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Technology Transfer
Program Description
The process of Technology Transfer is an area of responsibility undertaken in the Human Factors program to encourage utilization of project research results by the railroad industry, as well as Government, to develop policy and operating practices resulting in safer and more efficient rail transportation. The Technology transfer process may take several forms such as commercial transfer, exporting resources, importing resources, dual use, or scientific dissemination. Scientific dissemination is the form that has been most utilized by the Human Factors program. It includes the publication of FRA technical reports, research papers, conference papers and the conduct of conference symposiums that allow sharing of researched information and concepts amongst colleagues in government, industry, and academia. Each year, research is initiated, continued, or completed and findings are essentially entered to the technology transfer process through the Human Factors Update (an e-mail newsletter) and the Office’s Research Results (for more condensed reporting), or more formally completed research papers are posted to the FRA’s web site. To the extent that the Human Factors program is successful at technology transfer, economic growth in the railroad sector indicated as increased capacity and efficiency of operations by optimizing “human factor” performance, will enhance rail sector competitiveness in a global economy and leverage the most from the Human Factors program R&D budget and expertise.
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