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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2004
Contact: Bill Shields
(202) 347-3190, x 3014
bshields@napawash.org

ORGANIZATIONAL AND MANAGEMENT REFORMS NEEDED FOR NASA’S TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER EFFORTS
Academy Panel Recommends Leadership Commitment, Reformulated Network and Performance Standards

December 14, 2004 – Washington, DC – Technology transfer should be a core element of NASA’s mission, but organizational changes, budget difficulties, lack of program focus and a significant increase in privately-funded research and development require the agency to rethink how it organizes and administers the function, according to a Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration. The Panel’s report, Technology Transfer: Bringing Innovation to NASA and the Nation, finds that the shift from commercializing NASA technology to bringing private sector technology into the agency requires different approaches and skills. But the current system is not structured to meet agency needs or stakeholder and public expectations. The Panel proposes a package of improvements to provide benefits to NASA and the nation.

“The Technology Transfer system in NASA has good people working for it, but they are working in an environment that makes it very difficult for them to be successful,” said Academy Fellow Costis Toregas, who chaired the expert Panel. “If NASA wants to strive for excellence in technology transfer, major changes are needed.”

The Panel identified key steps critical to the success of this important NASA function:

• The NASA Administrator should establish technology transfer as a core agency mission element that requires the attention and support of top
• NASA officials, program leaders and major contractors.
• NASA should relocate the Technology Transfer Office to the Office of the Administrator to give greater attention to this agency-wide responsibility and hold executives accountable for it.
• NASA should develop a comprehensive evaluation system for technology transfer that includes output measures, assesses long-term economic and social impacts, and establishes individual performance standards for officials responsible for this function.
• NASA should reformulate and streamline its national network of six Regional Technology Transfer Centers and the National Technology Transfer Center to provide a more effective vehicle for program implementation.
• NASA should increase its use of information technology in daily operations and public outreach, improve its websites, and provide one easy-to-use portal for all technology transfer activities.

The National Academy of Public Administration is a non-profit organization chartered by Congress to provide advice to leaders on issues of management and governance. In addition to Toregas, Panel Members included Edwin Colin Campbell, Canada Research Chair, Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia; Sharon Dawes, Director, Center for Technology in Government, University of Albany-SUNY; Harold Finger, former NASA Associate Administrator for Management; Michael Griffin, Space Department Head, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; and Thomas Stackhouse, Associate Chief for Frederick Operations, Technology Transfer Branch, National Cancer Institute.