NIST GCR 06-889 - Findings from the Advanced Technology Program's Survey of Joint Ventures
About ATP's Economic Assessment Office
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.
Since the inception of ATP in 1990, ATP’s Economic Assessment Office (EAO) has performed rigorous
and multifaceted evaluations to assess the impact of the program and estimate the returns to the
taxpayer. To evaluate whether the program is meeting its stated objectives, EAO employs statistical
analyses and other methodological approaches to measure program effectiveness in terms of:
- Inputs (program funding and staffing)
- Outputs (research outputs from ATP supported projects)
- Outcomes (innovation in products, processes, and services from ATP supported projects)
- Impacts (long term impacts on U.S. industry, society, and economy)
Key features of ATP’s evaluation program include:
- Business Reporting System, a unique online survey of ATP project participants, that gathers
regular data on indicators of business progress and future economic impact of ATP projects
- Special Surveys, including the Survey of Applicants and the Survey of Joint Ventures
- Status Reports, mini case studies that assess ATP projects several years after project completion,
and rate projects on a scale of zero to four stars to represent a range of project outcomes.
- Benefit-cost analysis studies, which identify and quantify the private, public, and social returns
and benefits from ATP projects
- Economic and policy studies that assess the role and impact of the program in the U.S.
innovation system
EAO measures against ATP’s mission. The findings from ATP surveys and reports
demonstrate that ATP is meeting its mission:
- Nine out of 10 organizations indicate that ATP funding accelerated their R&D cycle.
- There is a “Halo Effect.” EAO surveys show that an ATP award establishes or enhances the
expected value of a project in the eyes of potential investors.
- ATP stresses the importance of partnerships and collaborations in its projects. About 85 percent
of project participants collaborated with others in research on their ATP projects.
Contact ATP’s Economic Assessment Office for more information:
- On the Internet: www.atp.nist.gov/eao/eao_main.htm
- By e-mail: atp-eao@nist.gov
- By phone: 301-975-8978, Stephanie Shipp, Director, Economic Assessment Office,
Advanced Technology Program
- By writing:
Economic Assessment Office,
Advanced Technology Program,
National Institute
of Standards and Technology,
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4710,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4710
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Date created: August 2, 2006
Last updated:
September 1, 2006
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