Advanced Technology Program
The NIST Advanced Technology Program (ATP, or NIST ATP) is a United States government (U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology) program designed to stimulate early-stage advanced technology development that would otherwise not be funded.
ATP is designed for early-stage research in industry, not academia, though it supported academia indirectly (as subcontractors or collaborators in projects). It was started under the administration of U.S. President George H. W. Bush in 1991 with special legislation enacted and implemented by the administration of President Bill Clinton in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 15, Volume 1, Parts 0 to 299
Starting in 1995, the Republican-led Congress, as well as the administration of President George W. Bush , repeatedly recommended its termination and the program was suspended in 2005 with the White House working with the Administration and Congress to terminate this program. This was completed on August 9, 2007, when the president signed the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 2272; Public Law Number 110-69), which repealed the Advanced Technology Program-enabling legislation.