S7S 



STATUS OF ONR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS 25 



No quantitative results from this pilot program were presented to the committee; 

 therefore, its effectiveness was impossible to judge. 



• Lack of matching grants — ONR does not appear to be involved in any 

 state or local matching grant programs to promote industrial diversification. 



• Presence of ONR barriers — The majority of small and large companies 

 and venture capitalists without roots in defense contracting do not pursue tech- 

 nology transfer with ONR for a variety of reasons (e.g., perceived excess costs of 

 the effort, transfer often hindered by ONR, ONR insensitivity to the crucial 

 importance of timeliness in the international competitive marketplace, exclusion 

 from the process by administrative edict). Of 18 small innovative companies 

 known by the committee to be engaged in offshore technology, none participate 

 with ONR in joint projects or technology transfer (John Johnson, Perry Tritech, 

 personal communication, 1995). One of the largest companies engaged in off- 

 shore oil, gas, and pipeline operations (Chevron USA), has no history of technol- 

 ogy transfer with ONR (David Clementz, Chevron Petroleum Technology Com- 

 pany, personal communication, 1995). 



ONR has a decidedly mixed record in transferring technology to the potential 

 nonmilitary commercial user. Conversely, transfer to the academic community 

 seems to be well developed, making use of the traditional ad hoc procedure of 

 shared interests between scientists in the respective organizations. The transfer is 

 generally on a one-to-one basis and is fostered by each community. The transfer 

 normally begins and is nurtured by presentations at professional society meetings 

 and forums. 



Transfer to the commercial sector, however, appears to be marginal at best. 

 The Oceanographer of the Navy has signed a memorandum of understanding 

 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to allow civilian 

 access to the Naval Oceanographic Data Distribution System; however, this un- 

 derstanding is a recent initiative and the commercial conmiunity appears to be 

 essentially unaware that access is possible. 



Few cooperative agreements exist with the commercial sector. The only 

 ONR CRDA that could be found in the area of computer modeling was com- 

 pleted in February 1 995 with KTAADN, Inc. The purpose of this CRDA was to 

 perform systematic testing and application of high-resolution meteorological 

 modeling while assisting the U.S. effort to defend the America's Cup. Despite 

 being a high-profile activity and possessing positive pubhc relations value, this 

 cooperative effort is not likely to generate new growth in the economy. Recent 

 attempts to develop such cooperative relationships have met with mixed success. 

 It is clear from this experience that ONR and NRL do not have effective proce- 

 dures for initiating, implementing, and monitoring such agreements. Examples 

 of successful technology transfer involving ONR appear to be hmited to ventures 

 based on person-to-person contacts in which both individuals share a sense of 

 gain. Formal efforts to declassify existing Navy databases for the collaborative 



