The US invented the research park model at Stanford University in 1951 and also invented university technology transfer with the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, linking the US research university system with technology commercialization, Darmody said in testimony before the US Senate.

But the US no longer leads the world in research parks nor in university technology commercialization.

"Research universities in the United Kingdom now outperform US universities on a proportionate basis in terms of technology commercialization," he said.

"We view research parks as part of a nation's 21st century innovation infrastructure, just as airports and railroads did in earlier centuries, and high bandwidth internet backbone serves today. Innovation is key to job creation, and support for innovation an important federal mission."

Darmody recommended a series of actions, including loans, tax-free financing and more flexible government procedures for commercializing technology developed at incubators with federal support.