Innovation could save health care Kansas City Star

To save the health care industry from eventually collapsing, we need to offer consumers more options for taking care of their health, and we need to free the American spirit to re-create a thriving, innovative system that provides appropriate products and services at the appropriate price.

An Interview with Eric von Hippel, MIT’s Sloan School of Management By Scott Wilson

Professor Eric von Hippel of MIT’s Sloan School of Management is known for pioneering research that has prompted a major rethinking of how the innovation process works. He is the originator of lead user theory and a leading voice on open methods of innovation development. Here he expounds on the benefits of open source technology, why users are at the center of the innovation process and how they can trigger major changes in both company business models and in government policymaking.

UK Govt's Innovation Fund Opens Up To Outside Managers by By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; marietta.cauchi@ dowjones.com

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The U.K. Monday released invitations to outside managers interested in managing its GBP1 billion venture capital fund of funds, just one month after the Innovation Investment Fund, or IIF, was launched with GBP150 million from the government.

Canada's Venture Group Cries Out Amid Nortels Demise, Wall Street Journal

The collapse of Canada’s largest spender of research and development, Nortel Networks Corp., has prompted the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association to call for the government to create an advisory panel to address an ongoing crisis in the country’s technology industry.

Steel Industry Innovation Council announced | MINING.com News By FEN

Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr announced the establishment of the Steel Industry Innovation Council, which is designed to help ensure the industry has access to billions of dollars of public- and private-sector projects.

The council will offer advice to government and will build on the initiatives announced this week that give Australian business fairer access to opportunities arising from the substantial Government investments in transport, energy, communications, housing, education, and research infrastructure.

With more than one hundred members, the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Fund (www.magfund.com) is one of the largest organized groups of angel investors on the east coast. The group has invested in a motorcycle business that failed and in a drug company that was recently acquired by Novartis for up to $400 million.

World Business Angels Association Connects Angels Across theGlobe

The World Business Angels Association (WBAA) was recently launched to promote the creation of business angel groups and associations; identify and share best practices, coordinate research, and establish standard terminology on angel investing.

Want to Innovate but Avoid Risk? Offer a Prize. Washington Post

That is one of the lessons of the Great Recession, in which excessive risk-taking -- or the ever popular "reckless risk-taking" -- is invariably invoked as a prime cause of our financial woes.

But capitalism needs innovation, and innovation requires risk. So how can you innovate while getting someone else to shoulder the risk? Simple: Offer a prize.

Obama: Investment, Innovation Will Lead to Prosperity Voice of America

U.S. President Barack Obama says America's economy is improving, but future prosperity depends on long-term investment and innovation.

In his weekly address, Mr. Obama said Friday's report showing that the gross domestic product fell at an annual rate of one percent is evidence the recession is easing, but that a full recovery will take time.

Congress Debate Over Small-Business Funding Drags On Wall Street Journal

President Obama has signed another temporary extension for the federal funding program that provides $2 billion annually to innovative small businesses. smallbusiness_E_20090731181438.jpg

The House and Senate earlier this summer passed bills reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research program, which was set to expire on Friday. But the two bills differ on key issues, in particular the amount of access that venture-backed companies would have to the SBIR funds.

Honda's New CEO Is Also Chief Innovator by Reena Jana and Ian Rowley

As Honda Motor (HMC) announced plans in mid-July for its 2010 hybrid vehicles, the company introduced a leader with a hybrid role: Takanobu Ito, its new president and chief executive, is also Honda's director of research and development. The decision to take on multiple roles while steering the automaker through the worldwide downturn is strategic. "The direction of the business and the direction of the technology need to be aligned as early as possible [in my tenure as CEO] so that we can maximize efficiency and effectiveness," Ito told BusinessWeek.

Interview with Brett Palmer, President of NASBIC

The National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASABIC) is the professional association for the SBIC community and the lower and middle markets of the private equity industry and the oldest organization of venture capitalists in the world. For half a century, NASBIC has played a key role in building a strong and profitable SBIC industry to better serve the growth-capital needs of America's small businesses. Today, we are pleased to be joined by Brett Palmer, President of NASBIC.

WSJ: Venture Capital Firms Still Optimistic About Fund-Raising

Although the venture capital industry is having a hard time convincing endowments, pension funds and other limited partners to invest new capital in the asset class, the majority of venture firms still plan to raise a new fund in the next 12 months - if a new survey from Pepperdeine University is to be believed.

Is Recession the Mother of Innovation? by Shammad Basheer

"Necessity may be the mother of invention. But could a recession be the mother of innovation? After all, many of the world's enduring, multibillion-dollar corporations, from Disney (DIS) to Microsoft (MSFT), were founded during economic downturns. Generally speaking, operating costs tend to be cheaper in a recession. Talent is easier to find because of widespread layoffs. And competition is usually less fierce because, frankly, many players are taken out of the game."

Senate Passed S.1233 - SBIR/STTR REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009!

This is an abbreviated SBIR Insider to let you know that the House just passed the Senate's Continuing Resolution (CR), S.1513 that keeps the SBIR program, as well as a few other SBA programs running (as is) through September 30, 2009. The CR is good in some ways and bad in others as you will see.

Wuxi iPark Selects IBM to Build Innovation Incubation Platform

WUXI, China, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM and Wuxi Software Industry Development Co., Ltd. (Wuxi iPark) today announced the launch of a new, smarter-IT infrastructure service offering to help Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) in China dramatically reduce the cost and time required to develop business software applications. The new cloud computing service offering is also designed to help ISVs reach new markets by providing them with the ability to sell their software solutions as Web-hosted services to customers around the world.

Venture capital gets back in the cleantech game

DENVER — Venture capitalists increased investments in alternative energy by 73 percent over the past three months, according to a report issued Wednesday, an indication that the horrible market conditions from earlier this year may have abated.

Investors are also be growing more confident because the government is making good on promises to try to shift the national energy policy more toward wind, solar and other renewable technologies.

Venture capital investment totaled $572 million in the second quarter, according to Ernst & Young LLP.

A Quest for Batteries to Alter the Energy Equation

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In a gleaming white factory here, Bob Peters was gently feeding sheets of chemical-coated foil one afternoon recently into a whirring machine that cut them into precise rectangles. It was an early step in building a new kind of battery, one smaller than a cereal box but with almost as much energy as the kind in a conventional automobile.

British Government To Civil Servants: Go Forth And Tweet by Andrew R. Hickey

Another View: A Golden Age for VCs by Cameron Lester

For 14 months, we at Azure Capital tried to invest in companies but could not reach an agreement with entrepreneurs and existing investors on valuation and terms — the gap was too great. Despite meeting with hundreds of companies and reaching the point of discussing terms with a few, we did not make a single new investment.