Technology Transfer Systems in the United States and Germany Lessons and Perspectives (1997) / Chapter Skim
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Technology Transfer from Public Intermediate R&D Insitutions
Technology Transfer from Public Intermediate R&D Insitutions
Pages 302-331
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From page 302... ...
In all fields of electronics and information technology the specialization indexes of the patents of German professors are distinctly below average, which has to be interpreted against the background of a low level of industrial activity in this area. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FROM PUBLIC INTERMEDIATE R&D INSTITUTIONS Max Planck Society Complementary to German universities, the MPG is the major institution performing outstanding basic and long-term applied research.
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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN GERMANY 303 Electrical energy Audiovisual technology Telecommunication Information technology Semiconductors Optics Control Medical engineering Organic chemistry Polymers Pharmaceuticals Biotechnology Materials Agriculture, food Basic mataterials chemistry Process engineering Surfaces Material processing Thermal processes Environment Machine tools Engines Mechanical elements Handling Agricultural machines Transport Nuclear engineering Weapons Consumer goods Civil engineering -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 Specialization index FIGURE 3.20 Specialization of German Patent Office patents of German university professors, in relation to the average distribution at the EPO for the period 1989 to 1992. SOURCE: Schmoch et al.
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In recent years, there has not been much change in the research priorities of the Max Planck institutes (MPIs) ; only research activities in biology have increased to any significant extent.
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This personalitycentered form of organization can explain the rise and fall of individual institutes FIGURE 3.21 Max Planck institutes' expenditures in main supported areas, percent of total. SOURCE: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (various years)
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as well, whose members are public authorities or interested scientists, including representatives from industry. The chief administrative bodies of the Max Planck Society are the Executive Committee (Verwaltungsrat)
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These nonscientific officials have a non-negligable influence on the general policy of the Max Planck Society. However, nonscientific groups have a rather marginal influence at the level of the institutes.
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Out of MPG's budget of DM 1.73 billion in 1994, DM 1.53 billion (88.5 percent) were public institutional funds.
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Today, the main function of the MPG inside the German framework of science is to perform basic research.26 The assumption is that basic research provides an important stimulus for more applied R&D in industry (Dose, 1993) ; therefore, the work of the MPG pays off.
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, located near Munich, provides another example of active knowledge transfer. With more than 800 employees, half of them scientists, this institute is one of the largest, as it was formed by combining three formerly independent institutes.
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If the results of basic research carried out at an MPI can be exploited technically, an attempt is made to transfer the findings to industry through licensing or, in the case of collaborative research, through direct transfer of patents. MPG scientists are free to publish or apply for patents, so not all of the research findings are reported to Garching Innovation first.
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Besides the classic instrument of scientific publications, the major mechanisms of technology transfer are the participation of industry in advisory boards and committees and collaborative research uniting industry and the centers on large projects or programs. The centers are funded primarily with public money, but industry and the federal government are striving to increase the share of industrially relevant research these centers conduct.
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BUDGET AND RESEARCH AREAS In 1993, the HGF comprised 16 Helmholtz Centers with about 24,000 employees located throughout the old and new states of Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Großforschungseinrichtungen, 1994; Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, 1993a)
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The other sources of support for the Helmholtz Centers include funds generated by the Helmholtz Centers themselves, institutional funds from nonpublic sources, and external funds linked to specific research projects or programs. On the basis of the available publications of the Association of Large Research Centers (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Großforschungseinrichtungen [AGF]
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Since many research programs have long-term relevance for industrial applications, Helmholtz Centers often invite industry to collaborate. The dialogue with industry on specific projects or research areas can be mediated by industrial members on the advisory boards of the individual center or program committees of the AGF.
