[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 171 (Friday, September 4, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45823-45825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21421]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Technology Innovation Program (TIP) Seeks White Papers
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST)
Technology Innovation Program (TIP) announces that it is seeking white
papers from any interested party, including academia; federal, state,
and local governments; industry; national laboratories; and
professional organizations/societies. White papers will be used to
identify and select areas of critical national need and the associated
technical challenges to be addressed in future TIP competitions.
DATES: The suggested dates for submission of white papers are November
9, 2009, February 15, 2010, May 10, 2010, and July 12, 2010. However,
TIP will accept white papers at any time during the period November 9,
2009 through September 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: White papers must be submitted to TIP as follows:
Electronic (e-mail) submission: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Wiggins at 301-975-5416 or by
e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 45824]]
Background Information: The Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was
established for the purpose of assisting U.S. businesses and
institutions of higher education or other organizations, such as
national laboratories and nonprofit research institutions, to support,
promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-
risk, high-reward research in areas of Critical National Need. The TIP
statutory authority is Section 3012 of the America Creating
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology,
Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act, Public Law 110-69 (August 9,
2007), 15 U.S.C.A. Sec. 278n (2008). The TIP implementing regulations
are published at 15 CFR Part 296 (73 FR 35,913 (June 25, 2008)).
TIP holds competitions for funding based on addressing areas of
critical national need. TIP identifies and selects topics for areas of
critical national need based on input from within NIST, the TIP
Advisory Board, the science and technology communities, and from the
public. TIP is interested in receiving input on the identification and
definition of problems that are sufficiently large in magnitude that
they have the potential to inhibit the growth and well-being of our
nation today. This announcement explains the requirements and process
for submitting white papers to TIP by interested parties. White papers
from experts in other federal agencies are valued and welcome, and will
enable TIP to complement the efforts of other mission agencies and
avoid duplication of their efforts, thereby leveraging resources to
benefit the nation.
The key concepts, enumerated below, are the foundation of TIP and
should form the basis of an effective white paper:
a. An area of critical national need means an area that justifies
government attention because the magnitude of the problem is large and
the associated societal challenges that need to be overcome are not
being addressed, but could be addressed through high-risk, high-reward
research.
b. A societal challenge is a problem or issue confronted by society
that when not addressed could negatively affect the overall function
and quality of life of the Nation, and as such, justifies government
action. A societal challenge is associated with barriers preventing the
successful development of solutions to the area of critical national
need. TIP's mission is to tackle the technical issues that can be
addressed through high-risk, high-reward research. The results of the
high-risk, high-reward research should have the potential for
transformational results.
c. A transformational result is a potential project outcome that
enables disruptive changes over and above current methods and
strategies. Transformational results have the potential to radically
improve our understanding of systems and technologies, challenging the
status quo of research approaches and applications.
The white papers are expected to contain: A description of an area
of critical national need and the associated societal challenge(s)
(what is the problem, why is it a problem, and why is it challenging);
why government support is needed, and what could happen if that support
is not provided in the proposed time frame; and a high level discussion
of potential scientific advancements and/or technologies that are
needed to address the societal challenges; and an indication of the
types of entities or groups who might be interested in developing
proposal submissions to fund these scientific and/or technology
approaches. Do not include ideas for specific proposals in the white
paper (i.e., your specific solution to the problem).
This solicitation for white papers is neither a Request for
Proposals (RFP) nor should it be viewed as a request for pre-proposals.
Rather, it is a way to include ideas from the public to identify
problems that justify government support and can be addressed by
technological innovations that are not currently being sufficiently
supported to meet the challenge.
White papers must not contain proprietary information. Submission
of a white paper means that the author(s) agrees that all the
information in the white paper can be made available to the public.
Information contained in these white papers will be considered and
combined with information from other resources--including the vision of
the Administration, NIST, other government agencies, technical
communities, the TIP Advisory Board, and other stakeholders--to develop
the scope of future competitions and to shape TIP's collaborative
outreach. White papers are a valuable resource that adds to TIP's
understanding of the significance and scope of critical national needs
and associated societal challenges. The white papers submitted could be
shared with the Administration, NIST, other government agencies,
technical communities, the TIP Advisory Board, other stakeholders and
the public as part of the selection process for future competitions.
For detailed instructions on how to prepare and submit white
papers, refer to ``A Guide for Preparing and Submitting White Papers on
Areas of Critical National Need.'' The Guide is available on the TIP
Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/guide_for_white_papers.pdf.
In this call for white papers, TIP is seeking information in all
areas of critical national need, but also seeks information to assist
TIP in further defining several topic areas under development. White
papers that address any of the following areas may further develop the
definition and scope of the critical national need suggested by these
topic areas, and should additionally identify and explain specific
societal challenges within these critical national need areas that
require a technical solution. White papers may discuss any critical
national need area of interest to the submitter, or may address any of
the following topic areas:
Civil Infrastructure: Civil infrastructure constitutes the basic
fabric of the world in which we live and work. It is the combination of
fundamental systems that support a community, region, or country. The
civil infrastructure includes systems for transportation (airport
facilities, roads, bridges, rail, waterway locks); and systems for
water distribution and flood control (water distribution systems, storm
and waste water collection, dams, and levees). New construction
approaches and materials to improve the infrastructure and for
mitigating the expense of repairing or replacing existing
infrastructure appear to be areas with the potential for specific
societal challenges within this area of critical national need.
Examples could include challenges such as: Advanced materials for
repair and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, advanced
inspection and monitoring technologies that assist public safety
officials in determining the condition of structures, or areas of
sustainability of infrastructure construction.
