Government-Industry Collaborations
for a Secure Energy Future

The government should be available to provide funding for the basic and applied research needed to develop new technologies needed to address critical national concerns, like the need to enhance U.S. energy security and climate change….  It should also be willing to create incentives that will help push promising technologies to commercialization.... In this way, government action can bring—will bring the broadest possible types of investors and investments to all parts of the energy supply chain and stimulate new R&D in the private sector.

           -- Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, June 20, 2007

The Federal government has for many years supported and encouraged technology transfer with respect to federally developed technologies. In this sense, the phrase "technology transfer" most often refers to transfers between Federal laboratories and any nonfederal organization, including private industry, academia, and state and local governments.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), which was formally chartered by Congress to facilitate technology transfer in the United States, defines it as "the process by which existing knowledge, facilities, or capabilities developed under federal research and development funding are utilized to fulfill public and private needs."

Research investments by the Department of Energy have yielded significant scientific discoveries which fuel the economic engine and well being of the nation.  The Energy Department’s 17 National Laboratories, which conduct much of the fundamental research for DOE and its Office of Science, have been conduits for technology transfer, collaborating with industry colleagues to develop and commercialize energy products and processes for commercial use.

Technology partnering, broadly defined, is a significant mechanism for DOE laboratories and facilities to engage non-Federal entities in arrangements to advance the process of technology development and commercialization.  These arrangements leverage resources, providing for collaboration and cooperation between DOE and the private sector.  Technology partnerships can mean many things – technical assistance to solve a specific problem, use of unique facilities, licensing of patents and software, exchange of personnel, and cooperative research agreements, while ensuring fairness of opportunity, protecting the national security, promoting the economic interests of the nation, and preventing inappropriate competition with the private sector.

The technology transfer process involves the technical capabilities and resources at the DOE National Laboratory, a user of that technology, i.e., a nonfederal organization, and a mechanism that connects the two and facilitates movement of the technology from one organization to the other.  Some of the mechanisms that makes technology transfer possible includes joint research, cooperative research and development agreements licensing, user facilities, and Work for Others agreements.
Technology transfer differs from providing services or products (acquisition) and financial assistance (e.g. grants), which take place under traditional procurement regulations.

Facilitating the transfer of Federally developed laboratory technologies and capabilities to non-Federal partners, including private firms, has been an aim of the government policy since the passage of Bayh-Dole and Stevenson-Wydler technology transfer legislation in 1980. In 1989, the National Competitiveness Technology Transfer Act strengthened this aim at the Department of Energy by establishing technology transfer as a mission of DOE National Laboratories and Facilities. Most recently, in response to Section 100(g)(1) of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, DOE has prepared an Execution Plan, which presents a structure for the management and oversight of technology transfer activities at DOE national laboratories and other facilities in keeping with the provisions of EPAct.

Non-Federal entities, including small business, universities, non-profits, and state and local governments, regard DOE’s research laboratories and facilities as providing valuable and unique research and problem-solving capabilities.  Technology transfer allows leveraging of capabilities found in DOE facilities, including the National User Facilities, computational facilities, and science laboratories, with industrial research and production facilities. To facilitate these scientific interactions and add to the scientific strength of the nation, DOE has found efficient and effective ways to partner with the private sector, to have access to rapidly evolving technical expertise, and to build and maintain facilities to develop technologies further for commercialization.  The mechanisms for these collaborations include Work for Others (WFO) agreements, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Licenses, Personnel Exchanges, and User Facility Agreements.

DOE has established procedures to ensure fairness of opportunity, protect the national security, promote the economic interests of the United States, prevent inappropriate competition with the private sector, and provide a variety of means to respond to private sector concerns and interests.

In FY 2006, DOE and its laboratories and facilities negotiated and executed 12,779 technology transfer-related transactions.  These transactions include 629 new or active Cooperative research and Development Agreements; 2,337 Work for Others’ agreements involving non-Federal entities; 5,916 licenses of intellectual property; and 3,470 user facility agreements.  In addition, DOE disclosed 1,694 inventions; filed 726 patent applications; was issued 438 patents; and logged more than 351,000 downloads of its copyrighted open-source software. Associated with these activities, DOE’s laboratories and facilities reported $246 million in non-Federal entity WFO; $20.4 million of “funds-in” for CRADAs; $35.6 million in licensing income; and nearly $17.8 million in earned royalties. (Source:  DOE Report on Technology Transfer 2006)

Encouraged by these statutes, non-Federal entities have increasingly sought means to enter into technology partnerships with DOE's National Laboratories and Facilities. They view the National Laboratories and Facilities as a significant source of intellectual property, scientific expertise, cutting edge capabilities in multiple areas of science and technology, and unique research facilities. At the same time, DOE has encouraged its National Laboratories and facilities to enter into technology partnering agreements with non-Federal entities. A variety of mechanisms, discussed below, are employed to facilitate technology transfer.