Accelerating Technology Transfer Federal Laboratory Consortium Annual Meeting April 24, 2013 Paul Zielinski Director, Technology Partnerships Office National Institute of Standards and Technology 1
Policy Development Activities White House Innovation and Information Policy Working Group co-chaired by NEC and OSTP (2009) Evolved to Innovation and Entrepreneurship Working Group (December, 2009) Four subcommittees SBIR (SBIR 2.0) Proof of Concept Centers Access to Capital (Startup America) Federal Lab Commercialization INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES 2
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/28/presidential-memorandum-acceleratingtechnology-transfer-and-commerciali 3
Presidential Memorandum Overview Sec. 2. Establish Goals and Measure Progress Agencies Develop plans that establish performance goals and measures within 180 days Plans cover the 5 year period from 2013 through 2017 Plans are agency specific based on mission Agency heads encouraged to include tech transfer overall laboratory evaluation. The Interagency Workgroup on Technology Transfer Recommend opportunities for improving Federal tech transfer Improve and expand collection of metrics Sec. 3. Streamline the Federal Government's Technology Transfer and Commercialization Process Review licensing/crada procedures CIO/CTO, in coordination with other agencies: List all federal inventions on a public Government database; increase the usefulness and accessibility of this data SBIR and STTR Sec. 4. Facilitate Commercialization through Local and Regional Partnerships Collaborate/participate in regional technology innovation clusters Applied research and business support programs on or near Federal laboratories Strengthen the commercialization activities in local region. 4
Interagency Workgroup on Technology Transfer Established under Executive Order 12591 Functions in 15 USC 3710(g)(1) Tech transfer office leads across agencies Subgroups for response Opportunities/Regional Partnerships Communication Metrics AIA INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES 5
Agency Plans Critical emphasis on Technology Transfer within agencies Thirteen agency plans submitted Generally include: Focus on agency plans and innovations Agency goals and measures Streamlining CRADA and licensing, SBIR/STTR Local and regional partnerships Plans are public Check Agency Web Site Links page on NIST website http://www.nist.gov/tpo/publications/agency-responsespresidential-memo.cfm 6
Interagency Reports Publically available (same website http://www.nist.gov/tpo/publications/agency-responses-presidentialmemo.cfm) Executive Summary looks at approach and goals by agency Opportunities Summary looks at new proposals and streamlining efforts by area Metrics Sets out new government-wide metrics for technology transfer 7
Opportunities/Technology INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES New Technology and Scientific Work Products Leveraging nation s investment in mission-focused R&D Assist and expand economic development and the commercialization of new products and services Includes the traditional concept of patents and licensing as well as other ways to convey knowledge to the private sector. Recognize that new trends, such as open source models, require new approaches and new tools. 8
Opportunities/Technology Improving Outreach for Technology Transfer Technology transfer requires communication Trade meetings, social media, and targeted marketing Internet/Use of social media Use of Intermediaries Expand the reach of federal laboratories to provide a variety of different services to potential partners Coordinating intermediaries between agencies Place-Based Technology Focus INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES Technologies are often found in particular geographic areas because the local infrastructure, including a pool of qualified employees leverage growth with Regional Technology Development Organizations (RTDOs) 9
Opportunities/Technology Licensing Incentive Programs Pilot programs to facilitate better access for new and small businesses through lower rates and established and known costs. Focus on small businesses INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES Complementary Technologies - Addresses different components of a larger national problem across agencies (e.g, Water management, biopesticides, detection and vaccine development, bioenergy feedstocks and refining) 10
Opportunities/Collaborations Collaborations Public/Private Partnerships for Research and Development Many Federal inventions are possible due to the ability of Federal laboratories to effectively partner with the private sector. Direct transfer of knowledge and ideas INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES Many of the outreach activities discussed above also benefit collaborations 11
Opportunities/Collaborations Software Problem for Federal technology transfer because, in general, Federal work products cannot be copyright protected. Although software may in some cases be patentable material, the fast moving field of software development relies on copyright CRADA software policies being explored New/Expanded Tools The PM challenged agencies to look at new approaches using existing authorities Enhanced Use Lease authority (USDA, DOE) New agreements (USDA MTA) NASA s CRADA policy NIH proposed an Entrepreneurship Sabbatical program EPA s Open Innovation Challenges INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES 12
Opportunities/Efficiency Technology Transfer Efficiency One of the most common complaints about Federal programs is bureaucracy Small businesses are especially vulnerable to a slowmoving system Streamlining Operations Simplify model agreements, new agreement types Process review, efficiency milestones to reduce time, automation Training Ensure scientists are ready to collaborate and identify inventions Invention disclosures increase following training The initial contact with a Federal laboratory is often through individual researchers 13
SBIR Linking SBIR/STTR to Technology Transfer Leverage SBIR/STTR programs with technology transfer opportunities to further reach out to the small business community. DoC/NIST piloted a program to offer Federal technologies as business development opportunities and several agencies have adopted that approach Streamlining SBIR/STTR Agencies proposed developing or expanding SBIR outreach, training, and websites to assist small businesses in both spin-in and spin-out technology transfer activities. Coupled to agencies efforts to streamline their SBIR programs, several agencies have proposed opportunities to assist SBIR recipients of awards as well as those small businesses that were not selected for an award 14
Opportunities/Technology Sec. 3. Streamline the Federal Government's Technology Transfer and Commercialization Process - CIO/CTO, in coordination with other agencies: List all federal inventions on a public Government database Not looking for a single solution Currently referencing improved FLC Available Technologies Site at: http://www.federallabs.org/available_technologies/ Asking for agency participation Will likely have feed to data.gov as well, possibly using FLC collection FLC Small Business Resource at: http://www.federallabs.org/small-business/ 15
