In addition to the SBIR and STTR programs there are other federal R&D and commercialization funding sources and programs which may be of interest to businesses. These opportunities include Broad Agency Announcements (BAA), Cooperative Agreement Notices (CAN) and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) to name but a few. In some cases these other programs may be leveraged to further develop an innovation started under an SBIR or STTR, helping to raise its maturity and move it closer to production readiness.
Among these programs, one of the most significant has been the Advance Technology Program, (ATP) sponsored by the Department of Commerce. In 2008 this program is to be replaced with the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). The TIP program will support small to mid-size U.S. companies through highly innovative development and commercialization projects. Like ATP, the TIP will approach R&D projects from a broad perspective - its bottom line will be how a project can benefit the nation. In sharing the relatively high development risks of technologies that potentially make feasible a broad range of new commercial opportunities, the TIP shall support projects with a high payoff for the nation as a whole - in addition to a direct return to the innovators. To learn more about ATP/TIP click on the link to the right.
Among the best resources on the web for identifying R & D funding opportunities sponsored by the federal government are the Department of Defense’s Tech Match, Grants.Gov and FedBizOpps. Periodic review of these sites as well as registering with their associated e-mail alert services will help keep one informed of opportunities when they arise. Links to each of these are included on the right. Another excellent alert service for R & D funding opportunities is from the Community of Science (COS) which is available on a subscription bases. Also click on RSS News below.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is another resource for identifying potential federal funding opportunities. It is a government-wide compendium of Federal programs, projects, services, and activities, which provide assistance or benefits to the American public. It contains financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by departments and establishments of the Federal government. It should be noted, that while most of these programs are not open to private industry, a company might "partner" with a public entity (i.e. a local or state economic development organization or university) in order to participate in the benefits of these programs.
