ECO Technology Transfer Center:Investigations for the establishment

The initial idea of the establishment of ECO Technology Transfer Center (ETTCenter) was developed in the first ECO ministerial meeting on industry, which was held in January 2004. Then the idea approved on the second EGM meeting in March 2005 in Istanbul. Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) conducted the basic investigations for the establishment of ETTCenter afterwards. Initial investigations for the establishment of ETTCenter will be presented in this paper by defining a conceptual model for ETTCenter based on the recognition of its partners and relations between ETTCenter and its partners. Technology transfer is uncertain and complex process, due to the fact that the environment changes rapidly and unpredictably. Success is not guaranteed but chances will improve if the processes are understood and managed consistently. Effective and successful technology transfer is a medium/long –term process. In some cases, it requires substantial absorptive capacities. Technology transfer as a process of imitation may not be enough to sustain competitive position. The technology imported from external sources may also require adaptations to suit the local conditions [1]-[2]. The pre-designed technology transfer process with well defined stages and procedures between all partners, will improve the chances of success in technology transfer. Hence it has a major role for the ETTCenter. Based on the initial investigations mission of ETTCenter is identified as; "Establishment of regional cooperation in the field of creation, transfer, and management of technology in order to promote technology level and public welfare of the member countries. " This mission concerns: • Facilitating technological collaborations (Networking and Virtual techno market) inside ECO region • Increasing absorptive capacity inside ECO region • Increasing technology diffusion capacity across/between ECO companies, organizations and institutes • Increasing export of technology from ECO region ETTCenter must develop networks between research centers and industries and between potential funding institutes and those with ideas and projects. It must be mentioned that the type of support for technology-related activities will vary: Those required by SMEs will be of a small scale and/or incremental type, involving informal or unstructured R&D or, more frequently, technological and/or technical support, while major technological innovation at the national or regional level will be of an altogether different order. Activities will be conducted in full cooperation and partnership with regional universities, R&D institutions, and production and services sectors. In this paper, firstly the regional problems and needs will be addressed in section 2. Next, an introduction to Technology Transfer and its importance will be discussed in section 3. In section 4 a brief overview of the conceptual model will be presented. This conceptual model is derived for ETTCenter and approved to be the basis for further investigations on the establishment of ETTCenter. Finally, in section 5 we conclude the paper.

کلیدواژه ها:

Technology Transfer ، Research and Development management ، conceptual model