They probably can be identified by certain characteristics commonly associated with the word "geek."

The Informal University Tech Transfer Network

The other technology transfer process has a much higher profile and exists in research universities. Ostensibly, the formal part of the process involves the technology transfer office and individual faculty members who may be engaged in technological innovation research. However, a road map that limits the search for ideas and entrepreneurs at the formal institutional level will miss many investment opportunities.

In their research, An Empirical Analysis of the Propensity of Academics to Engage in Informal University Technology Transfer, Albert N. Link, Donald S. Siegel, and Barry Bozeman (2007), explained the difference between the informal and formal tech transfer process at universities.

"An "informal" technology transfer mechanism is one facilitating the flow of technology knowledge but through informal communication processes, such as technical assistance, consulting and collaborative research," they wrote.

"Formal technology transfer mechanisms sometimes result ultimately in formal instrumentalities. Formal technology transfer is focused on allocation of property rights and obligations, whereas in informal technology transfer, property rights play a secondary role, if any, and obligations are normative rather than legal," they explained.

They cited the work of Markman, Gianiodis, and Phan (2006a, 2006b), "who documented that many technologies are indeed "going out the back door." Taken together, these findings suggest that informal channels of informal technology transfer may be prevalent and important for university administrators to understand given their objective to formalize such activities."

Having the universities rein in the stuff going out the back door is probably not a socially valuable idea, and constitutes a public policy conflict between what is good financially for the universities and what is economically good for the society as a result of technology commercialization.

In terms of the road map for discovering entrepreneurs and ideas, however, the informal tech transfer process is a gold mine. As they noted, "Social networks appear to play an important role is important in university-industry technology transfer processes. These networks include academic and industry scientists, and perhaps, university administrators, TTO directors, and managers/entrepreneurs (Liebeskind, Oliver, Zucker and Brewer, 1996; Powell, 1990). Social networks that allow knowledge transfer appear to work in both directions. Scientists who were interviewed noted that interacting with industry enables them to conduct "better" basic research, a finding that has been documented in biotechnology industries (Zucker & Darby, 1996)."

In other words, the informal university tech transfer road map begins with tech transfer events where university faculty are engaging socially with private corporations. "It appears," they write, "that many faculty members are circumventing the technology transfer office' Our findings imply that when they are successful, they are more likely to attempt to commercialize the results of their research directly with industry."

Key Indicators Are High Rates of Job-Hopping in The Regional Value Chains

The places to look in your regional economy for technological innovation investment opportunities are in the industrial sectors where there are high rates of job-hopping and high rates of labor market turmoil.