[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53122-53124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13918]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans for 
a new data collection. In accordance with the requirements of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing an opportunity for 
public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public 
comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of this collection for no longer 
than three years.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received within August 
26, 2024 to be assured consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable. Please send comments to 
the address below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of these information collection instruments and instructions 
should be directed to Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer, 
National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite E6300, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; or send email to 
[email protected]. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 
days a year (including Federal holidays).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title of Collection: U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) 
Regional Innovation Engines (Engines) Program Baseline and Performance 
Monitoring.
    OMB Number: 3145-XXXX.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
    Type of Request: New information collection
    Description:
    The instruments will collect data on (1) individuals in leadership 
or governance roles in an NSF Engine, and individuals engaged or 
participating in an NSF Engine activities; and (2) organizations that 
are partnering with an NSF Engine or participating in an NSF Engine's 
activities.
    Background:
    The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 codified the National Science 
Foundation's cross-cutting Directorate for Technology, Innovation and 
Partnerships (TIP), NSF's first new directorate in more than 30 years, 
and charged it with the critical mission of advancing U.S. 
competitiveness through investments that accelerate the development of 
key technologies and address pressing national, geostrategic, societal 
and economic challenges. NSF's TIP directorate deepens the agency's 
commitment to support use-inspired research and the translation of 
research results to the market and society. In doing so, TIP 
strengthens the intense interplay between foundational and use-inspired 
work, enhancing the full cycle of discovery and innovation.
    TIP integrates with NSF's existing directorates and fosters 
partnerships -- with government, industry, nonprofits, civil society, 
and communities of practice -- to leverage, energize and rapidly bring 
to society use-inspired research and innovation. TIP spurs science and 
innovations to meet the nation's priorities by accelerating the 
development of breakthrough technologies and advancing solutions.
    The NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program serves as 
a flagship funding program of the TIP directorate, with the goal of 
expanding and accelerating scientific and technological innovation 
within the U.S. by catalyzing regional innovation ecosystems throughout 
every region of our nation. The NSF Engines program was authorized in 
the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Section 10388) to:
    (1) advance multidisciplinary, collaborative, use-inspired and 
translational research, technology development, in key technology focus 
areas;
    (2) address regional, national, societal, or geostrategic 
challenges;
    (3) leverage the expertise of multi-disciplinary and multi-sector 
partners, including partners from private industry, nonprofit 
organizations, and civil society organizations; and
    (4) support the development of scientific, innovation, 
entrepreneurial, and STEM educational capacity within the region of the 
Regional Innovation Engine to grow and sustain regional innovation.
    The NSF Engines program aims to fund regional coalitions of 
partnering organizations to establish NSF Engines that will catalyze 
technology and science-based regional innovation ecosystems. Each NSF 
Engine is focused on addressing specific aspects of a major national, 
geostrategic, societal and/or economic challenge that are of 
significant interest in the NSF Engine's defined ``region of service.'' 
The NSF Engines program envisions a future in which all sectors of the 
American population can participate in and benefit from advancements in 
scientific research and development equitably to advance U.S. global 
competitiveness and leadership. The program's mission is to establish 
sustainable regional innovation ecosystems that address pressing 
national, geostrategic, societal, and/or economic challenges by 
advancing use-inspired and translational research and development in 
key technology focus areas. The programmatic level goals of NSF Engines 
are to:

Goal 1: Establish self-sustaining innovation ecosystems;
Goal 2: Establish nationally-recognized regional ecosystems for key 
industries;
Goal 3: Broaden participation in inclusive innovation ecosystems;
Goal 4: Advance technologies relevant to national competitiveness;
Goal 5: Catalyze regions with nascent innovation ecosystems;
Goal 6: Increase economic growth; and
Goal 7: Increase job creation.

    The key drivers of change on how the NSF Engines program intends to 
achieve these goals are the following:

 Use-inspired R&D
 Cross-sector partnerships;
 Strategic regional investment;
 Inclusive engagement;
 Workforce development;
 Translation to practice; and
 Governance and management.

