[citation needed] 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.
TIP was established to assist U.S. businesses and institutions of higher education or other organizations, such as national laboratories and nonprofit research institutes, to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need.
TIP aims to speed up the development of new research that addresses specific national problems.
[4] Funding is provided to industry (small and medium-sized businesses), universities, and consortia for research on new technologies for solving critical national problems that present high technical risks, with commensurate high rewards if successful.
The primary mechanism for this support is cost-shared research grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts awarded based on merit competitions.