Technology transfer in computer science refers to the transfer of technology developed in computer science or applied computing research, from universities and governments to the private sector. These technologies may be abstract, such as algorithms and data structures, or concrete, such as open source software packages.
Examples
Notable examples of technology transfer in computer science include:
| Year of transfer | Technology |
Field(s) |
Originally developed at | Transfer method(s) | Commercialised at | Patented | Used by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1964 | BASIC | Programming languages |  Dartmouth College
|
Freeware | Computer manufacturers and others | No | Numerous BASIC dialects |
| 1974 (Internet Protocol published)
1992 (interconnection) |
The Internet | Computer networking | Advanced Research Projects Agency
|
RFC
1992 law permitting commercial interconnection |
Numerous companies | No | Millions of web sites and other internet properties |
| 1984 | MATLAB | Programming languages | University of New Mexico
|
Incorporation and rewrite | MathWorks
|
No (original)
Yes (from 2001) |
Millions of users |
| 1990 (initial software)
1994 (Netscape) |
World Wide Web | Information retrieval |  CERN
|
Unfettered use (no patents)
Consortium (to create recommended standards) |
Netscape and others
|
No | Millions of web sites |
| 1991 | Gopher | Computer networking | University of Minnesota
|
RFC | Numerous companies | No | Numerous Gopher sites |
| 1998 | PageRank | Information retrieval | Stanford University
|
Spin-out | Google
|
Yes | Google Search |
| 2004 (software)
2011 (incorporation) |
Scala | Programming languages | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
|
Open source | Typesafe Inc. and others
|
? | Play, Akka and others |