The first article in the series - The Myth of the Mills - reflects work completed as part of the National Academy team of researchers assessing the SBIR programs at five agencies over the past few years.

As some firms have been especially successful in winning Phase II wards, especially at the largest of the SBIR programs (DoD), critics have argued that these firms essentially provide a way for agencies to get contract research done, rather than funding the innovation research envisaged for the program by Congress.

The authors of the articles, Robin Gaster and Charles Wessner, believe these criticisms are misplaced, and that legislative solutions to the "problem" should be avoided. Click here for the web article, and here for a Word version.

Alerts. If you wish to be alerted to future articles, please send an email to rgaster@north-atlantic.com.