A. The Authority shall develop the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap (the Roadmap), a comprehensive research and technology strategic roadmap for the Commonwealth to identify research areas worthy of economic development and institutional focus. The goal of the Roadmap shall be to develop a cohesive and comprehensive framework through which to encourage collaboration between the Commonwealth’s institutions of higher education, private sector industries, and economic development entities in order to focus on the complete life cycle of research, development, and commercialization. The framework shall serve as a means to (i) identify the Commonwealth’s key industry sectors in which investments in technology should be made by the Commonwealth, which may include but are not limited to the fields of energy, conservation, environment, microelectronics, robotics and unmanned vehicle systems, advanced shipbuilding, or lifespan biology and medicine, (ii) identify basic and applied research opportunities in these sectors that exhibit commercial promise, (iii) encourage commercialization and economic development activities in the Commonwealth in these sectors, and (iv) help ensure that investments in basic and applied research are made prudently in focused areas for projects with significant potential for commercialization and economic growth in the Commonwealth. In developing the Roadmap, the Authority shall:
1. Review the strategic plan for each research university in the Commonwealth to identify common themes;
2. Catalog the Commonwealth’s assets in order to identify the areas of research and development in which the Commonwealth has a great likelihood of excelling in applied research and commercialization;
3. Make recommendations for the alignment of research and development and economic growth in the Commonwealth, identifying the industry sectors in which the Commonwealth should focus its research, development, investment, and economic development efforts;
4. Establish a process for maintaining an inventory of the Commonwealth’s current research and development endeavors in both the public and private sector that can be used to attract research and commercialization excellence in the Commonwealth;
5. Make recommendations to the Six-Year Capital Outlay Plan Advisory Committee established pursuant to § 2.2-1516 regarding capital construction needs at state institutions of higher education necessary to excel in basic and applied research in identified industry sectors; and
6. Develop a policy regarding the ownership and licensing of intellectual property developed through the use of awards from the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund.
B. In developing the Roadmap, the Authority shall solicit feedback from the Research and Technology Investment Advisory Committee; public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth; federal research and development assets in the Commonwealth including but not limited to NASA Langley Research Center, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, and the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab); regional technology councils in the Commonwealth; and the private sector.
C. The Authority shall review and update the Roadmap at least once every three years.
D. The Authority shall submit the Roadmap, and any subsequent updates, to the Governor and the chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, the House Committee on Science and Technology, and the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.
History
2011, cc. 816, 874.
