Technology transfer facts for kids

Technology transfer (also called TOT) is like sharing cool inventions and ideas! It's the process of taking a new discovery or a scientific breakthrough from the person or group who created it and sharing it with others. The goal is to turn these amazing ideas into new products and services that help everyone. Think of it as moving knowledge and tools from a lab or a university to a company that can make something useful out of them.

This process is very similar to knowledge transfer, which is simply sharing information and skills. Today, technology transfer often involves teamwork, because big problems in the world need big solutions that many people work on together. It helps connect inventors with people and companies who can use their ideas.

Intellectual property (IP) is a super important part of technology transfer. IP is like the rules that protect who owns an idea or invention. It helps make sure that creators, like scientists at universities, keep ownership of their discoveries. This protection allows them to control how their inventions are used. For example, they can license their ideas to companies or even start new companies (called "start-ups") to bring their inventions to the public. This way, everyone benefits from new technologies.

How Technology Transfer Works

Technology transfer can happen in many places: between universities, different kinds of businesses (small or large), and even governments. It can also happen across different countries. Sometimes it's done formally with contracts, and sometimes it's more informal, like sharing ideas. Often, it involves a big effort to share skills, knowledge, special tools, ways of making things, and even places to work.

While the process can seem complicated, it's usually a flexible and changing journey. It doesn't always follow a straight line! Here are some common steps:

• Creating Knowledge: This is where new discoveries are made.
• Sharing the Idea: Telling others about the invention.
• Checking it Out: Figuring out if the idea is useful and can be made into something.
• Protecting the Idea: Making sure the IP is safe (like getting a patent).
• Finding Money and Developing: Getting funds to build and improve the technology.
• Marketing: Telling people about the new technology.
• Selling it: Turning the idea into a product or service that can be bought.
• Making the Product: Building the actual item or service.
• Seeing the Impact: How the new technology helps society.

The main aim of technology transfer is to make sure that cool scientific and tech breakthroughs are available to more people. These people can then use and improve the technology to create new products, ways of doing things, or services. When technology moves from one area to another, it's called horizontal transfer.

New Companies (Spin-outs)

Sometimes, a university or research group creates a new technology but doesn't have the time, money, or skills to develop it into a product. In these cases, they might create a new company called a "spin-out." These new companies often get money from venture capital (VC) firms, which are companies that invest in new businesses with high growth potential. This is very common in places like the United States and the European Union.

People called "technology brokers" are like bridges. They help connect new scientific ideas with real-world problems, finding ways to use discoveries in new situations. Another similar term, especially in Europe, is "technology valorisation," which means making something valuable from technology. Even though people have been applying science to problems for a long time (like Archimedes in ancient Greece!), today there's a lot of focus on how to do this process well, especially with so much research happening.

Technology transfer can involve sharing very advanced, expensive technology. But it can also involve sharing "appropriate technology"—simpler, less expensive tools that are easier to spread around. This can help communities become more self-sufficient.

Informal Ways of Sharing

Technology transfer also happens in less formal ways. For example, people share ideas at conferences organized by groups like the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). AUTM is a big group with over 3,100 professionals from universities, research centers, hospitals, and businesses who work on technology transfer.

The most common informal ways to share technology include:

• Education and studies.
• People moving between jobs and sharing what they know.
• Professional discussions.
• Seminars and workshops.

Many professional groups and networks help technology managers work together and share their best ideas. Besides AUTM, there are groups like the Association of European Science and Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP) and the Licensing Executives Society (LES). There are also national groups in countries like Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, and South Africa. These groups help people cooperate and share experiences, especially for solving big global problems like COVID-19, climate change, or cyber-attacks.

Rules for Ideas (IP Policies)

Universities and research groups that want to work with companies often create special rules called IP policies. These policies help manage their inventions and make it easier to transfer technology. They create a clear way for companies and researchers to share knowledge, technology, and IP. Governments also have national IP strategies to help achieve their goals for intellectual property.

