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EARLY
ADOPTER PROGRAM
Created through a partnership
between the Maryland Department
of Business and Economic Development (DBED) and the Greater Baltimore
Technology Council (GBTC), the "EARLY ADOPTER" program is
designed to provide a forum for companies developing technology ("Tech
Company") to introduce their early stage technologies to "Early
Adopters." It will also offer early adopters a first-hand look
at cutting-edge technology - technology that can be deployed within
their own organizations or government projects.
Future Early Adopter programs will
be hosted statewide through a joint effort with the Technology Council
of Maryland (TCM) and other state sponsored business groups.
To qualify:
- You must be a Maryland-based technology
company and a member of either the GBTC, TCM or other state sponsored
business group and/or reside in a state supported incubator.
- Companies must complete the application.
Since this is an invitation-only event, a selection committee, consisting
of representatives from DBED and the tech community, will review
all applications and make final selections.
Note: only 25-30 tech companies, who qualify, will be selected to
participate. Applicants are taken on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Should you have questions about the Early Adopter program, please
contact Steve Kozak at 410-327-9148.
Why
the Early Adopter Program?
The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED)
and the Greater Baltimore Technology Council (GBTC) have formed
a partnership to make Maryland a more desirable place to start a
high-tech company.
For most high-tech start-ups the most important, yet difficult part
of the process of bringing new products/services to market, is securing
those first customers. Those first customers' help start-ups both
validate their new technology, as well as tailor it to best address
the market's needs. Of course, early customers also provide a valuable
source of funding in the early days of a start-up.
Early customers for any start-up are traditionally individuals or
organizations who are "early adopters" of new technology. Early
adopters buy into new product concepts very early in their life
cycle. They are people who find it easy to imagine, understand,
and appreciate the benefits of a new technology, and to relate these
potential benefits to their other concerns. Because early adopters
do not rely on well-established references in making their buying
decisions, preferring instead to rely on their own intuition and
vision, they are key to opening up any high-tech market segment.
At their core, early adopters are that rare breed of people who
have the insight to match an emerging technology to a strategic
opportunity, the temperament to translate that insight into a high-visibility,
high-risk project, and the charisma to get the rest of their organization
to buy into that project.
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