The Performance of the Technology Transfer’s Office of Ceará in Light of the Effectiveness of Its Technology Transfer Processes

Abstract

Considering relations between universities and productive sector, the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) play a fundamental role in fostering innovation and in the process of technology transfer (TT), since they are responsible for studies of technological prospecting and competitive intelligence and their protection in the field of intellectual property (IP). The present study has the objective of identifying the effectiveness of TT processes as a measure for the performance of Ceará’s Science and Technology Institutions (STIs) TTOs in the light of the analysis of their technology, innovation promotion policies and intellectual property protection. It regards qualitative, exploratory-descriptive research, with a multiple case study method. The data collection was done through documentary research and semi-structured interviews with three groups of actors who have already participated in TT processes: researchers, TTO managers, and company managers. Through the triangulation of data, the results show that these institutions do not yet have adequate adherence to the models of business innovation management used by the local productive sector and lack bidirectional planning. Despite the advancement of the scope and quality of services offered by TTOs and the amounts of technology contracts, there has been an extensive effort to improve the communication channels and to promote innovation. With the identification of factors that contribute to and hamper the promotion of change in the Ceará’ scenario, the characteristics that group STIs in different stages of maturation were detected.