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50 APPENDIX A Surveys Surveys included: ⢠State DOT Survey ⢠LTAP/TTAP Survey ⢠Technology Transfer Toolbox Scoping Study: AASHTO Research Advisory Committee Short Survey
51 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUCCESSES, CHALLENGES, AND NEEDS NCHRP PROJECT 20-5, SYNTHESIS TOPIC 35-12 STATE DOT SURVEY PLEASE RETURN COMPLETED SURVEY BY APRIL 16, 2004 PURPOSE OF THE SYNTHESIS AND THE SURVEY The purpose of the synthesis is three-fold. It will: ⢠Provide information on the successful technology transfer practices currently in use by state departments of transporta- tion and other transportation research organizations dealing with technology transfer in the public sector highway arena. ⢠Characterize and discuss the challenges to effective and successful technology transfer. ⢠Identify the needs of those responsible for sponsoring, facilitating, and conducting technology transfer activities. The purpose of the survey is to gather basic information about these three areas of interest in technology transfer to form find- ings for the synthesis. Information you provide will also help determine whether your agency or organization may be a can- didate for a featured spot in the synthesis via case studies of technology transfer experiences or highlights of technology trans- fer practice. TERMINOLOGY Technology transfer includes, but is not limited to, information dissemination, deployment, training, and research results implementation. Technologies are broadly defined to include practices, products, processes, or techniques. Innovations are technologies that are new to the organization or agency regardless of how long they have been in existence or where else they have been applied. Implementation of research results describes the various activities required to put an outcome of a research project into widespread use. The activities can span the entire duration of the research project and extend until the research result is adopted, for example, as part of a standard operating procedure. Adoption occurs when a technology or innovation becomes an organizationâs standard operating procedure or when the technology or innovation is used as the generally accepted means for accomplishing a specific purpose. DOCUMENTATION We would appreciate electronic attachments that document or illustrate key points that you reference in your survey responses. If you have materials that are not available in electronic format, please mail them to us so we have the opportunity to include them in this synthesis and so that others can use them in their technology transfer efforts. SUBMIT COMPLETED SURVEY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS TO: Barbara T. Harder B. T. Harder, Inc. Telephone: 215-735-2482 1626 Pine Street Fax: 215-735-9586 Philadelphia, PA 19103 E-mail: btharder@sprintmail.com Please contact Barbara directly if you have questions. Alternate contact: Robert Benke Telephone: 763-493-5373 Synthesis co-principal investigator E-mail: bob@straussmgmt.com THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSESâPLEASE RETURN THE COMPLETED SURVEY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS BY APRIL 16, 2004
52 RESPONDING AGENCY OR ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Weâd like to have people who are responsible for technology transfer and/or implementation of innovations or research results provide input to this survey. If there are a variety of people involved please provide an opportunity for all to give input so the survey will present a full picture of what your organization does. The individual(s) may be in the research office or in opera- tion or program offices where the innovations will be used. Let us know who participated in completing this survey. Agency/Company: _________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _________________________________________________________ State: _________________ Zip: ________________ Questionnaire Completed by: ________________________________________________________________________________ Current Position/Title: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Date: _____________________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________ Telephone: _________________________________________ Fax: _________________________________________________ Agency/Company Contact (if different from above): ______________________________________________________________ Telephone: _________________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________ Others providing input to this survey. Name: _____________________________________________ Position/Title: _________________________________________ Name: _____________________________________________ Position/Title: _________________________________________ Name: _____________________________________________ Position/Title: _________________________________________ Name: _____________________________________________ Position/Title: _________________________________________ Name: _____________________________________________ Position/Title: _________________________________________ THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP AND COOPERATION WITH THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT PLEASE RETURN YOUR COMPLETED SURVEY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE To: btharder@sprintmail.com Barbara T. Harder B. T. Harder, Inc., 1626 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
53 GENERAL Weâd like to know some general information about you and how your agency handles technology transfer and implementa- tion of research results. 1. How long have you been involved with technology transfer or implementation of research results? ______ years In what capacity have you accomplished this technology transfer or implementation of research results? (Check all that apply.) Senior management Research office management or administration Researcher Central office program or project staff Central office project or program management Field office program or project staff Field office program or project management 2. My agency has a person responsible for agency-wide coordination or management of technology transfer or imple- mentation of research results. (If no, skip to question 3.) I am that individual Another person is that individual ____________________________ Name ____________________________ Title ______________________________ Name of group or office ______________________________________ 3. My agency has a group or office responsible for agency-wide technology transfer or implementation as one of or its primary function. (If no, skip to question 4.) It is my group or office Same as group or office identified in above question __________________________________________________________________ Name of other group or office 4. What units in your agency are responsible for technology transfer and implementation of research results? (Check all that apply.) Operating units are primarily responsible Operating units share the responsibility with other units within agency, such as ____________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Research unit is primarily responsible Research unit shares the responsibility with other units within the agency, such as _________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Agency has a specific unit other than research, primarily responsible for technology transfer and/or implementa- tion: unit name _____________________________________________________________________________ No unit is specifically assigned responsibility for technology transfer and/or implementation 5. Does your agency operate or provide funding for others to operate a federal-aid funded Local Technical Assistance Pro- gram (LTAP) technology transfer center? Operate center Fund a center operated by others 6. What are the top three (or more) most successful techniques, practices, or processes that your agency uses for accom- plishing technology transfer or implementation of research results? (We use the word successful to mean that the intended results are achieved. The items we are looking for can relate to administrative duties, communication techniques, field practices, and more.) Please specify the item and briefly describe it; include at least three. 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________
54 4. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Does your agency apply methods for measuring performance for technology transfer or implementation activities? Yes No If yes, what are they? (For example, benefit/cost, return-on-investment, other quantitative or qualitative measures.) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. How do you use the results of these measures of performance? (Check all that apply.) Annual report input Accountability to senior management Program justification Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUCCESSES We would like to understand how your agency accomplishes technology transfer and/or implementation of research results. Please identify a successful experience and answer questions 9 through 24 about this successful experience. 9. Please provide a short description of the technology transfer or implementation success. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. What is the area of focus for the technology transfer? (Check all that apply.) Marketing focus (making another party aware of the benefits to using a technology so an informed decision about potential application of the technology can be made) Knowledge transfer focus (getting another party knowledgeable about a technology through a presentation, show- case, demonstration) Training or education focus (workshop, seminar, course) Other area of focus, please describe: ____________________________________________________________ 11. Which of these following characteristics apply to the successful experience? (Check all that apply.) Senior management support of the effort Champions to promote the technology transfer or implementation activity Plan developed for the conduct of the technology transfer or implementation activities Progress monitoring of the technology transfer or implementation activities Dedicated funding for the technology transfer or implementation activities Use of a pilot project, field demonstrations, and other hands-on field testing Early and continuous involvement of users Fully qualified technical personnel assigned a lead role in the technology transfer or implementation effort Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 12. What were the top three reasons or factors why this experience was successful and why did they work? 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________
55 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. Which of the following were involved with this success? Please indicate the degree of involvement: 3âhigh involvement, 2âmoderate involvement, 1âlow involvement, 0âno involvement _____ Research office personnel _____ Headquarters program or operations office personnel _____ Region or district office personnel _____ Field maintenance office personnel _____ Outside research organization involved with producing the technology _____ Contracted organization brought on board to assist in technology transfer _____ Federal agency expertise (e.g., FHWA division or region staff) _____ Other state peer experienced in the technology _____ Trade or professional association expert _____ Local or municipal expert _____ Other, please describe: __________________________________________________________________ 14. From the above list, which participant(s) lead the successful technology transfer activities? _______________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15. What was the source of the funding for the technology transfer or implementation? _____________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16. What was the source of the facilities and/or equipment supplied for the technology transfer to take place? ___________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Or not applicable 17. What was the source of the materials supplied for the technology transfer to take place? __________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Or not applicable 18. What office or organization supplied the technical expertise in the technology transfer process? ____________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19. Was other specialized expertise (e.g., legal, policy, administrative) required in the process of the technology transfer or implementation? Yes No If yes, please describe what that was: _______________________________________________________________________ 20. What was the result of the technology transfer or implementation effort? (Check all that apply.) Policy change Specification or operating standards change Change in management, financial, or administrative practices Cost savings (labor, material, equipment) Safety enhancement Enhancements in effectiveness or efficiencies in current practice Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________
56 21. What was the source of the technology that was transferred or implemented? A result of research performed by my agency A result of research performed by others and funded by my agency A technology my agency sought from others outside the agency and brought into the agency to use A technology others outside the agency (e.g., FHWA, vendors, AASHTO, other states) encouraged my agency to use 22. Was any effectiveness assessment or performance evaluation done on the technology transfer or implementation process? Yes No If yes, what type of assessment or evaluation was done? (For example, benefit/cost, return-on-investment, other quantitative or qualitative measures.) ________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ If yes, what did you do with the results? ____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 23. What were the three most difficult hurdles or barriers to the technology transfer or implementation that were encountered and how were they overcome? 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ How overcome? _______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ How overcome? _______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ How overcome? _______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 24. How easy would this technology transfer or implementation activity be to replicate in another agency (use rating scale of 10, easiest to 1, most difficult). _________ rating. What elements of the activities would be easiest to replicate in another agency? _____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ What elements of the activities would be most difficult to replicate in another agency? _______________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ If you have another example you would like to share with us, please copy survey questions 9â24 and send us your responses about that experience. GENERAL CHALLENGES The following questions are about your agencyâs general experiences with technology transfer or implementation of research results. Challenges to technology transfer and implementation activities often occur. They may be related to cultural differences; oper- ational, legal, organizational, political differences; or economically related such as resource constraints.
