ridge to commemorate science.gov with a road naming ceremony. It's hard to imagine a more deserving namesake.

Science.gov is more than a road sign on the information superhighway – it exemplifies what we at FirstGov.gov believe government information should be – comprehensive, collaborative, accurate, seamless and easy to find. Our research shows over and over that Americans don't know the branches or agencies within government, nor the names of government programs – and, quite frankly, they don't want to know. They want information presented in a way they can understand it, and science.gov does just that.

Through the work of 17 scientific and technical information organizations (across 12 major science agencies) science.gov was born to make government information about science easy to find and understand. Science.gov is an invaluable resource for anyone – from the struggling Biology student, to the professional chemist, to the (very rare) metaphysics buff.

It's no wonder, then, that we at FirstGov.gov are proud to call science.gov FirstGov for Science. As FirstGov.gov provides a gateway to all U.S. government information, science.gov will be the nation's Internet avenue to U.S. scientific research.

Congratulations on this well-deserved honor, and as always, safe travels – on foot, on road, or online.