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Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Aeronautics, aerospace, energy 694 4,469 Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR Forschungszentrum Gesthacht, Climate, materials, process 132 845 KFA technology, nuclear safety Forschungszentrum Jülich, Materials, information 682 4,263 KFA technology, life sciences, environment, nuclear and other energy Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Environment, nuclear 956 3,790 FZK technology, super conductivity, micro systems Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Biotechnology 75 487 Forschung, GBF Gesellschaft für Mathematik Mathematics, information 195 1,599 und Datenverarbeitung, GMD technology, VLSIs SOURCE: Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (1993a)
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For instance, one-third of the license income has to be transferred to the government and cannot be used by the Helmholtz Centers themselves. Furthermore, license revenues cannot be used for purposes other than technology transfer (the Helmholtz Centers are actively trying to change this ruling)
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BMBF views as a necessity the stronger engagement of industry in supervisory and advisory boards of the Helmholtz Centers. R&D in technology areas not seen by industry to be useful should be stopped (Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, 1992, 1993a)
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What actual impact on technology transfer these new organizations will have remains to be seen. Blue List Institutes and Departmental Research Institutes The semipublic institutes of the Blue List and the departmental research institutes carry out numerous research activities.
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Technology transfer is generally considered a spin-off effect. However, some departmental research institutes cooperate closely with industrial enterprises within the framework of their official missions, e.g., the approval of technical products, so that de facto considerable informal technology transfer takes place (Bierhals and Schmoch, 1997)
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. Today, the FhG is the major German nonprofit organization in the area of applied research, running 46 institutes in Germany -- 36 consolidated institutes in the old German states and 10 newly established institutes in the new states, supplemented by 12 subsidiaries of consolidated institutes in the new states.
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These funds were the basis for developing the FhG's reputation for highquality applied research that thereafter allowed for successful expansion of research and technology transfer with considerably less institutional funding. Figure 3.22 shows the contributions of base institutional funds, public projects, and industrial contracts to the FhG from 1976 to 1994.
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The FhG operates in the market of publicly funded technology programs that are partly relevant to private industry (key technologies)
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A realistic level of industrial contract research in the publicly funded nonprofit sector would be in the region of DM 1 billion. In 1993, FhG institutes attracted about 20 percent of this market, second only to universities.
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The average share of FhG industrial contracts varies greatly among institutes and technology areas. Figure 3.26 shows the major trends between 1989 and 1993.
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Trends in information and communication technology and microelectronics, two sectors characterized by a relatively weak industrial base, show perceptible changes. Whereas in information and communication technology the trend is significantly downward, possibly reflecting deep structural changes (decline in the information industry, privatization in the communication industry)
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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN GERMANY 327 60 50 40 Percent 30 20 10 0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 year materials, components production, manufacturing information, communication microelectronics, microsyste sensors, testing process technology energy, civil engineering, environment, health technical-economic studies, services average FIGURE 3.26 Share of FhG industrial contracts, according to research area. SOURCE: FhG-Zentralverwaltung (1995)
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The second major transfer channel of the FhG is contract research for public projects or programs related to government responsibilities like health care, environmental protection, energy and telecommunications infrastructures, defense, and so forth, as well as to German economic competitiveness in world markets. Public research programs that are relevant to industry focus on precompetitive research with the goal of improving national competitiveness in key technologies.
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The Microelectronics Alliance represents the most direct form of industrial influence on the research policy of Fraunhofer institutes. Within the chain of technology transfer, the present Fraunhofer model covers the range from basic research to prototyping.
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and microelectronics. The low index in data processing may be related to the fact that the research institutes involved have a strong software orientation and, according to the German and European patent laws, patent protection for software is limited.
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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN GERMANY 331 Electrical energy Audiovisual technology Telecommunications Information technology Semiconductors Optics Control Medical engineering Organic chemistry Polymers Pharmaceuticals Biotechnology Materials Agriculture, food Basic materials chemistry Process engineering Surfaces Material processing Thermal processes Environment Machine tools Engines Mechnical elements Handling Agricultural machines Transport Nuclear engineering Weapons Consumer goods Civil engineering -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 Specialization index FIGURE 3.27 Specialization of German Patent Office patents held by the FhG in relation to the average distribution at the EPO for the period 1989 to 1992. SOURCE: The database PATDPA; Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research.
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