Organizations for Technology Transfer

Even if a research discovery is scientifically interesting, it might not be ready to become a product. For example, patents are usually given for practical processes. So, someone needs to figure out how to make the discovery practical. Also, it needs to have commercial value – meaning people would want to buy it. For instance, there are many ways to create nuclear fusion, but only the ones that produce more energy than they use are valuable.

How research becomes a product can vary a lot. It might involve special agreements called licensing agreements, or setting up joint ventures where different groups work together and share the risks and rewards. Sometimes, new companies (spin-outs) are created if the original organization can't develop the technology itself. These spin-outs often get money from venture capital firms, which is more common in the United States than in the European Union.

Technology Transfer Offices

Many universities, research institutions, and government groups now have a special department called an Office of Technology Transfer (TTO). These offices find research that could be useful commercially and figure out how to make it happen. TTOs usually manage the university's inventions and help transfer knowledge to companies. They might also handle other interactions with the private sector. These offices have different names, like Technology Licensing Office (TLO) or Industry Liaisons Office.

TTOs work for research institutions, governments, and even big companies. For new start-ups, they might not charge fees but instead take a share in the new business. Because technology transfer can be complex, these offices often have a team of experts, including economists, engineers, lawyers, marketers, and scientists.

Technology and Innovation Support Centers

Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) help inventors find information about patents, scientific papers, and research tools. This helps them use these resources better to create new things, transfer technology, and sell their inventions. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) supports TISCs in over 80 countries. TISCs offer services like:

• Access to online patent and scientific information.
• Help with searching for technology information.
• Training on how to use research databases.
• Doing special searches (like checking if an idea is new).
• Basic information about IP laws and how to manage inventions.

Science and Technology Parks

Science and technology parks (STPs) are special areas, often near universities or research centers. They provide space and support for companies to grow, helping them through technology transfer and open innovation (sharing ideas openly).

Technology Incubators

Technology business incubators (TBIs) are organizations that help new companies and individual inventors develop their businesses. They offer services like training, connecting them with others, and helping them find money.

IP Marketplaces

Intellectual Property marketplaces are online platforms where inventors can connect with potential partners or customers. For example, the online platform WIPO GREEN helps people work together on specific areas of knowledge transfer and connects those who have technology with those who need it.

Government Support for Technology Transfer

Since the 1980s, there has been a big increase in groups that help with technology transfer. This was largely encouraged by laws like the Bayh–Dole Act in the US, which gave more reasons to use research for practical purposes. Because of this focus, many different types of organizations now work in this area, from TTOs to other groups. Governments, research institutes, and universities, along with international organizations like the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the European Union, provide support for IP policies, training, and systems to help technology transfer.

Partnership Intermediaries

The U.S. government spends over $100 billion each year on research and development. This creates a constant flow of new inventions from government labs. Laws like the Bayh–Dole Act encourage private companies to use these technologies that have commercial potential. They do this through various ways, such as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements and Patent License Agreements.

A "partnership intermediary" is a state or local government agency, or a non-profit group connected to them. These intermediaries help small businesses, universities, or other educational institutions that need or can use technology help from a federal lab.

Technology Transfer During COVID-19

Technology transfer played a direct role in helping with global public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, by making COVID-19 vaccines available worldwide. In 2021, vaccine makers signed over 200 technology transfer agreements. For example, AstraZeneca made agreements to share its vaccine technology with the Serum Institute of India and Daiichi Sankyo of Japan. This helped supply vaccines for COVID-19 that were developed with the University of Oxford. In this situation, IP was part of the solution, helping to make COVID-19 treatments affordable and available globally.

Challenges

Even with good reasons to turn research into products, it can sometimes be hard to do in real life. For example, research often focuses on early stages of development, while getting something ready for production means it needs to be much more developed and tested. Moving from an early idea to a fully tested, reliable product can be difficult, costly, and take more time than expected.

Also, when technology is transferred to governments that are not democratic, it can sometimes be used for harmful purposes, which goes against the scientific goals of sharing knowledge.

See also