Identifying the key processes for technology transfer through spin-offs in academic institutions: a case study in Flanders and The Netherlands

Abstract

The position and role of technology transfer offices within universities and academic institutions have changed under influence of today's society, with diminishing government subsidies and technology transfer related policies having their impact on the technology transfer processes. In order to find out what the effect of this impact is, we performed a multiple-case study on six technology transfer offices in Flanders and The Netherlands. As a result of the study, we identified two categories of findings: processes related to technology transfer and general conditions for technology transfer. These findings lead us to believe that due to the outside pressure, technology transfer offices are creating new business models and quality control mechanisms to optimise their processes.