The Commerce Dept.'s Advanced Technology Program (ATP), which has survived efforts in the last two Congresses to make deep budget cuts, is having a significant impact in speeding technology development, indicates a new study of early ATP award winners. ...
The Commerce Dept.'s Advanced Technology Program (ATP), which has survived efforts in the last two Congresses to make deep budget cuts, is having a significant impact in speeding technology development, indicates a new study of early ATP award winners. Conducted by an outside consultant commissioned by the department, the study covered 28 project teams funded by ATP in 1991. Twenty-seven of the teams (96%) estimated that their participation in ATP has helped their companies reduce their technology-development cycle time from 30% to 66%, with more than half estimating a 50% reduction. Estimates of the savings ranged from $1 million to several billion dollars for a single year of time saved. Managed by Commerce's National Institute of Standards & Technology, ATP provides funding on a cost-shared basis to industry to carry out high-risk R&D projects of potentially high-payoff technology.
