SBA has determined that this rule imposes additional reporting or recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C., chapter 35. Specifically, the Reauthorization Act amended the Small Business Act to require the creation of a public and Government database on the SBIR and STTR Programs. According to the statute, the public database will include the name, size, location and an identifying number of each SBC that has received a Phase I or II STTR award from a Federal agency; a description of each Phase I or II award received by that SBC, including an abstract, the name of the Federal agency making the award, and the date and amount of the award; the identification of any business concern or subsidiary established for the commercial application of a product or service for which an STTR award is made; and information regarding mentors and mentoring networks.

For purposes of the STTR Program, the public database will also include: Whether the SBC or research institution initiated the collaboration; whether the SBC or research institution originated any technology relating to the STTR project; the length of time it took to negotiate any licensing agreement between the SBC and research institution; and how the proceeds from commercialization, marketing, or sale of technology resulting from each STTR project were allocated between the SBC and research institution. In addition, the Small Business Act now requires the creation of a government database that will contain the following information for each Phase II award: Information on revenue from the sale of new products or services resulting from the research conducted under the award; information on additional investment from any source, other than Phase I or II STTR awards, to further the research and development conducted under the award; and any other information received in connection with the award that the Administrator and STTR Program managers consider relevant and appropriate. The government database will also include narrative information that a SBC receiving a Phase II award voluntarily submits to further describe the outputs and outcomes of its awards and for each applicant that does not receive a Phase II award, the name, size and location of the applicant, an abstract of the project and the Federal agency to which the application was made. Finally, the government database may also include any other data collected by or available to any Federal agency that such agency considers useful for SBIR program evaluation purposes.

In response to this statutory requirement, in section 9(a)(6), the Policy Directive proposes that Federal agencies to collect or maintain this information from awardees and provide it to SBA. In addition, as required by the statute, the Policy Directive proposes that a SBC receiving a Phase II award to update information in the database concerning that award. Further, as also required by statute, the SBC receiving a Phase II award shall be requested to voluntarily update such information annually for a period of five years.

Thus, the Policy Directive outlines the information SBA is required to collect from the STTR agencies, who in turn collect some of this data from Phase I and II awardees (some of the data is already available to the agencies). Although the statute requires the collection of certain information from the agencies and STTR Phase I and II awardees, it also provides discretion to collect data SBA and the agencies deem relevant. SBA is currently in the process of developing the Tech-Net databases, which will house this information, and determining what information not prescribed specifically by statute may be relevant to the program.

SBA welcomes comments on this proposed Policy Directive and will revise the Policy Directive as necessary to improve the general conduct of the STTR Program based upon comments received. Specifically, we request comments on two sections of the proposed Policy Directive implementing the new statute: (1) The requirement in section 11(e)(9)(v) for certain additional data to the STTR public-accessible database regarding the SBC and its cooperative research institution, and (2) the requirement in section 11(e)(11)(iii) that information provided to the STTR government-accessible database is privileged, confidential, and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Title: Technology Resources Network (Tech-Net) (No SBA Form Number).
Summary: The Tech-Net database is a searchable, up-to-date, electronic database that includes the name, size, location, funding agreement number and identification number assigned by the Administrator of each Small Business Concern (SBC) that has received an STTR Phase I or Phase II award from a Federal agency. A description of each STTR Phase I or Phase II award received by the SBC including an abstract of the project funded by the award, excluding any proprietary information so identified by the awardee, the Federal agency making the award and the date and amount of the award. An identification of any business concern or subsidiary established for the commercial application of a product or service for which an STTR award is made, and information regarding mentors and mentoring networks, as required in the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program established under section 35(d) of the Act and described on the SBA's Internet site at http://www.sba.gov/sbir/indexfast.html. With respect to assistance under the STTR Program (as required under section 9(k)(1) of the Act) the database will also contain information on whether the SBC or the research institution initiated their collaboration on each assisted STTR project; whether the SBC or the research institution originated any technology relating to the assisted STTR project; the length of time it took to negotiate any licensing agreement between the SBC and the research institution under each assisted STTR project, and the percentage allocated between the SBC and the research institution of the proceeds from commercialization, marketing, or sale of technology resulting from each assisted STTR project. Furthermore, the SBA, in consultation with the Federal agencies participating in the STTR Program, has developed and maintains a secure database that contains for each Phase II award, information on revenue from the sale of new products or services resulting from the research conducted under each Phase II award; information on additional investment from any source, other than Phase I or Phase II STTR or SBIR awards, to further the research and development conducted under each Phase II award; and any other information received in connection with the award that the Administrator, in conjunction with the STTR Program managers of the participating agencies, considers relevant and appropriate.

Need and Purpose: The database information will be used solely for program evaluation purposes by the Federal government or, in accordance with the Policy Directive issued by SBA, by other authorized persons who are subject to a use and nondisclosure agreement with the Federal government covering the use of the database. This collection of information pertains to the creation of a public and a government database for the STTR Program, as required by Pub. L. 107-50. SBA has determined that this law imposes additional reporting or recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C., chapter 35. The continued need to have current information on the STTR awards will have a tremendous impact on the periodic program evaluation. Therefore, voluntary update by the SBC on all completed STTR Phase II awards for a period of five years will assist the Federal government in maintaining current and accurate information on each award, as well as any other data collected by or available to any Federal agency that such agency considers useful for STTR Program evaluation purposes.

Description of Respondents: All SBCs receiving a STTR Phase I or II award as outlined in Pub. L. 107-50, which states that any small business receiving a STTR award from any of the participating STTR Federal agencies must be included in the database data collection effort.

SBA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows: