I watch news from the government labs to see if their scientists have things worth commercializing. Two programs give me hope that not everything in government moves at a snail's pace.
Innovation magazine reports on the Y-12 complex's Xpress Terms Licensing (XTL). I noticed that DOE's Technology Transfer Working Group official licensing guide doesn't mention this program, so that document needs an update. Aspiring entrepreneurs would have to contact Y-12's Office of Technology Transfer to get their hands on cool tech.
The same issue of Innovation magazine describes the labs' alliance with USDA in the Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF). The program is designed to make integrated data sets on land use available to the private sector. It's a great idea but I can't figure out how industry is supposed to license it for use. There's a Google Code site on LEAF with some links and points of contact.
These things pop up on my radar and entrepreneurs should take them seriously. I'm pretty sure that agribusiness and commercial timber harvesters would pay for LEAF's geospatial data and computational tools if they knew whom to pay. It probably has a large market waiting for it among urban planners and energy utilities. It looks like it meets at least TRL 7 according to DOE's EERE definitions. Let's see if a big agribusiness or energy company takes the plunge and licenses it.
Innovation magazine reports on the Y-12 complex's Xpress Terms Licensing (XTL). I noticed that DOE's Technology Transfer Working Group official licensing guide doesn't mention this program, so that document needs an update. Aspiring entrepreneurs would have to contact Y-12's Office of Technology Transfer to get their hands on cool tech.
The same issue of Innovation magazine describes the labs' alliance with USDA in the Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF). The program is designed to make integrated data sets on land use available to the private sector. It's a great idea but I can't figure out how industry is supposed to license it for use. There's a Google Code site on LEAF with some links and points of contact.
These things pop up on my radar and entrepreneurs should take them seriously. I'm pretty sure that agribusiness and commercial timber harvesters would pay for LEAF's geospatial data and computational tools if they knew whom to pay. It probably has a large market waiting for it among urban planners and energy utilities. It looks like it meets at least TRL 7 according to DOE's EERE definitions. Let's see if a big agribusiness or energy company takes the plunge and licenses it.
