DOE aims to get federally developed technology into private sector faster

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently launched an initiative to spread new technologies developed in the federal government's national labs to the private sector to improve the economy.

The effort essentially aims to provide an economic boost to U.S. industries while simultaneously creating new jobs through the tech sector.

The DOE recently opened a new unit, the Office of Technology Transitions, to foster a smoother transition of new technology out of national labs and into commercial use.

“Tech transfer is a mission of the DOE and all our national labs," Jetta Wong, acting director of the new office, said. “It is a complementary mission that enhances what we do to meet our security, energy and environment missions.”

Wong spoke of that mission recently at a technology-transfer roundtable organized by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, during which senators, business leaders and national research experts discussed ways to make that tech transfer happen.

Company leaders at the roundtable said public-private partnerships and concerted tech-transfer initiatives are essential to that goal. Udall said he is committed to helping the DOE develop those kinds of initiatives.

“How do we segue the great things we work on in the labs — nuclear engineering, nuclear nonproliferation, cybersecurity, nanotechnology, renewable energy, and on and on — into the marketplace?” Udall said. “We want to move forward in this crucial area. It means jobs and economic development.”