Excerpt

As the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program approached its twentieth year of operation, the U.S. Congress asked the National Research Council (NRC) to carry out a "comprehensive study of how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation and used small businesses to meet federal research and development needs" and make recommendations on improvements to the program. The NRC's charge is, thus, to assess the operation of the SBIR program and recommend how it can be improved.

This report provides an overview of the NRC assessment. It is a complement to a set of five separate reports that describe and assess the SBIR programs at the Departments of Defense and Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Committee for Capitalizing on Science, Technology, and Innovation: An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program
• Policy and Global Affairs
• Reports in the SeriesCapitalizing on Science, Technology, and Innovation: An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program
• Preface
• Summary
  • I INTRODUCTION
  • II SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
  • III SUMMARY OF KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1 PROGRAM HISTORY AND STRUCTURE
  • 1.2 ROLE OF SBIR IN THE U.S. INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
  • 1.3 SBIR: STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS
  • 1.4 ASSESSING SBIR
  • 1.5 CHANGING PERCEPTIONS ABOUT SBIR
  • 1.6 CONCLUSION
• 2. Findings and Recommendations
  • I NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NRC) STUDY FINDINGS
  • II NRC STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS
  • III SUMMARY: AN EFFECTIVE PROGRAM
• 3. Statistics of SBIR Awards
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 3.2 SBIR PHASE I AWARDS
  • 3.3 SBIR PHASE II AWARDS
  • 3.4 OVERSIZED AWARDS—NIH
  • 3.5 APPLICATIONS AND SUCCESS RATES
  • 3.6 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
  • 3.7 GAUGING PARTICIPATION BY WOMEN AND MINORITIES
  • 3.8 MULTIPLE-AWARD WINNERS AND NEW ENTRANTS
• 4. SBIR Program Outputs
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 COMMERCIALIZATION
  • 4.3 AGENCY MISSION
  • 4.4 SUPPORT FOR SMALL, WOMAN-OWNED, AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES
  • 4.5 MULTIPLE-AWARD WINNERS AND NEW PROGRAM ENTRANTS
  • 4.6 SBIR AND THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE
  • 4.7 CONCLUSIONS
• 5. Program Management
  • 5.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 5.2 TOPIC GENERATION AND UTILIZATION
  • 5.3 OUTREACH MECHANISMS AND OUTCOMES
  • 5.4 AWARD SELECTION
  • 5.5 FUNDING CYCLES AND TIMELINES
  • 5.6 AWARD SIZE AND BEYOND
  • 5.7 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER TECHNICAL ISSUES
  • 5.8 COMMERCIALIZATION SUPPORT
  • 5.9 CONCLUSIONS
• Appendixes
  • A NRC Phase II Survey and NRC Firm Survey
  • B NRC Phase I Survey
  • C Case Studies
  • D Bibliography

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. DASW01-02-C-0039 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Defense, NASW-03003 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, DE-AC02-02ER12259 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy, NSFDMI-0221736 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, and N01-OD-4-2139 (Task Order #99) between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the Councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.