Factors Affecting Technology Transfer and Commercialization of University Research in India: a Cross-sectional Study

In recent years, there is a great emphasis on transferring inventions and technologies originating from academia to industry through technology transfer/licensing or commercialization. The efforts of the Government of India (GOI) aim to create socially useful innovation through university-industry technology transfer. The objective of the study is to examine and understand enabling factors and barriers for technology transfer among Indian universities. The study covers three key aspects: (1) the awareness and practice of patents and research commercialization among Indian academia, (2) comprehending strategies adapted to commercialize research activities, and (3) barriers in university-industry technology transfer (TT). This paper is an attempt to answer the research question whether current dynamics within Indian universities create an environment for enabling knowledge transfer/commercialization and propose plausible suggestions to enable academia-industry technology transfer. A self- assessed structured methodology is contemplated and applied. Convenience sampling methods were adopted. Administrators of 25 universities overseeing research and development activities/patent cell/incubation cell or industrial collaboration of universities were approached to participate in the study. Indian universities are categorized as (i) public funded universities and (ii) private institutes for the purpose of the study. It is interesting to understand that public funded universities have an advantage in terms of receiving funds and licensing the research to potential industrial partners. The authors further conclude that research undertaken in academia is far from the demands of the industry. Even though the relevant supporting system for enhancing university-industry collaboration is in place, such as establishing technology transfer office (TTO) in the university, they hardly channelize the resources for socially useful innovation. It is important for Indian academia to undertake commercially viable research for the benefit of society.