Congress should allow a greater share of SBIR and STTR grant awards to be used for commercialization activities ranging from intellectual-property development and prosecution to marketing and staff recruitment.

To Do: Allow More SBIR and STTR Awards to Be Used for Commercialization

Congress should focus the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs on the highest-impact opportunities with the greatest potential to be commercialized.

To Do: Focus the SBIR and STTR Programs on the Highest-Impact Opportunities

The administration should expand the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program, which fosters entrepreneurship that can lead to the commercialization of technology that has been supported previously through NSF-funded research.

To Do: Expand NSF’s I-Corps Program

To Do: Expand NSF's I-Corps Program

Congress should support rural innovation by creating a nationwide network of rural innovation institutes in sectors such as aquaculture, agriculture, wind and water energy, mining, and timber.

Partly Done: Create Rural Innovation Institutes

Congress should allocate a share of federal research funding to promote technology transfer and commercialization, such as through a “Spurring Commercialization of Our Nation’s Research” program.

Partly Done: Allocate a Share of Federal Research Funding to Tech Transfer and Commercialization

Congress should fund a pilot program supporting experimental approaches to technology transfer and commercialization, and the administration should require labs to collect metrics, identify barriers, and hold labs accountable. 

To Do: Support Experimental Approaches to Tech Transfer and Commercialization

Congress should direct NSF to establish stronger university entrepreneurship metrics and use them to provide stronger incentives for commercializing research.

To Do: Direct NSF to Establish Stronger University Entrepreneurship Metrics

Congress should establish an authorized, independent foundation for NIST to improve and expand research, commercialization, and standard-setting for emerging technologies through public-private collaborations.

To Do: Establish an Independent NIST Foundation Devoted to Emerging Technologies

In testimony before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, Stephen Ezell highlighted the successes of federal small business programs directed toward innovation research and technology transfer and argued there is much more to be done to promote technology transfer and commercialization.

To Do: Introduce an Open Commercialization Infrastructure Act

Recommendation

Details

Editors’ Recommendations

Localizing the Economic Impact of Research and Development: Policy Proposals for the Trump Administration and Congress

Related

To Do: Allow More SBIR and STTR Awards to Be Used for Commercialization

To Do: Focus the SBIR and STTR Programs on the Highest-Impact Opportunities

To Do: Expand NSF’s I-Corps Program