Legislation recently proposed by U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) would require the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to identify promising Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for inclusion in future budgets and plans.
“To support America’s national security mission we need to leverage America’s technological superiority into an advantage on the battlefield,” Rep. Calvert said on Tuesday. “I will continue to be a champion of the SBIR and STTR programs because small businesses and entrepreneurs are the drivers of innovation in the defense sector and beyond.”
Rep. Calvert on Oct. 10 sponsored the DOD Entrepreneurial Innovation Act, H.R. 5726, to bring transparency and awareness to entrepreneurial innovation projects by requiring the secretary of each military department to identify promising research programs of the SBIR and STTR programs that would provide new technologies or processes, future cost savings, or advance the national security capabilities of the United States.
“The DOD Entrepreneurial Innovation Act will help the Defense Department nurture and realize the potential of our technological innovations,” said the congressman.
According to a bill summary provided by the lawmaker’s office, SBIR and STTR programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in federal research/research and development with the potential for commercialization.
By including qualified small businesses in the nation’s R&D arena, high-tech innovation is stimulated, and the U.S. stands to gain an entrepreneurial advantage as it meets its specific R&D needs, with the ultimate goal of fielding capabilities more quickly and efficiently, the summary says.
However, the DOD fails to properly engage and grow successful SBIR programs when too often, companies make it through the initial phases but are never integrated into a program to grow and scale the innovation.
In turn, this negatively impacts that nation’s ability to maintain and grow superiority on land, sea, air, cyber, and space, states the summary, which notes that the DOD’s top innovation priority should be rapidly capitalizing on advanced technologies generated in the private sector.
Rep. Calvert said his legislation would enable the department to do just that.
Currently, H.R. 5726 is under consideration by the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.