Westat Data Scientists Help Measure Global Scientific and Technological Innovation

Westat researchers contributed to the National Science Board’s (NSB’s) recently released Science and Engineering Indicators 2026 report, “Translation to Impact: U.S. and Global Science, Technology, and Innovation Output.” Published biennially and mandated by Congress, the Science and Engineering Indicators report provides key measures of the nation’s science, technology, and innovation enterprise.

Westat Team Advances New Measures of Open-Source Software Activity

Westat data scientists developed innovative measures of open-source software (OSS) activity using data from GitHub, the world’s largest software development platform. OSS—including widely used tools, libraries, and platforms such as R, Python packages, Apache, and Mozilla—is created collaboratively by contributors from academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. Like publications and patents, measurements of OSS creation and use provide valuable insight into innovation and the diffusion of technology.

“This work is not only impactful as we contribute to a congressionally mandated report but also important as it shows how alternative sources of data can be leveraged and repurposed to produce federal statistics,” said Gizem Korkmaz, PhD, a Westat Vice President for Data Science and AI. “Using advanced data science methods, our team collected and processed millions of GitHub repository and contributor records to measure global OSS activity, identify contributions from different sectors and countries, and visualize collaboration networks.”

The Westat team contributed to the report’s open-source software indicators, which examine global collaboration and growth in software development through GitHub activity. Westat’s work is featured in the following figures:

• Figure TRN-A: New GitHub repositories contributed by the United States and the rest of the world: 2009–24
• Figure TRN-B: Share of new GitHub repositories, by region, country, or economy of contributor: 2024
• Figure TRN-C: Open-source software collaboration networks in GitHub, by region, country, or economy: 2024

The work reflects collaboration across Westat’s technical teams, led by Korkmaz and involving data scientists from Statistics and Data Science, including Nick Askew, MS; Rashi Saluja, MS; Julianna Lee; and Benjamin Schneider, MS, as well as Marcelo Simas, PhD, and Jeremy Corry, MSc, from Client Technology Solutions.

Science and Engineering Indicators Inform National Policy and Innovation Strategy

The Indicators reports serve as the authoritative long-term evidence base for understanding U.S. and global science, technology, and innovation. The reports help policymakers track major trends and shifts in research, development, and competitiveness.

Over the years, Indicators findings have informed policy discussions on topics such as global competition; business-led research and development investment; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce development; and innovation outcomes. Beyond the benefits for policy decision-making, universities, industry leaders, researchers, and economists use Indicators data to assess research impact, identify emerging technologies, and guide strategic investments and planning.

As stated in the 2026 report, “Science and engineering activities continue to be strong drivers of economic growth in the United States and abroad, with research-intensive sectors demonstrating particularly strong performance across multiple measures of economic value creation.”