57 25. In general what are the five greatest challenges (non-project-specific) to accomplishing technology transfer in your agency or organization? 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 26. What, if anything, is being done to reduce or remove these challenges? Challenge 1. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 2. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 3. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 4. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 5. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ NEEDS The following questions are about your agencyâs general experiences with technology transfer or implementation of research results. 27. For those in your agency who have the responsibility for making technologies available for others to useâthose âpush- ing technology out to others,â what would help to make these efforts more effective? (Check all that apply.) Additional funding Greater access to technical expertise More time to perform technology transfer Greater senior management support for technology transfer activities Training in the process of technology transfer More openness to including new technologies in new projects Assistance for management and administrative responsibilities associated with technology transfer Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 28. If you indicated that management and administrative assistance would be helpful, what type of assistance is needed? Implementation plans Marketing plans Executive briefing models Scheduling and tracking methodologies Evaluation or assessment procedures Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________
58 29. For those in your agency who want to implement new technology or innovations into the area of highway practice for which they are responsibleââpulling technology into their work,â what would help make these efforts more effective? (Check all that apply.) Additional funding Enhanced expertise for technology selection More extensive contacts with external-to-the-agency peers to determine candidate technologies More time to perform technology transfer Greater senior management support for bringing in new technologies Greater involvement with the researchers or developers of the innovation Methods or techniques to assist in making the process of technology transfer more efficient Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 30. If you indicated methods or techniques to assist in making the process of technology transfer more efficient, what would they be? _________________________________________________________________________________________ FUNDING 31. How many dollars does your agency or organization commit to research and research-related activitiesâall activities, organization wide? $_______________ Please include federal-aid funds, state funds, state matching funds for federal-aid moneys, funds from other outside sources, and funds committed to NCHRP, pooled-fund projects, and support of TRB. Please do not include the agencyâs general training funds. 32. Does this figure include technology transfer and implementation activities funding? Yes No For questions 33 and 34, if a dollar amount is not available, please provide your best estimate of a percentage of the research funding; for example, 10%, for every $10 spent on research, approximately $1 is spent on technology transfer and/or imple- mentation. 33. How many dollars does your agency or organization commit to technology transfer and implementation activities? $_______________ 34. What percentage of the federal-aid State Planning and Research Program funds are committed to technology transfer and implementation? __________ percent 35. Does your state have legislation that provides funding for technology transfer or implementation activities? Yes No 36. Are there any other program moneys being spent on or dedicated to funding technology transfer or implementation activities? Yes No If yes, how much $ _________________________ If yes, what is the source of this funding and describe any special conditions governing its use _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS SYNTHESIS STUDY Please return the completed survey and supporting materials to Barbara T. Harder by APRIL 16, 2004 btharder@sprintmail.com or Barbara T. Harder Principal B. T. Harder, Inc. 1626 Pine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 or Fax: 215-735-9586
59 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUCCESSES, CHALLENGES, AND NEEDS NCHRP PROJECT 20-5, SYNTHESIS TOPIC 35-12 LTAP/TTAP SURVEY PLEASE RETURN COMPLETED SURVEY BY APRIL 16, 2004 PURPOSE OF THE SYNTHESIS AND THE SURVEY The purpose of the synthesis is three-fold. It will: ⢠Provide information on the successful technology transfer practices currently in use by Local Technical Assistance Pro- grams and Tribal Technical Assistance Programs and other transportation programs dealing with technology transfer and research in the public sector highway arena. ⢠Characterize and discuss the challenges to effective and successful technology transfer. ⢠Identify the needs of those responsible for sponsoring, facilitating, and conducting technology transfer activities. The purpose of the survey is to gather basic information about these three areas of interest in technology transfer to form find- ings for the synthesis. Information you provide will also help determine whether your agency or organization may be a can- didate for a featured spot in the synthesis via case studies of technology transfer experiences or highlights of technology trans- fer practice. TERMINOLOGY Technology transfer includes, but is not limited to, information dissemination, deployment, training, and research results imple- mentation. Technologies are broadly defined to include practices, products, processes, or techniques. Innovations are technologies that are new to the organization or agency regardless of how long they have been in existence or where else they have been applied. Implementation of research results describes the various activities required to put an outcome of a research project into wide- spread use. The activities can span the entire duration of the research project and extend until the research result is adopted, for example, as part of a standard operating procedure. Adoption occurs