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 CRADAs Bridge Technology Gap for Commercial Companies The more complex a technology—or the more development needed to bring it into operational use—the more intense and prolonged is the interaction needed between the licensing company and the original inventor. But who will fund the time a not-for-profit company, such as MITRE, must spend with a commercial company to make the technology transfer successful? Under a government-directed transfer, the government provides this funding. In the case of a commercial license, a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) could be established through which the commercial company pays for the time the inventor spends with the company's technical staff in transferring and adapting the technology. For example, the inventor can help the company determine how to adapt the new technology for commercial use and share the knowledge that will allow the company to turn the prototype into a viable commercial product. "A CRADA can be appropriate when MITRE has a complex technology it wants to transfer, and a commercial company wants to develop that into a product but lacks the invention-specific knowledge to make that happen," explains Gerard Eldering, MITRE's director of Technology Transfer. "With a CRADA, MITRE has the ability to step in and fill that technology gap to complete the technology transfer process." A CRADA comes with a number of stipulations. For example, it requires the approval of an appropriate MITRE sponsor. To establish a CRADA, the technology being commercialized must benefit the government. Also, the technology transfer "relationship" must benefit MITRE, the inventors, and the employees involved in the process. In 2002, MITRE entered into a CRADA relationship with Veridian to integrate MITRE's "Virtual Room" (VRoom) technology with Veridian's air defense simulation product. The VRoom allows multiple users—at different locations—to collaborate at the same time in a 3-D environment. "It's a very complex technology," explains Eldering. "The CRADA creates a learning opportunity for the Veridian staff and an on-the-job development experience for MITRE." |
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