Research Program on the Management of Science and Technology: Transferring Technology to the Firm; Report of a Pilot Study in Irish Industry

This is a preliminary report on technology transfer, with data to be taken eventually from a stratified, random sample of 300 Irish manufacturing firms. The present study reports data from the first 65 of these firms. New technology, in these instances, reached the firm almost entirely through direct personal contact, most often with people, in the same industry but outside Ireland. Little use is made of the scientific/technological infra-structure of the country in accomplishing this transfer. The implications, for this situation, of Ireland's entry into the European Community are discussed.