Knowledge and Technology Transfer: German Internet Service Insufficient

The internet services available in Germany to transfer technology and skills from public research to the private economy are insufficient. There is a considerable need for politicians to address this issue. Above all, policy should ensure that small companies have online access to research findings and that they are able to contact competent individuals from the field of research.

This is the result of an expert assessment carried out by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In the context of that assessment, ZEW analysed 30 of the most important online transfer services in Germany.

The fact that existing transfer services cover only a small proportion of the online offer made by public research bodies is particularly critical. Furthermore, the services available online are difficult to access; they lack a reliable platform which would direct companies carrying out research to relevant websites. The constantly changing landscape of internet services for the transfer of knowledge and technology makes it almost impossible for researchers as well as for companies to find the most useful websites on which to publish or access information. Among the websites analysed were a number of exemplary methods of presenting information, outstanding functionalities and quality controls. Overall, however, the German internet services available for the transfer of knowledge and technology remain insufficient.

According to the expert report it is doubtful that the situation regarding online transfer of knowledge and technology will improve in the near future, unless appropriate political intervention is made. Policy makers should hereby consider the following points. To ensure that a search is sufficiently likely to result in relevant matches, the number of information sources which can be accessed via one search should be adequate. In addition, the entirety of institutions involved in public research should be represented online and any information they provide relative to technology and skills should be made available. Online transfer services should indeed be easy to find, and must be accessible even to individuals who have little experience in using the internet. Finally, policy should provide interfaces with foreign transfer services as well as transfer services provided by companies themselves.

In order that efficient use can be made of services designed for the transfer of knowledge and technology, essentially all companies in the private economy must be made aware of the online services available. The conception and implementation of a transfer system should be made widely known, and following completion, the project should be intensely publicised. Only then, might one hope that such a system will serve as the “first point of call” for companies wishing to access the knowledge and technologies provided by public research institutions.

Contact

Jürgen Egeln, Phone: +49(0)621/1235-176, E-mail: egeln@zew.de