Development of a Technology Transfer Work Station

The objective is to develop a computer-based technology transfer workstation to aid in the transfer of technology from federal laboratories to the private section. The technology transfer workstation will incorporate a decision support system (DSS) that will contain specific documents an data elements necessary to support management decisions concerning the selection of candidate technologies. Previous methodologies for technology transfer have focused opn educating potential markets through mainly passive means, i.e., seminars and meetings and through information transfer through informal channels. OpTech proposes to support federal laboratory managers and scientists with a structured decision support system resident on a technology transfer workstation. Technologies from the fields of R&D management, decision analysis, document imaging and retrieval systems, and legal and administrative review will be combined within the DSS. In Phase I, we will (1) review current literature on information management and technology transfer: (2) determine the informational flow requirements between internal and external agencies, (3) define mandatory DSS data elements, and (4) design a prototype workstation. The prototype DSS and workstation will be developed in Phase II.