The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is a U.S.-based nationwide network of federal

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

that provides a forum to develop strategies and opportunities to help transfer laboratory mission technologies into commercial products for the global marketplace. The FLC was organized in 1974 and formally chartered by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986. Its host agency is the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

. More than 250 federal laboratories and centers and their parent

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and agencies are currently FLC members. In accordance with the Act and related federal policy, the FLC's mission is to promote and facilitate the rapid movement of federal laboratory research results and technologies into the mainstream of the U.S. economy. Specifically, the FLC develops and tests transfer methods, addresses barriers to the process, provides training, highlights grass-roots transfer efforts, and emphasizes national initiatives in which

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

has a role. For the public and private sectors, the FLC brings laboratories together with potential developers and users of government-owned technologies. The FLC seeks to add value to the federal agencies, laboratories, and their partners to accomplish the rapid integration of research and development resources into commercial products. The Consortium's vision is to actively promote the fullest application and use of federal research and development by providing an environment for successful technology transfer, thereby enhancing the socioeconomic well-being of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the world.

Legislation

* Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-480) *

Bayh–Dole Act The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act (Public law, Pub. L. 96-517, December 12, 1980) is U.S. legislation permitting ownership by contractors of inventions arising from Research funding#Government-funded research, federa ...

of 1980 (P.L. 96-517) * Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-502) * Executive Order 12591 (1987) *

Office of Research and Technology Applications The Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) is an organizational structure established in United States federal laboratories through the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-480), specified in 15 USC § 3710. T ...

External links

FLC web site

Linked list of federal labs

References

{{Authority control 1974 establishments in New Jersey Technology transfer Organizations established in 1974 Organizations based in New Jersey Agencies of the United States government