Metrics Goal to minimize burden while providing responsive information Attempt to use what agencies already collect Look at agency plans Info on White House initiatives Cross-agency Priority (CAP) Goal Coordinate with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics of the National Science Foundation on data already available Science and Engineering Indicators 15 USC 3710(g)(iii) has an open invitation to propose new metrics 16
Metrics The currently required metrics collected and reported by each agency as codified at 15 USC 3710 (f) are: (A) an explanation of the agency s technology transfer program (B) information on technology transfer activities for the preceding fiscal year, including (i) the number of patent applications filed; (ii) the number of patents received; (iii) the number of fully-executed licenses (iv) the total earned royalty income (v) what disposition was made of the income described in clause (iv); (vi) the number of licenses terminated for cause; and (vii) any other parameters or discussion that the agency deems relevant or unique to its practice of technology transfer. In addition, agencies currently report information regarding the number of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) conducted by the agency pursuant to 15 USC 3710a. 17
Metrics These metrics are then used as the basis for the interagency summary report described in 15 USC 3710(g): (i) draw upon the reports prepared by the agencies under subsection (f) of this section; (ii) discuss technology transfer best practices and effective approaches in the licensing and transfer of technology in the context of the agencies missions; and (iii) discuss the progress made toward development of additional useful measures of the outcomes of technology transfer programs of Federal agencies. 18
Metrics - Context INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES Context - NSF Federal Funds for Research and Development Table 10, which provides a breakout of intramural and Federally Funded Research and Development Center data by agency. (see: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf12308/content.cfm?pub_id=4121&id =2) Show size of R&D program: About $50B in intramural research Show relative size of agency programs 19
Metrics - New Technology and Scientific Work Products Intellectual Property Retain existing statutory metrics New: Number of licenses granted to small businesses Although 35 USC 209 (c) has a clear preference for small businesses in exclusive licensing, no efforts have been made to analyze the component of small businesses licensing Federal inventions. New: Number of startups created For the purpose of this report, a startup company is a privately-held, for-profit company operating for less than 5 years and actively seeking financing to commercialize a federal scientific work product. Anecdotes should be reported on selected startups as appropriate. Recommended that agencies develop a process to track the performance of agency-assisted companies. 20
Metrics - New Technology and Scientific Work Products New: Number of patents granted categorized by selected technology areas and by agency. NSF s annual publication SEI based on data obtained from the USPTO s technical review process for patent applications Broken down by agency from NSF 21
Metrics - New Technology and Scientific Work Products New: Scientific Articles and Publications New: U.S Scientific and Engineering (S&E) articles by selected technology areas and agencies. Data on the number of U.S. S&E articles by technology areas is available and published in NSF s SEI report This data will be expanded to include the number of articles by technology area and by agency. Citations of U.S. S&E articles in U.S. patents By selected S&E field and Agency 22
Metrics - New Technology and Scientific Work Products Future Metric: The number of software programs available for download developed by Agency and the number of software programs downloaded per fiscal year by Agency Important measure of potential technology transfer Most Federal software cannot be protected by copyright, this important area generally goes unreported Recommended that each Federal agency undertake a review of how software is developed and made available to the public Recommended that agencies work together to develop metrics on the annual number of software downloads grouped by an agreed upon set of S&T areas 23
Metrics - Collaborations Traditional output metrics to be retained are: Total active CRADAs New CRADAs executed in the fiscal year Non-traditional CRADAs active in the fiscal year Other collaborative R&D relationships active in the fiscal year (this includes Space Act agreements or other agency specific authorities, Material transfer Agreements, or other important collaborations as deemed relevant by the agency) Anecdotal information on the nature, character, and successes of collaborative relationships. New Small business Breakout of the number of agreements and other collaborations involving small businesses. The total number of small businesses involved in agreements. 24
Process Metrics Measures of Efficiency Existing statute (but not in current interagency report) - The amount of time that elapses from the date on which a license was requested by a licensee in writing to the date the license was executed New: Narrative Description - Each agency will provide an annual summary on the progress of streamlining administrative processes and highlights. Time and process Training (reduces transaction and redirect time) 25
Metrics - Impact Analysis Impact Analysis In addition to process outputs and anecdotal descriptions, agencies have conducted studies that examine the downstream outcomes and economic impact of technology transfer. The following metrics will be included in the annual summary report: The annual number of technology transfer impact studies completed by agency Abstracts of selected agency impact studies that highlight the success of recent technology transfer activities. Literature Review and Summary - In addition to individual analysis reports, the Commerce Department s annual summary report will include an updated literature review of peer reviewed publications that have assessed the economic impact of Federal technology 26
Reporting No new report requirement Annual reporting will be in existing reports Agency required under 15 USC 3710(f) OMB Circular A-11 Interagency under 15 USC 3710(g) http://www.nist.gov/tpo/publications/federallaboratory-techtransfer-reports.cfm Continue to update and revise as needed Continually review agency new ideas and mechanisms 27
Thank You! Paul Zielinski Director, Technology Partnerships Office NIST (2200) 100 Bureau Dr Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2000 Paul.zielinski@nist.gov 28