Technology transfer: What are the needs and benefits for Brazil?

Technology transfer is a process or technical knowledge, usually developed in academia (ie universities), passed on to another organization. Its premise is the expansion of knowledge and development, with a focus on scientific and technological innovations, which allows the creation of new products, services and the like.
Through technology transfer, it is possible for people, companies and governments to have access to manufacturing techniques, technologies and specific knowledge that, on their own, would not have sufficient capacity or know-how to develop them.
This process, when carried out, must be registered with the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI), and can be done both between national and international companies. In the spectrum of technology transfer, the following are allowed:

• Licensing of industrial property rights (such as trademarks, patents, industrial designs and topography of integrated circuits);
• Technologies;
• technical assistance services; and
• Deductibles

In addition, the transfer may or may not be of an economic nature (be paid). From this, a licensing agreement is made, in which the rights to use and commercialize a creation are transferred, so that it is then made available by the holders of the rights to third parties.

The series of obligations of the parties regarding the use and exploitation of intellectual property are also determined, with a view to better development and use of technology.

Technology transfer is, in most cases, linked to the health sector. A well-known example today is in the production of vaccines to combat the coronavirus, in which the main manufacturers (such as Sinovac and the University of Oxford) granted Brazil the transfer of technology, using inputs for national production.

One of the main benefits of this technology transfer is the speed in the production process of the materials and products used, with optimized logistics and the reduction of bureaucracy. In the case of vaccines, for example, it is less dependent on distribution by the country of origin of the manufacturers, accelerating immunization, since more doses are distributed more easily, since they are produced in the same country.

In addition, technology transfer also allows less capable countries, in unsatisfactory positions, such as Brazil itself, to grow in the ranking of competitiveness compared to other countries. This method is an effective way of fostering opportunities for innovation, as it makes it easier to develop, being able to take advantage of more robust technologies (often not found in the country) to achieve these solutions.

It is necessary to consider that no company or country has all the knowledge and capacity to put it into practice. Therefore, technology transfer creates a support system between organizations and researchers, in which it is possible to invest in knowledge to finally obtain the technology, or even import the technology to generate knowledge elsewhere, for other researchers.

Finally, technology transfer is beneficial in different ways. Economically, there is a cost reduction, an improvement in the trade balance, export generation and an increase in profitability. In the social environment, it improves the quality of life, generates jobs, and promotes cultural enrichment and evolution.

Operationally, there is a change in the scale of production, with a more efficient use of capital and labor, optimizing skills and execution time, which guarantees access to new markets, productivity gains, increasing the capacity for innovation.

It is also a way of entering international markets, with an increase in product innovation, in addition to improving the status of entrepreneurial skills and discipline/profession, with learning benefits, technological management, managerial and productive flexibility, with financial.