Knowledge Management for Technology Transfer Organizations: A Key to Sustainable Excellence presented to CONICET in Argentina

1. Knowledge Management for
Technology Transfer Organizations: A
Key to Sustainable Excellence
Professor Jon R. Cavicchi, J.D., LL.M. (IP)
Intellectual Property Librarian & Research Director, ITTI
Franklin Pierce Center for IP at UNH School of Law
KM TT

2. KM TT
Introducing a best practice across
multiple spaces you operate in…
University Life
Cycle Tech
Transfer
Business
Collaborations
Innovation
Knowledge
Organizations
Economic
Development
in LDCs
Communities
of Interest
KM TT

3. ITTI Philosophy = A2K & KM are
essential on the micro & macro levels
•Lab / R&D
•Management
•Board Room
•TTO
•IP Department
•Legal
•Collaborators
•Intra-organizational
•Innovation
•International Development

4. KM often within the context of what
might be protected IP, assets
• Trade secrets
• Confidential
• Know how/show how

5. Key theme : there is no one-size fits all
solution
• We will help you to frame a bigger picture and
not in specifics until you get down to a point
where you've considered all of the variables
and are ready to focus on the various models of
TTOs that are used.
• There are generally 5 or so different options in
the U.S. but very, very different constructions in
other parts of the world.

6. When the Pierce Law team leaves how
will you all maximize this learning
experience, implement, grow, change,
network, adapt, assimilate, deploy,
collaborate, continue learning &
educating…

7. How does KM fit into the picture?
• Walk away message – KM starts by adopting a way
of thinking….to reach custom solutions…
– In and amongst many ability for organizations to turn data into value is in various
states of disarray
– KM looks at data in and across enterprises
– IP management one task on the KM list
– KM is a disciplined way of thinking leading to processes and solutions
– These are sizable and tunable from the smallest TTO to the largest enterprises
– Off the shelf collaboration tools
– Free web based tools
– Effective use of intranets and extranets
– Enterprise search solutions
– Numerous premium applications and web platforms

8. From the Desk of Karen
Hersey• There are any number of TTO structures that are
possible and being used by different institutions.
• Partly, differences in structural and reporting design
will be a matter of historical precedent for the
institution, a matter of the university's mission and
policies and a matter of management style and
preferences of the director.
• The way I usually attack it is to have the institution
focus on its mission e.g. what the TTO is designed to
accomplish.
• The question of who makes that decision can be any
kind of a group of people, selected by the institution.

9. Knowledge management and the application of
tech transfer are two different things
• In the U.S., in order for a university to successfully construct a knowledge
management system, it needs to consider applicable laws and regulations that
have to be complied with
– (federal and state),
– university mission & policies,
– custom & usage,
– third-party obligations.
• Constructing a knowledge management system that enables technology
transfer will be a matter of the TTO mission and one way to think about it is to
back in from a commercialization end point.
• How do you construct a system that allows you to reach that point. Then you
are dealing with a kind of internal knowledge network within the institution
dealing with all of the pieces of university function that contribute to the result
you want to reach
– inventors, researchers, deans, sponsored research, external relations,
development, university counsel and so forth.

10. Knowledge management is all about building a stronger
community within organizations and between
organizations.

11. While precious, the stroke of innovation is not
fleeting - it can be systematically managed,
and this enduring capability is critical for
sustained growth.
http://www.innovaro.com/

12. Exercise: Identify events that involve
need for and management of data

14. Lesson : Know Your Commercial
Partner…learn their KM culture
• Private Sector Perspective
– Everyone is an employee, thus,
– Each employee works on assigned portions of a problem.
– Research results belong outright to employer.
– Royalty payments to employees are rare to nonexistent.
– Results are kept secret.
– Attribution of the research is largely anonymous.
– Management controls use of research.
• Above statements are the assumed starting point for
collaborations with universities.
John Fraser, Communicating the Full Value of
Academic Technology Transfer: Some Lessons
Learned, 1 Tomorrow’s Technology Transfer_
(No. 1 Winter 2009)

15. University Perspective
• Employees are primarily teachers and/or professors, thus,
– Research is self-directed, not assigned.
– Research funds are personally solicited.
– Results are the property of the researcher.
– Academic publication and personal attribution are the primary goals.
– Researchers are required to assign rights to university.
– Researchers are entitled to share in revenue thus obtained.
– Researchers may retain control of use/revision of works.
• The key point is that corporate attitudes in negotiating an academic
license are based on the above common practices (usually
unstated) inside the company.
• The more important cultural differences exist between the
academic sector and the private sector, not within the industry
sectors.
Id.

