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In the early 2000s, there was growing pressure from government and industry to commercially develop research in Australia. However, no professional capability standard or framework existed to measure or enhance the output from the technology transfer sector in Australia or overseas.
Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) identified an opportunity to improve Australia’s performance in commercialising research, in particular for those Technology Transfer Professionals (TTPs) at the coalface. In 2015, it conducted a project funded by the Professional Standards Councils (PSC) to provide a professional framework for the knowledge transfer sector and engaged gemaker, a company specialising in assisting in the commercialisation of technologies, to facilitate this project.
In 2015, Australia had 37 active research universities, 33 active co-operative research centres and several public research organisations, medical research institutes/rural R&D corporations and more than 315 dedicated TTPs working in Australia within publicly funded research agencies. From these institutions, there were more than 200 active startups operating with R&D as its primary activity.
The TTP Capability Framework was developed with input from 134 respondents from 64 organisations via workshops (held in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and WA), telephone interviews and surveys. Respondents included both TTP professionals and stakeholders from the innovation and commercialisation ecosystem.
Consistent with the Australian Public Service Job Family Framework, the TTP Capability Framework identified the ‘Technology Transfer Professional’ as a ‘Job Family’. Rather than further breaking down the Job Family into Job Functions, the TTP Capability Framework identified seven (7) capability clusters and sixteen (16) capability sub-clusters. To support career pathways, the framework was further broken down into the following career levels:
The report was submitted to the Professional Standards Council in May 2016 and was commended by Innovation and Science Australia and the Chief Scientist. The KCA Capability Framework was presented to technology transfer professionals at the KCA Conference in 2016 and has become the international standard for knowledge transfer capabilities, used by the global Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals (ATTP) to improve recruitment, and professional development and career planning around the world.
