GIPP is a proven model for technology commercialization involving partnerships among U.S. industry, U.S. national laboratories, and Russian and other former Soviet scientific institutes.
In the former Soviet Union, the GIPP model typically features cooperative, cost-sharing projects among former Soviet weapons scientists, U.S. national laboratories, and U.S. industry. These unique partnerships provide new resources and markets for U.S. companies, while establishing important private sector linkages for former Soviet weapons scientists and engineers. Most often, projects are focused on developing civilian applications for former Soviet WMD technologies. Others establish relationships that draw upon scientific expertise or specialized facilities in a joint venture, supply arrangement, contract research, or other mutually beneficial commercial activity.
GIPP partnerships may be initiated in a number of ways:
The most common arrangements are three-way partnerships (U.S. company, foreign institute, DOE lab). Occasionally, projects have additional partners or sub-contractors, while others involve more than one DOE lab, and still others have partnerships with spin-off companies of former Soviet weapons institutes (see below).
U.S. industry partners are required to become members of USIC, as well as demonstrate their ability to match GIPP funds (with cash or in-kind contributions) and the technical and managerial resources necessary to successfully bring a new technology to the market. The company’s financial standing and its business plan are evaluated by USIC.
Foreign partners must be former weapons scientists, their institutes or their spin-off companies (i.e., a privately or publicly held company created by and/or employing former WMD scientists, engineers or technicians). The credentials of the former WMD specialists will be verified by NNSA and DOE lab technical experts. A minimum of 50 percent of foreign personnel on an industry partner project must meet criteria established by NNSA, and project proposals with higher ratios are viewed more favorably in the funding approval process.
Two-year funding for GIPP projects typically ranges from $500,000 to $1 million. U.S. industry partners are required to match GIPP funding with cash or in-kind contributions.
Of the U.S. government funding provided for any GIPP project, 70 percent supports the former Soviet partner and 30 percent is paid to the U.S. national laboratory for technical oversight, collaborative work, and project management.
The applicable statute mandates that all GIPP funds not be subject to foreign taxes or customs duties. To meet this requirement, the GIPP program uses the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) in Russia, the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), or the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) to make tax-exempt payments to individual former Soviet staff working on GIPP projects, plus payments to former Soviet institutes for supplies, equipment, and infrastructure support. All projects in Kazakhstan or those involving Russian institutes affiliated with the Russian Federal Agency of Atomic Energy (RosAtom) must utilize the ISTC payment mechanism. This mechanism requires an additional review and approval step within ISTC.