ASTM explores ways to accelerate technology adoption through standards.

Mar 27, 2025

In collaboration with the Government-University-Industry-Philanthropy Research Roundtable (GUIPRR) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies), ASTM International will convene a workshop for commercialization stakeholders interested in the potential formation of a new activity on emerging technology commercialization (ETC) on Wednesday, April 23.

There has been interest from stakeholders to address early standards development in support of emerging technology commercialization. ASTM invites participants and speakers to provide input and insight into the potential scope and anticipate deliverables of the new ETC activity, including:

• Standards for readiness levels, as for technology, adoption, and manufacturing,
• Practice guides for technology transfer, and
• Commercialization terminology for standards products

The activity will convene experts from fields like intellectual property, licensing, entrepreneurship, investing, technology maturation, incubation and regulation to discuss developing standards that will help transfer emerging technologies from research to the marketplace.

“Technology commercialization depends on more than just technical readiness,” said Dr. Vanessa Chan, vice dean of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. "Through this activity, we can bring common criteria to bear in evaluating non-technical market, regulatory and investment readiness for emerging technologies. In many cases, these external factors can present the most significant barriers to technology adoption.” 

Collaborating with stakeholders to define standardized methods for assessing adoption readiness factors can create opportunities for industry, investors, inventors and other stakeholders, Chan added, removing obstacles earlier in the development cycle.

ASTM aims to bring together a broad stakeholder group to assess interest in the development of standards, symposia and other standard related information with the goal of accelerating the commercialization of innovative and emerging technologies. Within the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the National Academies, GUIPRR aims to improve the research enterprise of the United States by successfully identifying and resolving the cross-sectoral issues that prevent the national network of leading scientific institutions from reaching their full potential. This discussion on ETC is likely the first in a series of workshops to address the developing needs related to commercialization standards and functional interoperability.

“We’re looking for technical committee standards that can shape the adoption of emerging technologies in parallel with the development cycle, thus creating an accelerated, parallel track,” said Christina Lomasney, chief commercialization officer of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and former ASTM board member. “ASTM International is uniquely positioned to convene technical experts and to provide the necessary forum and governance to accelerate commercialization through standards.”

Participants are encouraged to share their input and insights on the scope and expected work products of the proposed ETC Committee. Domain experts can get involved early by responding to an inquiry survey.: https://survey.sogolytics.com/r/UU2eJs

Learn more and register here: https://nas-sec.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_bO6O0oK-RFy8R8TL93T8tw

Media Inquiries: Gavin O’Reilly, tel +1.610.832.9618; goreilly@astm.org

Release #11983

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