556 



INTRODUCTION 



operates or directs one or more Federal Laboratories shall make available suffi- 

 cient funding ... to support" technology transfer. The level of funding actually 

 committed to facilitating technology transfer is therefore variable and is one 

 indicator of the Navy's commitment to accomplish this important goal on a year- 

 to-year basis. 



Despite enactment of legislation and programs to encourage and even man- 

 date technology transfer, the defense industry as a whole has not had a high 

 success rate in defense conversion (Naval Research Advisory Committee, 1993). 

 The most successful technology transfer efforts have involved aerostructures, as 

 the needs of the commercial aerospace market are similar to those of the defense 

 market. In areas without such a clear hnk to defense, there has been less success 

 in transferring technology (Naval Research Advisory Committee, 199?). Most 

 marine industries fall into the latter group. Information about the needs of the 

 private marine sector does not commonly reach the Navy's primary producer and 

 sponsor of marine R&D, the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Likewise, infor- 

 mation about marine technologies currently available and under development at 

 ONR is not adequately conveyed to nonmihtary interests. This lack of two-way 

 communication, matching the "solutions" that potentially exist at ONR with the 

 "problems" of the marine industry in the nonmiiitary sector, forms a major im- 

 pediment to effective technology transfer. 



In response to a request from the Office of Naval Research (Appendix A), 

 the Ocean Studies Board (OSB) of the National Research Council (NRC) formed 

 the Committee on Alternative Uses of Naval Technology. The committee was 

 requested to produce a report detailing (1) how ONR now interacts with industry, 

 (2) how those avenues of interaction may be improved, and (3) future areas of 

 technology research that may be appropriate for ONR to pursue, which might 

 have applications to interests outside the Navy. The committee did not discuss 

 specific areas of future basic research for ONR to pursue because the OSB has 

 provided such advice in more than 12 recent reports to ONR (e.g., NRC, 1991, 

 1992a,b, 1993a,b,c,d,e, 1994). The committee focused its efforts on establishing 

 the future technology needs of a major segment of the nonmihtary, industrial 

 sector. The phrase "ocean science and technology development" is used through- 

 out this report to denote hardware, software, patents (in process and issued), as 

 well as scientific research and resultant knowledge. 



Members of the committee have considerable knowledge of marine science 

 and technology issues (Appendix B). The committee invited several ONR re- 

 searchers, as well as representatives of key marine industries, to present their 

 perspectives on the status of marine research and technology transfer. Three 

 meetings were held to provide a forum for this exchange of information. The first 

 meeting included presentations by ONR personnel regarding marine technologies 

 currently available and under development. The second meeting assembled rep- 

 resentatives of several marine industries and agencies to give their views on 

 technology needs in the near future and the current status of ONR technology 



