Innovation & Commercialization: Role of Technology Transfer Office in Malaysia Universities

Abstract

Innovation is Malaysia main agenda in pursuing Vision 2020. Year 2010 had been declared as innovation year by the prime minister and various steps have been taken by the government to achieve the target. The role of universities in the growth of national innovation systems and economy is well recognized, but the translation of research outputs into marketplace has rather not been as good. Technology Transfer Office (TTO) traditionally is known to facilitate university technology commercialization. Creation of a TTO within the university is often viewed as instrumental to secure a sufficient level of autonomy for developing relations with industry and other interested parties. In this paper, we take a look at the established TTO of two Research Universities in Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, to understand their structures and roles in supporting the universities innovation and commercialization.