Part 5    Commercial Potential


Disruptive technology (explained in Part 2) by definition cannot forecast budgets and revenue streams within an order of magnitude. Proposed funding provides a window of opportunity to continue and accelerate the path of discovery toward commercially viable technology. Experience shows the present technology produces ROI in the range of 10:1; however, given the fear of accountability and other social dynamics, a specific time table for putting this engine to work cannot be accurately estimated.

Key indicia of market acceptance, which here-to-fore has been lacking, are "self-evident benefits." On Nov 4, 1998 an Engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that Communication Metrics on the Internet is pretty neat, which seems to be another way of describing self-evident benefits. On Nov 19, 1998 an executive in the USACE Washington D.C. Headquarters office expressly cited self-evident benefits of Communication Metrics on the Internet; and, on May 7, 1999, issued a report recommending this method. More recently, an Internet Service Provider admired Communication Metrics in solving service problems. Another reviewer comments SDS provides clear advantages over other methods for managing information on the Internet. These anecdotes point to the value stream awaiting future users, as SDS and Communication Metrics reach the light of market recognition.

The commercial potential for this research is limitless. Since it posits a fundamental advance in the use of the alphabet, and since the alphabet is at the apex of the triangle that represents factors influencing human productivity, this single advance, like the alphabet, once it is applied widely, will improve government and private sector activity.

NSF support will lend credibility to large scale testing in order that mainstream commercial enterprise can step over the rubicon into the 21st century.