when a technology or innovation becomes an organizationâs standard operating procedure or when the technol- ogy or innovation is used as the generally accepted means for accomplishing a specific purpose. DOCUMENTATION We would appreciate electronic attachments that document or illustrate key points that you reference in your survey responses. If you have materials that are not available in electronic format, please mail them to us so we have the opportunity to include them in this synthesis and so that others can use them in their technology transfer efforts. SUBMIT COMPLETED SURVEY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS TO: Barbara T. Harder B. T. Harder, Inc. Telephone: 215-735-2482 1626 Pine Street Fax: 215-735-9586 Philadelphia, PA 19103 E-mail: btharder@sprintmail.com Please contact Barbara directly if you have questions. Alternate contact: Robert Benke Telephone: 763-493-5373 Synthesis co-principal investigator E-mail: bob@straussmgmt.com THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSESâPLEASE RETURN THE COMPLETED SURVEY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS BY APRIL 16, 2004
60 RESPONDING AGENCY OR ORGANIZATION INFORMATION Weâd like to have people who are responsible for technology transfer and/or implementation of innovations or research results provide input to this survey. If there are a variety of people involved please provide an opportunity for all to give input so the survey will present a full picture of what your organization does. Let us know who participated in completing this survey. Agency/Company: _________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _______________________________________________________ State: _________________ Zip: _________________ Questionnaire Completed by: ________________________________________________________________________________ Current Position/Title: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Date: _____________________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________ Telephone: ________________________________________ Fax: __________________________________________________ Agency/Company Contact (if different from above): ______________________________________________________________ Telephone: ________________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________ Others providing input to this survey. Name: ____________________________________________ Position/Title: __________________________________________ Name: ____________________________________________ Position/Title: __________________________________________ Name: ____________________________________________ Position/Title: __________________________________________ Name: ____________________________________________ Position/Title: __________________________________________ Name: ____________________________________________ Position/Title: __________________________________________ THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP AND COOPERATION WITH THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT PLEASE RETURN YOUR COMPLETED SURVEY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS BY APRIL 16, 2004 To: btharder@sprintmail.com Barbara T. Harder B. T. Harder, Inc., 1626 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
61 GENERAL Weâd like to know some general information about you and how your organization/agency handles technology transfer and/or implementation of research results. 1. How long have you been involved with technology transfer? _________ years? 2. In what capacity have you accomplished this technology transfer? (Check all that apply.) Senior management Research office management or administration Researcher Central office program or project staff Central office project or program management Field office program or project staff Field office program or project management Technology transfer program manager Technology transfer program staff 3. Which of the following best characterizes your organization/agency? State DOT and operate an LTAP/TTAP center University and operate an LTAP/TTAP center Other program management institution that operates an LTAP/TTAP center 4. How long has your Center been operating? ________ years 5. What is your Centerâs total annual budget for 2004? _________ dollars 6. What is the source of the funds for your program? Please also give an estimate of the percentage of funds for each source. Federal-aid funds from state or federal DOT ________ percent University funds _________ percent Local/municipal funds ________ percent Private sector funds _________ percent Other source, please describe __________________________________________________________________ Are there any special conditions for the use of any of these funds? Please describe: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Does your state have legislation that provides funding for technology transfer that is available to your program? Yes No 8. What are the top three (or more) most successful techniques, practices, or processes that your organization/agency uses for accomplishing technology transfer? (We use the word successful to mean that the intended results are achieved. The items we are looking for can relate to administrative duties, communication techniques, field practices, and more.) Please specify the item and briefly describe it; include at least three. 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________
