Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (AEDC Division of Science & Technology)

Supports Arkansas innovation initiatives through its state science authority and service delivery.

ASTA was Arkansas's independent science and technology agency, founded in 1983 to bring the benefits of advanced technology to Arkansas. It administered six core programs — SBIR Matching Grants, Technology Development, Seed Capital Investment, Technology Transfer Assistance, Basic & Applied Research, and Business Incubators. Acts 7 and 8 of the First Extraordinary Session 2015 dissolved ASTA as an independent authority and transferred it as a Type 2 entity into AEDC, renamed the Division of Science and Technology. Act 910 of 2019 further placed the division under the Arkansas Department of Commerce. All former ASTA programs are now administered by AEDC; this entry is retained as a legacy crosswalk alias only.