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Department of Defense SBIR Program
In 1992, Congress for the first time explicitly directed federal agencies making SBIR grants to use commercial potential as a criterion for granting SBIR awards. In the mid-nineties, the Department of Defense developed the Fast Track pilot program, which provides expedited decision-making for SBIR awards to companies that have commitments from outside investors to purchase SBIR-funded technologies. Two years into the DoD Fast Track Inititiative, the Under Secretary of Defense for Technology and Acquisition asked the STEP Board to assess Fast Track and related policy matters. The Under Secretary's request focused on three issues:
- Whether Fast Track projects are achieving, or appear likely to achieve, greater success in SBIR than comparable non-Fast Track projects
- Whether Fast Track projects progress at different rates than non-Fast Track projects
- What companies perceive as advantages and disadvantages of Fast Track participation
In accepting this request, the STEP Board sought to overcome the absence of independent assessments of the program by initiating an extensive program of original research on the Fast Track Initiative. A large survey of award recipients, more than fifty case studies were commissioned, and a series of meetings were held with Department of Defense officials, program managers, economists, and businessmen. The research results were presented at a major conference hosted by the STEP Board on 5 May 1999. The agenda and participants list are available here.
The results of the study, including formal recommendations and findings for the DoD SBIR Program and Fast Track were published in the volume, The Small Business Innovation Research Program: An Assessment of the Department of Defense Fast Track Initiative. This volume includes the substantial research commissioned by the STEP Board to assess the operation and impact of the Fast Track Initiative. The papers include case studies of Fast Track and non-Fast Track firms, a survey of SBIR awardees, and a statistical analysis evaluating the impact of regular SBIR and Fast Track awards. The papers assessing the Fast Track are listed below:
"Fast Track: Is It Speeding Commercialization of Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Projects?"
Peter Cahill, BRTRC, Inc.
"An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program in New England: Fast Track Compared with Non-Fast Track Projects"
John T. Scott, Dartmouth College
"Patterns of Firm Participation in the Small Business Innovation Research Program in Southwestern and Mountain States"
Reid Cramer, University of Texas at Austin
"Does the Small Business Innovation Research Program Foster Entrepreneurial Behavior? Evidence from Indiana"
David B. Audretsch, Juergen Weigand, and Claudia Weigand, Indiana University
"An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Fast Track Program in the Southeastern States"
Albert N. Link, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
"Evaluation of the Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Fast Track Initiative: A Balanced Approach"
Robert B. Archibald and David H. Finifter, College of William and Mary
"Role of the Department of Defense in Building Biotech Expertise"
Maryann P. Feldman, Johns Hopkins University
"Estimates of the Social Returns to Small Business Innovation Research Projects"
Albert N. Link, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and John T. Scott, Dartmouth College
"Statistical Analysis of the National Academy of Sciences Survey of SBIR Awardees: Analyzing the Influence of the Fast Track Program"
David B. Audretsch, Indiana University, Albert N. Link, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and John T. Scott, Dartmouth College
"Evaluating the Small Business Innovation Research Program: A Literature Review"
Colin Kegler and Joshua Lerner, Harvard University
For additional information, please contact David Dierksheide at 202-334-1301 or at ddierksh@nas.edu. 
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