16. Benefits of Integrating IT and Team
Building
• Project management where everyone involved in a team understands what is going
on, what the issues are, and how the project is moving forward is a solution to the
problem.
– if researchers electronically share information gathered from their early experiences developing the product,
manufacturing, and operations, people can find appropriate suppliers more efficiently. At the same time,
development groups can gain information about new sources of raw materials from the manufacturing and
operations groups.
• Integrated enterprise software allows research organizations to fully leverage their
knowledge assets across the entire organization. Modules for knowledge
management and project management can lead to more effective collaboration with
colleagues.
– By using electronic lab notebooks, automating the process for conducting clinical trials, and automating quality
management and training management, life science companies can become true quality leaders.
• There are signs that life science companies are starting to rethink their team-
building strategies. Some have progressive thinkers at or near the top of
management who appreciate the adept management of information.
– Look for this trend to continue. The competitive advantage that life science companies can capture through
integrating information technology will accelerate the adoption of these systems in the next few years.
David Dunn, True Information Integration Can Make Life Science
Firms More Productive (Vol. 28, No. 18 Oct 15 2008 )

17. Process knowledge management with
traceability

18. •From a cost center into a profit center
•Inability to access critical information
•Opportunities fall between the cracks
•Increase the number and quality of
your invention disclosures
•Reduce the cost of your patent budget
•Expand the marketing reach of your
organization for your technologies
•Improve your contact with the
researchers in your organization
•Ensure that your agreements are
managed effectively
•Maximize license revenue through
effective collection
•Guarantee that you are in compliance
with sponsors of your research
•Improve the financial management of
your technology portfolio including
invoicing and calculating royalties

19. Technology is information or
knowledge that is put to use in order
to accomplish a particular task.
Technology transfer is the
application of information into use.

20. Knowledge Management Facilitates
Technology Transfer
• Comprised of knowledge generation, transfer,
accumulation, adoption, and diffusion.
• Contemporary technology transfer (TT) focuses
on the adoption of knowledge.
• Technology is essentially knowledge.
• Transfer is the movement of
knowledge/technology via some type of channel
(analog or digital): person-to-person, group-to-
group, and
organization-to-organization.
Gibson et al, Knowledge/Technology
Transfer and Adoption (IEEE 2010)

21. Definition
• Knowledge Management is a broad field that encompasses the full
range of information capture, management, and presentation.
• Overall goal of Knowledge Management is to take the institutional
knowledge of an organization and translate it into information that
can be communicated, shared, and acted upon.
• If handled properly and managed effectively, Knowledge
Management concepts will quickly translate to greater
collaboration in the workplace, better management and retention
of information, and measurable financial and resource return on
investment.
Unlocking the Path to Successful
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
(www.technologytransfer.it 2009)

22. Knowledge/Technology Transfer (KTT)
• centers on the communication of information
that is intended to accomplish a task.
• KTT is becoming a major management focus
and involves a range of organizational,
informational, and behavioral challenges
• getting knowledge (ideas and products) from
research to process and market applications in
a cost effective, timely manner.
Id.

23. Knowledge Management, Organizational Learning, Innovation,
and Technology Transfer: What They Mean and Why They Matter
• What happens inside the "black box" of the technology
transfer process (innovation, diffusion, and adoption)?
• What contextual variables influence the effectiveness of
technology transfer?
• Study technology transfer to increase ability to describe it
conceptually to direct it toward economic or other objectives
• Organizational adaptation through knowledge management.
• Raises other issues how do information, knowledge, and
wisdom work together in information and communications
Comparative Technology Transfer and Society
- Volume 3, Number 3, December 2005, pp.
199-210

24. Using ontologies to improve knowledge management
in technoloqv transfer
• The management of knowledge is a significant issue for successful
technology transfer.
• Techniques and tools for knowledge management are becoming
sufficiently mature and can be exploited to improve the process of
technology transfer.
• An ontology is a knowledge base that has proven to be especially
useful for capturing domain knowledge in a form that is useful in the
context of knowledge management.
• This paper gives overviews of knowledge management and ontologies
and indicate how they can be applied lo technology transfer.
• Describe how an ontology, along with knowledge management
techniques, has been applied to improve the design, implementation,
and operation of the Environmental Expertise Knowledge Base
System (EEKBS).
Michael Doherty, Marina S. Lau, Sim Kaur and Ravi Jain, 4
Int. J. Technology Transfer and Commercialisation _ (No. 7,
2005)

25. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
IN INNOVATION
• An increasing number of researchers and
commentators have recently been taming their
attention to knowledge management, and
particularly the role of knowledge management
in innovation.
• increase in importance of knowledge as a factor
of production and as a driving force in broader
changes in the nature of contemporary
economies, and in the enterprises which operate
in those economies.
Professor Rod Coomhs & Richard Hull, KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES' AND PATH-DEPENDENCY IN
INNOVATION, Centre for Research on Innovation and
Competition Discussion Paper No 2 (June 1997) The
University of Manchester

26. The Components of Knowledge
Management Practices (KMP)
• Knowledge management practices take a variety of forms,
and this creates a need for a flexible approach to describing
and classifying them. The approach needs to be able to
cope with practices which are both formal and informal,
paper based and electronic; people-driven or system
driven; wholly knowledge centered or only partially
knowledge centered, and so on.
• Knowledge management practices vary from firm to firm in
their number, detail, and mode of implementation. It also
demonstrates that the 'menu' of available KMPs is in
principle growing, and that firms can, if they chose, avail
themselves of more and more sophisticated knowledge
management options, even to the point of having
knowledge management 'strategies'.
Id.

27. Intellectual Capital and Technological Innovation:
Knowledge-Based Theory and Practice
• frameworks and the latest empirical
research findings to improve
understanding of the current innovation
processes from the knowledge based
perspective
• Special attention to both the intellectual
capital assets that intervene in it, and
the social capital that surrounds and
enhances or hinders this phenomenon.
• Relevance for mangers, academics and
consultants benefiting from a thorough
understanding of intellectual capital and
social capital as a base for improving
their tasks.

28. • Put information
management in the context
of technology transfer,
industrialization and national
development
• Shows how critical the
efficient use of information
resources can be in terms of
productivity.
• Examine the costs of poor
information management in
undermining negotiation, the
preparation of contingencies,
and the ability to let go of
"dead projects”

29. Knowledge management in
international technology transfer
• Businesses are operating, in a knowledge-intensive
environment.
– Knowledge management is essential for operating successfully
in a knowledge intensive environment.
– Effective knowledge management can facilitate quick access to
current and accurate knowledge that is needed to perform
various tasks, can improve decisions, and allow sharing of
organizational knowledge throughout the organization.
– Knowledge management refers to the IT supported systematic
process that allows an organization to create, capture, share
and use knowledge to achieve organizational objectives by
improving organizational performances
Nahar, N. Al-Obaidi, Z. Huda, N.
Management of Engineering and Technology, 2001.
PICMET '01, Portland International Conference
1:103

30. The Virginia T2 Center Example
• KM and Tech Transfer Office was created in early 2003 to support in
identifying, organizing, and disseminating the right knowledge to
the right people at the right time. Sharing knowledge saves time,
supports efficiency, and ensures consistency within the
organization. Specifically, the office:
– Identify and capture critical business knowledge
– Develop and provide tools and techniques to support knowledge
creation and sharing across the organization
– Facilitate learning from the past and from each other
– Develop and share best practices in project management and critical
business processes
– Incorporate library into the KM structure to more efficiently gather,
exchange, and disseminate research results and transportation
information

31. Technology Management
• All of these areas involve the organization utilization of
knowledge systems leading to better outcomes
• Technology management
• Technology transfer
• Business and culture
• Research management
• Innovation management
• Technology economics
• Knowledge transfer and sharing
• Knowledge management
• Technology and business strategy
• Project management
• Entrepreneurship and leadership
• Cross - culture management
• Product life cycle management

32. Individual & community sustainable
success
• Knowledge transfer among teams is a key
aspect of deriving value from the R&D process
over the long term.
• However, most organizations struggle to
execute successful knowledge transfers. This
places their continuing R&D efforts at risk.
Jeffrey L. Cummings & Bing-Sheng Teng,
Transferring R&D knowledge: the key
factors affecting knowledge transfer
success J. Eng. Technol. Manage. 20 (2003)
39–68

33. Knowledge Transfer Success
• found to be associated with several key variables,
and to hinge upon:
– (a) mutual understanding where the desired knowledge
resides within the source;
– (b) the extent to which the parties share similar
knowledge bases, and the extent of interactions between
the source and the recipient to;
– (c) transfer the knowledge; and
– (d) participate in an articulation process through which
the source’s knowledge is made accessible to the
recipient.
Id.

