A recent [Department of Defense] report defines technology transfer as the transition of R&D programs from research to application by a user. It begins when an R&D agency shows the users, early in the planning stage of a project, how a technology can be applied to their needs. Based on that definition, there is very little evidence of technology transfer from federal agencies to the industrial sector....
Despite the fact that the U.S. makes major investments in R&D, the results are not reflected in our having a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The first thing to be recognized is that it is not the mission of federally funded agencies to focus on research and development that generate competitive products. That change in focus would require a policy of "market pull," where the product objectives simultaneously take into account both military and commercial product requirements.
The present allocation of resources have ...
