iBRIDGE CONVERSATION

The interest in the iBridge Network and Web site continues to grow, which we are very excited about! In case you haven’t had the opportunity to join one of our information sessions, we’ve scheduled a few more in the coming weeks.

They are:

• Mon, March 12, 11:00 AM Central
• Fri, March 16, 2:00 PM Central
• Tue, March 20, 3:00 PM Central
• Wed, March 28, 10:00 AM Central

We hope that one of these times works for you! Please register for the meeting date by going to https://kauffman.webex.com. You will be asked to enter your contact information so that registration details can be e-mailed to you.

Don’t come alone! Feel free to extend this invitation to others in your organization. (Please note: All attendees must register separately on https://kauffman.webex.com.)

If you can’t make these times, don’t worry – we’ll offer more online information sessions in the months to come. Bookmark www.iBridgeNetwork.com and check back often for the latest news about the iBridge Network. Also, e-mail us at info@iBridgeNetwork.com, with any additional questions.

Remember, with the iBridge Network, you’re only one step away from finding your missing link!

The interest in the iBridge Network and Web site continues to grow, which we are very excited about! In case you haven’t had the opportunity to join one of our information sessions, we’ve scheduled a few more in the coming weeks.

They are:

• Mon, March 12, 11:00 AM Central
• Fri, March 16, 2:00 PM Central
• Tue, March 20, 3:00 PM Central
• Wed, March 28, 10:00 AM Central

We hope that one of these times works for you! Please register for the meeting date by going to https://kauffman.webex.com. You will be asked to enter your contact information so that registration details can be e-mailed to you.

Don’t come alone! Feel free to extend this invitation to others in your organization. (Please note: All attendees must register separately on https://kauffman.webex.com.)

If you can’t make these times, don’t worry – we’ll offer more online information sessions in the months to come. Bookmark www.iBridgeNetwork.com and check back often for the latest news about the iBridge Network. Also, e-mail us at info@iBridgeNetwork.com, with any additional questions.

Remember, with the iBridge Network, you’re only one step away from finding your missing link!

We want to alert readers to an important conference taking place at the Kauffman Foundation today. It’s the Big 12 Innovation and Capital Formation Conference (think of your favorite Big 12 college football club and then switch to some of the best research going on today in technology and research).

The Big 12 Center for Economic Development, Innovation, and Commercialization sponsored today’s conference.

Here’s the Web site for the conference in which you’ll see all of the things going on here, including an awards ceremony for rising research stars at each of these schools. There also are panels covering strategies for how universities can support its local entrepreneurs, capital formation strategies, the economic value of star faculty, and then the finale today is the university innovation showcase.

The keynote speaker at today’s lunch was Richard Caruso, PhD (photo above), chairman of Integra LifeSciences Corp. Dr. Caruso, in case you missed it, was named the overall Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2006. More details forthcoming through the day.

The iBridge Network is more than pleased to help spread the word about one of the most important awards for innovators in the United States.

The award is the 34th Annual National Inventor of the Year Award to be presented June 11, 2007 by the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPO Foundation).

The IPO Foundation currently is asking for nominations for candidates to win this prestigious award. The deadline to submit nominations is April 20, 2007. So who’s eligible (especially if you’re immediately ready to nominate a colleague or even yourself)? An inventor is eligible, according to the IPO Foundation, if the invention “originated in the U.S.,” is covered by a U.S. patent, and was patented since 2003 or recently commercialized.

And if you’re curious about criteria for judging nominees, they include concept originality, ingenuity in designing the concept, and societal benefit.

For direct and easy-to-read directions on submitting a nomination, visit the IPO Foundation nomination home page. Note that anyone can be nominated and you can nominate yourself (as noted above).

You can read about all of the past awardees on the IPO Foundation site, but the list includes inventors from a cross-section of industries including biomedicine, chemicals, advanced manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Designing CyberInfrastructure Conference, at the National Academies in Washington DC.  There I saw how and where the iBridge Network fits into the building of the nation’s cyber infrastructure (CI).

