Now I want to focus again on the ATP. The ATP aims to accelerate the development of innovative technologies through partnerships with the private sector. These are not incremental technologies, but technologies that offer a leap forward — those that break the road. We do this through partnerships with the private sector. The industry is the main partner, but as I said earlier, we also have a broad involvement of other research and development communities. Ultimately, the question remains for the ATP whether research is largely beneficial at the national level. That`s why each project will be evaluated based on how research and development will bring economic benefits to the United States. Ven Narayanan, National Institutes of Health: I must congratulate you for the success you have had in creating this partnership, especially for the type of research that leads to products on the market. Are there restrictions on some of your payment dollars coming back to support other new projects? You should take into account the hiring of your employees and keep in mind that people may feel threatened by a joint venture.
It can also be difficult to build effective working relationships if your partner has another way of doing things. A clear agreement is an essential part of building good relations. Consider these ideas: If not, you may want to create a separate joint venture, possibly a new business, to fulfill a particular contract. A joint venture like this can be a very flexible option. The partners each own the company`s shares and agree on how it will be managed. Before starting a joint venture, the parties involved need to understand what they all want from the relationship. I referred to the research and development process as a kind of continuum and tried to record it in Figure 9.1. The ATP is in the process of meeting the average level of technological development. A number of ATP projects still have some basic research elements to complete when funding begins. Then the financing is stopped to the point where the company has a prototype – the ATP does not pay for product development or marketing. Companies must finance themselves the final phase of production and marketing or finance themselves from alternative sources. Many early-stage technologies are, by their very nature, largely aid-creating.