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Bridging from Project Case Study to Portfolio Analysis in a Public R&D Program
A Framework for Evaluation and Introduction
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 necessary to carry out the ATP mission)
- 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 on 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.
- The existence of a "Halo Effect." As revealed by EAO surveys, shows that an ATP award
establishes or enhances the expected value in the eyes of potential investors.
- ATP stresses the importance of partnerships and collaborations in its projects. About 85 percent
of project participants had 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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