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By Mike Kiley
December 11, 2023
In a recent study, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that seven of the 11 Federal agencies participating in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs used open topics. “Open topic” submissions are proposals that both define research needs and propose solutions to address them. Therefore, rather than respond to an agency’s focused, mission-need SBIR topic, proposers can submit to an open topic, offering an innovative approach to pursue research in a global area of agency interest.
Agencies that spend more than $100 million per year in extramural research participate in the SBIR program; agencies that spend over $1 billion per year in extramural research participate in the STTR program. Additional details about these programs can be found by visiting www.sbir.gov.
In the study, GAO looked at award data for 2019–2021. During this period, just over 9,000 different small businesses received over 21,000 awards. Approximately 40% of these were open-topic awards, and the value of these awards was over $4 billion. In addition to various data sets and tables, the report provided anecdotal evidence gleaned from interviews with agency representatives. For example, officials at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) told the GAO that switching to all open topics in 2019 resulted in more innovative proposals and a greater number of applicants.
Typically, agency topic authors are seeking innovative research to support a mission need without dictating the technical or material solution. For example, “Phase I: Develop a concept to facilitate target identification in complex underwater environments using acoustic, optical, and magnetic sensors that meets the requirements described.” [1]
Conversely, open topics, such as this nanotechnology topic published by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2021, offer proposers wide discretion in developing a challenge and a potential solution: “The Nanotechnology topic addresses the creation and manipulation of functional materials, devices, and systems with novel properties and functions that are achieved through the control of matter at a submicroscopic scale (from a fraction of nanometer to about 100 nanometers). This includes, but is not limited to, innovative hierarchical nanostructures, nanolayered structures, nanowires, nanotubes, quantum dots, nanoparticles, nanofibers, and other nanomaterials and biomaterials and their composite structures. Proposals focusing on global technological challenges through development of innovative nanotechnologies are especially encouraged.” [2]
The GAO study reached several conclusions. First, data to assess commercialization of open versus traditional awards does not exist. Second, open-topic awards had a tendency for shorter notification and award timelines. Third, the percentage of open-topic awards going to socially and economically disadvantaged businesses and veteran businesses was higher than for conventional awards. The views of agency officials differed, however, on diversity. Representatives of several agencies thought open-topic awards increased diversity, while officials from both the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressed the view that conventional topics “leveled the field” because conventional topics specify exactly what the agency is seeking.
Proposing to open-topic SBIR and STTR solicitations allows innovators to be a one-stop shop – developing both a problem and its solution.
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Mike Kiley is the Industry Liaison (contract staff) at the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO).
