accessing nasa technology innovation

1 University of Southern CaliforniaSchool of Engineering Technology Transfer Center

Accessing NASA Technology Innovation

Ken Dozier

NASA Far West RTTC

9/27/02


Organization History

• 1967 NIAC Started

• 1976 Subsidized Information Searches

• 1982 Information Services Expanded, RISS Launched

• 1984 Affiliate Network Starts

• 1991 Affiliate Network Expands

• 1992 USC Selected as RTTC

• 1994 Wins TRP Award

• 1997 ETTC Formed

Far West

Mid - Continent

Southeast

Mid-West Northeast

Mid-Atlantic

Since 1967, USC has been developing Primary Market Research for NASA in the area of Technology Transfer.

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“When the Rate of Change Outside is Greater Than the Rate of Change Inside, The End Is In Sight”

Jack Welch, Chairmen General Electric

The Future


“ According to Silicon Valley CEO’s, 60 % of the high-tech items they manufacture today did not exist 10 months ago”

Lon Hatamiya, Secretary - California Trade and Commerce Agency

Velocity

“Startups are now expected to go public within 6-18 months after venture investment”

Donna Jensen, Founder and CEO of startups.com


1st Perspective

• Knowledge is a New Kind of Asset– The foundation of industrialized economy is shifting from natural

resources to intellectual assets (Hansen 99) (Davis 98)

– Knowledge assets are viewed as factors of production that may be more important than traditional resources of capital, labor and land. (Davis 98)

– Converging technologies and rapid innovations can transform markets Overnight . Administrative systems no longer provide the underpinnings of value creation. (Teece 98)

– Reward goes to those who are good a sensing and seizing opportunities. Dynamic capabilities are most likely to be resident in firms that are highly entrepreneurial. (Teece 98)


What is Knowledge ?

Truth Knowledge Belief

Universal

No Debate

Effect

Social

Converge on debate

Cause

Personal

Diverge on debate

Cause

10 Philosophical Mistakes (Adler 85)


“where ... The ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons,computer in the the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons”

- Popular Mechanics, 1949

“I predict the internet... Will go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse ”

- Bob Metcalfe, 3COM founder and inventor, 1995

“This ‘Telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us”

- Western Union, Internal memo, 1876

“The problem with television is that the peoplemust sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; The average American family hasn’t time for it”

- New York Times, 1949

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home”

- Ken Olson, president andfounder, Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

“Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances”Lee De Forest, Radio Pioneer, 1957

The Future


2nd Perspective• Entrepreneurship Super Normal Wealth Creator

– Business Environments Have Become Hypercompetitive because of the High Magnitude and Velocity of Interfirm Rivalries (D’Aveni, 94)

– Innovations in Products, Services, Business Processes, and Organizational Designs are Creating Dramatic Discontinuities in Product- Market Spaces and Disrupting the Traditional Approaches to Competitive Strategies and Business Conduct (Christensen, 97)

– In the Short Run, Entrepreneurial Firms Reaps Supernormal Returns (Create Wealth) as Established Incumbents and Rivals Seek to Understand the Competitive Disruptions in their Market Space.(Christensen 97)

– Thus Competition Occurs in the Form of a Series of Market Disruption Moves by New Entrants or Entrepreneurial Firms and Efforts by Incumbents and Rivals to Shape Their Response Actions (Young et al 96)


Make & Sell vs Sense & Respond

Incubators and Science Parks created to bridge gap between development and commercialization

Chart Source: Corporate Information Systems, Applegate

Venture: Niche markets,

public trading (pull)

Federal Agencies, SBIR: Mission Based, Linear (push) Universities: Curiosity Based, emerging, (push)

Chabol (large companies) hierarchy, products based, (push)


DevelopersDrivers

Gates “Microsoft” XeroxJobs “Apple” XeroxClark “SGI” E&S, StanfordClark “Netscape” University of

