Dealing with Asynchrony in Technology Transfer
This abstract was used for a presentation
at NIST on March 22nd 1995.
Draft abstract, 6 Nov 1994
Gio Wiederhold and Yelena Yesha
Stanford University - ARPA and NASA - NIST
A major problem discussed throughout industry and government is
Technology Transition (TT). New computing concepts originate in
industrial, governmental, and academic laboratories must to be
disseminated and, if found effective, adopted. The receptors are
industrial development, organizations devoted to improvement of
existing, and enterprises doing systems integration. The use of
computing is broad, an most of the receptors are not primarily focused
on computing but have a broader palette. There are many problems that
hinder technology transfer, this note focuses on the problem of
temporal and terminological gaps. We believe that these gaps encompass
a large and critical fraction of TT problems. We will deal here with
innovations and developments that are beneficial and should be
marketable at some point, and not with the issues of irrelevant
research, nor with the filtering needed to determine relevancy.
The Problem
Industry is rarely ready to accept an innovation when it first
presented. There are many reasons for lack of acceptance: the two
major ones are:
- The innovation is not understood by industry because, as a
byproduct of the innovation new terms have been defined.
- The innovation is understood or at least understandable, but
there are no resources at that time to try to develop and market the
innovation
These conditions are so common that it appears that direct TT from
academic or industrial laboratories to industry must be the unusual
case. To address these problems we will define a third party, namely
a 'transition agent' (TTA) interposed between researchers and
industry. The role of a TTA is to be a holder and developer for
research results in preparation for industrial requirements.
Sources for Innovation
In an academic research setting most innovation is associated with
a student and a thesis When the thesis is complete the student leaves,
but publication and dissemination often takes years. Even if new
electronic services for rapid review and self-publishing speed up this
phase, time still elapses before new concepts are appreciated and
industrial interest ensues. If a thesis produces an isolatable result
the student may become an entrepreneur, but to be successful many new
concepts have to be integrated into larger settings. It is generally
wise to plan academic thesis research so that it is not competitive
with industry. Targeting one's research with an precise trajectory
for industrial implementation is also risky. First of all, focusing
on a specific recognized industrial need is likely to compete with
convenient narrow specific solutions and reduces the intellectual and
educational content of the thesis. Secondly, especially if a broader
topic is addressed it is easy to fall short of the goal either in
scope or in time and be bypassed before the thesis work is completed.
In industrial laboratories less research is performed than in earlier
days, and there is much stress on development. It would be good if
industrial researchers would have good access to all types of
innovative research results, but even though nearly all results are
published and available on on-line networks they are very hard to
find. Reasons are both the volume and the marginal refereeing with
respect to industrial value of what is being published, and the use of
new and often excessively innovative terms to distinguish one's work
from that of predecessors. Most initial contacts leading to TT are in
fact personal, made at workshops and meetings, typically during
informal discussions. Many meetings that do not have TT as their
objective serve as TT venues, for instance review meetings where
academic and industrial participants assess new proposals, and in the
process learn from each other about what is needed and what is already
available. Much of the success that MITI can claim in TT is due to
their frequent and lengthy meetings to evaluate proposals that will
anyhow be funded. It to industry's credit that in Japan industrial
line managers participate in these discussions [Ref JTEC study 1991].
Today the pressures and time schedules many government labs are
similar to the pressures found in industry. However, the remoteness
from industrial delivery pressures makes performing in a product role
difficult. In addition, there is much oversight and a great deal of
time is spent in writing reports to justify ones' existence. Needs
for innovation. The industrial need for innovation is controlled
primarily by schedules and market forces which are unrelated to
research schedules. When the need for innovation in development
becomes clear, the sources are hard to access. The student and the
advisor are already involved in other enterprises, and the industrial
researcher has been pulled off to another project, or else left in
frustration. Although we can assume that relevant information will be
available on some digital library somewhere, it is unlikely that the
terms used to express a need will be the same as the terms used to
identify the research result, for instance research results supporting
'multi-attribute search for information' was published as 'partial
match retrieval' and ignored for some time. Especially in fast-moving
fields these terminological gaps are prevalent. Without people able to
span those gaps adoption of the innovation, even if recognized, will
be awkward.
Transition Agents
There is hence a need for intermediate organizations to be the
initial receptors, normalizers, and maintainers of research results.
