As the report of the STEP Board’s second workshop on innovation clusters, this volume deepens the committee’s review of policies to support innovation clus- ters. The first symposium explored, more generally, the role of clusters in promot- ing economic growth, drawing particular attention to the strategies of American states to promote cluster development.5 In complement, the second sympos…
While competition for innovative technologies and services is increasingly global, the context of innovation—and the benefits it brings in economic growth and high value employment—remains local.1 Innovation clusters are regional concentrations of large and small companies that develop creative products and services, along with specialized suppliers, service providers, universities, and ass…
In October 1995, the Department of Defense launched a Fast Track initiative to attract new firms and encourage commercialization of SBIR funded technologies throughout the department.1 The goal of the Fast Track initiative is to improve commercialization through preferential evaluation and efforts to close the funding gap that can occur between Phase I and II of the SBIR program. Reducing this…
Today’s knowledge economy is driven in large part by the nation’s entre- preneurs who see opportunities and are willing and able to take on risk to bring new welfare-enhancing, wealth-generating technologies to the market. Yet, while innovation in areas such as genomics, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology pres- ent new opportunities, converting these ideas into innovations for the market in…
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was created in 1982 through the Small Business Innovation Development Act. As the SBIR pro- gram approached its twentieth year of operation, the U.S. Congress requested the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies to “conduct a com- prehensive study of how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innova- tion and used…
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was created in 1982 through the Small Business Innovation Development Act. In 2005, the 11 federal agencies administering the SBIR program disbursed over $1.85 billion dollars in competitive awards to innovative small firms. As the SBIR program approached its twentieth year of operation, the U.S. Congress requested the Na- tional Research Co…
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was created in 1982 through the Small Business Innovation Development Act. As the SBIR program approached its twentieth year of operation, the U.S. Congress requested the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies to “conduct a comprehensive study of how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation and used small…
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was created in 1982 through the Small Business Innovation Development Act. As the SBIR program approached its twentieth year of operation, the U.S. Congress requested the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies to “conduct a comprehensive study of how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation and used small…
“For the government and private sector to work together on increasing homeland security, effective public-private partnerships and cooperative projects must occur.”
As the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program approached its twentieth year of operation, the U.S. Congress asked the National Research Coun- cil (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.…
By the mid-1990s, however, new data began to reveal an acceleration of growth accompanying a transformation of economic activity. This shift in the rate of growth coincided with a sudden, substantial, and rapid decline in the prices of semiconductors and computers. After 1995 it appears there was a point of inflection; price declines abruptly accelerated from 15 to 28 percent annually. In the s…
The technology-driven growth that has characterized the U.S. economy over the last decade has reinforced Americans’ belief in the value of science and tech- nology. New technologies are understood to be sources of strength for the economy as well as means of addressing national objectives, such as improved health care, a cleaner environment, and the exploration of space. Though less well unde…
While the scope of the issues covered in the pro- gram necessarily limited the time available for discus- sion, Dr. Wulf observed that the workshop had cer- tainly achieved its first goal of bringing together a wide representation of stakeholders, including representa- tives from business, academia, labor, and government. In light of the controversial nature of some of the is- sues to be addres…