The Small Business Innovation Research Program Challenges and Opportunities (1999) / Chapter Skim
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II. Introduction
II. Introduction
Pages 13-28
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From page 15... ...
The early part of the century was marked by the rise of the large-scale enterprise in the United States, and the conventional wisdom held that large firms had compelling advantages in most performance measures, from profitability to productivity. It was widely accepted that large firms could operate at sufficient levels of scale to produce efficiently and generate the resources to develop new innovations that would perpetuate market dominance.
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From page 16... ...
The great corporate research laboratories were established at companies such as DuPont, General Electnc, and AT&T. In the post-war years, RCA's Sarnoff Laboratory was established, and IBM's Yorktown lab and Bell Laboratones enjoyed their heyday, generating innovations in computing and communications that have had profound effects on the U.S.
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From page 17... ...
And that knowledge is likely to be insufficient to perfectly predict potential payoffs. The result is "statistical discrimination"it makes sense for financiers to withhold funds even for promising opportunities because it is too costly, and often impossible, to gather the information to assess potential payoffs.
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From page 18... ...
At the same time, contemporary research suggested that small business were a fertile source of job creation further improved the climate for SBIR legislation.~7 GOALS OF THE LEGISLATION The legislation authorizing SBIR had two broad goals from the outset. According to the report language accompanying the legislation: i4 Lerner, op.
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From page 19... ...
20 For an overview of the origins and history of the SBIR program, see the recent article by James Turner and the late Representative George Brown, former Chairman of the House Committee on Science, "The Federal Role in Small Business Research," Issues in Science and Technology. Summer, 1999, pp.
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From page 20... ...
Second, Congress increased the emphasis on commercialization of federal R&D as a program goal. Whereas the original SBIR legislation specified that Phase I grants should demonstrate "scientific and technical merit," the 1992 reauthorization stated that Phase I should demonstrate "scientific and technical merit and feasibility of ideas that appear to have commercial potential."2i With respect to Phase II, the 1992 SBIR legislation substantially increased the importance of commercial potential.
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From page 21... ...
Duncan Moore, associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, framed his opening remarks both from his perspective as a public official and from his own experience as a one-time SBIR award winner. A firm he founded in 1980 when he was a university professor was unable to obtain venture capital or bank financing.
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From page 22... ...
He also noted the "schizophrenic nature" of the SBIR program namely the program' s charge to support agency research needs while at the same time promoting private commercialization suggesting that was one area which might usefully be explored in deliberations on SBIR.
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From page 23... ...
The SBIR program places a greater emphasis on good science in evaluating applications, whereas a venture capitalist looks to commercial potential and supplies management and marketing expertise to companies that receive venture funding. Echoing Dr.
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From page 24... ...
· Multiple award winners: how to address the SBIR awarders that win many awards, but whose commercialization record is modest.
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From page 25... ...
At a firm for which he worked prior to Parallax, Mr. O'Hara recalled that his boss there was interested in winning SBIR awards, but uneasy with a provision in BMDO's SBIR program requiring evidence of commercial potential before a Phase II grant was awarded.
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From page 26... ...
Some SBIR program managers, such as the Energy Department's Arlene de Blanc saw themselves as "matchmakers" bringing the appropriate small business to bear on specific agency mission needs, in a way that encourage marketplace success. Being a successful matchmaker can be a delicate balancing act, and several program managers remarked on the need for flexibility in program administration to allow matchmaking function to be carried out successfully.
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From page 27... ...
Among program managers, the recent emphasis on commercialization was generally regarded as a positive development, but they cautioned that Congress should not lose sight of mission needs or of the limited resources within agencies to promote commercial goals of SBIR. CONCLUSION In summarizing the day's discussion, Mark Myers observed that the SBIR program appears to enjoy broad-based bipartisan political support.
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