6.1 Process of Commercialization

For the service and technology to be effectively applied, there is need to complete the total innovation-chain, consisting of basic research, applied research, design and development, prototype fabrication, up-scaling, extension, building of awareness, production engineering, design and consultancy and production of services. A schematic presentation for the commercialization of technology is shown in the Figure. Commercialization begins when a business identifies a way to use scientific or engineering advances to meet a market need. The process continues through design, development, manufacturing ramp-up, marketing, and also includes later efforts to improve the product. While it is often viewed as a linear process - a series of steps performed by people in different functions-many see the process as a series of overlapping phases that involve many functional groups simultaneously.

The Case of Korea : In the 1980s, the Ministry of Science and Technology in the Republic of Korea launched the Center for Research and Development (CRDC) to promote the transfer and commercialization of new technologies from universities and GRIs into private industry. One critical function of the CRDC was to provide long-term loans to support the process of commercialization in private firms, as well as for the consolidation of marketing activities in the field of technology-based venture business. The Government provided 80-90 percent of the total R&D investment to R&D institutes involved in national R&D projects for core and fundamental technology-development, industrial technology, alternate-energy technology development and other programs formulated by the Government. It also provided financial support of up to 50 percent of the total cost to individuals or small firms for commercializing new technologies. Since the 1970s, the research programs, financed by both Government and industry, have focussed on developing strategic, high-risk, high-cost technologies that could not be developed by industry alone.