From little apps, big things grow

The news and advertising applications produced in the Reynolds Journalism Institute's iPhone Student Competition might not cause Apple and AT&T's stock prices to jump, but they are a good harbinger of how new business ventures can result from collaboration between Wall Street and ivory towers.

When University of Missouri System President Gary Forsee took the helm a year ago, he said partnering with private companies for research would produce results desirable for both parties.

UM System schools would get to work on cutting-edge products and apply skills learned in the classroom to real-life problems. Research grants provided by firms would also act as another source of funding aside from tuition and state tax dollars.

For companies, there was a chance to work with the best programs in the country and market themselves as forward thinking in their outlook. It also allowed businesses that took part to familiarize people with their products and generate positive public relations.

Apple doesn't necessarily see competitions as the path to new business ventures. Instead, the company views them as continuing a 30-year tradition of working with universities to help students be innovative and creative.

"Students can see the impact in real time of developing an application and how it’s marketed by Apple," said Jason Edigar, director of Apple's iTunes U and mobile learning initiatives. "It's a real-world example that they get to experience."

Edigar said that making the tools necessary for generating iPhone applications available to universities is something the company will continue to push with the utmost support.

While Apple is looking to provide its technology to enhance the classroom experience, there are still several outcomes that can result in generating new business from similar ventures with other companies.

Peter Meng, who works at the advertising firm Woodruff and Schweizer in Columbia, said he saw two benefits jump out at him immediately from competitions like the one being supported this year.

First, there is the possible addition of a revenue stream from the products produced and the attention a university and its students might receive from taking knowledge and turning it into a tangible product.

"A well-done application reaches hundreds of thousands of people instantly when it’s released," Meng said. "And that's great public relations for the university. It's a great way to disseminate what our students are doing."

But the greater benefits are seen when people look into the future and at benefits that are not immediately tangible.

For colleges and universities, working with corporate partners allows students and faculty members to work with contemporary technology on potentially cutting-edge research. Meanwhile, private companies are able to get a leg up on finding potential employees down the line.

Basically, these partnerships are great selling points for both sides for working together in the future and allow schools and businesses to seem dynamic by tapping into real world settings.

"That's a huge opportunity when you've got partners like Cisco, Apple and AT&T," Meng said. "And if the quality of the (students') work is good and innovative, then they'll come back down the line and maybe bring grants with them."

As universities compete for the best students, it's increasingly important for academic institutions to show how they are relevant and how their students’ education will put them on a solid footing as the begin their career.

"People want real world experience," Meng said. "And as the university continues to offer these opportunities, they're just going to continue gaining recognition for on-going creativity."

It's this creativity that businesses are looking to cultivate and tap into while students are in the classroom, hoping that it will translate when those companies potentially hire graduates from schools they partner with.

"It will make sure our students are receiving a current skill set, not a dated one," Meng said. "It also allows employers to get the best possible people for their company."

The biggest aspect of generating new business can come down to how people are able to bridge the gap between their creativity and the practical process of developing a product people want to buy.

Jim Spencer, the founder of Newsy, a news outlet that aggregates broadcast content from outlets around the globe, said that the iPhone contest is an example of how new business is created because it familiarizes students with the nitty-gritty of making an idea work.

For example, engineers have to make the application work, journalists have to figure out how to provide content that fits the platform and business majors have to figure out how to market it.

"There is a product that is realistically conceived by all the necessary parties," Spencer said. "In other words, it's not conceived in a vacuum. You're literally creating an application from scratch and figuring out how to build it and make it work."

Spencer said this is the process he went through creating sites like Newsy, and it helps make the product more successful because it's not solely conceived on a dry-erase board.

Bob Black, chair of Regional Economy Development Inc., the local economic development organization, sees these efforts in the New Media as great opportunities for starting new ventures. He also sees them as opportunities to have existing media and technology companies seek out Columbia to expand their business because of the creative talents available in the area.
 
The community has available incubator space for startup business as well as cash incentives for startups and for keeping these businesses in the area, he said. REDI gave the first financial support to Newsy. com when it was just starting. Discussions have begun regarding developing a New Media Incubator adjacent to the MU Campus to help foster media related startup companies, Black said.
 
For existing New Media and Technology firms expanding or relocating some operations to the Columbia area, REDI offers a variety of incentives: Chapter One Hundred Bonds, which allow tax abatement; job training funds for training new employees; low-cost loans to purchase new equipment; and many more for certain types of firms.
 
The applications developed in  RJI’s student competitions bring additional recognition to MU and the Columbia area, and REDI always welcomes such efforts, Black said.

For the media and advertising industry in particular, who are searching for solutions to shrinking profit-margins and fleeing consumers, it's important going forward to not only have fresh ideas but a way to make them quickly feasible.

Mike McKean, director RJI Futures Lab, said that as the media industry faces tumult and the need for a new business model, the competition is tapping into the talents of people who might have solutions.

"As media struggle to engage people, who better to try and tap into what consumers want than our students, who are knowledgeable and are consumers themselves?" he said.