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Free Agency: A breakthrough idea?

By Arundeep Pradhan posted 02-22-2010 14:53

  

Jobs. Companies. Innovation. If you have picked up a newspaper or watched the news lately, you know these are hot topics. In these difficult, but recovering, economic times, new ideas that would spur innovation and therefore increase jobs are proposed in a number of forums. One such idea, from the Kauffman Foundation, has received a lot of attention. You may have seen it in Harvard Business Review’s Breakthrough Ideas for 2010. But well before that article appeared, a separate, more detailed communication was provided by the Kauffman Foundation to the higher echelons of the Department of Commerce.

The ideas proposed in the article have generated considerable dialog and commentary. There seems to be some misunderstanding of AUTM’s position on this issue. Let me lay out our position for the record.

To be clear, AUTM encourages open discussion from a broad range of scholars, practitioners, policy makers and any interested stakeholders about how research commercialization can be advanced. In a recent letter to the Department of Commerce, we provided a critique of the Kauffman proposal and asked to engage in a constructive dialogue about how the technology transfer process can be enhanced. To that end, I will participate in a forum on research commercialization hosted by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on February 24, along with individuals representing universities, industry, investors, and of course the Kauffman Foundation. 

I spent the past week in Washington, D.C. and met with congressional staffers, representatives from Commerce, Association of American Universities, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, American Council on Education, Council on Governmental Relations, National Institutes on Standards and Technology and others. The conversations covered the Kauffman proposal and the role of government, universities and industry in enhancing university research commercialization. The Department of Commerce has solicited many ideas, has assured us that they are open for continued discussion and input from stakeholders, and is not endorsing any particular course of action at this time. This process is just beginning and I am sure that AUTM will play a continued and significant role.

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02-26-2010 18:39

I come from the economic development world and have been engaged with local University TTOs and attended the last three AUTM annual conferences. I would not pretend to be an expert in tech transfer, which has a significant element of art vs. science in the commercialization process. What I'd like to offer is the conundrum I see in taking pure research, or highly targeted research and trying to find a commercial problem for it to solve as opposed to the approach of identifying a significant problem or need and applying the best research minds to create solutions that are in demand in the marketplace. Given that the historic role of universities is first and foremost education, this is not surprising and should be expected. The question is for those of us in the community is how can universities become the economic engines we need in a globally competitive economy? My observation is that TTOs are very good at some things, but knowledge of the white space in markets is not one of the core competencies, hence the problem. Perhaps more collaboration between TTOs and business schools would help and I am certain this is happening. I am suggesting that if universities knew more about market pull and were free to apply their intellectual talent, we would see a greater output of the creation of viable commercial entities (companies), which in turn would create new jobs and revenue for communities. None of what I have said is brain surgery, however I thought it worth mentioning.
jeff lebow