Instructions+for+conducting+technology+assessments

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Technology Assessments
**1. Goals and problem to be addressed**

The goal of technology assessments is to identify, structure, and make accessible a country’s national scientific competences. Such national “//intellectual capital//” has to be made visible and accessible in order to leverage economic development through increased commercialization of a country’s science sector. Specifically, the assessments should identify:
 * · Scientific capability in universities and research institutes
 * · Inventions and technologies from universities and research institutes
 * Technologies and capabilities within industry
 * Opportunities to create sector roadmaps

Based on the assessment results and other available information, a knowledge map database will be created and maintained by conducting regular technology assessments. The database will become part of a web-based “portal” to network companies, industrial research centers, universities, science parks, and other generators of knowledge. Understanding “who does what” and “who is good at what” is of crucial importance. The portal should be designed for easy access by potential users of a country’s expertise and R&D results, including domestic and foreign enterprises, and other generators of research.

It has been demonstrated in the West that most successful technology commercialization, through licensing for example, was initiated by scientist-to-scientist contacts. The key is to identify the right person within a company, gain the attention of that person, and then convert interest into a conviction that the company needs your knowledge. Many multinational companies suggest the greatest benefits, such as innovative new products, will result from ideas that can be generated by an interactive relationship with scientists outside the company over a period of time. In the view of some multinationals, big breakthroughs that will create large financial upside are now being achieved through iterative creative relationships between networks of scientists that cannot be pinned down to a series of specific commercial contracts. Therefore, researchers and research institutes need to position themselves in the marketplace so that they can benefit from these global trends. A country can also take advantage of the growing trend for R&D to become more distributed, or “going horizontal” with products being developed by collaborative networks rather than individual companies. Some suggest that the future of R&D is being reshaped around the world and that in many industries, suppliers of intermediate goods and services are also venturing into research and development. The benefits of distributed innovation and R&D include geographic reach; the flexibility to respond rapidly to changes in technology or resource needs; and the ability to access expertise, new technologies, and specialized equipment and facilities. Researchers and research institutes need to be in a position to participate in these global R&D alliances.

Other expected results should include:
 * 2. A sample strategy and proposed solution for a developing country**
 * Inform policy-makers about the innovation assets of the country (existing and potential).
 * Help scientists review their comparative position (in terms of commercial potential, rather than scientific excellence).
 * Disseminate opportunities and competences to the national and international business community. Create links between scientists working in different technology areas.
 * Helping find out where a country’s scientific and technological capabilities stand as compared to the rest of the world
 * Helping to decide in what scientific sectors to invest for the future growth of the country
 * Helping in possible privatization or commercial orientation of non-strategic R&D sectors with strong commercial potential
 * Creating clusters of excellence
 * Responding to complex demands from large domestic and foreign enterprises
 * Marketing the country’s R&D assets

Because foreign firms may not know what capabilities exist in the country, a marketing tool is needed which can be used to attract technology brokers, industrial research partners and foreign research institute partners (both of whom can be supported by a grant program for joint research.) R&D and new product development consulting based on Western resources is a freely competitive, transparent contract based market where the substantial upside is in the IP created. Because of this fact, brokering the matching of corporate needs to external resources is a low value-added process. Thus, brokering and contract research organizations work with low margins.

Because foreign firms may not know how to assess and access a developing country’s knowledge resources, similar consulting using the country’s resources has a high entry barrier. The brokering and management of the local relationship and process is of high value-added and high margin. When such brokering is successful, the attraction for foreign firms is that they can benefit from access to new knowledge and new approaches to R&D problems, as well as a highly competitive developing country’s cost structure. The result can be greatly improved margins for the company. The assessment and data base will help provide a developing country with a marketing tool which can be used to match needs and resources in this way.

This component should:
 * 3. Mechanism - how a typical program will work **


 * Make a detailed inventory of existing technological resources (scientific capability in universities and research institutes, inventions, technologies and capabilities within industry)
 * Set up a database of knowledge which should be maintained by conducting regular technology assessments.
 * Embed the knowledge database in the already existing infrastructure and link it to the strategic and operational decision process for commercialization of research results

An initial assessment should be carried out among a representative group of scientific organizations. This pilot project should thoroughly map available technology and innovation and related competences as well as identifying motivated key scientists. The initial assessment could be carried out by an experience contractor, but involve country staff in all phases to learn how to conduct such assessments. This experiential learning (learning-by-doing) could be followed up with a more formal technology assessment training program to prepare in-country personnel to conduct future assessments.

