Approximately 85 percent of ATP participants indicate
that their project involves collaboration with other organizations
including companies, universities, and other research organizations.Of
those involved in collaborations:
- 2 out of 3 indicate that ATP is responsible for the collaboration
to a great extent.
- About 90 percent indicate that ATP is responsible to a moderate
or great extent.
At least 80 percent of the participants involved in these
ATP collaborations indicate that collaboration enabled the
following2:
- Obtain R&D
expertise which their company lacks
- Accelerate product entry into the marketplace
- Save time, in general
- Stimulate creative thinking
- Encourage future collaborations
Collaborations also improved other areas of work. Collaborations
helped:
- “Identify customer needs” for
about 3 out of 4 participants.
- “Ensure a reliable/quality source of supply” and “Save
on labor cost” for about half of the participants.
- “Plan for manufacturing during the R&D phase” and “Save
on equipment costs” for over 40 percent of the participants.
The cost of
R&D
collaboration appears relatively insignificant for the majority
of the ATP participants. Of those involved in collaborations:
- 4 out of 5 participants
indicate little to no delay in beginning their R&D.
- Nearly half of the participants reported that project coordination
and management costs had increased moderately as a result
of collaboration, but only 8 percent reported a significant
cost increase.
- About 9 out of 10 participants indicate little to no delay
for product entry into the marketplace while involved in
ATP collaborations.
Similar collaboration effects were reported in the April 2000
publication entitled “Development, Commercialization,
and Diffusion of Enabling Technologies: Progress Report”.
Although two and a half years passed between the two sets of
data, collaboration and its enabling effects appear to have been
quite constant.
____________________
1 These
participants responded that collaborations significantly
or moderately enabled the reported outcomes.
2 Based
on Business Reporting System (BRS) survey data from 678 organizations
in 347 ATP projects funded from 1993-1998 – for projects
with one or more years of ATP funding.
Factsheet 1.E1 (June
2004) |