62 9. Does your organization/agency apply methods for measuring performance for technology transfer? Yes No If yes, what are they? (For example, benefit/cost, return-on-investment, other quantitative or qualitative measures.) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. How do you use the results of these measures of performance? (Check all that apply.) Annual report input Accountability to senior management Program justification Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SUCCESSES We would like to understand how your organization/agency accomplishes technology transfer. Please identify a successful experience and answer questions 11 through 26 about this successful experience. 11. Please provide a short description of the technology transfer success. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. What is the area of focus for the technology transfer (Check all that apply.) Marketing focus (making another party aware of the benefits to using a technology so an informed decision about potential application of the technology can be made) Knowledge transfer focus (getting another party knowledgeable about a technology through a presentation, show- case, demonstration) Training or education focus (workshop, seminar, course) Other area of focus, please describe: ____________________________________________________________ 13. Which of these following characteristics apply to the successful experience? (Check all that apply.) Senior management support of the effort Champions to promote the technology transfer activity Plan developed for the conduct of the technology transfer Progress monitoring of the technology transfer Dedicated funding for the technology transfer Use of a pilot project, field demonstrations, and other hands-on field testing Early and continuous involvement of users/stakeholders Fully qualified technical personnel assigned a lead role in the technology transfer effort Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 14. What were the top three reasons or factors why this experience was successful and why did they work? 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________
63 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 15. Which of the following were involved with this success? Please indicate the degree of involvement: 3âhigh involvement, 2âmoderate involvement, 1âlow involvement, 0âno involvement _____ State DOT research office personnel _____ State DOT program or operations office personnel _____ Region or district office personnel _____ Field maintenance office personnel _____ Outside research organization involved with producing the technology _____ Contracted organization brought on board to assist in technology transfer _____ Federal agency expertise (e.g., FHWA division or regional staff) _____ Other peer experienced in the technology _____ Trade or professional association expert _____ Local or municipal expert _____ University administrative personnel _____ University educators/researchers _____ Other, please describe: ____________________________________________________________________ 16. From the above list, which participant(s) lead the successful technology transfer activities? _______________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17. What was the source of the funding for the technology transfer? _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18. What was the source of the facilities and/or equipment supplied for the technology transfer to take place? ____________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Or not applicable 19. What was the source of the materials supplied for the technology transfer to take place? __________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Or not applicable 20. What organization/agency supplied the technical expertise in the technology transfer process? _____________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 21. Was other specialized expertise (e.g., legal, policy, administrative) required in the process of the technology transfer or implementation? Yes No If yes, please describe what that was: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 22. What was the result of the technology transfer? (Check all that apply.) Knowledge transfer Training Policy change Specification or operating standards change Change in management, financial, or administrative practices Cost savings (labor, material, equipment) Safety enhancement Enhancements in effectiveness or efficiencies in current practice Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________
64 23. What was the source of the technology that was transferred? A result of research performed by my organization/agency A result of research performed by others and funded by my organization/agency A technology my organization/agency sought from others A technology others outside the organization/agency (e.g., FHWA, vendors, AASHTO, other states) encouraged my organization/agency to foster its use 24. Was any effectiveness assessment or performance evaluation done on the technology transfer process? Yes No If yes, what type of assessment or evaluation was done? (For example, benefit/cost, return-on-investment, other quantitative or qualitative measures.)_________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ If yes, what did you do with the results? ____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 25. What were the three most difficult hurdles or barriers to the technology transfer that were encountered and how were they overcome? 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ How overcome? _______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ How overcome? _______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ How overcome? _______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 26. How easy would this technology transfer activity be to replicate in another organization/agency (use rating scale of 10, easiest to 1, most difficult). _________ rating. What elements of the activities would be easiest to replicate in another organization/agency? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ What elements of the activities would be most difficult to replicate in another organization/agency? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ If you have another example you would like to share with us, please copy survey questions 11â26 and send us your responses about that experience. GENERAL CHALLENGES The following questions are about your organizationâs/agencyâs general experiences with technology transfer. Challenges to technology transfer often occur. They may be related to cultural differences; operational, legal, organizational, political differences; or economically related such as resource constraints. 27. In general what are the five greatest challenges (non-project-specific) to accomplishing technology transfer in your orga- nization/agency? 1. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________
