3. Program Area: Outreach and Technology Transfer 4. Program/Project Number: 3 5. Program/Project Title: Marketing & Outreach to InfoMall Partners 6. Faculty Personnel: Geoffrey C. Fox Kim Mills Deborah A. Jones Nancy McCracken Paul Coddington Denny Eaton Sean Branagan 7. Describe the relevance of this program/project/activity to the Center Strategic Plan. The foundation of InfoMall is built upon partnerships with public and private entities who have a vested interest in the commercialization of products and services based upon HPCC technology. This includes the identification and integration of large and small businesses, involvement of economic development organizations, and the services and facilities of universities and government laboratories. The institutional relationships between the InfoMall partners, NPAC and the State of New York are managed by the team listed under Outreach and Technology Transfer. 8. State the deliverables from Section III.B of the Center Strategic Plan which is addressed by this program/project/activity. Outreach and Technology Transfer Investigate and report findings on current state-of-the-art technology (2 reports) Investigate and report findings on current state-of-the- market trends (2 reports) identify/support small business partners (10 small businesses) screen for selection of those likely to succeed, and for **** which InfoMall can be of greatest help in training, technical **** development, business development and marketing **** provide resources for technical development refer small businesses to business development partners participate in technology transfer activities with InfoMall partners joint marketing activities (5 events) InfoMall meetings, seminars, events (2 meetings) newsletter, marketing materials, on-line information services **** through the InfoMall World Wide Web server **** 9. Project Start Date: 9/1/93 (on-going) 10. Project End Date: on-going 11. Sources of Funding: Source Amount New York State $201,808 12. Sponsor Information: A. Name of company or organization New York State Science & Technology Foundation A(1). Contact Person: Name: Theresa Walker Title: Director University/Industry Programs Address: 99 Washington Ave City/State/ZIP code: Albany, NY Telephone #: (518) A(2). if the contact person is not at a New York address, describe the company's operations in New York. A(3). Duration of support by this sponsor for this project (start/end dates) 9/1/93 (on-going) A(4). What does this sponsor expect in return for this project? technology transfer, economic development, assistance to NYS industry 13. A. Specific objectives understand the relationship (or gap) between the existing state-of-the-market and the emerging state-of-the-art technologies to determine which industries are likely to seek and benefit in the near term from the use of HPCC- based information technologies. solicit participation by organizations who are likely to benefit from near term use of HPCC-based information technologies, and who are able to contribute to the mission of InfoMall. identify and recruit participation from potential sponsors of InfoMall development projects participate in joint marketing and economic development activities with InfoMall partners and sponsors. B. Relevance to the Center's target industry Target industries stand to gain a competitive advantage through participation in InfoMall. Many may not realize the relevance of HPCC technologies to their organizations, or be aware of the state-of-the-art in these technologies. **** The outreach and technology transfer activities of InfoMall serve to educate, introduce and convince **** partners to join InfoMall for their mutual benefit. C. Plan of approach understand the state of the Mall in order to target appropriate industry and or technology understand the current state of technology development within each industry to serve as a starting point for discussions, education and development activities partner with established InfoMall partner industry and organizations to gain the trust of target industries. establish credible track record with current InfoMall partners who will serve as references with target industries. host meetings and other events to introduce partners to emerging technologies and issues of technology transfer. encourage interchange of information and technology between partners. education partners and sponsors of state-of-the-Mall (markets and technologies) through reports on trends and current events. D. Purpose of any planned travel By their nature, outreach activities frequently involve travel to the site of a prospective partner or to conferences or meetings give presentations about InfoMall. E. Industry involvement Outreach activities of InfoMall are often performed jointly by InfoMall staff and key partners such as BoozaAllen & Hamilton, NYNEX and Rome Laboratory. Additional outreach efforts are contributed to InfoMall by other partners who represent the Mall and refer contacts to us. These efforts are funded by the partners. F. Technical innovation N/A G. Steps to commercialization N/A H. Progress to date Outreach efforts to date have resulted in many inquiries about the InfoMall program. Our experiences with the InfoMall meetings and participation conferences and trade shows has enables us to determine which events are likely to result in useful contacts or new partners. I. Impact to date As the result of outreach efforts during the past year, InfoMall membership has grown from 23 members to over 55 members. Five technical projects were initiated and proposals are under consideration for ten new projects. 