GCR 06-891 - Bridging from Project Case Study to Portfolio Analysis in a Public R&D Program
A Framework for Evaluation and Introduction

About the Advanced Technology Program

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is a partnership between government and private industry to conduct high-risk research to develop enabling technologies that promise significant commercial payoffs and widespread benefits for the economy. ATP provides a mechanism for industry to extend its technological reach and push the envelope beyond what it otherwise would attempt.

Promising future technologies are the domain of ATP:

• Enabling or platform technologies essential to development of future new products, processes, or services across diverse application areas
• Technologies where challenging technical issues stand in the way of success
• Technologies that involve complex "systems" problems requiring a collaborative effort by multiple organizations
• Technologies that will remain undeveloped, or proceed too slowly to be competitive in global markets, in the absence of ATP support

ATP funds technical research, but does not fund product development-that is the responsibility of the company participants. ATP is industry driven, and is grounded in real-world needs. Company participants conceive, propose, co-fund, and execute all of the projects cost-shared by ATP. Most projects also include participation by universities and other nonprofit organizations.

Each project has specific goals, funding allocations, and completion dates established at the outset. All projects are selected in rigorous competitions that use peer review to identify those that score highest on technical and economic criteria. Single-company projects can have duration up to three years; joint venture projects involving two or more companies can have duration up to five years.

Small firms on single-company projects cover at least all indirect costs associated with the project. Large firms on single-company projects cover at least 60 percent of total project costs. Participants in joint venture projects cover at least half of total project costs. Companies of all sizes participate in ATP-funded projects. To date, nearly two out of three ATP project awards have gone to individual small businesses or to joint ventures led by a small business.

Contact ATP for more information:

• On the Internet: www.atp.nist.gov
• By e-mail: atp@nist.gov
• By phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND (1-800-287-3863)
• By writing:
  Advanced Technology Program
  National Institute of Standards and Technology
  100 Bureau Drive , Stop 4701
  Gaithersburg , MD 20899-4701

About the Author

Rosalie Ruegg, managing director of TIA Consulting, Inc., specializes in the economic assessment of new technologies. Prior positions include director of ATP's Economic Assessment Office, senior economist in NIST 's Center for Applied Mathematics, and financial economist for the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors. She has more than 60 publications, including an economics textbook; has served on editorial b o a rds, most recently as economics editor of Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Energy, and on advisory committees. A former member of the Federal Senior Executive Service, she received both the Department of Commerce's Gold and Silver Medal Awards, and the Institute of Industrial Engineers ' 2001 Wellington Award for contributions to the field of engineering economics. She holds degrees in economics from the Universities of North Carolina and Maryland, and an M.B.A. from The American University.

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Date created: June 1, 2006
Last updated: July 3, 2006

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