Economic Stimulus and Innovation Capacity at the Department of Energy

这项研究解决了一个根本性的重要问题——即联邦政府如何加快能源创新的进展速度。在过去的25年里，联邦政府在支持私营部门方面大大扩大了其作用。美国新民用和两用技术的商业化。然而，作为？科学政策的科学？我注意到，研究界尚未开发出一套有效的度量标准，甚至概念性工具来跟踪不同的倡议和资助策略的相对有效性。其结果是，在识别这些问题上还有很多工作要做。最佳实践?分配联邦研发资金。两个关键问题的解决，以促进对？最佳实践?。第一个问题是，各机构需要哪些类型的资源和哪些类型的能力来提高它们在将技术推向大规模部署方面的有效性？二是如何做代理？随着科学投资的增加，网络协作模式发生了哪些变化？第二个问题的答案尤其重要，因为技术突破和持续的工业发展都依赖于复杂协作网络的构建，这种网络将政府官员与企业、大学和联邦实验室的技术人员联系起来。美国提出了三项不同的技术：光伏、先进电池和通过杉木生产纤维素乙醇。该数据库将包括该机构提供的数据以及对该机构和私营部门官员的采访。由此产生的三个丰富的案例研究将有助于更广泛地了解执行期间的成功和失败。这些案例研究对于更好地理解政府机构所采取的各种战略至关重要，它们也阐明了私营部门、大学和联邦实验室中复杂的合作者网络。更广泛的影响：加强对公私技术伙伴关系如何运作的理解，可能会导致更有效的伙伴关系，从而更好地促进技术商业化。对美国能源部大幅增加的资金进行及时和“实地”分析，不仅对我们了解联邦政府在支持创新方面的作用这一更大的问题具有重要意义，而且对美国能源部本身也产生了直接的好处——提供了一个接近实时的仔细反思和分析的机会。

The research addresses a fundamentally important question -- namely how the federal government can accelerate the rate of progress in energy innovation. Over the last twenty-five years, the Federal Government has significantly expanded its role in supporting the private sector?s commercialization of new civilian and dual use technologies. However, as contributors to the ?science of science policy? have noted, the research community has not yet developed a set of effective metrics or even conceptual tools to track the relative effectiveness of different initiatives and funding strategies. The consequence is that there is still much work to be in done in identifying the ?best practices? for allocating Federal R&D dollars.Two key questions are addressed in order to advance the understanding of ?best practices?. The first is what types of resources and what types of capacities do agencies need to improve their effectiveness in moving technologies towards large scale deployment? The second is how do the agency?s patterns of network collaboration shift in response to the science investments? The answer to the second question is particularly important given that both technological breakthroughs and continuing industry development rely on the construction of complex collaborative networks that link government officials with businesses and with technologists in universities and federal laboratoriesThe PI develops a comprehensive database on all of the agency?s initiatives for three distinct technologies: photovoltaics, advanced batteries, and cellulosic ethanol through the fir. The database will consist of data provided by the agency as well as interviews with agency and private sector officials. The resulting three rich case studies will inform a broader understanding of both success and failures during the implementation period. Such case studies are critical to developing a better understanding of the varieties of strategies pursued by government agencies and they also illuminate the complex web of collaborators in the private sector, in universities, and in federal laboratories.Broader Impact: The enhanced understanding of how public-private technology partnerships work is likely to lead to more effective partnerships that better promote technology commercialization. The timely and the "on the ground" analysis of the very substantial increase in funding for the DOE both generate knowledge of significant importance to our knowledge of the larger question of the role of the federal government in supporting innovation but yields immediate benefits for the DOE itself -- providing an opportunity for careful reflection and analysis in close to real time.