Vic Reis, when director at ARPA, recognized that many research results
will not be of immediate use and will rest on shelves until needed
[reference needed, Viewgraphs?] However, no overt provision was being
made in Vic Reis' model to establish the shelves, making delayed use
unlikely. Not only passive shelves are needed, a potential adopter
needs people to talk to, get explanations, assess the status, and
feedback on transition potential. Most research results also warrant
some level of maintenance. For instance, demonstrations age rapidly as
equipment changes. As standards become established the utility of many
prototypes can be enhanced by adaptation to standard interfaces, often
simplifying the product in that process. As the terminology of a field
normalizes, descriptions and keywords used for search may be updated
to enhance access. Within the ARPA setting for instance, the
Intelligent Integration of information (I3) program funds a base level
TTA effort at ISX Corp., a small ARPA-oriented contractor. The role
assigned to ISX is to help assemble research results from the various
participants in the program, adapt them to the interoperation
conventions being developed, support interactions with emerging
standards efforts, demonstrate capabilities to potential user
organizations, and prepare business plans for technology insertion if
requested. The expense, at about 1 person-year/ year is well worth it
in terms of reduced confusion and rapid availability of resources. A
major benefit is, of course, having someone to talk to when I3 related
problems arise. A person who is involved both with researchers and
industry can bridge the terminological gaps better than individuals on
either side of the fence. All other program participants are (or
should be) aware of the role that ISX plays. The ISX company, of
course, also benefits by having an early handle on opportunities for
further work, including tasks outside of DoD. An increasing fraction
of informative interactions leading to TT can take place on the
Internet, although initial resolution of terminological differences
will require human mediation. The people at the TTA are to be quite
capable, willing to gain insight into the prototypes and products they
are supporting, maintain awareness of the changing infrastructure of
computing platforms, networks, services, and interface standards, and
at the same time be able to understand the needs of the recipients and
honestly point out which of their wishes and expectations will be
satisfied and which are best deferred into yet another timeframe.
Helping in Setting Research Directions
The structure established for TTAs should also support TT in the
opposite direction. If the TTA personnel can abstract the needs voiced
by industry into terms and concepts that are understandable by
researchers, they can help focus research on topics of eventual
interest. When industry rejects research results because they
duplicate products already available or in advanced stages of
development the TTA gains high-value knowledge, that normally would
never be transmitted to researchers. The TTA will also, in time,
understand the end-users needs in depth. Without deep understanding
their is a danger to solve problems by applying instant 'hack'
solutions, leading to worse problems later. Without guidance from
industry many researchers are left to wallow in problem spaces of
their own imagination. This direction is not meant to disparage
'curiosity-driven research'if a researcher is truly driven curious
to gain some new insight, that is marvelous. But many researchers
would just as soon work on foundational research on which substantial
industrial structures can eventually be built.
Who are Candidates to be Transition Agents (TTAs)?
There are quite a number of industrial research groups, both profit
and non-profit, who seem well able to take on the role of a TTA. Many
government labs, as NIST, the requirements of the task outlined for
TTAs. A governmental organization is by its very nature more stable
than either academia or modern industry. Investment in advancing broad
industry needs is justified, and the tasks of integration, requiring
establishing and validating standards are part of NIST's perceived
mission. Being a transition agent is also unlikely to be viewed by
industry as undue interference, and the aspects of industrial policy
are minor. The change in manpower supply in computing (much greater)
makes the implementation of such a role for NIST's computing
laboratories more feasible than it would have been, say, 5 years ago.
Today many graduates would enjoy having the chance to come to a
post-doc position at NIST where they could demonstrate, enhance, and
package their work. Such an effort will benefit with interaction of
NIST permanent staff who can convey industrial insights often lacking
in academia. At the same time an influx of young rotators can enhance
the staff awareness of the changing world and technology outside of
the government. They are likely to put pressure on the environment
that would discourage going along with old, comfortable systems. Those
postdocs that eventually obtain academic positions will also bring
valuable experience and awareness of terminology used from their
industrial contacts to their future students.
No matter if the TTA is in industry or government, is profit or
non-profit, it will be crucial that management defines the role and
the criteria for success. The TTA model presented above can only work
if the reward system is appropriate. If promotions and status depends
on counting papers published, or on transitioning ones own research to
industry, then the required functions for aiding TT will be abrogated.
We believe that the need for the TTA role is sufficiently crucial that
it behooves laboratories that can perform in this role to assess how
to implement these functions.