Critical success factors and barriers to technology transfer: case studies and implications

Through several federal laws first enacted in 1980, the US Government has attempted to foster the commercialisation of technologies developed in federal laboratories. The utilisation of joint development agreements between government laboratories and commercial partners has helped to move new technologies into the marketplace. However, many new technologies continue to be developed in federal laboratories with only a small percentage successfully entering the commercial marketplace. Detailed case studies of new environmental technologies that have emerged from government laboratories and successfully penetrated the commercial marketplace suggest a mix of factors extrinsic and intrinsic to the technology itself that ultimately could determine the commercial success of a particular technology.