Models and metrics for the technology transfer process from federal labs to application and the market

Abstract

The author and his colleagues have worked with over a dozen federal agencies (as well as many industrial firms) on the process of getting new technology out of their labs and into their own innovation programs and/or into the broader markets of industry and other agencies. The focus of this paper is on metrics and flow models for the outputs, at each stage of the process, and the barriers and facilitators that impede or enhance the flow. It deals with the notorious “Valley of Death” that slows or sinks the flow of items of technology at various stages of the R&D/Innovation (R&D/I) process. It suggests a systematic methodology for identifying and measuring the impacts, outputs, barriers, and facilitators encountered in the flow. Criteria trees are suggested for connecting stage outputs to the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of the operating units, parent organizations, and other sponsors and clients served by the labs. Some examples of common barriers and facilitators are given, including: the over-focus of many Tech Transfer Offices on “paper” Intellectual Property (IP), such as patents and licenses vs. “real” outputs and impacts such as new products and applications of technology that are transferred to and adopted by the various types of potential users of the technology. Specific examples are also drawn from studies by the author and his colleagues in the fields of: aerospace and automotive research; agriculture; transportation; healthcare; military R&D; and environment, energy, and materials R&D.