553 



EXPANDING THE USES OF NAVAL OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



RecommendatiGn: ONR needs to tal-ce a more proactive role in domestic tech- 

 nology transfer in ocean science and technology. This can be accomplished using 

 a combination of strategies, including organizational realignment, electronic da- 

 tabases, newsletters, sponsored forums and workshops, professional association 

 meetings, personal communication among principal investigators, and funding 

 incentives within ONR for programs that facilitate commercial product develop- 

 ment. The existing programs intended to promote communication between ONR 

 and the nonmilitary sector should be used to determine industry needs. 



TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AT ONR: THE INDIVIDUAL 



Finding: Few incentives apparently exist within ONR to promote domestic 

 technology transfer at the level of administrative program managers and investi- 

 gators. 



Investigators both within and outside of the Navy are motivated to produce 

 superior research or develop new technology so they may receive continued 

 funding or peer recognition. Similar inducements do not exist to leverage R&D 

 efforts for application beyond their originally intended use. ONR investigators 

 are well intentioned, but to take further advantage of R&D expenditures, addi- 

 tional incentives are required to encourage an increased focus on technology 

 transfer (see Chapter 5). The importance of exploiting (or leveraging) technol- 

 ogy must become a performance objective of the entire ONR organization. As 

 the principal executive of ONR, the Chief of Naval Research needs to create 

 plans for the transfer of technology with specific objectives and milestones for 

 accomplishment. Although it is beyond the purview of this study to recommend 

 specific program goals and levels of performance to ONR, these plans should 

 reflect a program-wide priority on technology transfer to the nonmilitary sector. 

 Progress toward achieving these objectives should be managed like any other 

 development project and progress should be reported on a regular basis. Indi- 

 vidual performance objectives should be established, beginning with top ONR 

 executives and including all team leaders and laboratory investigators. Individu- 

 als should be rewarded or recognized on the basis of achievement measured 

 against these objectives. To ensure the success of technology transfer, effective 

 training will be required to enable all employees to understand the goals and 

 mechanisms of a successful technology transfer program. 



Recommendation: Incentives need to be provided at the program level, and 

 measures of performance established at the executive level, to promote domestic 

 technology transfer. The Chief of Naval Research needs to provide executive 

 leadership and operational training at all levels of the organization to implement 

 an effective technology transfer policy. 



