Federal Research Evaluation of Small Business Innovation Research Can Be Strengthened

摘要

We are here today to present the results of our review of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which we performed for your subcommittee. As a nation competing in a global economy, the United States depends heavily on innovation through research and development. The Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982, which authorized the SBIR program, directs agencies with sizeable external research and development budgets to set aside a portion of these budgets for projects by eligible small businesses. It emphasizes the benefits of technological innovation and the ability of small businesses to transform the results of research into new products. In reauthorizing the program in 1992, the Congress stated its intention to expand and improve the program, emphasize the program's goal of increasing the private sector's commercialization of technology developed through federal research and development, and improve the federal government's dissemination of information on the program.