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| TWO Forms of Presentation Opportunity: Access Code required for submission |
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| Be reminded that, to maintain the high quality of technical competency this project demands, event participation in whatever capacity, is strictly by-invitation and submission approval. Therefore, even when your firm has received an SBIR ASSETs event notification email, to submit
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| ONE | White Paper submission to published Tech Seeker Topic interest | ||||
| White Paper process | |||||
| Crafted to contain only non-proprietary information, White Papers are prepared to a common form and format in response to posted Tech Seeker Topics The document is intended to provide the Tech Seeker a well-crafted overview of your understanding of the problem area along with what is - ideally - compelling evidence that you may have the requisite skill sets and capabilities to address their need(s). |
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| Tech Seeker Topics | |||||
| NOTE: to ease complexity of Breakout scheduling, NO ONE person from any SBIR firm may make more than TWO Tech Seeker Breakout application requests. Multiple White Papers may be submitted but, once selection for presentation has been made, there must be sufficient numbers of a firm's qualified personnel that are event registered to keep within this ONE person/TWO Tech Seeker Breakout limit. |
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| TWO | Nutshell Submissions: Capability Statement | ||||
Many SBIR firms have enabling technologies and/or a number of potential areas of collaborations across industry space. These firms are encouraged to consider preparing different Nutshells for each of these areas, These firms should contact us directly to discuss this.  
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From a rigorous pre-event submission and review process, SBIR Awardees selected for participation in this SBIR ASSETs event as Full Presenters are being provided valuable and IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY
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Across the entire range of market space and technology areas, interest among large and mid-sized firms in establishing working relationships with small firms in general - and with SBIR Awardees in particular - is an important and growing phenomenon. Note the major and increasing participation at events like the Navy Opportunity Forum - about 900 people last time around - and the very active engagement with SBIR-involved firms by technology brokering entities like yet2.com and NineSigma.
There is compelling evidence that - for reasons that will be considered during the adjunct program at the event - mutually valuable relationships are being formed; quality deals are being done -- and all that is good. The more these happen, in fact, the more the groundwork is laid and the track record developed that will facilitate it happening some more.
However, it is also clear that the underlying matching-need-to-talent process borders on the chaotic and, at best, is inherently inefficient. Far more useful collaborations could be happening that are not and, given the extent of wheel-spinning and blind alley navigation, the frustration level among all parties is fairly high - large(r) firms and SBIR Awardees alike. Almost all achieved partner-based activity to date has been one-at-a-time laced with a substantial element of pure serendipity. Did you - the Awardee - read the right announcement? Were you at the right stage of development? Were you in the right place at the right time? Were the right people having the discussion? Did all the planets properly align?
The concept of Technology Seeker
Across all industry segments and technology arenas, an increasing percentage of large and mid-sized firms are instituting an important Technology Seeker function. Often with tie-in to senior management and with substantial departmental involvement, these persons are tasked explicitly to look outside the firm for available technologies, capabilities and skill-sets relevant to addressing current problems and anticipated future needs.
Particularly important to SBIR-involved firms, is the fact that many of these Technology Seekers have the authority and the resources to establish effective working relationships with those external sources. Relationships may range from the larger firm being sub-contractor on an SBIR-funded project through contracted R&D; from cross-licensing to project teaming; from facilities sharing and periodic personnel interaction to full-blown collaboration; from investment to full acquisition.
In the past, these types of external collaborations have usually engaged the universities, non-profit R&Dfacilities, the federal labs and, on occasion, other large(r) corporation. With SBIR-involved firms increasingly understood as the largest single concentration of technical talent, firms which are activelt engaged in this important small business program are increasingly becoming a major focus of these Technology Seekers
There is compelling evidence that - for reasons that will be considered during the adjunct program at the event - mutually valuable relationships are being formed; quality deals are being done -- and all that is good. The more these happen, in fact, the more the groundwork is laid and the track record developed that will facilitate it happening some more.
However, it is also clear that the underlying matching-need-to-talent process borders on the chaotic and, at best, is inherently inefficient. Far more useful collaborations could be happening that are not and, given the extent of wheel-spinning and blind alley navigation, the frustration level among all parties is fairly high - large(r) firms and SBIR Awardees alike. Almost all achieved partner-based activity to date has been one-at-a-time laced with a substantial element of pure serendipity. Did you - the Awardee - read the right announcement? Were you at the right stage of development? Were you in the right place at the right time? Were the right people having the discussion? Did all the planets properly align?
Finding you:
As frustrating as it is to many of the SBIR Community striving to make the right connections, extensive discussion with those in the Tech Seeking role suggests there is just as much frustration on their part.
Many highly motivated Technology Seekers are only vaguely aware (if at all) of who SBIR firms are and what they can do. Even those who are very interested and well acquainted with the SBIR program indicate that finding right individual SBIR Awardees with the requisite skill-sets they need can be a major challenge. The overwhelming percentage of awardees are smaller, often young and resource stretched, and almost always to some extent flying under-the-radar. In the white-noise and crackle environment of technology development, even a large SBIR player with important relevant capabilities may be overlooked as not much more than a blip on the screen. Keeping track particularly of those doing relevant leading-edge work - especially across institutional lines - may be seriously problematic.
SBIR ASSETs:
| From a needs-driven, market pull approach, grounded in powerful, comprehensive relational databases, this carefully structured event is an important attempt to bring some order to this chaos. |
The concept of Technology Seeker
Across all industry segments and technology arenas, an increasing percentage of large and mid-sized firms are instituting an important Technology Seeker function. Often with tie-in to senior management and with substantial departmental involvement, these persons are tasked explicitly to look outside the firm for available technologies, capabilities and skill-sets relevant to addressing current problems and anticipated future needs.
Particularly important to SBIR-involved firms, is the fact that many of these Technology Seekers have the authority and the resources to establish effective working relationships with those external sources. Relationships may range from the larger firm being sub-contractor on an SBIR-funded project through contracted R&D; from cross-licensing to project teaming; from facilities sharing and periodic personnel interaction to full-blown collaboration; from investment to full acquisition.
In the past, these types of external collaborations have usually engaged the universities, non-profit R&Dfacilities, the federal labs and, on occasion, other large(r) corporation. With SBIR-involved firms increasingly understood as the largest single concentration of technical talent, firms which are activelt engaged in this important small business program are increasingly becoming a major focus of these Technology Seekers