Technology transfer - A tool to promote innovation and cooperation between science and industry

The need for Technology Transfer. Innovation, the source for new products, services, production processes, as the key factor for economic development. The influence of innovation on competitiveness; the role of small and medium enterprises in economic development. The aims of and interests in Technology Transfer. The institutions involved - namely the (public) research and development sector on one side and the (private) industry on the other - (have to) work with different aims, in different organizational and legal structures, with different motivation structures. This is necessary to accomplish the different goals in general, generation of knowledge and education for the research sector, generation of profits for the industry. One challenge for technology transfer activities is to bridge these differences by creating mutual understanding of and acceptance for the difference and learning how to cooperate effectively. The Approaches towards Technology Transfer. Two basically different approaches characterize technology transfer: the "technology push", means actively transferring results from the research sector to industrial applications, the "market pull", means responding to requests from the industrial sector for problem solving capacities. These approaches require different instruments. The Tools of Technology Transfer. There are many different instruments available - from (scientific) publications to active selling initiatives, from educational programs to personnel placement, from seminars to "spin-off" promotion. These instruments offer a wide range of possibilities and require specific resources. The Key for Success. There simply is one key for success: people.