---
title: "To Do: Create an “Innovation Voucher” Program Under NIST"
summary: |-
  Congress should create an “Innovation Voucher” program for NIST to innovation and stimulate knowledge transfer by allowing small and mid-sized enterprises to “buy” expertise from universities, national labs, and research institutions.
date: "2012-09-20"
issues: ["Technology Diffusion"]
content_type: "Knowledge Base Articles"
canonical_url: "https://itif.org/publications/2012/09/20/to-do-create-an-innovation-voucher-program-under-nist/"
---

# To Do: Create an “Innovation Voucher” Program Under NIST

# Recommendation

Congress should create an “Innovation Voucher” program operated by NIST.

# Details

As in almost a dozen other countries, these vouchers can spur innovation and stimulate knowledge transfer by allowing small and mid-sized enterprises to “buy” expertise from universities, national labs, and research institutions to conduct studies, analyze the innovation potential of new technologies, etc. A promising example has been the Small Business Voucher Pilot program in the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which has provided vouchers to 114 small business across 31 states, disbursing more than $22 million since 2015. The administration should work with Congress to extend such vouchers across the entire federal lab system under the auspices of NIST by authorizing $50 million that would be state-matched. The place to start would be with the Small Business Innovation Voucher Act, introduced by Sens. Cortez Masto (D-NV), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chris Coons (D-DE) with companion House legislation by Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Tim Burchett (R-TN), which would authorize a $10 million program run out of SBA that provides vouchers of between $15,000 and $75,000. Related legislation from Sens. Coons, James Risch (R-ID), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Cory Gardner (R-CO), the Small Businesses Partnering with National Labs Act of 2019, would introduce an innovation voucher program specifically across the Department of Energy’s national laboratories.

**Keep reading:**

- Stephen Ezell and Robert D. Atkinson, “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Competitiveness Woes Behind: A National Traded Sector Competitiveness Strategy” (ITIF, September 2012), [https://itif.org/publications/2012/09/20/fifty-ways-leave-your-competitiveness-woes-behind-national-traded-sector](https://itif.org/publications/2012/09/20/fifty-ways-leave-your-competitiveness-woes-behind-national-traded-sector).

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*Source: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)*
*URL: https://itif.org/publications/2012/09/20/to-do-create-an-innovation-voucher-program-under-nist/*