Identifying Technology Flows and Spillovers Through NAICS Coding of ATP (Advanced Technology Program) Project Participants

摘要

This report describes a methodology used to refine industry classification data used by the Advanced Technology Program's (ATP's) online Business Reporting System (BRS) project database. The primary method for classifying industries is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) developed by an Office of Management and Budget interagency working group. The authors assigned six-digit NAICS codes to each ATP project participant's own-industry and the use-industry of any commercial applications reported by project participants, for all projects funded between January 1999 and July 2003. This report documents the authors' methodology used for coding and provides an evaluation to show that ATP projects demonstrate certain factors that suggest high spillover potential; these include multi-use innovation, infrastructural technology, and licensing of technology outside of their own-industry. In addition, a majority of ATP participants' own-industries are characterized as primary technology generators while approximately a third of the use-industries are characterized as either primary or secondary technology generators. This finding suggests that ATP project selection enables technology to be developed in the more sophisticated technology sectors, which may then flow into less sophisticated technology sectors. This methodology provides ATP a new approach to monitor its technology portfolio. In particular, these data enable one to view the industries that may be affected by commercialization.