3. Program Area: Education and Training 4. Program/Project Number: 4 5. Program/Project Title: Consulting, Mentoring and Training 6. Faculty Personnel: Nancy McCracken Paul Coddington 7. Describe the relevance of this program/project/activity to the Center Strategic Plan. This activity has the greatest impact on the small business partners of InfoMall who generally require personal assistance to get started using the facilities. InfoMall consultants are able to suggest the best approach for development using HPCC technologies. Other businesses will benefit from consultation on the state-of-the-market. Qualified small businesses may spend time at the NPAC facilities for greater access to intellectual and computer resources. With effective screening of candidate small businesses, InfoMall will enable the development of new products, introduce small businesses to potential customers and include small businesses in large development projects. Before this can be achieved, the small businesses must be able to contribute to the current state of the art technology and marketplace. 8. State the deliverables from Section III.B of the Center Strategic Plan which is addressed by this program/project/activity. Education and Training in HPCC technologies, using short seminars, **** on-line help and tutorial services for specific HPCC hardware and **** software, mentoring and guidance from experts in relevant areas. **** provide forecast of impact on HPCC for target industries provide reviews of state-of-the-art HPCC technologies **** consult with partners to enable them to use HPCC resources train corporate staff on use and support of HPCC systems 9. Project Start Date:: 9/1/93 (on-going) 10. Project End Date:: on-going 11. Sources of Funding: Source Amount New York State $ National Science Foundation $ 12. Sponsor Information: A. Name of company or organization New York State Science & Technology Foundation A(4). What does this sponsor expect in return for this project? Economic development through new and expanding small software businesses in NYS 13. A. Specific objectives Prepare small businesses to engage in commerce in area of information technologies using HPCC technology B. Relevance to the Center's target industry Small businesses represent an important source of technology development and integration. By enabling new small businesses to offer state-of-the-art products, InfoMall's technology development projects will benefit from a rich source of third party niche software developers. C. Plan of approach Screen interested small businesses to determine which are most likely to benefit from the resources of InfoMall and plan to participate in large development projects in the future. Provide tailored assistance to small businesses to accelerate the development of their commercial products and services. Introduce small businesses to InfoMall partners who can provide specific resources, mentoring or sponsorship. Include qualified small businesses in InfoMall technology development projects. D. Purpose of any planned travel Visit InfoMall partners to identify resources and opportunities for small business partners. Visit small businesses for demonstration and evaluation. E. Industry involvement Established InfoMall partners seek relationships with qualified small businesses who offer niche technology development or whose commercial product offers new opportunities to the established business. InfoMall partners welcome demonstrations and small business technology development plans for their review. F. Technical innovation Small businesses offer specialized technology innovations that larger businesses cannot produce. We look to the small businesses for development of commercial products offering specific content (ex. education software), specialized technology components and integration services. G. Steps to commercialization Small businesses seek to develop commercial products. InfoMall partners may chose to purchase such products to include in their commercial products and services as well. H. Progress to date Though we have identified over 20 interested small businesses, InfoMall has not yet developed a screening mechanism to select those most likely to benefit from the limited resources of NPAC and other partners. Additional InfoMall resources are necessary to begin the process of choosing small businesses, developing a plan to provide consulting services and to provide a follow-up evaluation of their progress. InfoMall resources will allocated on a limited basis for next year to implement consulting, mentoring and training activities. I. Impact to date Preliminary review of issues related to supporting small businesses is complete. Support activities will begin on limited basis in next year of the contract.