Notice2024-13918
Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 25, 2024
Issuing agencies
National Science Foundation
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53122-53124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#82f1f2eeebeff2f6edc2ecf1e4ace5edf4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5122213d383c21253e113f22377f363e27">[email protected]</span></a>. 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:
<bullet> Use-inspired R&D;
<bullet> Cross-sector partnerships;
<bullet> Strategic regional investment;
<bullet> Inclusive engagement;
<bullet> Workforce development;
<bullet> Translation to practice; and
<bullet> 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
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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:
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> 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:
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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]
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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
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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
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