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NSF announces Tech Directorate

March 17, 2022
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Following President Joe Biden’s signing of the FY 2022 budget, yesterday the National Science Foundation announced the formation of the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate that was approved in the bill. According to a statement released by NSF, the goals of this directorate will be to advance critical, emerging technologies, accelerate tech translation, and diversify the U.S. STEM workforce. TIP will leverage a suite of relocated and new programs to advance this mission.

The programs that NSF is planning to move to the TIP portfolio include: I-Corps, Partnerships for Innovation, SBIR/STTR and Convergence Accelerators.

"NSF's TIP Directorate will accelerate discovery and innovation to rapidly bring new technologies to market and address the most pressing societal and economic challenges of our time," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "By pursuing new approaches that engage the nation's broad and diverse population in shaping research directions and outcomes, TIP will be a game-changer in terms of the pace of technological breakthroughs, future job growth and national competitiveness. We at NSF are grateful for the continued strong support from the Administration and Congress that has made this possibility a reality. We look forward to the passage of the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which will be the next critical step in ensuring TIP can generate a transformational evolution in translating America’s research to expand our economic leadership in the technologies of the future." 

The FY 2022 budget report from Congress requires the agency to award at least one Regional Innovation Accelerator (without a specified funding level for this program). The TIP Directorate is likely to see many new authorities from a final USICA/COMPETES bill, but that legislation is still being negotiated in Congress and will need to be funded in future appropriations bills.

NSF also announced Erwin Gianchandani as the leader of the TIP Directorate, and Graciela Narcho as the deputy director.

nsf, federal agency