A.)The Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000, H.R. 5667, Section 108, enacted in Public Law 106-54, requests that the National Research Council undertake a review of the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) at the five federal agencies with SBIR programs with budgets in excess of $50 million. These five agencies are the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation.This study will review the SBIR program at the five agencies with regard to parameters such as the quality of the research projects being conducted under the SBIR program, the commercialization of the research, and the program's contribution to accomplishing agency missions. To the extent possible, the evaluation will include estimates of the benefits, both economic and non-economic, achieved by the SBIR program, as well as broader policy issues associated with public-private collaborations for technology development and government support for high technology innovation, including benchmarking of foreign programs to encourage small business development. The project will encourage cross-fertilization among program managers, agency officials, and participants by convening national experts from industry, academia, and the public sector to review and discuss research findings. Where appropriate, operational improvements to the program will be considered.The objectives of the study are to: § Satisfy the Congressional mandate for an objective, external assessment of the program;§ Provide an empirical analysis of the operations of the SBIR program, in particular rates and sources of commercialization, for agency officials and program managers;§ Address research questions relevant to the program's operation and evaluation derived from the legislation and that emerge in the course of the study;§ Develop a rigorous assessment of the program and contribute to Congressional understanding of its multiple objectives, measurement issues, operational challenges, and contributions as described in the legislation.B.) The project is sponsored by the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of HealthC.) The approximate start date for the project is April 15th, 2002.D.) Deliverables Overall, eleven reports will be produced: an initial overview of the program's operation and current issues as reviewed at an initial symposium; a report on the proposed methodologies for examining the program; five reports summarizing the research results for each agency; a report summarizing the proceedings of a symposium gathered to review and examine SBIR Phase III; a review of the Fast Track program at the Department of Defense; a report, including findings and recommendations, analyzing the effect of the Small Business Administration's eligibility rules with regard to the participation in SBIR at the National Institutes of Health by firms backed by venture capital; and a summary report regarding the program as a whole.