Here's who could become one of Trump's top science and tech advisers

More than a year after entering the White House, President Trump still has not selected his top science and technology adviser, leaving unfilled a critical policy post that guides the administration on issues as varied as artificial intelligence, climate change and cancer research. While the White House maintains that it is unconstrained in its work -- and has staffed up to tackle such challenges as closing the country's Internet-access gaps -- the vacancy still troubles policy experts, who feel that Trump would be best served by someone who could double as an emissary to the academic and engineering worlds. "Symbolically, it signals science and technology is at the table in the administration's policymaking," said Kumar Garg, who was an innovation policy aide under President Barack Obama. "But also substantively, because the science adviser is the principal who gets invited to senior strategy meetings ... on critical topics like biosecurity, cybersecurity, [and] how do we make sure America remains competitive against China and Russia in emerging technology." Technically, the White House has two major science and technology posts.