Assignment
Part 1: Portfolio
The first part of the deliverable will be an in-depth coverage in the form of a portfolio of all aspects of your emerging technology.
Your portfolio needs to contain, at least, all of these points:
a description of your information technology, in both technical and non-technical (e.g. Dilbert's Boss/elderly relatives) terms
1. why you think the world needs your information technology - in other words, "what business/personal/environmental/health/financial, etc. problem are you trying to solve?"
2. what sorts of users you envision having
3. what (if any) current information technology it disrupts, and how (this could include inefficient methods currently in use to solve the problem you've posed)
4. how you would integrate your information technology into existing technology systems
5. a marketing plan, including social media presence. If you are considering crowdfunding (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Quirky, etc. this is where you would address that)
6. your information technology's effects in each (and all) of the following areas:
1. economic/business
2. social/interpersonal
3. cultural
4. environmental (include animal testing stance, if applicable)
5. ethical (include intellectual property considerations overall)
6. (if relevant) political/geopolitical
Creativity in the deliverable is a requirement, so include things like images (Photoshopped Is fine), staged press releases, and fake breaking news clips, for instance. Pseudonyms are fine for this deliverable.
Also, because this is a new technology, you will need to go through the motions of filling out a pretend patent application, without actually submitting said patent application (or paying any money to the government or, worse, lawyers). It is perfectly fine to make up data for your patent application. The USPTO has patent applications, but good luck figuring out that system - you are free to improvise your own patent application (see the sample project for patent ideas - and feel free to copy that one's patent documentation entirely)
If you will be implanting/ingesting/injecting the technology you will need to go through the motions of getting FDA approval, as well (don't submit anything to the actual FDA - this is pretend). Again, make this up, based on things you can find on the Internet (the FDA site is a good start)
Pretend this portfolio will be shown to venture capitalists or angel investors. You need to convince them your information technology is worth investing in. Completeness in terms of addressing the issues mentioned above is the primary goal; creativity in doing so helps communicate your points better. Show your professor (and the class) that you've learned something during the term.
Because this project incorporates non-text elements, it's hard to give an exact page or word count. If it were to be completely text based, you would be expected to turn in between 15 and 20 pages (assuming 250 words per page). Don't stress about word counts or page counts, though - use the amount of space you need to address all the points. If you're proud of what you're turning in chances are you're doing the right thing.
If you can find sources to back up what you're saying, give those credit, using a consistent and complete style. As part of the creativity aspect of the project feel free to make up sources and cite them, too.
Example of Portfolio:
"Biometric Security Comes to Banking"
Ramrod Biggerstaff for the Associated Press
Omaha, NE (AP) - Watson MegaTech one of the world's largest technology development companies announced a partnership with three of the country's major financial institutions for deployment of its BioBanking system. The product is a giant leap forward in transaction security for the individual consumer.
Watson MegaTech is teaming with Citigroup Financial, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo & Company to make initial deployment of this importnt technology. Wells Fargo spokesman Leroy Schnitterfleuffelhoferinstein states "Deployment and maturation of this technology will virtually eliminate identity theft and financial tranaction fraud. This will allow corporate banks to focus attention on corporate transaction security. This is also a great benefit to our customers because of the payment flexibility and guaranteed security"
Initial deployment of the BioBanking technology will be limited to main branches and headquarters. Deployment to all branches and point of sale devices will begin in about a year and be complete in roughly 14 months after start.
Part 2: Commercial
The second part of the deliverable will be a commercial/advertisement for your techology. The commercial should be 30 seconds to 1 minute in length. It should engage the audience and make them curious about your information technology innovation.
Here is some advice from a site on how to present a demo to investors:
A demo explains what you've made more effectively than any verbal description. The only thing worth talking about first is the problem you're trying to solve and why it's important. But don't spend more than a tenth of your time on that. Then demo.
When you demo, don't run through a catalog of features. Instead start with the problem you're solving, and then show how your product solves it. Show features in an order driven by some kind of purpose, rather than the order in which they happen to appear on the screen.
Make a soundbite stick in their heads.
Professional investors hear a lot of pitches. After a while they all blur together. The first cut is simply to be one of those they remember. And the way to ensure that is to create a descriptive phrase about yourself that sticks in their heads.
In Hollywood, these phrases seem to be of the form "x meets y." In the startup world, they're usually "the x of y" or "the x y." Viaweb's was "the Microsoft Word of ecommerce."
Find one and launch it clearly (but apparently casually) in your talk, preferably near the beginning.
It's a good exercise for you, too, to sit down and try to figure out how to describe your startup in one compelling phrase. If you can't, your plans may not be sufficiently focused.
Instructions for Commercial
Article: 10 Ways to Get Customers to Buy Now by Apryl Duncan.
The commercial should be about a minute in length. It should engage the audience and make them curious about your information technology innovation.
You will combine text, images, and sound to tell us about your innovation. Pick a multimedia authoring tool. Some free options include Animoto (free Lite plan is 30 seconds - ask your professor for a code to get a free Plus account), Windows Movie Maker, One True Media (free 30 second videos), or even Photo Story 3. Macintosh users are free to use iMovie or similar multimedia packages designed especially for the Mac platform. PowerPoint is also an option if you feel comfortable with its multimedia features.
Play around first with your multimedia application of choice. Make a practice testimonial with some images. Tinker with the options and settings. The free software is designed for novices, so it should be easy to use. Former students say that a little tinkering goes a long way in making yourself feel comfortable with the project and eager to make a real video.
Put together a description of your commercial. The pros call this the storyboard phase. Walk us through your commercial. Here are some questions if you aren't quite sure how to describe your commercial:
• How will you engage your audience and make them want to learn more about your pretend technology? What technique(s) do you plan to use?
• Describe the storyline of your commercial. What will the audience see?
• Does your commercial have a main character? If so, then please describe it.
• Does your commercial have a main event? If so, then please describe it.
• Typically, this takes two or three short, snappy paragraphs. The storyline can be a list of images/scenes if that works better than a paragraph. Turn on the creative side of your brain and see what you can come up with.
Collect your images for the commercial. Typically, it takes about 10 images to make a compelling one-minute commercial. You can use original photos from your camera or someone else's pictures from the Internet. Original pictures are great, and Internet graphics will work, too. Pick large images from the Internet since small ones distort and look blurry.
Also, decide on any music or narration that will be part of your video. If you are going to narrate, then use only instrumental music to avoid problems with narration being overwhelmed by lyrics. If you use someone else's music you can run into issues with copyright restrictions. However, for your academic purposes, copyrighted songs are okay for use within our online classroom (if you upload your video to YouTube for easier sharing YouTube might add some advertisements or decline to have it available on mobile devices).
If you are using videos from your camera or from the Internet, then be sure your application can import those video files. Don't wait until the last second. Multimedia can be tricky. You need to make sure things work, especially if you are importing video files. It is not required that you use video files - just images and text and sound are enough for excellent work, but feel free to use video if you know how to use your application.