	Background

DOE laboratories have primarily used the following types of agreements to transfer technology to U.S. businesses and other organizations:   CRADAs: A DOE laboratory and its nonfederal partner(s) agree that their scientists will collaborate on a research project of mutual interest and consistent with the laboratory’s mission. However, the DOE laboratory cannot provide funding to the partner(s). DOE Laboratories Have Substantially Reduced Technology Transfer Activities Not Fully Funded by Nonfederal Partners

The 12 DOE laboratories surveyed have substantially reduced their participation in CRADAs and technical assistance to small businesses in recent years, primarily because DOE research program funding has not replaced dedicated funding for technology partnerships. Subsequently, the National Competitiveness Technology Transfer Act of 1989 added technology transfer as a mission of the DOE laboratories. Managers at DOE Laboratories Cited Barriers to Technology Transfer Activities

According to DOE laboratory managers, the most important barrier to effective technology transfer was the lack of dedicated DOE funding for technology partnerships, including funding targeted at small businesses. Alternatively, CRADA partners— particularly small businesses—are unwilling or unable to fund all of the research costs. Lack of Commitment for Technology Partnerships

Managers at 10 of the 12 DOE laboratories cited the lack of a high-level, effective advocate for technology partnerships in DOE headquarters as an important barrier that has constrained their technology transfer activities.
What GAO Found

Since 1980 Congress has passed laws to facilitate the transfer of technology from federal laboratories to U.S. businesses. In particular, the National Competitiveness Technology Transfer Act of 1989 authorized federal laboratories operated by contractors, including the Department of Energy's (DOE) national laboratories, to enter into cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA). Under a CRADA, the partner and DOE laboratory agree to jointly conduct research and typically share the research costs. By fiscal year 1992, DOE's national laboratories were among the leading federal laboratories participating in CRADAs. Recently however, the 12 laboratories that DOE surveyed have substantially reduced their CRADA partnerships and their technical assistance to small businesses. Instead, the laboratories have increasingly transferred technology through agreements that did not involve collaborative research and were funded by a business or other nonfederal entity. Managers at most of the laboratories say the lack of dedicated funding for technology for transfer to technology partnerships, including funding targeted to small businesses, is the most important barrier to their technology transfer activities. Managers at most laboratories said that DOE's lack of a high-level, effective advocate for technology transfer and DOE's lack of commitment to technology partnerships were important barriers. Several managers also said that requirements, such as DOE's advance payment clause, were often financially burdensome for small businesses.