Global Technology Transfer

As we move further into the 21st century, increasing emphasis is being placed on the importance of technology transfer. Through new research and practices, scholars, practitioners and policymakers have made great strides in broadening our understanding and ability to implement technology transfer and commercialization processes. The fruit of that research is collected in this timely volume. Technology transfer is a dynamic area of study that examines traditional topics such as intellectual property management, the management of risk, market identification, the role of public and private labs, and the role of universities. This volume reflects on how government, business and academia influence technology transfer in different countries and how the infrastructure of a country enhances technology and contributes to each country s overall economy. Interpreting and adopting the processes of technology transfer and commercialization or, building innovative ecosystems is critical to seeing success in this digital age. Those leading the surge toward building innovative ecosystems for technology transfer are the fellows of the Institute for Innovation Creativity and Capital (IC2 Institute) at The University of Texas at Austin. Global in its scope of solving market economy problems, for this volume the Institute has focused its lens on accelerated knowledge-based development. Here, scholars from 13 countries come together to critique technology transfer from each of their respective nations. The results of their contributions lend innovative insight to exactly how different nations are working to maximize technology transfer and commercialization in uncertain times. Those with an interest in commercialization and technology transfer, from students to scholars, practitioners to policymakers, will find this important collection of great value.

Technology transfer—the process of sharing and disseminating knowledge, skills, scientific discoveries, production methods, and other innovations among universities, government agencies, private firms, and other institutions—is one of the major challenges of societies operating in the global economy. This volume offers state-of-the-art insights on the dynamics of technology transfer, emerging from the annual meeting of the Technology Transfer Society in 2011 in Augsburg, Germany. It showcases theoretical and empirical analyses from participants across the technology transfer spectrum, representing academic, educational, policymaking, and commercial perspectives. The volume features case studies of industries and institutions in Europe, the United States, and Australasia, explored through a variety of methodological approaches, and providing unique contributions to our understanding of how and why technology transfer is shaped and affected by different institutional settings, with implications for policy and business decision making.

Reappraises the role of international technology transfer in economic development in light of the globalization of the world economy. Provides an overview and historiography of technology transfer mechanisms, then discusses new technology transfer issues, particularly "sourcing," which have emerged as a result of increasing globalization, leading to an increased understanding of how developing economies and economies in transition could approach technology transfer policy in an increasingly globalized and open economic environment. Radosevich is a research fellow with SPRU, Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, UK. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The importance of international technology diffusion (ITD) for economic development can hardly be overstated. Both the acquisition of technology and its diffusion foster productivity growth. Developing countries have long sought to use both national policies and international agreements to stimulate ITD. The 'correct' policy intervention, if any, depends critically upon the channels through which technology diffuses internationally and the quantitative effects of the various diffusion processes on efficiency and productivity growth. Neither is well understood. New technologies may be embodied in goods and transferred through imports of new varieties of differentiated products or capital goods and equipment, they may be obtained through exposure to foreign buyers or foreign investors or they may be acquired through arms-length trade in intellectual property, e.g., licensing contracts. 'Global Integration and Technology Transfer' uses cross-country and firm level panel data sets to analyze how specific activities exporting, importing, FDI, joint ventures impact on productivity performance.

Distinguished economists, political scientists, and legal experts discuss the implications of the increasingly globalized protection of intellectual property rights for the ability of countries to provide their citizens with such important public goods as basic research, education, public health, and environmental protection. Such items increasingly depend on the exercise of private rights over technical inputs and information goods, which could usher in a brave new world of accelerating technological innovation. However, higher and more harmonized levels of international intellectual property rights could also throw up high roadblocks in the path of follow-on innovation, competition and the attainment of social objectives. It is at best unclear who represents the public interest in negotiating forums dominated by powerful knowledge cartels. This is the first book to assess the public processes and inputs that an emerging transnational system of innovation will need to promote technical progress, economic growth and welfare for all participants.

Research on the international transfer of technology in economics and management literature has primarily focused on the role of countries and that of companies, in particular multinational enterprises (MNEs). Similarly, economic and business historians have tended to view international technology transfer as a way for economically ‘backward’ countries to acquire new technologies in order to catch up with more developed economies. This volume provides a more in-depth understanding of how the international transfer of technologies is organized and, in particular, challenges the core-periphery model that is still dominant in the extant literature. By looking beyond national systems of innovation, and statistics on foreign trade, patent registration and foreign direct investment, the book sheds more light on the variety of actors involved in the transfer process (including engineers, entrepreneurs, governments, public bodies, firms, etc.) and on how they make use of a broad set of national and international institutions facilitating technology transfer. Put differently, the volume offers a better understanding of the complexity of global technology flows by examining the role and actions of the different actors involved. By bringing together a number of original case studies covering many different countries over the period from the late 19th to the 21st century, the book demonstrates how technology is being transferred through complex processes, involving a variety of actors from several countries using the national and international institutional frameworks.

For many years it was assumed that technology transfer would prove an unqualified answer for the problems of the developing nations, vastly simplifying and accelerating their rate of economic development. The papers in this volume question these assumptions demonstrating how technology transfer can be very costly and that success is contingent upon a variety of factors including, the direction of indigienous technology and the political setting of the recipient country.

Tackling a complex topic in clear language, the book reveals the impressive scale of patenting, licensing, and spin-out company creation while demonstrating that university technology transfer is a commercial activity with benefits that go well beyond the opportunity to make money.