Complex networks and complex systems: Society is increasingly
dependent on complex networks like those used for energy delivery,
telecommunication, transportation, and finance over which we have
imperfect control. No single organization and no collection of
organizations have the ability to effectively control these multi-
scale, distributed, highly interactive networks. Complex network theory
will also be important in modeling neural systems, molecular
physiological
[[Page 45825]]
response to disease, and environmental systems. The current technical
and mathematical methodologies that underpin our ability to simulate
and model physical systems are unable to predict and control the
behavior of complex systems. Stability and control of these networks
can have far reaching consequences to our quality of life.
Examples could include challenges such as: Theoretical advances
and/or proof-of-concept applications; or capabilities that can
potentially address and advance the use of complex network analyses in
the following areas--sustainable manufacturing models, resource
management and environmental impacts (energy, water, agriculture),
intelligent transportation systems, biological systems, communications
networks, security systems, personalized healthcare, and others.
Energy: From agriculture to manufacturing, all endeavors require
energy as input. Escalating energy demands throughout the world can
lead to national security challenges, financially challenge national
economies, and contribute to environmental alterations. Although
heavily supported projects exist in energy research, there remain
technical roadblocks that affect full deployment of new and emerging
energy technologies.
Examples could include challenges such as: Technologies for
improved manufacturing of critical components for alternative energy
production; replacement of fossil-fuel derived fuels with non-food,
renewably produced fuels; or improved technologies for stable
connections of many power sources to the electrical grid.
Ensuring Future Water Supply: The Nation's population and economic
growth places greater demands on freshwater resources. At the same
time, temporary or permanent drought conditions and water access rights
affect regional freshwater availability. Water needs threaten to
outstrip available freshwater, now and in the future. Water quality,
both in terms of decontamination and disinfection of water supplies, is
also being pressured by emerging contaminants that must either be
removed from distributed water or converted to harmless forms of waste.
Food contaminations are often traced back to water contaminations,
either in the field or in processing. Municipal waste streams and
irrigation runoff may waste resources that are not captured and/or
recovered.
Examples could include challenges such as: Means to provide future
fresh water supplies without undue consumption of energy resources;
means that determine and assure the safety of water and food from
waterborne contamination; or means to economically recover resources
from wastewater streams and lower the energy cost of producing
freshwater and potable water from marginalized water resources.
Healthcare: Healthcare spending per capita in the United States is
high and rising, and currently approved drugs work only in a fraction
of the population. Doctors are unable to select optimal drug treatments
and dosages based on the patient's unique genetics, physiology, and
metabolic processes, resulting in a trial and error component to
treatment. As a consequence, significant expenditures result in drugs
that are ineffective on subsets of patients, and a clearer
understanding of which patients may suffer side effects from prescribed
medicine is lacking. The key to patient response lies in greater
understanding of both genetic variability and environmental influences
on disease mechanisms.
Examples could include challenges such as: Cost effective advanced
tools and techniques for genomics and proteomics research that provide
greater understanding of complex biological systems, biomarker
identification, and targeted drug and vaccine delivery systems;
improved and low cost diagnostic and therapeutic systems; or better
methods of integration and analysis of biological data, especially when
combined with environmental and patient history data.
Manufacturing: Manufacturing is a vital part of our nation's
economy, which now is facing increasing global competitiveness
challenges, regulations and controls over environmental and resource
issues, and other economic pressures. Technical advances have at times
been able to address productivity and other issues, but the recent
pressures on the manufacturing community have hindered their ability to
focus the necessary resources on longer term solutions that could lead
to economic growth in this sector which the nation needs.
Examples could include challenges such as: Manufacturing systems
that have shorter innovation cycles, more flexibility, and are rapidly
reconfigurable; accelerating commodization of next generation, high-
performance materials, such as nanomaterials, composites, and alloys to
specification, in a consistent, efficient and effective manner; or life
cycle assessment tools, an aid toward sustainable manufacturing; and
better automation solutions.
Nanomaterials/nanotechnology: The unique properties of
nanomaterials provide extraordinary promise. There is a need for
greater understanding and solutions to overcome the barriers associated
with manufacturing nanomaterials and their incorporation into products,
while maintaining the unique functionality of the nanomaterial.
Although many processes are achievable in the laboratory, the scale-up
to industrial production without compromising the quality of the
produced material can be highly problematic.
Examples could include challenges such as: Methods required for
manufacturing nanomaterials with pre-specified functionality and
morphology; methods for inspection and real-time monitoring the
processing of nanomaterials; or methods for incorporation of
nanomaterial into products without compromising the material's required
properties.
Sustainability: ``Sustainability,'' as defined by a widely used
definition is ``meeting the needs of the present generation without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.''
Clearly, sustainability is an attractive and desirable concept for the
nation. TIP is interested in technologies that reduce or eliminate the
environmental ``footprint'' of industrial processes and public waste
streams. Sustainability is a complex and highly-interdisciplinary
endeavor with economic, environmental, and societal dimensions. In this
context, the white papers should address elements such as cost
effectiveness, energy efficiency, recyclability, safety, resource use,
life-cycle analysis, and ecosystem health.
Examples could include challenges such as: Technologies to develop
feedstocks from renewable sources; technologies to recover resources
(minerals, materials, energy, water) from industry and other/public
waste streams; low-cost, low-energy separation technologies; and
replacement of hazardous/toxic materials with safer, more cost
effective materials and/or process technology.
Dated: September 1, 2009.
Patrick Gallagher,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. E9-21421 Filed 9-3-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P