Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/ Small Business Technology Transfer

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), is administered by the Department of Defense (DoD) to stimulate technological innovation and meet federal research and development (R&D) needs. The program aims to encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by women and socially or economically disadvantaged persons, while increasing private sector commercialization of innovations from federal R&D funding. Additionally, the STTR program fosters technology transfer through cooperative R&D between small businesses and research institutions. The DoD SBIR/STTR programs set aside almost two billion dollars annually defense-wide to competitively fund scientific and technical innovation to specifically address the National Defense Strategy modernization priorities and the mission needs of participating DoD components.

The program's objectives include providing administrative support for the SBIR/STTR programs, policy development, oversight of program execution for participating DoD agencies, outreach to small businesses, Impact Level IV (IL4) environment hosting/operation and maintenance for the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP), and conducting a virtual symposium to better communicate the DoD mission and technology needs to small businesses. The program also aims to refine and improve established automated processes across the entire SBIR/STTR lifecycle, evaluate and expand existing outreach programs through a tiered approach to conduct due diligence of small businesses seeking SBIR/STTR awards, continue oversight and collection of results, track execution, report Phase II technology transition results from the DoD SBIR Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP), and prepare and respond to required reports mandated by law and policy.