Assessing differences between technology transfer officers and institutions in the decision to commercialise new technologies

Abstract

Extant literature has identified a set of criteria critical to the successful commercialisation of new technologies, however little research has examined whether or not technology transfer officers uniformly apply these criteria in the commercialisation process. We undertook a quantitative and qualitative investigation of the manner in which decision criteria vary across a population of technology transfer officers. We surveyed 21 technology transfer officers at 11 different research institutions regarding their application of these criteria to specific, institutional technologies. Our findings suggest that the nature of the technology, experience of the transfer officer and organisation of the technology transfer office each influence the decision to pursue commercialisation of specific technologies. Subsequently, we interviewed six officers to better understand our initial findings. Through these interviews, we gained substantial insight into the process, importance of external partners, performance criteria, and institutional metrics for technology transfer success.