The National Institute of Standards and Technology has introduced an initiative that aims to facilitate federal technology transfer in an effort to accelerate the transition of new products to market, build up the U.S. economy and support national security efforts.
NIST said Tuesday it launched the Return on Investment initiative at the Unleashing American Innovation symposium on April 19 in Washington in order to meet the Lab-to-Market cross-agency priority goal with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as part of the President’s Management Agenda.
“It’s time to re-examine our regulations, practices and laws to better promote technology transfer and the commercialization of innovative technologies,†Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said at the symposium.
“We want to maximize the impact of the federal R&D investment and knowledge exchange between the public and private sectors to continue to boost U.S. competitiveness in global markets,†Ross added.
NIST issued a request for information Tuesday to collect public feedback on federal tech transfer and the public’s capacity to work with federally funded research-and-development centers and laboratories through licensing and partnerships.
Public comments on the RFI are due July 30, according to the Federal Register notice.
NIST will also hold public forums in May and June in San Jose, Calif., Denver, Chicago and Gaithersburg, Md., to seek recommendations and feedback on federal tech transfer.
