New York SBDC Research Network

the Technology Transfer Days program is coming to the Brooklyn SBDC. If you are developing technology that may have military applications, check out the information about this event. This is an opportunity for people to speak directly with folks from the Department of Defense and get funding. Deadline for registration is 18 September. Participants must participate in a technology that pertains to the Communities of Interest (COI) that is listed below. • Autonomy • Advanced Electronics • Biomedical • Command, Control, Comms, Computers & Intelligence • Cybersecurity • Data to Decisions • Electronic Warfare • Energy & Power Technologies • Engineered Resilient Systems • Human Systems • Materials & Manufacturing • Space For more information, go to Technology Transfer Days.org . Contact: info@technologytransferdays.org or 646-543-2009

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works!" Steve Jobs said. Each one of us interacts with information differently, and a design that works for one person may turn someone else off entirely. No matter how much effort you've put into designing your website or mobile app, the proof of the pudding is in the testing—user testing, which allows you to learn what the actual users of a product think about it and how they use it. Here are 10 tools that will help you gain insight into what you can do to improve user experience (UX) and win your users' hearts, minds, and business. Read more at MarketingProfs

By  Maria Contreras-Sweet , SBA Administrator If there’s broad agreement that small businesses are the engine that powers the American economy, shouldn’t it be easier to fuel the tank? Access to credit continues to bedevil too many U.S. entrepreneurs. Eighty percent of small business loan applications are rejected, according to some industry estimates, and more applications than we can count are never filed because of the difficulty of getting an appointment with a loan officer. There’s a hunger among entrepreneurs to find financing to get their business off the ground or take the next big step in their expansion plan. Across the country, thousands of small business owners pound the pavement every day looking for term loans, equipment financing, lines of credit, invoice financing, and real estate loans to help them hire and grow. But too often, they’re wasting time they don’t have cold-calling and door-knocking their way to a lucky break. It shouldn’t be this way.  If you hav

From SmallBusinessNewz : No matter how small or "old fashioned" a small business is, it is vital that the owners stay informed of technology advancements because it impacts consumer behavior. A few of the technology trends to keep track of in the coming year Internet of Things. Wi-Fi technology will soon take everyday items like appliances, TV sets, and more through the next wave in connectedness: The Internet of Things, or IoT . The general concept is that all of these IoT-enabled will create a "smart" network all on their own by pinging off of each other.

What technological trends can we expect to shape the enterprise in 2015? According to predictions released by US carrier Verizon, strategic network investments will be a top priority for chief information officers (CIOs) working in the corporate world next year, as more and more companies seek to make sense of Big Data, profit from the internet of ihings (IoT) and make the transition to the cloud. In the coming year, now perhaps the worst of the recession is behind us, companies will also begin to adopt technologies that drive business innovation and provide a strong basis for future growth. More from ZD Net

Are you looking to fund research or start a technology business?  Come and learn about how local entrepreneurs built theoretical business models into viable technology companies.  The program is open to students, faculty, researchers, alumni, and the general public, so reserve your seat today. 2014 FAST Tech Conference   When Thursday September 25, 2014 from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM EDT Add to Calendar   Where University at Albany - School of Business School of Business Building - Living Room 1400 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12222 Driving Directions Conference Schedule: 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Check-In and Networking 8:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.-Plenary Session   Tales from the Trenches 9:40 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.-Break-Out Sessions   Transitioning from Research to Commercialization   Growing your Start-Up and Holding onto Equity   Building a Successful Team   Turning Data into Dollars 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.-Plenar

As an SMB owner, you want to maximize the investments you’ve made in your business. You want to get more done in less time. And you want to ensure you’re communicating effectively with customers and employees. The right technology can help you do both. Here are three ways you can ensure you’re making the right technology decisions for your business. 1. Know that “free” often comes at a cost. More from the America's SBDC .

As July ends, so does  Independent Retailer Month , - celebrate the successful family-owned, mom-and-pop, independent stores out there by using some resources on BusinessUSA to help you  Grow your Business , including: Forecasting for Growth Check out the competition in your area with our  SizeUp Tool Developing a Marketing Plan Using Technology to Stay Competitive Financing Growth Building your own Franchise

With SBA and PayPal, learn about the latest technology trends and best practices to help your small business increase sales, streamline operations and improve the customer experience. Tune in to watch at 2pm on Wednesday, May 14 at www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek . SBA is also offering a series of business webinars during National Small Business Week on the following topics: • Smart Small Business Travel: Strategic Ways to Increase Your Return on Travel with Marriott, Visa and SBA, May 12 • Growing Your Business with Direct Mail with the United States Postal Service and SBA, May 12 | Register • Voluntary Benefits 101 for Employees with Colonial Life and SBA, May 13 • Achieving Big Customer Loyalty in a Small Business World: 10 Tips to Create A Killer Customer Loyalty Program with Manta and SBA, May 14

The continuous growth of new technology available for the workplace presents an atmosphere of rapid change that will not slow down any time soon in the near future. Numerous businesses have experienced the process of implementing new technologies and the various issues that creep up, from an overall lack of employee acceptance to unexpected minor malfunctions. The caveat is, despite some of the nuances, new technologies are necessary for a business to remain competitive, relevant, and increase profit margins. The proper and efficient use of new technology in the workplace is crucial. The younger generations beginning to enter the workforce are tech savvy and widely accept the evolving nature of technology, but all employees need to be on board for a technological implementation to be successful and beneficial. One way of doing this is to provide plenty of training, specific for various departments if necessary, and during and after training to disperse an employee evaluations surv

From Make Tech Easier : If there’s anything I learned while freelancing, it’s that you have to treat it like a small business. There’s no way you’re going to be able to handle the high workloads and stresses of keeping up with multiple clients unless you adopt creative ways to stay organized just like a retailer would. The entrepreneurial mindset is a must-have, and you’re not going to go anywhere if you don’t have the tools necessary to collaborate. That said, we will discuss all the free collaboration tools that you need to get your groove on!

