Identifying Mechanisms of Technology Transfer Relative to The Instantiation of Technology
Abstract
The issue of technology transfer continues to be an important topic today for both academia and practitioners. So why all the interest? With industry and government spending approximately $20 billion in R&D that could to be transferred to the private sector, the issue of technology transfer is paramount. Why? Because there is an expectation that R&D projects funded by (1) industry at universities and other nonprofit institutions will be transferred back to the industry and (2) government funded research at universities, nonprofit institutions, and federal laboratories will be transferred to the private sector for commercialization. In response, researchers and practitioners have offered various models, anecdotes, guidelines, and studies on technology transfer. Unfortunately, or fortunately, technology transfer literature is extensive and covers a wide array of topics. Although a great deal has been written regarding technology transfer, it still remains illusive. Research has been done to describe the technology transfer process, to measure the effectiveness of technology transfer, to propose new and different ways to more effectively technology transfer. However, much of this research is done from an academic perspective, not a practitioner perspective. By surveying technology receivers, who are members of research centers, the goal of this research was to identify appropriate technology transfer mechanisms as a function of the instantiation of the technology, thus, providing research center managers and directors a set of guidelines and a process for identifying technology transfer mechanisms most appropriate for their center. The outcome was an understanding of which technology transfer mechanisms are best used to transfer the various instantiations from an external research center to a member organization.
