| Basic
Mission: Technology to benefit the U.S. economy
|
| |
The
goal of the ATP is to benefit the U.S. economy by cost-sharing
research with industry to foster new, innovative technologies.
The ATP invests in risky, challenging technologies that
have the potential for a big pay-off for the nation's
economy. These technologies create opportunities for new,
world-class products, services and industrial processes,
benefiting not just the ATP participants, but other companies
and industries and ultimately consumers and taxpayers
as well. By reducing the early-stage R&D; risks for individual
companies, the ATP enables industry to pursue promising
technologies which otherwise would be ignored or developed
too slowly to compete in rapidly changing world markets. |
| ATP
equals Industry-Driven |
| |
Research
priorities for the ATP are set by industry, not the government.
For-profit companies conceive, propose and execute ATP projects
and programs based on their understanding of the marketplace and
research opportunities. The ATP selection process, which includes
both government and private-sector expert reviewers, identifies
the most meritorious efforts from among those proposed by industry. |
| ATP
does not equal Product Development |
| |
The
ATP does not fund companies to do product development.
The ATP funds R&D; to develop high-risk technologies up to the point
where it is feasible for companies to begin product development,
but that they must do on their own. And, of course, companies also
bear the full responsibility for production, marketing, sales and
distribution. |
| ATP
equals Fair Competition |
| |
ATP
competitions are rigorous but fair, and based entirely on technical
and business merit free of political influence. Small companies
compete just as effectively as large companies. Roughly
half of the ATP awards have gone to small companies or to joint
ventures led by a small company. |
| ATP
equals Partnership |
| |
The
ATP is not a free ride for winning companies. On the average, industry
funds more than half the total R&D; cost for ATP projects. The ATP
is a new model of government-industry cooperation for the benefit
of the nation as a whole. |
| Tax
credits do not equal ATP |
| |
R&D;
tax credits are an important policy tool for encouraging research
and innovation by industry. But tax credits are not a substitute
for the ATP. A company must have significant taxable income
to benefit from tax credits; many of the small, start-up companies
funded by the ATP would receive no benefit from tax credits. Tax
credits reduce the cost of industrial R&D;, but they don't change
the type of R&D; being performed. Tax credits have not fostered the
longer-term, high-risk, R&D; sponsored by the ATP. |
| ATP
equals Evaluation |
| |
Critical
evaluation of the ATP's impact on the economy is an important part
of the program. To measure the long-term effects of ATP R&D; on the
economy, the ATP has established economic analysis procedures that
are pushing the state of the art in evaluating the long-term outcomes
of an R&D; investment. |
