Lab2Market Subcommittee Plans Competition to Promote Innovation Ecosystem Resources
The Lab-to-Market (L2M) subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on the Science and Technology Enterprise leads the Federal government-wide implementation of the Lab-to-Market Cross Agency Priority (L2M CAP) goal to improve the transition of Federally-funded research and development (R&D) from the laboratory to the marketplace as part of the President’s Management Agenda. Key strategies include increasing engagement with private sector technology development experts and investors and supporting innovative tools and services for technology transfer. The technology transfer and high-growth startup communities must make the most of their potential to shape the future in the COVID-19 environment.
The variety and quantity of resources available from governments, academia, philanthropy, and the private sector create a challenging data environment. Entrepreneurs need flexible tools that allow them to find the right resources at the right time, and better ways to navigate information in a usable format. The L2M subcommittee is developing a prize competition to incentivize and surface interactive innovation ecosystem maps to connect commercialization and federal resources in a way that is most efficient and effective for the small business technology development company, and that will support the economy of the future.
The design of the competition is under way, based on stakeholder input. Bookmark this page and watch your email for the official competition announcement. In the meantime, use the resources below to enhance your understanding of the innovation ecosystem resources that are currently available.
The goals of this proposed competition are:
1) to surface or stimulate the development of easy-to-use tools that support entrepreneurship;
2) to highlight successful examples of innovation ecosystems and resources that support the development of an innovation ecosystem; and
3) to enhance the connection and integration of Federal resources that support innovation ecosystems.
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What is the Innovation Ecosystem?
Innovation ecosystem describes the complex community of participants and resources needed to develop and commercialize technology. This ecosystem includes the people (students, faculty, industry researchers, investors, et al) that make up the institutional entities (universities, businesses, funding agencies, venture capital firms, state and local economic development organizations, entrepreneur support organizations, etc.), material resources (funding, equipment, facilities, etc.), and the relationships among these interconnected actors. These ecosystems may operate at different geographic levels (e.g. city, regional, national) and within multiple sectors (e.g. health, energy, agriculture). Connectivity and coordination across innovation ecosystems is even more critical today to support recovery from potential COVID-19 impacts on high-growth startups. The L2M subcommittee wants to ensure that science and technology startups are able to continue to lay the foundations for the Industries of the Future.
Entrepreneurs unfamiliar with government may lack knowledge about these resources and have difficulty navigating and finding them, posing significant barriers to entry and keeping the best minds and ideas from reaching their full potential. Additionally, resources and access to capital are not reaching all Americans evenly, and the economic impacts of COVID-19 could increase this inequality. The best ideas can come from anywhere, but 80% of all venture capital (VC) investment has been concentrated in just three states, and in 2016, only 1% of VC dollars went to African American and Latino founders, and less than 2% went to female founders. Ensuring that access to resources and capital are available to all Americans is critical in creating a robust and dynamic workforce with inclusive growth, and ensuring the benefits of entrepreneurship accrue across the nation.
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Examples of Federal Resources and Datasets
A few examples of potential submissions to this competition could include a regional resource navigator app, an interactive map that connects resources in a specific technology area, a website to review business assistance providers, or a platform that enables support organizations to easily connect their information with Federal and non-Federal data sources.
Information about funding opportunities, licensable intellectual property, equipment and facilities, potential collaborators and experts, and scale-up and market analyses to support entrepreneurs is often siloed across many different websites and databases.
A non-exhaustive list of examples of Federal resources and datasets include:
Visit the Federal Resources and Datasets page for more.
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What are the goals of the competition?
The goals of this proposed competition are:
1) to surface or stimulate the development of easy-to-use tools that support entrepreneurship;
2) to highlight successful examples of innovation ecosystems and resources that support the development of an innovation ecosystem;
and 3) to enhance the connection and integration of Federal resources that support innovation ecosystems.
The questions in the form are designed to inspire suggestions for how a competition could best be structured to achieve the goals described, facilitate fair and open competition, allow for entrants to be successful, and incentivize sustainable community-driven solutions to support entrepreneurs.
Current Ecosystem Examples
- Describe specific examples of local, State or regional innovation ecosystem initiatives related to innovation ecosystem mapping. Include examples that could serve as models for a national map and why would they be good models.
- What existing tools or platforms currently achieve the goals of the proposed competition, or could be easily adapted? What limitations exist with these existing tools or platforms?
- What are examples of successful resource mapping for traditional main-street businesses that may be relevant for R&D-based businesses? What key components of tools for traditional businesses are relevant for R&D-based businesses?
- Describe examples of business models for sustainability and maintenance of entrepreneur resource tools or similar initiatives that do not rely on continued Federal funding.
Data Resources
- What information or data resources are critical for innovation ecosystem stakeholders, and for what purpose? Does the data currently exist in an accessible manner, or are new data resources needed? What are potential sources to fill gaps in information or data resource needs?
- What could the Federal Government do to make federal datasets available so that open market sources could develop and maintain innovation ecosystem mapping tools? What challenges do stakeholders face when accessing existing resources?
- How might the Federal Government support the integration of online innovation ecosystem maps tailored to specific innovation ecosystem stakeholder groups? Tailored to specific industries? Tailored to specific geographic regions?
Structure of a Prize Competition
- How attractive are the goals or questions to a broad audience of potential solvers?
- How much time is needed to develop a prize submission?
- In what categories should prizes be awarded? Potential categories might include stage of development or targeted audience.
- What criteria or metrics should judges use to identify winning competition entries?
- What are minimal dollar amounts for the award that would make the prize attractive to solvers?
- What are factors or reasons that may influence individuals or teams to compete in the proposed prize competition? Comments may reflect considerations about potential solutions, if any, that may be available to address barriers to competing.
Need more information?
For more information, contact:
Brittany Sickler
Senior Innovation Policy Advisor
U.S. Small Business Administration
accelerators@sba.gov
(202) 710-5163