__Information collection__ __- Technology assessments__

A technology assessment is a well-tested way of information collection. It provides a benchmark for where the organization is now. The assessment can help identify strengths and weaknesses. It is a snapshot of the organization's technology infrastructure, and as such is a starting point. Regular technology assessments should be conducted to keep information up to date. Scientists working closely with the various technologies should be asked to provide brief written descriptions of the technologies, including the potential for re-application in other situations. Information gathered should include know-how, documents, processes, techniques, skills, equipment and software. Apart from serving as a useful management tool, when the assessment is a component of the broader competencies mapping effort, the information should improve internal communications, prevented duplication of effort by promoting internal technology transfer, raise employee awareness of new opportunities, and enabled employees to feel recognized and rewarded for their technical contributions. The assessment should concentrate on areas of strengths which could be built on and should not seek to identify weaknesses of individuals or research groups.

Interviews should normally be conducted by one external and one internal assessor. The external assessor should have a mixed academic and industrial background, current industrial awareness and experience of technology transfer, and should be selected for being able to understand the significance of advanced academic or research work in the unit being assessed. The internal assessor would normally be someone with industrial liaison responsibilities (if there is such a person) and should observe but not direct the course of the interview. The external assessor should ask most of the questions, but the internal assessor should help to highlight inter- and intra-department links. The external/internal balance should give sufficient awareness of the particular situation of the research unit to help identify the most likely opportunities, without excluding the unlikely or unexpected opportunity.

Results of the assessment should be presented in a comprehensive report covering items such as:
 * Core strengths of the research department.
 * Areas of inter- and intra- Department Synergy
 * Summary of core expertise, technology and equipment within a research group
 * Summary of expertise, technology and equipment complimentary to core areas
 * Summary of past and present industrial contracts and relationships
 * Summary of other research contracts, research funding sources and collaborations
 * Research likely to be pursued in the future
 * Teaching and training
 * Areas of inter- and intra- department synergy
 * Personal motivation and career path
 * Specific areas of opportunity
 * Recommendations for promotion and marketing
 * Other Issues

An assessment may include additional due diligence on selected commercial opportunities identified by the assessment. Included could be possible contractual agreements with other research or industry partners based on the IP discovered through the assessment, filing for patent protection, licensing possibilities, spin-off firm creation, or other commercial arrangements).

Experts familiar with the particular know-how or technologies would carry out such due diligence evaluations. The experts would be drawn from senior academics and industry R&D staff who not only have world standing in their particular disciplines but also have a good understanding of what new technologies have a commercial future.

__Evaluation of technologies and products__

The assessment can be used to evaluate inventions from inventors or finished or semi-finished products from companies or institutes. This is a major distinction, if the innovation comes from a company, then in theory, commercialization should be faster and cheaper compared to working with inventors – which usually requires much more time. Criteria can be established for evaluation and making a decision to attempt further development or not. Factors may include: Benefits and value of the technology, stage of development, ability to create fundamentally new products or services, performance data and benchmarking to competition, global or local application, potential sales, IP status, and the motivation, responsiveness, and plans of the developer.


 * 4. Cost**

Cost components include:
 * Personnel for conducting regular technology assessments using national and foreign experts
 * Knowledge platform software purchase and maintenance
 * Personnel for managing the competencies mapping process and maintaining the knowledge platform
 * Training
 * Dissemination of knowledge platform results to industry (travel, demonstrations at trade shows, etc)

It should be noted that maintaining the knowledge platform is essential, and is a recurring cost. 5. Outcomes to be monitored

The ultimate test of a knowledge database is whether it has achieved the four main objectives stated in Section 2, namely to:
 * Inform policy-makers about the innovation assets of the country (existing and potential).
 * Help scientists review their comparative position (in terms of commercial potential, rather than scientific excellence).
 * Disseminate opportunities and competences to the national and international business community.
 * Create links between scientists working in different technology areas

Monitoring should include:


 * Feedback from Government, scientific and educational, and industrial and business users of the knowledge platform
 * Technology assessments conducted (including: number and location of, results, problems in carrying out the assessments, necessary modifications to the procedure, etc.)
 * Motivation of research staff and increased commercial awareness
 * Usage of the knowledge database by business and industry (including: number of firms, number of contacts made, number and quality of resulting alliances between industry and the research base, etc.)
 * Usage by research and educational organizations (including: number of contacts made, number and quality of resulting alliances between research groups, educational outcomes, etc.)
 * Income generated, and return on investment in the knowledge database
 * Training of personnel to develop, implement and maintain the system