Technology transfer through group research

Industry is seeking ways to take advantage of developing technology to improve productivity and compete more effectively in international markets. This article discusses group research as a cost-effective means of disseminating research results, providing participating companies with a basis for innovation and commercialization of new products and processes. It describes the characteristics of group research and the kinds of results that may be expected. The article also includes guidelines for selection, evaluation, and participation in group research projects.     

Now you see it,now you don't

The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, at best, is now moribund. Events, in light of the Reagan Administration's budget cuts, have overtaken the times. Moreover, the principal advocates — Stevenson, Wydler and George Brown, Jr. — have departed for other climes, pursuits and interests. Fundamentally, the Act was doomed from its inception. It widely dispersed responsibilities among Federal agencies that in the past have shown, at best, a passivity towards technology transfer, or at worst, a disdain for it. Like so much Federal legislation in recent years, the Act lays out mandates broadly, badly defines terms and conditions, and omits the most important element of any law: penalties for violating it. Benign neglect, which seems to be the direction for at least the next four years, would appear to be its destiny. Section 11, Utilization of Federal Technology, however, might survive, but in a drastically truncated form, which should give precious little comfort to those who worked so hard for the passage of the Act.     

For a Few Dollars More: Public Trust and the Case for Transporting Nuclear Waste in Dedicated Trains

The debate about the use of dedicated trains for shipping spent fuel and high level nuclear waste has been going on for the past 15 years. The nuclear industry and its regulatory agencies would like to consider the case closed. The recent passage of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Act of 1990, however, opens the door once more, giving the railroads and other proponents of dedicated trains another chance to present their case. This paper argues that earlier conclusions favoring regular trains over dedicated trains were based on incomplete cost and risk information and neglected other factors which are not technical, but social and institutional in nature. The paper finds that the additional cost of a dedicated system is lower than previously thought and concludes that it is a small price to pay for reduced public opposition and increased levels of trust.     

Information flow from Japan to U.S. researchers in applied and basic energy research fields

A recent study conducted by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) evaluated technical information transfer from Japan to the United States. This evaluation was part of a larger assessment of international monitoring of energy technology development conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy. For this study, U.S. researchers in each of ten selected technical fields were identified and interviewed to obtain their perceptions of information transfer from Japan. Results from these interviews indicated that, although there are major differences among the technical fields, U.S. researchers generally consider information transfer from Japan to the U.S. to be inadequate. Researchers particularly noted the difficulties they have attending conferences in Japan or visiting Japanese research facilities. In contrast, Japanese researchers attend all major conferences and frequently visit laboratories in the U.S. Researchers recommended several steps to improve technology transfer from Japan, including improving the screening and translation of technical material published in Japan, promoting binational seminars and workshops, and encouraging laboratory visits and exchanges of research personnel.     

Technology transfer — A view of what works

Technology transfer works now as an applied art for many skilled practitioners. This is a brief review of some of the salient approaches to technology transfer that have been found to be effective. Discussed are personal contact, conferences, brokering, technical publications, patents, contracts, application teams and other related techniques. The discussion is rich with examples of what to do and what not to do.     

Morphology and the information age

New products, new services and new approaches to doing business may be essential in order to return to a period of long term economic propsperity. A particularly powerful approach to innovation is the technique called “morphology”. Kondratieff’s use of the morphology technique to analyze business cycles, and also an original use of morphology to analyze the categories of existence, are here applied to deduce office worker archetypes and significant business management issues, as a function of economic phase. The economic phases of prosperity, recession, depression and recovery are realted to the following business management issues: Productivity, time management, innovation and management by objectives. These issues correspond, respectively, to the following office worker archetypes: Information worker, skill worker, knowledge worker and decision maker.