    Each NSF Engine will carry out an integrated and comprehensive set 
of activities. In addition, each NSF Engine is expected to embody a 
culture of innovation and have a demonstrated, intense, and meaningful 
focus on enabling all individuals throughout its region of service, 
regardless of background, location, or organizational affiliation, to 
participate in the region's

[[Page 53123]]

nascent and growing science and technology ecosystem. NSF intends to 
use this information collection to pilot a longitudinal research study 
to understand how the identified drivers will lead to intended 
programmatic outcomes.
    NSF Engines are awarded as cooperative agreements and are expected 
to undergo an annual comprehensive evaluation assessment of the NSF 
Engine's performance, which will inform subsequent-year funding. The 
total funding for each NSF Engine is up to $160 million over 10 years. 
The first-ever group of NSF Engines was announced in January 2024.
    Information collected by the Division of Innovation and Technology 
Ecosystems (ITE) within TIP will allow NSF to assess the program in 
terms of intellectual, societal, and commercial impacts that are core 
to the program's goals. Finally, in compliance with the Evidence Act of 
2019, information collected will be used for both internal and external 
program evaluation and assessment, satisfying congressional requests, 
and supporting the agency's policymaking and reporting needs.
    Methodology:
    This information collection, which entails collecting information 
from NSF Engines grantees and participants through a series of surveys, 
is in accordance with the Agency's commitment to improving service 
delivery as well as the Agency's strategic goal to ``advance the 
capability of the Nation to meet current and future challenges.''
    For this pilot, the NSF Engines program intends to collect 
information using validated survey instruments from literature to 
better understand partnership dynamics, and collaboration and trust 
among individuals within an NSF Engine's leadership team, governance 
board, programmatic leads, and advisory committees. For ease of use for 
our respondent pool, survey questionnaires will be programmed into 
interactive web surveys and distributed to eligible respondents by 
email. All data collected through web surveys will be made available to 
the external evaluator(s) for each NSF Engine to be used for their own 
analyses, assessments, and evaluation. The two categories of data that 
will be collected for each NSF Engine through web-based surveys are:
 Individual level data

    [cir] Individuals who are a part of the leadership team, governance 
board, advisory committee(s), or are programmatic leads in an NSF 
Engine will be asked survey instrument questions that assess their 
interactions with others in the NSF Engine team; their work in 
supporting the NSF Engine; and the working environment in the NSF 
Engine. Individuals will be asked to review and update their survey 
responses once a year.

 Partner organization level data

    [cir] Partner organizations that are involved in any NSF Engine 
activities or provide any monetary or in-kind contributions will be 
asked about their motivations for partnering with the NSF Engine; the 
factors that came into play when selecting other partner organizations 
for the activity; sense of reciprocity among partner organizations; 
partner commitments; trust among partner organizations; and partnership 
performance. Partner organizations will be asked to review and update 
their survey responses once a year.

    NSF/TIP will only submit a collection for approval under this 
clearance if it meets the following conditions:
    [cir] The collection has a reasonably low burden for respondents 
(based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of 
respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and is low-cost for the 
Federal government;
    [cir] The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues 
of concern for other Federal agencies;
    [cir] Information gathered will be used for the dual and 
interrelated purposes of disseminating information about the NSF 
Engines program and using this information to make programmatic 
improvements, identify efficiencies, and conduct enhanced program 
monitoring for NSF Engines.
    Information collected under this clearance will enable the NSF 
Engines program to validate these survey instruments for the NSF 
Engines population; adjust the survey instruments as necessary for a 
full longitudinal research study; and enable better understanding of 
the interplay among factors that contribute to the development of 
innovation ecosystems. In addition, this information collection will 
help TIP monitor the changes that accompany the maturation of 
innovation ecosystems over time.
    Affected Public: Please refer to the detailed descriptions of each 
data category for the targeted groups.
    Average Expected Annual Number of Respondents: For each NSF Engine 
award, we anticipate the following lower and upper bounds for number of 
responses and response burden:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                            Approximate
                                            Estimated       Estimated       Estimated                                       Approximate       annual
                                           lower bound     upper bound       average                                          annual         response
               Respondent                  (number of      (number of     response time    Frequency of data collection      response        burden--
                                           responses)      responses)         (min)                                       burden (hours)  (hours) [upper-
                                                                                                                           [lower-bound]      bound]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individuals or survey coordinator from               30             200              15  Once a year....................             7.5              50
 partner organizations.
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    Respondents: Lower-bound estimate of 30 individuals or survey 
coordinator (from partner organizations) and upper bound estimate of 
200 individuals or survey coordinators per NSF Engine award.
    Annual Responses: Lower- and upper-bound estimates of 30 and 200 
responses per NSF Engine award per year, respectively. Total number of 
annual responses will be based on the total number of Engine 
participants and partner organizations.
    Frequency of Response: Once a year.
    Average Minutes per Response: 15.
    Burden Hours: Lower- and upper-bound estimates of approximately 7.5 
and 50 hours per NSF Engine award, respectively.
    Comments: Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological

[[Page 53124]]

collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

    Dated: June 20, 2024.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2024-13918 Filed 6-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P