Advanced Technology Program (ATP) Business Reporting System (BRS) Surveys

Company BRS Surveys (2005-present) | Nonprofit BRS Surveys (2005-present)
All BRS Surveys (1998-2004) | All BRS Surveys (1993-1998) | Survey of Applicants (2000-2004) | Joint Venture Survey

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Advanced Technology Program’s Surveys

I.  Business Reporting System

Since 1993, the Economic Assessment Office of the U.S. Advanced Technology Program has collected data from ATP awardees using the Business Reporting System (BRS).  The components of the BRS follow:

A baseline report.  At the beginning of the project, project participants identify areas of anticipated applications of the technology being developed with ATP funding.  They identify:

• Background information about company (pre-ATP financial information, R&D, and collaboration);
• Quantitative business goals, including costs and performance targets;
• Key attributes of the technology needed to achieve these goals;
• Planned strategies for commercialization (for example, in-house production, licensing, and strategic alliances);
• Strategies for protecting intellectual property;
• Plans for disseminating non-proprietary information;
• ATP’s role in accelerating the technology development and commercialization of the technology;
• Measures of technical risk;
• Lines of business.

Anniversary reports.  Each year, participants provide updates to the baseline, including:

• Information to identify new applications of the technology;
• Progress towards implementing commercialization strategies;
• Creation of new intellectual property;
• Early business developments;
• Collaboration experiences;
• Attraction of new funding;
• Dissemination of information through conferences, publications, seminars, and trade shows; and
• Summary of company’s financial data.

Closeout reports.  At the ATP project close, project participants are asked about updates to Anniversary information and also to:

• Identify remaining technical and business barriers to commercialization;
• Define specific business goals for the following five-year period, and
• Indicate expected future effects of the ATP project outside that organization. 

Post-project reports.  Because it often takes a long time for high-risk technologies to commercialize, participants are surveyed at two-, four-, and six-year intervals after the ATP project ends (post-project).  They report about actual progress in commercializing the technology and the impact inside and outside the organization attributable to the ATP technology.

There are three major redesigns and formats for the BRS surveys:

• A web-based survey conducted from 2005 to present and administered by Westat, Inc., a survey research firm.  

• A web-based survey conducted from 1998-2004 and administered by the NIST Information Technology Lab.

• A disk-based survey conducted from 1993 to 1998 and administered by the ATP’s Economic Assessment Office. ADD LINKS as follows

Survey of Applicants 2000, 2002, 2004

The Survey of ATP Applicants was administered to all applicants about one to two years after the competition year in which they applied:  2000, 2002, and 2004.  The purpose of the survey is to compare the company and project characteristics of awardee and nonawardee companies.  The survey questions address the counterfactual question: what happens when a project does not receive ATP funding. It also asks about the following topics:  funding sources, attraction of capital after receiving an ATP award, motivations for applying for an ATP award, ATP’s role in encouraging collaborations, risk, new directions, and dissemination of knowledge. Customer satisfaction questions are also asked.

Survey of Applicants

Joint Venture Survey, 1990-2001

About one in three ATP projects is a joint venture. ATP-funded joint ventures are comprised of at least two for-profit companies and may also include universities, national laboratories, and other nonprofit organizations as partners, although only for-profit companies may lead the joint ventures.  Joint venture participants contribute 50 percent of the cost share. To encourage the formation of joint ventures, ATP allows joint ventures to receive up to 5 years of funding with no limit to the funding amount. Joint venture participants contribute 50 percent of the cost share. In contrast, single applicant companies may receive up to $2 million over three years for direct costs.

Joint ventures have unique characteristics and may differ from single company projects in a number of important ways. Beginning in the Spring of 2003, ATP conducted a survey of all companies and nonprofit organizations that embarked on an ATP-funded joint venture project between 1991 and 2001.  The Survey of ATP Joint Ventures explores the characteristics of joint ventures and factors leading to project success.

Joint Venture Survey, 1993-2001

For more information about these surveys, contact the ATP’s Economic Assessment Office (301-975-8978) or send an email to  Stephanie.Shipp, EAO Director.

Date created: April 5, 2006
Last updated: July 20, 2006

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