Technology Transfer From Government Labs To Entrepreneurs

The transfer of technologies from government operated research laboratories to commercial firms is a difficult and complicated process. Corporate research and development agreements, intellectual property licenses and other agreements are keys to this process as they offer intellectual property protection to the technology creator. But the high costs of negotiating such agreements make them prohibitively expensive for many emerging entrepreneurial firms (Steffensen,et. al, 2000). These arrangements work well for large firms because large firms have adequate funding. Moreover, they are primarily interested in evolutionary technologies that lead to rather quick market penetration and rapid returns on investment in intellectual property agreements (Christensen, 1997). Independent entrepreneurial firms, however, often focus on disruptive technologies and discontinuous innovations that take much longer to achieve market acceptance and revenue generation (Christensen, 1997).Empirical evidence shows that small firms are more efficient innovators and develop more "major" innovations compared to large firms (Futures Group, 1984; Gellman, 1974). Thus, ineffective technology transfer from government labs to small firms may cause lower rates of innovation for society thereby reducing economic growth below its potential.This technology transfer problem has been recognized by Sandia National Laboratories and it has responded by creating the SAMPLES program. Herein, we describe the differences between disruptive and evolutionary technologies and create a model that exemplifies the important characteristics to technology transfer. Next, we describe the SAMPLES technology transfer model that began in 1996, show how implementation of this model leads to commercialization of disruptive technologies and report empirical evidence of its success with nearly 100 entrepreneurial firms over the last four years. Success of the SAMPLES program suggests that it provides a useful model that may be replicated in other nations that seek to commercialize government laboratory research.