34. Players slide

35. KM Tools
• Understanding the vocabulary of KM
• Knowledge Base (K-Base Tools)
– Applications
– Systems and procedures
– Internal and external applications and web
platforms
– Spectrum of tools from free to premium

36. IP Life Cycle

37. Value Extraction Chain

44. What are the essential functions of a
Technology Transfer Organization
• Education
• Social networking
• R&D
• TTO
– Finding IP
– Evaluating IP
– Protection
– Value
– Strategic deployment
– Management
• TTO Politics
– Funding
– Capacity
– Informing university
administration

45. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ELECTRONIC TOOLS
• Business Automation
• Databases: Agreement models; legal guidance; Federal sources
• Education/communication/training
• Facilities/expertise
• IP Assessment: Technology uniqueness verification; market
potential;
• competitive position; financial valuation
• IP Databases
• Marketing: Customers; venues/techniques; advertising; customer
service
• Partner & competitor assessment
• Patent disclosures, patent searching, patenting & patent
management position; financial valuation
• Technology Brokers
www.flcmidatlantic.org/pdf/2007/tt_electronic_tools.pdf

46. Education…news…data…
• Information in and out
– Sharing within the institution
– Sharing with collaborators
– Creating uniform vocabulary help prevent people
talking past one another (“symantic disconnect”)
– Promotes brainstorming and innovation of various
types.

47. Many tools from free to premium

48. Example of free social networking
news tools now in use
Enterprise "social networks" now run the gamut of
options from better internal portals, intranets, and
chat to wholesale movements towards Facebook and
Twitter based marketing, sales, and support programs.

49. KM Tools Used In Managing IP
Developed In The University Setting

50. Managing flow of discoveries
technology from the research lab to
the TTO then on to
commercialization partners.

52. • Asset Portfolio Management
– Audits
• IP
• Knowledge / Intellectual Capital
– Tech Transfer Instruments
– Monitoring fees and activities

53. • IP valuation tools
– measure value

54. • Marketing tools
– business reports indicating what companies
are active in which technology areas
– target prospective licensees

57. • Patent searching tools
– Is a disclosure is novel?

58. • Reverse side of IP Management
– managing 3rd party rights where universities are
users as opposed to developers of IP
– These are mainly internal management systems
and there aren't tools used
– IP professonals who understand the legal
limitations on non-commercial or academic use of
3rd party owned IP

59. Get your TTO ready for ‘tech transfer
2.0’
• A number of TTOs in the U.S. have begun using
social networking tools
• Brian McCaul, ICT, director of commercialization
& exploitation in the Enterprise & Innovation
Office at the University of Leeds (UK), proposed
• A new world of tech transfer — or knowledge
transfer in common European parlance — in
which social networking forms the foundation for
a revolution in the way innovation makes its way
into the marketplace.

60. • McCaul recently set out six propositions to
distinguish today’s tech transfer and knowledge
transfer (KT) from what he is calling ‘KT 2.0.’
• The propositions don’t focus on social networking
per se, but rather describe the key differences he
sees between the ‘old school’ tech transfer
operating style and the TTO/KTO as it should be
operated in today’s environment — and in the
future

61. 6 propositions to distinguish tech
transfer from “Knowledge Transfer 2.0”
• KT used to be about assembling and employing the most able team. KT 2.0 is
about assembling the right network.
• KT used to be primarily about ‘Tech-Push.’ KT 2.0 is about maximizing Market Pull.
• KT was about driving as much resource into a project as possible, to maximize its
likelihood of success. KT 2.0 is about learning to ‘fail early’ and cheaply.
• KT was primarily about legal, technical/regulatory and commercial matters - in that
order. KT 2.0 understands that there are continually new innovation drivers
emerging, be that the need for ‘business model innovation’ or ‘design innovation’
or the need to engage ‘user innovation,’ or some other emerging factor.
• KT was about research excellence in groups or individuals. KT 2.0 is premised on
the notion that innovation is a social process, and that the most interesting
opportunities are likely to arise from cross-disciplinary collaborations.
• KT was, primarily, focused on the large VC deal, and avoidance of the ‘living dead’
spinout or ‘small’ license deals. KT 2.0 understands that the funding environment
is very different, and even if the ‘IPO model’ and VC investment comes back to full
vigor, alternative funding/exit strategies will become an increasingly important
part of the mix.
Brian McCaul ,‘Knowledge Transfer 2.0’ – 6 Ways that KT
has to change…http://brianmccaul.jiscinvolve.org/wp/
(last visited 8/9/10