This indicator measures the number of the Department's acquisition workforce members receiving targeted training on innovative and underutilized procurement and program management techniques through the acquisition innovation lab (The Lab).

This measure highlights change in jobs that communities or businesses generate or save due to Sea Grant assistance (i.e., providing information to help communities, industries or businesses expand, make better decisions or avoid mistakes). Sea Grant provides the information and training that informs business decisions, and in some cases firms create or sustain jobs as a result. A job created is a new position created and filled as a result of Sea Grant activities. An existing position that is filled with a Sea Grant-trained applicant should not be reported in this measure. A job sustained is an existing, filled position that is sustained as a direct result of Sea Grant activities. A job cannot be reported as both created and sustained in the same year.

This measure captures a range of efforts by NOAA’s Aquaculture Program that together will lead to a more efficient federal permitting process. These efforts include: working with federal partners under the White House/OSTP's Subcommittee on Aquaculture to coordinate and streamline inter-agency permitting, working with industry partners to establish and manage offshore aquaculture pilot projects, conducting spatial analysis and developing siting tools, developing engineering solutions, efforts to assess and reduce risk (e.g., entanglement) from aquaculture operations, conducting programmatic environmental reviews to reduce burden on individual applicants, and drafting/revising guidance to permit applicants to improve application quality. We will also continue to support, as requested, any Congressional initiative to develop aquaculture legislation.

The number of existing full time and/or part time employment positions created and/or retained as reported by a MBE client served.

An Economic Benefit is a dollar value of all financial/contractual transactions, capacity investments and increases in sales to MBEs via the asisstance of MBDA programs, services and resources.

Eleven EDA funded TAACs work with U.S. firms and industries that have been adversely impacted as a result of increased imports of similar or competitive goods to identify specific actions to improve each firm’s competitive position in world markets. “Taking action as a result of the assistance facilitated” means to implement an aspect of the Trade Adjustment Assistance provided by the TAAC. The TAACs provide three main types of assistance: help in preparing petitions for certification, analysis of the firm’s strengths and weaknesses and development of an adjustment proposal, and in depth assistance for implementation of the recovery strategy as set forth in the adjustment proposal.

Ensures that NOAA provides real time (or near real time) availability of critical satellite data and products without gaps to users (NWS and other NOAA line offices, US military and operational partners). On time data and imagery provided increases timeliness and accuracy of public warnings and forecasts of climate and weather events.

Metric calculated as the percent of Climate Prediction Center extended (outlooks out to 14 days) and long range (monthly and seasonal outlooks) temperature and precipitation outlooks exceeding Heidke Skill Score (HSS) of 10 (10% better than a climatological forecast). Due to the scarcity of long range outlooks (six per month), scores are smoothed over a three year period. To better track results, three individual metrics are tracked – 1) All forecasts combined, 2) Temperature only, and 3) Precipitation only.

Key activities for fleet modernization and products are identified and tracked using a project management system. NOAA is currently using an IAA with the Navy for the first two General Purpose Oceanographic Ships under the Ship Recapitalization program. Key program milestones are used as the indicator for tracking acquisition progress. The next recapitalization ship is a Class B to conduct charting and surveys missions. This class will have its own key acquisition milestones.

This measures the number of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) executed. A CRADA is a written agreement between a private company and NOAA to work together on a project. A CRADA allows NOAA and non-Federal partners to optimize their resources, share technical expertise in a protected environment, share intellectual property emerging from the effort, and speed the commercialization of NOAA developed technology. The CRADA, which is not an acquisition or procurement vehicle, is designed to be a relatively easy mechanism to implement, requiring less time and effort to initiate than previous methods for working with non-government organizations.