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How does the CSIR view technology transfer?
It is the process of converting scientific findings from research laboratories into useful products by another party. This process may also include converting community innovation to scientific findings (i.e. indigenous knowledge).
What are typical technology transfer processes?
These include the innovations disclosure process, protecting the innovation (by e.g. patents and copyrights), then publication of scientific research and licensing the rights to innovations to industry for commercial or social good development.
How does the CSIR measure the success of technology transfer?
The CSIR's measures of technology transfer success include the number of patents filed, license agreements executed, new companies formed, revenues from license fees, royalties and cash from equity investments paid, number of technology demonstrators and the numbers of products successfully introduced to the market. Success is also demonstrated by the impact the products have on quality of life.
Others include the ability to retain entrepreneurial employees, attract outstanding researchers, contribute to the institutional reputation for innovation, increase and expand our research programme through interaction with the private sector and enhance our reputation for providing highly trained researchers for the industrial work force.
What are the benefits of technology transfer?
There is a growing recognition within research institutions, academia and industry that technology transfer efforts afford significant opportunities to many communities. For a research institution such the CSIR, technology transfer gives the research community the opportunity to make a positive impact on the marketplace, and to have a socio-economic impact. For the industrial community, technology transfer gives the private, for-profit sector the means to tap into significant new discoveries made by research laboratories. For the public at large, technology transfer provides the opportunity to benefit from extraordinary new technological advances being made by the brightest minds. |
