The sale of its products in the Chinese market will open a huge opportunity for CIC, as well as many other U.S. sellers of personal computer hardware and software in China. But solving the technical barrier to entering data in Chinese was a necessary step in actualizing the market and making it accessible to U.S. producers of computers and computer products. ATP Accelerates Technology Development CIC officials say the company was able to accomplish this technology development 18 to 24 months sooner than it could have without the ATP funds. Moreover, the ATP award helped the company develop licensing agreements and secure a joint-venture partner. To develop a Chinese character-recognition system to be used in place of a keyboard for computer entry of information in Chinese, opening Chinese markets to U.S. computer products.
Commercialization is in progress.
CIC recently closed its first major deal with a Chinese company to incorporate the ATP-funded technology into its products. CIC is also in discussions with major U.S. computer companies to incorporate the technology into their products for China. Benefits from this project are expected to accrue to U.S. companies through U.S. leadership in China's computer market, the development of computer standards in China based on U.S. technology and large direct sales of U.S. computer components into China's markets.