Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was founded in 1982 to help small businesses with less than five hundred employees in the researching area. Its purpose is to encourage them to conduct research in their areas of expertise by securing the funds they need. The program is administrated by Small Business Administration in collaboration with some Federal agencies, with Department of Defense covering half of the SBIR/STTR.
Of course, businesses that are willing to be part of the program must meet the eligibility criteria and meet the need of Research and Development (R&D) identified by one of DoD agencies. SBIR is divided into three phases, which immediately funds 1.15 million dollars for qualified businesses with development potential.
Phase I is about identifying project’s benefits and practicability. In this phase is determined the technical, scientific and commercial advantage in order to assess the practicability of the solution submitted. Contracts of this phase are commonly over $ 150,000 for a time period of about six months.
Phase II is about the funding of the development prototype that was described in the first phase and about the demonstration of the solutions given. This is the most funded phase, of about $1M for a two years period of time.
Phase III is about achieving the main goal of the program. Now small businesses must be able to obtain resources from private sectors of government agencies and promote the projects of phase II. The goal is to find funding outside of SBIR and commercialize the technology in military and other private agencies.
Benefits of the Program click here for the Government
As expected, besides the advantages that small businesses benefit from the program, there are also some benefits to the Government. Program managers can convene many benefits if they integrate various advantageous technologies in the program and acquisition plan. This can be achieved by meeting performance ability requirements, by not exceeding expenses and exploiting other sources of non-program funding; as well as reducing costs in order to accomplish both acquisition and project cost objectives throughout its lifespan.
Besides, exploiting on the innovation and resourcefulness of small business is one of the main advantages. In addition to this, improving existing performance abilities and project effectiveness through the integration of technology will facilitate the deployed systems. This mitigates both the risk in developmental or existent systems. Through the program, program managers will be able to address incompetence and meet challenging performance needs, requirements and expectations.