65 2. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 28. What, if anything, is being done to reduce or remove these challenges? Challenge 1. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 2. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 3. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 4. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Challenge 5. __________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ NEEDS The following questions are about your organization/agencyâs general experiences with technology transfer. 29. For those in your organization/agency who have the responsibility for making technologies available for others to useâ those âpushing technology out to others,â what would help to make these efforts more effective? (Check all that apply.) Additional funding Greater access to technical expertise More time to perform technology transfer Greater senior management support for technology transfer activities Training in the process of technology transfer More openness to including new technologies in new projects Assistance for management and administrative responsibilities associated with technology transfer More trained staff Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 30. If you indicated that management and administrative assistance would be helpful, what type of assistance is needed? (If this does not apply, please go to question 31.) Implementation plans Marketing plans Executive briefing models Scheduling and tracking methodologies Evaluation or assessment procedures Communication and publicity tools Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 31. If your organization/agency uses the technology transferred and wants to implement new technology or innovations into the area of highway practice for which they are responsibleââpulling technology into their work,â what would help make these efforts more effective? (Check all that apply.) Does not apply to my agency Additional funding
66 Enhanced expertise for technology selection More extensive contacts with external-to-the-agency peers to determine candidate technologies More time to perform technology transfer Greater senior management support for bringing in new technologies Greater involvement with the researchers or developers of the innovation Methods or techniques to assist in making the process of technology transfer more efficient Other, please describe: _______________________________________________________________________ 32. If you indicated methods or techniques to assist in making the process of technology transfer more efficient, what would they be? _________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ FUNDING 33. Does your state have legislation that provides funding for technology transfer or implementation activities? Yes No 34. Other than federal-aid funding of LTAP/TTAP centers, are there any other programs or sources of funds available to your center dedicated to funding technology transfer or implementation activities? Yes No If yes, what is the source of this funding and describe any special conditions governing its use: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ THANK YOU AGAIN FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS SYNTHESIS STUDY Please return the completed survey and supporting materials to Barbara T. Harder by April 16, 2004 to btharder@sprintmail.com or Barbara T. Harder Principal B. T. Harder, Inc. 1626 Pine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 or Fax: 215-735-9586
67 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOOLBOX SCOPING STUDY AASHTO RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE SHORT SURVEY A copy of the survey and the results of the survey are below. The ranking of the preference is included for the first question and the number of responses for each item is included for the second question. Nearly half of the respondents indicated their willingness to discuss the T2 Toolbox. To: RAC Members From: Barbara T. Harder 215-735-2482 btharder@sprintmail.com Subject: Your help regarding effective implementation and technology transfer tools Iâve been asked by the TRB committees on Technology Transfer and Conduct of Research along with the FHWA to prepare a scope for a Technology Transfer Toolbox. In that light, Iâm asking a number of groups including the TRB committees and TRB state representatives (those other than RAC members), FHWA field personnel, and others for input. The committees want this toolbox to be a useful mechanism to assist those responsible for implementation of research results. Often people performing research results implementation in state DOTs are not always technology transfer or implementation specialists and therefore may benefit by having a resource that will guide them through some of the basic processes needed for enhancing their implementation efforts. The goal is to get technology transferred and methods, processes, and products put into practice more effectively. If there was a step-by-step guide for processes that would be of assistance, which of the following would be useful? Please number the items, 1 being most useful, 2 next most useful, to 6, least useful of the list. _____ A template that maps out an implementation plan _____ A project management process to schedule and monitor technology transfer activities and implementation actions _____ Communications and publicity action plans _____ Marketing/promotion plan development for new technologies _____ Resource estimator for implementation and deployment activities _____ Technology transfer and implementation effectiveness assessment Other: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the most effective mechanism to use for the toolbox? Please consider the various people that might be using this tool: people from your office, from the operational offices, and from field offices. Please check one only. _____ Workbook (with reproducible forms), hardcopy only _____ Workbook accompanied by a CD (generates plans and hardcopy) that can be used on a PC or installed on an agencyâs intranet _____ DVD (generates plans and hardcopy) that can be used on a PC or installed on an agencyâs intranet _____ Web-based, requiring access to the Internet Other: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____ Would you be willing to talk about this toolbox concept with me? Name: ______________________________________________ E-mail: _____________________________________________ Telephone number: ___________________________________ Thank you very much. Please return this by December 19 to btharder@sprintmail.com