From Peter Freeman, of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to Stuart Feldman of IBM to Brett Frischman of the Loyala School of Law at the University of Chicago to Steve Jackson of the University of Michigan, the support for a strong cyber infrastructure in this country is undeniable. The energy at the conference was exciting and made me think more about how the iBridge Network fits into this CI world.
With the iBridge Network there is now a new gateway for industry and entrepreneurs to engage in conversations about how policy, legal, and usage possibilities affect the CI design and the need to involve all the stakeholders in the design process.  This involvement helps build a stronger, more powerful gateway.

NSF hopes that CI will serve as an agent for broadening participation and strengthening the nation’s workforce in science and engineering. To enable this, NSF’s goal is to provide a CI that is secure, efficient, reliable, accessible, usable, and interoperable that will evolve into an essential part of conducting science and engineering research  The iBridge Network already supports this goal by making technologies and innovations are available for license and use to researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry.

I was amazed to see that the Network is also supporting one of the recommendations of the National Innovation Initiative Report on Intellectual Property. The report discusses the need to facilitate long-term technology transfer relationships between universities and industry, a founding principle of the iBridge Network.  Additionally, the iBridge Network provides unrestricted access through its one-stop shop e-commerce capabilities that allow users to search, browse technologies, contact researchers, and license the technologies, thereby supporting the CI tenant of lowering transaction costs and increasing opportunity for free exchange.

Overall, I couldn’t believe all the synergies between the iBridge Network and the CI that is being built now and into the future. Talk about good timing for the launching of the Network!

We’ve been busy here at the iBridge Network, working with our charter schools to make the site the best it can be and preparing for new universities and organizations to join us!

By joining the iBridge Network, you become part of a culture of sharing and partnership in the world of technology transfer - who wouldn’t want that?

To learn more, attend one of the conference calls and WebEx sessions that we have planned in the next two weeks, don’t worry - they are only 40 minutes long! The dates are:

Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 8:00 AM CST

Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 2:00 PM CST

Monday, February 26, 2007 at 11:00 AM CST

You must register to receive instructions on how to log onto one of these sessions. To register, log onto https://kauffman.webex.com and browse to your selected meeting date. You will be asked to enter your contact information so that registration details can be e-mailed to you. Please feel free to invite others from your organization to attend as well, however, please note that each attendee will need to register separately.

If you can’t make these times, don’t worry - we will be having more in the months to come. Also, please know that, at this time, we can only accept applications from non-profit organizations.

The bottom line — we work with you to make the process of sharing and distributing research easier and ensure it reaches a broad audience.

Go ahead, register…it’s easy! https://kauffman.webex.com

Just about an hour ago we did an on-stage presentation which will be available on-line in a couple of hours. Check it out at http://www.demo.com/demonstrators/demo2007/91316.php

We announce today the launch of the Beta site of the all-updated iBridge Network Web site. After a two year pilot of the iBridge Network we have pulled together all of the feedback that we have received and have completely re-designed the website for easier browsing and search, features to allow you to better track the technologies and fields that you are following, and better administrative interfaces for those who post technology. We have also launched new Network features including writing and editorial services and the start of a standard description format for licensable technology.

Along with the launch of our site we also announce that we are now accepting applications new additional universities that are interested in joining the Network. We are also actively seeking sponsorships and other partnerships that may enhance the Network for its members.

Over the next couple of days I’ll highlight various aspects of the site. I welcome you to subscribe to this feed (see the bottom of the page) and let me know what you think of the new site. I’m looking forward to reading your comments!!

Well — this is our last week before we launch our new site in Beta and you can just feel the energy if you get anywhere near a team member (or something one of us has typed). I’m so excited about the contribution that we will be making in this space, not just with a new website, but also with standardization in the industry and the sharing of best practices. The spirit of collegiate collaboration has always been a part of this project since we started out two years ago and it will be great to share that spirit with the larger community as we expand during the next year.

I look forward to sharing our collective journey right here and am looking forward to your sharing your thoughts and suggestions.

… Until Launch Day…