Coming as welcome news for collaborative R&D, the 2017 NDAA will extend the life of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

The conference version of the bill, which seems likely to be on the President’s desk in short order, contains provisions extending both programs for five years.

SBIR and STTR are unique research, development, and commercialization programs overseen by the SBA. Each program calls for a three-phase process. In the first two phases, R&D is funded by the government; the third phase of each program involves commercialization. Although the programs have many similarities, there are also important differences. For example, in the SBIR program, a small business may collaborate with a non-profit research institution; in the STTR program, such collaboration is required.

Both programs were scheduled to expire on September 30, 2017. The 2017 NDAA extends the lifespan of the programs through September 30, 2022. This extension will allow small businesses to continue their collaboration with research institutions to develop new technologies for a variety of applications—good news for businesses and universities doing research in cutting edge fields.

2017 NDAA: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 appears poised beneath the President’s pen for signing. It includes some massive changes as well as some small but nevertheless significant tweaks sure to impact Federal procurements in the coming year. For the next several days, SmallGovCon will delve into the minutia to provide context and analysis so that you do not have to. Visit smallgovcon.com for the latest on the government contracting provisions of the 2017 NDAA.