[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 141 (Friday, July 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43983-43985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18580]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No.: 110620345-1331-02]
Request for Information on How To Structure Proposed New Program:
Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech)
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
invites interested parties to provide input on how to best structure a
new public-private partnership program, the Advanced Manufacturing
Technology Consortia (AMTech) program, proposed in the NIST fiscal year
(FY) 2012 budget (see http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/12CJ/2012_NIST_&_NTIS_Cong_Budget.pdf pp. NIST-250 to NIST-254) for a copy of
the AMTech budget justification). As envisioned, the AMTech program
will provide Federal financial assistance to leverage existing or newly
created industry-led consortia to develop precompetitive enabling
manufacturing technologies. These consortia would develop roadmaps of
critical long-term industrial manufacturing research needs, and issue
subawards to fund research by universities, government laboratories,
and U.S. businesses. This initiative will support research and
development (R&D) in advanced manufacturing, with the goal of
strengthening long-term U.S. leadership in the development of critical
technologies that lead to sustainable economic growth and job creation.
DATES: Comments are due on or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on
September 20, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Comments will be accepted by e-mail only. Comments must be
sent to AMTechRFC@nist.gov with the subject line ``AMTech Comments.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Lambis, 301-975-4447,
barbara.lambis@nist.gov, or Michael D. Walsh, 301-975-5545,
michael.walsh@nist.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
U.S. R&D intensity is lagging that of other nations and the
composition of industrial R&D has shifted toward short-term research.
These trends leave industry's long-term needs unmet and ultimately
undermine our Nation's competitiveness.
As part of the Administration's effort to address this problem, the
AMTech program aims to support early stage technology development by
incentivizing the formation of and providing resources to industry-led
consortia that will support precompetitive and enabling technology
development, and create the infrastructure necessary for more efficient
transfer of technology.
By convening key players across the entire innovation lifecycle,
AMTech consortia will work toward eliminating critical barriers to
innovation, increasing the efficiency of domestic innovation efforts
and collapsing the time scale to deliver new products and services
based on scientific and technological advances. This strategy has the
potential to drive economic growth, enhance competitiveness and spur
the creation of jobs in high-value sectors of the U.S. economy.
The establishment of industry-led AMTech consortia is expected to
create an R&D infrastructure for industry-government partnerships that
span the innovation life cycle--from discovery to invention to
commercialization. The R&D-efficiency dimensions of these consortia
will help accelerate the transition of knowledge and technology among
all of the partners and thereby
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shorten critical R&D-cycle times. Each consortium will define and
prioritize the precompetitive R&D gaps and needs that are most likely
to accelerate the development and diffusion of new platform
technologies with commercialization potential to industry. Where
possible, consortia will utilize existing R&D roadmaps to guide the
prioritization of R&D efforts. Where well-defined technology roadmaps
are absent, it will be an initial mission of AMTech consortia to
facilitate, coordinate, and develop appropriate mechanisms for
strategic planning based on the input of the private sector and
academia. It is expected that the development of well-defined and
articulated industry-led research plans and priorities will provide
academia and government partners with valuable insights into a research
agenda most likely to achieve high rates of technological innovation.
The goals of AMTech include:
Promoting collective efforts that enable the development
of key technology platforms and technical infrastructures;
Improving the management of research portfolios in
response to industry long-run technology development needs;
Providing an environment for maximizing the leverage of
Federal investment through cost-sharing;
Increasing industrial R&D investment in enabling
technology platforms and infrastructure;
Collapsing the time scale of technological innovation;
Fostering a robust U.S. innovation system through broad
participation by industry, the Federal government, universities, and
state, local and tribal governments; and
Expanding the domestic value-added from new technologies
by encouraging supply-chain integration, thereby encouraging domestic
investment in multiple industries that support these technologies.
AMTech expects to achieve these goals through:
1. Coordination and advance planning, by:
Partnering with industry, academia, and government to
develop a shared vision of an industry sector's research needs via a
technology roadmap;
Identifying shared technology challenges that are solved
with precompetitive technologies; and
Forming of industry-led consortia.
2. Research and knowledge transfer, by:
Promoting technology and knowledge transfer by connecting
research to industry needs as defined by the consortia;
Funding precompetitive research directed at meeting
industry needs for new technology platforms, derived from consortia
roadmaps; and
Using consortia mechanisms (e.g., cross-company
(horizontal) interactions) to facilitate transfer of precompetitive
technology platforms.
3. Transition new technology to commercial products, by:
Providing a framework (e.g., an industry cluster model)
that facilitates regional government and venture capital support,
enabling a clear path to commercialization for the entire supply chain;
Developing regional cluster synergies that encourage
supply-chain formation and effective integration; and
Enabling commercial technologies by removing production
barriers identified by the consortia.
Request for Information: The objective of this request for
information is to assist NIST in the development of the new AMTech
program should NIST receive FY 2012 appropriated funds for this
purpose. In this connection, the questions below are intended to assist
in the formulation of comments, and should not be construed as a
limitation on the number of comments that interested persons may submit
or as a limitation on the issues that may be addressed in such
comments. Comments containing references, studies, research, and other
empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of
the referenced materials. All comments will be made publicly available.
NIST is specifically interested in receiving input pertaining to one or
more of the following questions:
1. Should AMTech consortia focus on developments within a single
existing or prospective industry, or should its focus be on broader
system developments that must be supplied by multiple industries?
2. Who should be eligible to participate as a member of an AMTech
consortium? For example, U.S. companies. i.e., large, medium, and/or
small; institutions of higher education; Federal agencies; state,
local, and tribal governments; and non-profit organizations?
3. Should AMTech place restrictions on or limit consortium
membership?
4. Who should be eligible to receive research funding from an
AMTech consortium? For example, U.S. companies i.e., large, medium,
and/or small; institutions of higher education; Federal agencies;
state, local, and tribal governments; and non-profit organizations?
5. What criteria should be used in evaluating proposals for AMTech
funding?
6. What types of activities are suitable for consortia funding?
7. Should conditions be placed on research awards to ensure funded
activities are directed toward assisting manufacturing in the U.S.?
8. What are ways to facilitate the involvement of small businesses
in AMTech consortia?
9. What are best practices for facilitating the widest
dissemination and adoption of knowledge and technology through
consortia?
10. While it is expected that the research efforts of AMTech
consortia (including participants from the Federal, academic, and
private industry sectors) will take place largely at the pre-
competitive stage in the development of technologies, the generation of
intellectual property is possible, and even likely. What types of
intellectual property arrangements would promote active engagement of
industry in consortia that include the funding of university-based
research and ensure that consortia efforts are realized by U.S.
manufacturers?
11. Would planning grants provide sufficient incentive for industry
to develop roadmaps and initiate the formation of consortia? If not,
what other incentives should be considered?
12. Should each member of an AMTech consortium be required to
provide cost sharing? If so, what percentage of cost sharing should be
provided?
13. What criteria should be used in evaluating research proposals
submitted to an AMTech consortium?
14. What management models are best suited for industry-led
consortia?
15. Should the evaluation criteria include the assessment of
leadership and managerial skills?
16. Should limitations be placed on the duration of consortia?
17. How should an AMTech consortium's performance and impact be
evaluated? What are appropriate measures of success?
18. What are the problems of measuring real-time performance of
individual research awards issued by an industry-led consortium? What
are appropriate measures of success?
19. How should the NIST AMTech program be evaluated?
20. What are lessons learned from other successful and unsuccessful
industry-led consortia?
21. How can AMTech do the most with available resources? Are there
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approaches that will best leverage the Federal investment?
22. How should AMTech interact with other Federal programs or
agencies?
23. What role can AMTech play in developing, leading, or leveraging
consortia involving other Federal agencies?
Dated: July 19, 2011.
Patrick Gallagher,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-18580 Filed 7-21-11; 8:45 am]
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