Technology Transfer and Commercialization in the

Federal Government

Morna Paterson

Federal Partners in Technology Transfer

December 2006

Outline

• Overview of innovation in Canada and technology transfer stakeholders

• Federal Labs and technology and knowledge transfer

• Criteria for successful technology transfer

• Barriers to successful technology transfer

Federal S&T StructurePRIME MINISTER

CabinetCabinet Committee for Economic Union Advisory Committee on S&T

Line Departments/ Regulatory, Policy, Performers

-AAFC-CFIA-DFO-DND-EC-HC-NRCan-PHAC-RCMP-TC

Performers/ Industrial Support

-AECL-CSA-CRC-NRC-SC

S&T Policy

-IC-ADM S&T Committee-ADM S&T Integration Board

Funders

-CIHR-NSERC-SSHRC

International Development

-CIDC-DFAIT-IDRC

C a n a d a ’ s I n n o v a t i o n S y s t e m -R & D P e r s p e c t i v e

E n a b l i n gI n s t r u m e n t s

R & DG r a n t s / C o n t r i b u t i o n s

S t a n d a r d s

I n d u s t r i a l / T e c h n o l o g yI n v e s t m e n t P r o g r a m s

H u m a n R e s o u r c e sD e v e l o p m e n t P r o g r a m s

T a x I n c e n t i v e s

I n t e r n a t i o n a lC o l l a b o r a t i o n

M a n p o w e rT r a i n i n g

P r o c u r e m e n t

F e d e r a lG o v e r n m e n t

L a b o r a t o r i e s

U n i v e r s i t i e s

P r i v a t eS e c t o r

L a b o r a t o r i e s

P r o v i n c i a l R e s e a r c hI n s t i t u t i o n s

R e s e a r c hN e t w o r k s

P e r f o r m i n gI n s t r u m e n t s

V e n t u r eC a p i t a l

F I R M SF I R M S

T e c h n o l o g y T r a n s f e r

R & DO r g a n i z a t i o n

O t h e r R & DP e r f o r m e r s

K n o w l e d g e A d v a n c e m e n tP u b l i c D i s s e m i n a t i o nP o l i c y & R e g u l a t o r y S u p p o r t

T e c h n o l o g y L i c e n s i n g

S p i n - o f f

M a r k e t s

C o m p a n y ( i e s )& O t h e r R & DP e r f o r m e r s

C o m p a n y ( i e s )

N e w C o .

N e w T e c h n i c a l I n f o r m a t i o nP o t e n t i a l C l i e n t sI n n o v a t i o n E x p e r i e n c eF i n a n c i a l R e t u r n

P r o d u c t o rP r o c e s sI m p r o v e m e n t s

N e wP r o d u c to r S e r v i c e

C r e a t i o no f S t a r t - u pC o m p a n y

C o l l a b o r a t i v e R & D

Examples of Tech Transfer Activity

• Lending research and technical support to Canadian companies,

• Developing environmental solutions,

• Providing technologies for the introduction of new industrial processes and procedures ,

• Creation of new companies.

Factors Associated with Successful Technology Transfer

• High level support for technology transfer activities in both the originating and adopting organization; 

• Strong entrepreneurial attitudes among federal personnel; 

• Technology transfer champions in both organizations; 

• Technology which can be adopted/utilized incrementally;

• Technology which has the potential for diverse market applications;

• Low level of government "red‑tape";

• Existence of incentives for government scientists.

Barriers to Building Meaningful Collaborations

• All federal labs today collaborate and partner with others

• However, many reports and workshops have identified barriers that inhibit greater and effective collaboration.

• If barriers could be overcome, federal labs would be able to better negotiate partnerships with third parties more effectively and efficiently.

Some of the Barriers to Working with Firms• Mistrust of the value and merit of government technology;

• Relatively small size and limited resources of Canadian firms;

• Lack of R&D and technology transfer champions;

• Risk averse when it comes to adopting new technology

• Perception that the output from a government lab should be cheap or free;

• Lack of awareness of what is going on in the government labs;

• Wanting exclusive rights to any resulting IP; and

• Confidentiality agreements which are sometimes too restrictive

What Industry Wants

• Consistency in IP management

• One stop shopping for opportunities and experts

• Early awareness and access to emerging technologies

• Greater responsiveness, faster TAT

• Build the voice of the customer into our research and TT activities

• Encourage market validation and proof of principle.

Conclusion

We may not be able to solve all barriers, butincreased dialogue / awareness will help reduce them and by working together much more can be done to maximize opportunities to transform research into jobs and prosperity.

For More Information on Federal Labs and Technology Transfer

FPTT Executive Office

1200 Montreal Road, Building M-55Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6Tel: 613.998.5244Fax: 613.998.8768

Email: fptt@fptt-pftt.gc.ca Website: www.fptt-pftt.gc.ca