Business Model
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ESCHER is a non-profit research institute and has recognition from the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization. The organization is supported by both U.S. Government and Industrial research funding, generally on a contract research basis.
ESCHER will generally operate in an honest broker role in consortia and other contracted activities as described below:
- Research Activities ESCHER will work with a board of representatives from industry to define important research topics that will support the areas a whole. This research is generally to be conducted by universities and is in the early pre-competitive phase that is not industry-specific. ESCHER will solicit proposals from research groups and the ESCHER Technical Advisory Board formed by industry representatives select performers to carry out the research tasks. The results of the research will be made available through the repository (see below) and will be available to the general public in the form of downloadable software tools and platforms. By conducting specific research activities aimed at completing the missing work necessary to make the technology transitionable, ESCHER helps to specifically plug the missing gaps.
- Repository Operation ESCHER will operate a repository of open-source software that will be available to the public. The software is contributed by university researchers and other research organizations who have been funded under government grants and contracts. The repository provides a single focal point for software developers and end users and a collection of bug reports and other information that can be used to improve the software. The repository aids in the transition of government research results by making them widely available through a central portal thereby creating a wider audience for the technology and increasing the chance that it will be adopted by an industrial organization.
- Roadmap Activities Because of its honest broker status in the industry, ESCHER is in a unique position to create roadmaps and perform other functions that are useful to the government for planning purposes. This activity may take the form of trade studies, trend analyses, and other technical reports intended to help the government and industry to focus research efforts and funding in the most productive areas.
