Managing technology push through marketing testbeds: The case of the Hi Tech Center in Vienna, Austria

The `technology push´ approach to technology development rests on the assumption that if you make it, they will come. This assumption carries significant market risk. The technology may miss its intended market window, or the market that was anticipated at the inception of technology development no longer exists at the time of market release. This paper discusses how the Hi-Tech Center in Vienna, Austria, a multi-national collaborative effort between industry and universities in Central Europe, helps its clients manage technology push by deploying the marketing testbed approach. After identifying lead users for a client´s technology, it characterizes and determines optimal market entry dates and windows of opportunity; readiness for and resistance to adoption; technology acceptance and marketability; and best practices for market entry. The Hi-Tech Center learned the following overarching lesson from engaging with six clients in six different industries: marketing testbeds comprise an effective toolkit for managing technology push, primarily because they act as a link between the technology readiness level and the market readiness level. Thus they provide early insight into the customer´s willingness to pay, the degree of fit between key features of the technology and marketability criteria, and, by extension, potential return on investment.