In response to a Congressional mandate, an ad hoc committee will conduct a study of the economic and non-economic benefits of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Drawing on published research plus existing data, the committee will examine:

1) The economic and non-economic impacts of NSF's SBIR and STTR programs;
2) The programs' effectiveness at stimulating technological innovation and meeting the NSF’s vision of supporting small, new firms across the technological spectrum and the role of the programs in providing early capital to firms without other significant sources of support;
3) The effectiveness of the programs in stimulating new collaborations, including the identification and assessment of any obstacles that may prevent or inhibit the creation of such collaborations; an investigation and characterization of how the programs stimulate collaborations between research institutions and small businesses; and an examination of the effectiveness of the programs at meeting the STTR goal of fostering licensing from research institutions into the private sector; and
4) The effectiveness of both the award selection process and the post-award assistance (both formal and informal) provided by NSF in selecting technologies that attract additional investment and lead to scalable commercial outcomes.

The committee will also provide guidance to NSF on its outreach strategy to potential SBIR and STTR applicants through such activities as:

• Assessing the efficacy of current outreach efforts in increasing the number of applications from small businesses that are (1) new to the SBIR/STTR programs, (2) from under-represented states, (3) woman-owned, or (4) minority-owned;
• Assessing which of multiple strategies employed by NSF have been most effective in achieving the above goals;
• Characterizing and assessing demographics of the applicant (and award) pool and their changes over time, including such characteristics as size, age of applicants (and awards) in the pool, and participation by underrepresented groups.

The committee will produce a consensus report with findings and recommendations.