Ceramic, glass and other small tech businesses, take notice! The National Academy of Science’s Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy is hosting a free, day-long symposium on April 16, 2010 on getting the most from the federal Small Business Innovation Research program.
The meeting is organized around the theme, “Early-Stage Capital in the United States: Moving Research Across the Valley of Death and the Role of SBIR.” The STEP Board says meeting “will highlight the role of federal innovation programs, like SBIR and the Department of Commerce’s Technology Innovation Program… and will be complemented by an examination of some of the leading technology-based development programs underway at the state level.”
Some of the highlights on the agenda include
• SBIR at Defense and Energy
• Department of Defense SBIR Program: Innovation for Mission Needs
• New SBIR Initiatives at DARPA
• Panel on SBIR at NIH, NASA and NSF
• A European Perspective: Spain’s New Innovation Strategies
• Improving Access for Women and Minorities
• SBIR and Regional Economic Development: Building for Success
• Angel and Venture Funding
The SBIR program allocates 2.5 percent of 11 federal agencies’ extramural R&D budgets to fund R&D projects by small businesses, providing approximately $2 billion annually in competitive awards.
Organizers say breakfast will be available, lunch will be provided and there will be a networking reception following the conclusion of the day’s presentations and discussion. Interested participants are asked to please RSVP to Adam Gertz at (202) 334-1529 or agertz@nas.edu.