Federal laboratories have been a source of innovation in the United States since the establishment of the first laboratory, The Smithsonian Institution, in 1846. The Stevenson- Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-480) stated, “technology transfer, consistent with mission responsibilities, is a responsibility of each laboratory science and engineering professional.” The act mandated the creation of an Office of Research and Technology Applications at major laboratories to facilitate transfers of technology from the laboratories. Since then, interest in increasing the intensity and effectiveness of technology transfer has focused on activities that accelerate commercialization to benefit the economy and society.
While academic researchers have studied the topic of technology transfer from the federal laboratories at length, many of the studies were completed before 2000, and substantial changes have occurred since then in the national and global economic landscape. Furthermore, past studies examined a small subset of agencies’ laboratories, minimizing the broad range of federal laboratories and their technology transfer activities. These studies are insufficient to understand the issues surrounding the transfer of technology and the commercialization of products and processes from the federal laboratories as a whole.
