1.This Act may be cited as the
Blue Collar Computing and Business
Assistance Act of 2006
.
2.
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Computational science, the use of advanced
computing capabilities to understand and solve complex problems, including the
development of new products and processes, is now critical to scientific
leadership, economic competitiveness, and national security.
(2)Advances in computational science and high
performance computing provide a competitive advantage because they allow
businesses to run faster simulations of complex systems or to develop more
precise computer models.
(3)The Federal Government is one of the
investors in research aimed at the development of new computational science and
high-performance computing capabilities.
(4)As determined by the Council on
Competitiveness, the Nation’s small businesses and manufacturers must
Out Compute to Out Compete
. However, new computational science
technologies are not being transferred effectively from the research
organizations to small businesses and manufacturers.
(5)Small businesses and manufacturers are
especially well-positioned to benefit from increased availability and
utilization of high-performance computing technologies and software.
(6)Current cost and technology barriers
associated with high-performance computing and software algorithms often
inhibit small businesses and manufacturers from successfully making use of
these technologies.
(7)The establishment of an advanced
multidisciplinary computing software institute will help make existing high
performance computing resources more accessible to small businesses and
manufacturers. This will create new opportunities for economic growth, jobs,
and product development.
(b)The purpose of this Act is to provide
grants for the creation of an Advanced Multidisciplinary Computing Software
Institute that will—
(1)develop and compile high-performance
computing software and algorithms suitable for applications in small business
and manufacturing;
(2)effectively carry out the transfer of new
computational science and high-performance computing technologies to small
businesses and manufacturers; and
(3)actively assist small businesses and
manufacturers in utilizing such technologies.
3.In this Act:
(1)Advanced
Multidisciplinary Computing Software Center; CenterThe term Advanced Multidisciplinary
Computing Software Center or Center
is a center created
by an eligible entity with a grant awarded under section 4.
(2)Advanced
Multidisciplinary Computing Software InstituteThe term Advanced Multidisciplinary
Computing Software Institute means a network of up to 5 Advanced
Multidisciplinary Computing Software Centers located throughout the United
States.
(3)The term
nonprofit organization means any organization if such organization
is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is
exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.
(4)Small business
or manufacturerThe term
small business or manufacturer means a small business concern as
that term is defined by section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632(a)), including a small manufacturing concern.
(5)The term
Under Secretary means the Under Secretary of Technology of the
Department of Commerce.
4.
(a)The Under Secretary
of Technology of the Department of Commerce shall award grants to establish up
to 5 Advanced Multidisciplinary Computing Software Centers at eligible entities
throughout the United States. Each Center shall—
(1)conduct general outreach to small
businesses and manufacturers in all industry sectors within a geographic region
assigned by the Under Secretary; and
(2)conduct technology transfer, development,
and utilization programs relating to a specific industry sector, for all firms
in that sector nationwide, as assigned by the Under Secretary.
(b)For the purposes of
this section, an eligible entity is any—
(1)nonprofit organization;
(2)consortia of nonprofit organizations;
or
(3)partnership between a for-profit and a
nonprofit organization.
(c)
(1)Each eligible entity
that desires to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an application to
the Under Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such
additional information as the Under Secretary may reasonably require.
(2)Publication in
Federal RegisterThe Under
Secretary shall publish the requirements described in paragraph (1) in the
Federal Register no later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(3)Each application submitted pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A)An application that conforms to the
requirements set by the Under Secretary under paragraph (1).
(B)A proposal for the allocation of the legal
rights associated with any invention that may result from the activities of the
proposed Center.
(4)Each application
submitted under paragraph (1) shall be evaluated by the Under Secretary on the
basis of merit review. In carrying out this merit review process, the Under
Secretary shall consider—
(A)the extent to which the eligible
entity—
(i)has a partnership with nonprofit
organizations, businesses, software vendors, and academia recognized for
relevant expertise in their selected industry sector;
(ii)makes use of State-funded academic
supercomputing centers and universities or colleges with expertise in the
computational needs of the industry assigned to the eligible entity under
subsection (a)(1);
(iii)has a history of working with
businesses;
(iv)has experience providing educational
programs aimed at helping organizations adopt the use of high-performance
computing and computational science;
(v)has partnerships with education or training
organizations that can help educate future workers on the application of
computational science to industry needs;
(vi)is accessible to businesses, academia,
incubators, or other economic development organizations via high-speed
networks; and
(vii)is capable of partnering with small
businesses and manufacturers for the purpose of enhancing the ability of such
entities to compete in the global marketplace;
(B)the ability of the eligible entity to enter
successfully into collaborative agreements with small businesses and
manufacturers in order to experiment with new high performance computing and
computational science technologies; and
(C)such other factors as identified by the
Under Secretary.
(d)A grant awarded under this section shall
not exceed $5,000,000 for any year of the grant period.
(e)
(1)Except for a renewal
under paragraph (2), the duration of any grant awarded under subsection (a) may
not exceed 5 years.
(2)Any grant awarded under subsection (a) may
be renewed at the discretion of the Under Secretary.
(f)
(1)An eligible entity
that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall provide at least 50 percent of
the capital and annual operating and maintenance funds required to create and
maintain a Center.
(2)Funding from
other Federal, State, or local government agenciesThe
funds provided by the eligible entity under paragraph (1) may consist of
amounts received by the eligible entity from a Federal department or agency,
other than the Department of Commerce, or a State or local government
agency.
(g)Limitation on
administrative expensesThe
Under Secretary may establish a reasonable limitation on the portion of each
grant awarded under subsection (a) that may be used for administrative expenses
or other overhead costs.
(h)Fees and
alternative funding sources authorized
(1)A Center established
pursuant to this Act may, according to regulations established by the Under
Secretary—
(A)collect a nominal fee from a small business
or manufacturer for a service provided pursuant to this Act, if such fee is
utilized for the budget and operation of the Center; and
(B)accept funds from any other Federal
department or agency for the purpose of covering capital costs or operating
budget expenses.
(2)Any Center that is supported with funds
that originally came from a Federal department or agency, other than the
Department of Commerce, may be selected, and if selected shall be operated,
according to the provisions of this section.
5.An eligible entity that
receives a grant under section 4(a) shall use the funds for the benefit of
businesses in the industry sector designated by the Under Secretary under such
subsection, and the eligible entity shall use such funds to—
(1)create a repository of nonclassified,
nonproprietary new and existing federally-funded software and
algorithms;
(2)test and validate software in the
repository;
(3)determine when and how the industry sector
it serves could benefit from resources in the repository;
(4)work with software vendors to commercialize
repository software and algorithms from the repository;
(5)make software available to small businesses
and manufacturers where it has not been commercialized by a software
vendor;
(6)help software vendors, small businesses,
and manufacturers test or utilize the software on high-performance computing
systems; and
(7)maintain a research and outreach team that
will work with small businesses and manufacturers to aid in the identification
of software or computational science techniques which can be used to solve
challenging problems, or meet contemporary business needs of such
organizations.
6.
(a)Each eligible entity who receives a grant
under section 4(a) shall submit to the Under Secretary on an annual basis, a
report describing the goals of the Center established by the eligible entity
and the progress the eligible entity has achieved towards meeting the purposes
of this Act.
(b)The Under Secretary shall establish a peer
review committee, consisting of representatives from industry and academia, to
review the goals and progress made by each Center during the grant
period.
7.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There are authorized
to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, and 2011 to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(b)Funds provided for the establishment and
operation of Centers under this Act shall remain available until
expended.