Technology Transfer and the RT industry in Europe

This paper considers the need, conditions and mechanisms for succesful technology transfer towards the European Assistive Technology industry. The discussion reveals the role of non-profit institutions in initiating and sustaining a reasonable level of technology transfer, since the industry is not likely to achieve this by itself. In particular, it is argued that, given the impediments to successful technology transfer discussed in the paper, there is a need for an organisational body to access the needs of the industry, evaluate alternative potential sources of technology based on their relative merits and synergies, coordinate sources and recipients and provide a minimum infrastucture for such transfers to materlise. To this effect, a cluster of general mechanisms for transferring technology from one place to another is reviewed, and a set of criteria are introduced depicting a tentative evaluation of each of the mechanisms being considered with regards to its contributions towards design for all. Technology Transfer and the RT industry in Europe N. VERNARDAKIS, C. STEPHANIDIS, D. AKOUMIANAKIS Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Computer Science, P.O Box 1885, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.