This book is a collection of the best papers presented at the Seventh International Conference on the Management of Technology held in Orlando, Florida, February 16th to 20th 1998. All papers were evaluated by at least two referees and both referees needed to agree on the high quality of a paper for it to be included in these proceedings. The papers cover a vast array of topics and the authors come from the four corners of the globe. This is a strong indication that technology management is a very real preoccupation in many countries.
The book is divided into four major sections. The first section brings together the conceptual papers, papers that deal with the management of technology as a whole, its definition, its evolution, its applications, and some of its specificities. The second section embraces other preoccupations with a very fundamental, recurring issue in the field: management of research and development, which continues to be a major concern for companies, governments and industries. The third and largest section includes papers on innovation and technology transfer. In a world where regional disparities are great, technology transfer constitutes an important lever that can be used to narrow the gap between the rich and poor countries. The topic of commercialization, or how to profit from innovation, is dealt with in the last section of the book.