May/June 2002 edition
A
Rich Vision of Technology Transfer
Guest Author: Dr. Gary Lundquist
Imagine
you are a reporter, and your editor has sent you out to do a story on
technology transfer. Using the old
adage for reporters you would ask,
Who? What?
When? Where?
Why? How? and What cost?
Let’s use that formula to create a rich vision of
technology transfer. To make the story
easier to tell, I’ll rearrange the questions a bit.
Why? Technology transfer moves technology from “source”
to “adopter”. Why would either side
make the effort.
We transfer technologies to solve problems and
create opportunities – for both sides of the transaction. Tech transfer is a win-win proposition, or
it doesn’t happen.
An integrated study of technology movement in
industry and federal labs showed that:
·
Movement of technology is as
important to business success as is creation of technology.
·
Integrating
creation and movement is the key
to the impact of science and engineering.
·
Technology transfer is as
important to business success as are science and engineering.
Who? Agents of change transfer technologies. Agents of change combine vision, active learning, leadership,
strategy, selling skills, cooperation, communication, and relationship
skills. In short, they have marketing
skills.
Studies show that employers want engineers who can
move their “products” to the next stage of development. Thus change-agent skills are as important to
career success as are technical discipline skills.
Where? Technology moves from initial idea to final sale along a
development path called a “value chain.”
Tech transfer happens between value-chain steps, as between research and
development.
Every value chain is a linked sequence of technology
transfers, and every technology transfer is part of a value chain. This is true whether the value chain is
internal to a company or crosses corporate boundaries.
When? Transfer happens when four key barriers fall to
threshold levels.
Source: Proves it can produce and use the
technology.
Adopter: Has the skills, equipment,
and infrastructure to use the technology.
Agreement: The two sides find each other
and achieve win-win.
Trust: Each trusts the other to meet the terms of
agreement.
What? A technology is the ability to produce a prototype that meets specific performance
standards. That’s right – technologies
are abilities. We can’t hold a technology in our
hands. We must hold it in our
minds.
Think about that for a moment. Though counter-intuitive, this single
concept is core to transfer success.
Cost-justify? Product development is an investment that is
justified between each step of company value chains. The same proofs must be made to justify transfer between
organizations.
Technical Proof: It works!
Control Proof: We own it! (intellectual property)
Safety Proof: It’s safe! (no liabilities)
Value Proof: Customers need it!
Economic Proof: A market exists!
Attractiveness Proof: The company
wants it!
Sizzling proofs compel investment. Consider presenting your technology as if
selling to an end customer.
How? Three steps complete a transfer.
Contact: Between source and adopter(s)
Agreement: A shared vision of mutual
wins that justify transfer, written into licenses, cooperative development,
spin-outs, acquisitions, etc.
Movement: Transfer processes
The first two
require marketing, a topic we’ll leave to another article (July issue of Technology
Community). The second also
requires legal work. The third gets into transfer mechanics.
Mechanics begin by understanding that a technology
is made of six abilities.
Design: Commonly understood result of a value-chain
step
Architecture: Rules for putting designs
together
Tools: Methods for creating a design
Standards: Industry constraints on
design implementation
Infrastructure: Resources needed to implement
a design
Processes: Methods for managing all of
the above
Checklists or project-management systems then ensure
successful transfer. Remember to
transfer abilities. At their core,
transfer mechanics are all about education.
Conclusion: In practice, technology transfer is a powerful
paradigm for development and delivery of value by any organization that serves
customers.
Tech transfer is also an important paradigm for
personal careers. We hold
responsibilities for both invention and movement of our inventions. We are responsible for changing what is possible.
(This article is a
summary of: A Rich Vision of Technology
Transfer. Many concepts were developed
with John Thompson of Lucent. For the
complete article, visit www.market-engineering.com/techtransfer,
or see the Colorado Chapter of the Technology Transfer Society at www.colorado.edu/cubac/t2.)
Gary Lundquist accelerates
business performance with marketing done strategically. He founded a software business and grew it
to worldwide dominance of its market niche.
He has done tech transfer in industry and government. He writes and speaks on business
performance, change, and the missing power in science and engineering. Reach him at 303-840-9929 or
garyl@market-engineering.com.
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TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY
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