Historical Patterns in the Scholarship of Technology Transfer

Abstract

This essay is the first in a series authored by each Editor-in-Chief of Comparative Technology Transfer and Society to provide a sense of the scope and range of coverage the journal provides. It offers a historian's view of the development of the scholarship about technology transfer over the past half century, interweaving two primary threads. First, it identifies events and circumstances that have influenced and shaped real-world efforts to move technology in its many guises across boundaries— national, geographic, institutional, organizational, social, or otherwise. These historical situations have had a profound impact on the efforts of American policymakers and leaders in business, government, universities, and nongovernmental organizations who deal with technology transfer. These circumstances have produced significant changes of emphasis in the definition of technology transfer at different points in time. Scholars interested in technology transfer have taken their cues from the unfolding events of history, but they have also worked within a variety of disciplinary traditions. The second strand of this essay surveys a number of these disciplinary approaches to the study of technology transfer, with attention to a few principal problems and issues scholars have identified. By connecting historical events and trends within academic disciplines, this essay provides an overview of basic patterns within the scholarship related to technology transfer since 1950.

The evolving state-of-the-art in technology transfer research: Revisiting the contingent effectiveness model

“…Nevertheless, it is clearly the case that most technology transfer policy is to a large extent rationalized by its economic impacts. The use of science and technology policy and, specifically, technology transfer to spur economic development has sound basis in many public laws and policy documents and strong support from the general public (Seely, 2003).…”

Three Models of Development: Community Ophthalmology NGOs and the Appropriate Technology Movement

“…The appropriate technology movement started in reaction to the focus of 1950s and 1960s development professionals on transfer of inappropriate high technology from economically developed countries to less economically developed countries (Seely 2003;Willoughby 1990). It is influenced by ideology from the Indian independence movement and Buddhism (Willoughby 1990).…”

Table of Contents

“…With the events described, the interest over the commercialization of academic research increased substantially after 1980 (Seeley, 2003). Universities began to engage in "technology transfer," the process to convert research knowledge and findings into commercial products or processes, which in turn establishes patenting and related intellectual property activities such as licensing and marketing.…”