We are processing your request. Please be patient.

The ExPreS^® Difference
The term Open Innovation is used increasingly to describe business collaborations and partnering, and technology outsourcing. For many the term has become synonymous with Crowd Sourcing – a process intentionally structured to maximize the number of players exposed to the task in hand.
Quantity versus quality?
In strong contrast, the ExPreS^® system is a rigorous, multi-level gating process carefully designed pro-actively first to identify and then to target-contact and encourage the interest and involvement of specific SBIR-STTR involved firms that - based on what they have already done - are judged as having relevant and demonstrated skills-sets and capabilities required to tackle a particular Tech Seeker’s proposed project(s).
    As such, perhaps by definition, ExPreS use may mean a smaller number of SBIR-ers contacted and fewer respondents. However, the depth-in-quality pre-match to Tech Seeker needs & interests yields improved prospects for cross-industry and cross-discipline functionality, for validated/-able competencies and, often importantly, better potential for sustainable working relationships.

Question: What do the following Tech Seeker-small firm collaborative projects have in common? SBIR firm - entirely DOD-funded - able to offer useful line-operation capability needed by consumer packaging corporation. In addition to lucrative licensing arrangement, deal include sizable engineering design and installation contract let to small firm Rapidly growing small firm with sophisticated thermal materials development capabilities engaged primarily in military, engineering and energy are in serious collaboration discussion with major Pharma re. use of their technology in drug delivery Sensors developed entirely for medical device application were sought out by, and licensed to, an oil and gas industry supply company for down-hole use. Missile Defense need for lighter weight material with high heat and corrosive resistance led to development of entirely new coating techniques opening up range of medical device and cell culturing systems opportunities. Answer:  Receptivity by Tech Seeker to a redefinition of the problem. Focusing to functional underpinnings of task to hand opened up opportunity for players in entirely different technical space to be exposed to the issue. Their seeing the problem from a different perspective and through an entirely different prism enabled working relationship between those whose professional paths might not ordinarily have ever crossed. Received comment from Tech Seeker participant in an ASSETs Forum:       "We read the Journals and go to the Trade Shows that are for our industry and that's where we get alot of our small business input .... But what I just love about the ASSETs approach is that we got also to meet and spend serious time with small firms in completely different industry space from us.      .... when they heard about some of the problems we were having, drawing on their very different experience they came up with ideas and possible fixes that hadn't even occurred to us. In a couple of cases, their suggestions were right on the mark and we're using them ... I know we would never have met these firms though our usual channels. " Tech Scout: Consumer Products		In slide-stack prepared for outside/scouting presentation by those in major/mid-sized corporation having external outreach responsibility will invariably be one indicating that "Large Corporation" seeks to be Partner of Choice.  To set that objective in context, Tech Seeker then offers a brief overview of those areas of technology interest in which they seek to partner: a necessary - but not sufficient - condition to get to that Partner of Choice objective. The right people: At the outset of seeking potential external partners, the challenge is often that simply of being able to identify that population of players having the right skills-sets and capabilities to tackle the job to hand.     From within the major population of talent that is SBIR awardees, the powerful ASSET system - Access SBIR-STTR Scientific & Engineering Talent - is structured specifically to do that.  That's almost the easy part. Project outcomes:  pre- event set-up effort enables quality results. ________ It has been our consistent experience that quality small firms rarely go on 'fishing expeditions'. These types of firms have other choices and tend to evaluate potential opportunities by whether they judge the potential of such as likely to support their own business objectives  and - critically - for which they feel well-qualified and likely to stand a good chance of winning Meaning what? Project description that is too general and/ or rather vague does not provide would-be respondent with enough and/or the right type of information from which to work Too specific - narrowly directing the response - and the 'fresh-eyes' /new insight approach that can often be so valuable will not be forthcoming Pre-contact time spent seriously thinking about what you actually want to achieve from the small firms collaboration(s) the actual needs to be addressed and type(s) of anticipated project outcomes possible form(s) and type(s) of relationship criteria by which decision will be made and, from those internal to your own Corporation, whose buy-in would be needed to get to actual use-condition? and then conveying some of that to potential applicants will pay dividends		en Large