Federal Fiscal New Year Sees Many Opportunities

Happy New Year! It is the start of a federal fiscal year, which means new opportunities for the FLC and our member labs. Last month I shared some of the big achievements from the past year, and now we'll look ahead at a few exciting 2023 initiatives involving some of the FLC's most popular tools and services.

The FLC has been operating annually under approved Charters for each of the Promote, Educate and Facilitate committees. After the updated Charters have been approval by the Executive Board at the end of this month, you can find them on the Committees page of the FLC website.

Speaking of the website, the newly designed site has been a big hit with our audience, and the improved navigation helps you find everything you’re looking for. In the coming year we will continue progress in several website areas. The biggest change is a complete redesign and launch of an updated FLC Business. First launched back in 2012, FLC Business allows prospective tech transfer partners to search across agencies for federal intellectual property, facilities, and expertise. The new iteration will have a whole new look and more powerful search capabilities. Look for a big rollout after the holiday season.

Lab Tech in Your Life has been a helpful interactive tool to communicate tech transfer outcomes and explain the value of tech transfer to external audiences. The Promote Committee will be revisiting the future of this tool, which might involve updates or expansion within the existing platform or possibly something completely new.

Last month I mentioned the new Learning Management System (LMS) on the FLC website. While we now have that tool in place, look for a tremendous content revision in the coming year. This will include new course content, streamlined access to past National Meetings, and more resources, all on a single platform.

Speaking of resources, this is the year to refresh the popular FLC Green Book—a handy compendium of tech transfer laws, regulations, and Executive Orders. This update will complement the ongoing reboot of another key FLC tool, the Desk Reference, which will be available soon. 

We are looking forward to our first in-person National Meeting in three years! It's almost hard to believe, but it looks like COVID travel restrictions are mostly behind us, and we can’t wait to see you all in Cleveland. Registration will open next month.

The Facilitate Committee and the FLC Regions are moving several pilot projects to full steam ahead. We have an expanded Industry Engagement Program that will include both online and in-person events. We are currently working with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and AUTM to hold a joint green technology event at the USPTO headquarters in May 2023 (more details to follow in another column).

We also have a full slate of online tech technology engagement events, Member Connect meetings, and Lab Showcases to help generate new opportunities for public-private partnerships. Hopefully you see all these events highlighted right at the top of the FLC Digest, such as the Mid-Atlantic Region Partnering for Economic Development tomorrow. You can also find them on the Events page of the FLC website. 

With the return of in-person events, we will be working with our partners on several events to showcase work from federal labs. See our partner page for organizations that are ready and willing to work with federal labs to make deals happen.

As always, we are hoping to work with you, the tech transfer community. We are open to new ideas and welcome volunteers in the programs I highlighted or any of the many activities from the FLC. Please check out all our activities on the updated events listing on the website or contact us at [email protected].