the international technology transfer process - Bayhdolecentral

and, even where formal training programs are undertaken, present
data-gathering programs do not report on such efforts.
Even where a technology transfer event can be identified, it may
be extremely difficult to assess the kind, amount, and value of the technolqgy
being transferred. Teaching and training of foreigners is an
important mode for transferring technology, and it should be feasible to
gather data on the number of foreign students who are training in a
particular country, their fields of study, and whether the level of study
is graduate or under-graduate. Yet, to properly assess the technology
transfer that occurs, it would also be necessary to evaluate the quality
of the trainee, the quality of the training program, and the opportunity
for the trainee to make use of the foreign training in the country of origin.
Questions arise -- such as, does a transfer occur if the trainee is
unemployed in the home country or if the foreign training is inapplicable
to activities in the home country?
Technology transfers through development assistance also present
difficult evaluation problems. Only a minority of such missions can be
judged as successful technology transfers. In some cases, the foreign
expertise made available is not appropriate for the assignment. In others,
the failure may result from local environmental constraints or from
problems of cross-cultural relations.
The list of difficulties in developing definitive measurements can
be extended by assessing the measurement requirements of each of the
categories of transfer modes listed above.
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