Illinois

Licensing Wealth


Market Redefinition:Radical Change

Seven Organizational Change Propositions, Venkatraman 1994


RTTC Focus:Discovery

Zmud 2001


3rd Perspective

• Entrepreneurial Firms Represent a New Online Community• Network computing, supported by advanced communications infrastructure, can

facilitate collaborative entrepreneuralism (Teece 98)• Successful business models set themselves apart in their communication design

leading to a deconstruction of traditional value chains and the emergence of value Webs. (Lechner 01)

• The most critical factor for a venture business success is how to implement and commercialize lab-based technology/knowledge/ideas into actual products and/or services (Sung 01)

• Entrepreneurial firms use knowledge to reshape clusters of assets in distinctive and unique combinations to serve ever changing customer needs. (Teece 98)

• The key sources of wealth creation at the dawn of the new millennium will lie with new enterprise formation. (Teece 98)


Online Community

Subscribers

Netiquette

Self Organized

Non-Commercial Culture

Community = Set of Agents + MediumAgents = user groupsMedium = Internet

Communities - Business Models and System Architectures:The Blueprint of MP3.com, Napster and Gnutella Revisited, Lechner


Components of a Medium

Knowledge

Intention

Communities - Business Models and System Architectures:The Blueprint of MP3.com, Napster and Gnutella Revisited, Lechner


Evidence from Practice

• Secondary Market Research as practiced by expert communities may be not be producing market knowledge fast enough or broad enough for modern high velocity markets– Market analysis of existing markets was not encouraging

• A KMS that uses IT to gather primary market information rapidly, facilitates the complex transformation between basic research (IP) and commercialization (Wealth)– Online research for potential markets has changed the lens– MOB/WOB community is rich with profitable SMEs


Market Research Repository

You can sort or filter you selection

Each technology list the available primary

marker research we have done.


MULTI-CHANNEL SPATIALIZATION SYSTEM FOR AUDIO SIGNALSU.S. patent 5,438,623 (August 1, 1995)

PROBLEM ADDRESSED separation of auditory inputs by simulation of different source locations

TECHNICAL APPROACH

(1) use of synthetic auditory head related transfer function (HRTF) to simulate different virtual spatial source locations for up to five auditory signals;

(2) analog-to-digital conversion for noise-free processing with HRTF, and subsequent digital-to-analog conversion for presentation of modified signals to right and left ears

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS teleconferencing, aeronautical communications, virtual reality video games, command and control

BENEFITS (1) binaural hearing advantages: substantial improvement (6-8 dB)in signal to noise; faster reaction times, less listening fatigue, increased perception and immersion; (2) less expensive than general purpose 3D audio displays; (3) customizable; (4) user-friendly, not requiring computer interface

Docket Example


Gather Competitive Intelligence

• By using the CAP Tools, you can collect industry feedback and potential commercial applications.

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The Radar


CAP Tools (Explicit)

In the CAP, say you need to build a Technology StatusReport.

Clicking on the link, brings up more information about what is a Technology Status Report (TSR), including an example.

Clicking on the details button reveals more information about the TSR.


Market Wanted Innovations

• Real time

• General Solution (360 sphere)

• Low Cost

• Head Orientation Sensitive

• Set Top Box

• Sound Card Add in

• Listener Location Independence


MOB/WOB Firm

• Breakaway

– On going profitable south central MOB IT Service Business

– Strong Private and Public Network

– No Products

– Strong business relationship with Microsoft

• Far West

– Assisted with Business Plan

– We located Physicist

– Located Chip Designers

– MOU in process with Taiwan partner for chip fabrication

– Assisting with SBIR and STTR to ensure dual use

– Prepared mathematical demonstration of algorithm


Leveraging Existing Network

Breakaway will take lead on SBIR Phase I and Phase II (hopefully) Far West RTTC will support

USC School of Engineering will support STTR work.

Large Chip manufacturer is monitoring process

Large Set Top Box manufacturer is monitoring process

VC is monitoring process

Investment Bank is monitoring process

DoD is monitoring process

Time to Market 24 to 36 months


Assessing Your Technology

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Executive’s Approach to Technology

CEO Not Involved CEO Involved

Bef

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(No

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CIO Magazine June 2002

accessing nasa technology innovation

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