The idea for Slick Text was born in 2012 when founder Matt Baglia worked for a company that was considering adding text messaging to its marketing mix. After reviewing several providers Matt recognized some common flaws among all of them. Each platform was fairly difficult to understand and use. None of them placed emphasis on educating their customers on how to be successful with their product, and all lacked personal customer service. Matt and his partner Ryan Kinal realized that if they could create a service without those flaws, there would be an excellent opportunity for a piece of the industry’s pie. “When Slick Text first launched, the platform had very few features. It was intended to be a minimum viable product so we could get it in front of customers and start covering our costs. Even though it was relatively basic, we stuck tight to the core ideology of simplicity and it really resonated with the early adopters,” commented Matt Baglia. “Over the past year, new customers

Many small businesses can’t afford or may not even require full time IT staff, but that doesn’t mean technology challenges don’t arise. Fortunately, there are many ways for small businesses to access IT expertise even without a full time technology expert on the payroll. Educating yourself on basic technology issues that affect small businesses can go a long way toward helping you navigate IT problems that arise. Many Small Business Development Centers offer free or low-cost technology training. You can also look into what other local business organizations and chambers of commerce have on tap in the realm of technology training. More from the ASBDC HERE .

From the Mohawk Valley SBDC Mary Carol (“MC”) Chruscicki and Pat Baskinger, became unemployed in the spring 2011 when the Northrop Grumman office in Rome closed. Rather than collect unemployment, they decided to open Agile-X, a business that provides very specialized services relating to hardware, software and communication systems. AgileX principal investigators are experienced leaders in the research and development of secure information and communication capabilities for airborne, maritime and ground platforms from concept through operational deployment in theater. AgileX experience and toolset enables the analysis of alternatives and the impact assessment of the technologies and architectures on mission effectiveness and mission assurance. The clients worked closely with Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome to develop mobile networking technology to equip planes deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. AgileX works closely with its partners to build quality components and systems for

Teams that are geographically-dispersed, or virtual, have now been used and studied for more than three decades — yet we all still wrestle with how to get them right. Managers frequently ask for best practices for managing their global teams, and recently we've noticed some common themes. Here are the three questions that keep coming up again and again, and what the research tells us about how to address them: 1. When and how often when do we need to meet face-to-face (FTF)? Despite the appeal of completely virtual teams, most team leaders try to convene their teams for face-to-face meetings at some point — leading them to ask how often and when should they do so. We share two robust findings to consider when planning face to face meetings. First, research by Maznevski and Chudoba, Carmel, and others finds that FTF interaction is especially important early in a team's life, particularly when the team is comprised of people who don't already know each other. "Earl

Technology has certainly made an impact in the way we do business these days. It’s practically impossible to run a small business without it. In the world of franchising, technology is a very important part of the actual business model. A good franchisor with good technology makes it a lot easier to be a franchisee-an owner. If you’re considering franchise ownership, make sure that you find out what’s being used by the franchise company that you’re thinking of joining. Make sure that the systems in place are designed to help you succeed as a franchisee. For the full article, click here .

Mashable is a great web site for all things "social media". It is a one stop locale to find out what's trending in various sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Some great infographics and videos re: technology, business, entertainment and more.

Here is a survey of how women are really using technology today [PDF] , from laptops to mobile, from AdAge in collaboration with JWT. The single most interesting thing was the Millennial Profile of Aimee MacDonald (page 9), who, despite her high-tech lifestyle, learned "the value of a good old-fashioned person-to-person phone call."

From the executive summary : Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial for long-term economic development. Over the years, America’s well-being has been furthered by science and technology. Fears set off by the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of its Sputnik satellite initiated a wave of U.S. investment in science, engineering, aerospace, and technology. Both public and private sector investment created jobs, built industries, fueled innovation, and propelled the U.S. to leadership in a number of different fields. Link to full report (PDF) .

WASHINGTON – A new technology tool for small businesses is now available to help them grow and create jobs. The new education resource, Business Technology Simplified, helps small business owners connect the dots between entrepreneurship and technology to give them a competitive edge. The U.S. Small Business Administration and Microsoft have teamed up to develop this free, comprehensive guide on how technology can improve the small business owner’s chances for success. The Business Technology Simplified guidebook includes fundamentals on the importance of technology, and on how it can be used to achieve a business’s goals. In the guidebook’s foreword, Earvin “Magic” Johnson writes about his journey in developing a multimillion dollar company and the value of technology to remain competitive... Business Technology Simplified offers straightforward tips on how to use technology and innovation to make businesses work more efficiently. The guidebook incorporates relevant and practical