Industrial Technology Transfer

Technology transfer has a long history, but only recently has it become the subject of study and action. The rapid rate of scientific and technical advance in both Europe and the United States and the existence of large technology gaps among nations has brought the importance of the process into sharper focus, and has c~used technology transfer to have implications for countless aspects of both national and international develop ment. Technology transfer has been variously defined as: the process of information transfer between science, technology and actual utilization of scientific data and ideas, to wit: production of goods and services; the process by which science and technology are diffused throughout human activity; the transfer of research results into operations; the process by which technical information originating in one setting is adapted for use in another setting. Collectively, these and other definitions share a common theme which characterizes the process as one of bringing technology i'ilto widespread use in solving mankind's problems in the shortest practical time. The first NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on Technology Transfer in July, 1973, brought together many of the individuals dealing with quantitative data, based on empirical research. This conference had both the advantages and disadvantages of a somewhat detached point of view. The ASI also had lectures contributed by representatives from government agencies and corporations (and a few university-based scholars) who had been active as practitioners or consultants in policy-making and organizational design for technology transfer.