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The participating 11 federal agencies now require business and market information as part of the Phase I proposal.  Therefore, we ask these questions to evaluate whether your company and your proposed project(s) show promise of commercial and/or societal impact and involve a level of technical risk that is required to be competitive in the programs.   There are several demographic questions along with these questions that require a thoughtful response.

1. The Technology Innovation. (Up to 500 words) – Describe the technical innovation that would be the focus of the project, including a brief discussion of the origins of the innovation as well as explanation as to why it meets the program’s mandate to focus on supporting research and development (R&D) of unproven, high-impact innovations.

2. The Technical Objectives and Challenges. (Up to 500 words) – Describe the R&D or technical work to be done in the project, including a discussion of how and why the proposed work will help prove that the product or service is technically feasible and/or significantly reduce technical risk. Discuss how, ultimately, this work could contribute to making the new product, service, or process commercially viable and impactful. This section should also convey that the proposed work meets the definition of R&D, rather than straightforward engineering or incremental product development tasks.

3. The Market Opportunity. (Up to 250 words) – Describe the customer profile and pain point(s) that will be the near-term commercial focus related to this technical project.

4. The Company and Team. (Up to 250 words) – Describe the background and current status of the applicant small business, including key team members who will lead the technical and/or commercial efforts.

5.  Scientific and Technical Literature:  Include up to five peer reviewed articles that support your technological innovation.