The Federal Communications Commission is shaking up the communications market with bold initiatives to overhaul the $7 billion Universal Service Fund to help pay for universal broadband and reallocate wireless spectrum for new wireless broadband services.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski presented plans for revising the USF program and reallocating spectrum during a speech on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., at The Innovation Economy Conference.

This "Awesomeness Manifesto" by Umair Haque hinges on a rather narrow definition for "innovation" so as to draw a contrast, but lets undermine the whole thing by highlighting the most glaring weakness."

Obsolescence is what's obsolete" means what? For nothing to ever be made obsolete, nothing new and better may be created. Haque appears to dislike the concept of creative destruction becomes some peoples' wealth is destroyed in the process of making new people wealthy... but what's the alternative? Those who are presently rich and powerful must be allowed to stay that way? Societal calcification. Stagnation. Creative destruction isn't perfect, but generally, over time, what is destroyed is less valuable than what is created. That's not a waste of our seed-corn, that's how it's supposed to be used. Seeds are consumed when you plant them, but the resulting crops are worth more than the seed. Then you collect more seed and start the next round.peoples

Forty years ago, when women of the baby boom generation broke through many barriers to enter elite colleges that had previously excluded them, enter new fields of study and research, and join the academic workforce in unprecedented numbers, not many of us thought about the challenges we would confront in making it all come together. We charged into our complicated professional and personal lives, convinced that we could succeed at both raising families and having dynamic careers by sheer force of will. In fact, for countless women of many generations since the 1960s, it has been a great life. We have been supported by both cooperative partners and friends and worked in enlightened institutions. But for others, it has not been good at all.

We need more political leaders like John F. Kennedy. He envisioned going to the moon and inspired the innovation to make it manifest.

I have got to be honest. I didn't have any idea of what an "innovation economy" had to do with me until yesterday. True, I don't cover business issues normally, sticking to what I know best, which is politics, with the primary focus of foreign policy. But when I was offered the opportunity to attend the Innovation Economy Conference held in Washington, D.C. yesterday, I jumped at the chance. (I tweeted the conference as well.) Because if ever there was a time we need some out of the box thinking on our economy this is it. The event, hosted by The Aspen Institute, Intel, Democracy (a journal of ideas), and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, I went to check out, expecting to stay for a couple of hours, but ended up staying all day. I by no means caught every speech or break-out session, but what I did witness proved one thing to me. If the U.S. doesn't get moving we're going to be in even more serious trouble.

James Geshwiler, managing director of Lexington’s CommonAngels and past chairman of the Angel Capital Association, was recognized for his commitment to funding and supporting New England startups with a 2004 Mass High Tech All-Star Award. With his experience managing the 70 investors that comprise Common Angels and chairing a much larger national group, Geshwiler is in a good position to reflect on the past year and discuss the future of angel investing. He spoke with MHT news editor Rodney H. Brown.

A report from UNESCO released last week provides new evidence of the global distribution of science capacity. According to the report, the number of individuals engaged in research worldwide grew from 5.8 million in 2002 to 7.1 million in 2007. As much of this growth was in developing countries, the U.S. share of the total declined from 23.2% to 20.3%. China's share, meanwhile, grew from 14.0% to 20.1%. As a fraction of each nation's population, however, the U.S still has more than 4.5 times as many researchers as China. The number of researchers in the developing world grew by a remarkable 56% between 2002 and 2007, while those in developed nations rose by 8.6%.

Darpa, the Pentagon's research agency is offering $40,000 "to the first person or group to determine the locations of 10 red balloons," reports John Markoff in the New York Times (12/1/09). Darpa's objective "is to learn more about social behavior in computer networks and how large computer-connected teams use their resources and connections to compete." The balloons "will be visible from public roadways for a single day" in locations across "the continental United States."

There are few other business initiatives that rely as heavily on the "right" people as an innovation initiative. That's because unlike most other work in an organization, innovation is risky, uncertain, poorly defined and at odds with most of the rest of the work of the organization. Since there are no processes or methodologies, people play a much more significant role, and an innovation initiative will often live or die by the people who participate.

Ireland has launched the EUR 26 million ($40 million) Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund to invest in startup and early stage companies.

The fund will focus on export-orientated, high potential startups in the technology (including green technology), food and financial services sectors, in addition to supporting patent and patent-pending projects within Irish universities. It will be managed on behalf of Bank of Ireland and the other partners by Kernel Capital

Media is not just a crotchety old man's world. Women are making a huge impact, too.

As the media industry evolves, they are leading powerful companies, launching new ventures and redefining the future of journalism. And their success stories serve as models for those hoping to make a mark in this multi-faceted, risky business.

Bangalore: It seems India's aspiring entrepreneurs are made of sterner stuff than they are credited with. If the estimates of Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) are anything to go by, the risk-taking capacity of Indians witnessed a surge in the wake of the economic slowdown, which was triggered by the recession.

The average seed funding size has risen to $2.5-5 million from the pre-slowdown era's average of $1.5-2 million, according to the apex organization of the venture capital and private equity industry in India. Indications are that the amount will rise further by the middle of next year, reports Times of India.

In a recent working paper Chad Moutray, the Chief Economist of the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration) analyzed the earnings of the class of 1993 ten years after they graduated. He found something that I summarize in the table below and have started to show to all my students.

...

People who go into business for themselves are more likely to earn more than $100,000 per year than people who work for a wage in the private sector. But they are also much more likely to earn less than $20,000.

As of June 2009 there were over 1.6 billion people using the Internet with a world population of almost 6.8 billion. This means that only 25% of the world is using the Internet! WOW the world has just barely started to plug into the Internet! Use of the Internet is up 362% worldwide since 2000 alone. This is great news for any Internet entrepreneurs that want to explore opportunities in social media or web based business’. There are still billions of opportunities yet to be had on the Internet! Throughout modern history every great invention has taking 30 years or more to really hit its mark. The Internet is less than 27 years old so if you think of the Internet in terms of car we are still in the first model year Internet Protocol ver.4 or (IPv4). This version has been in use for the past 20 years. The Next Generation Internet(NGI) or IPv6 is still in its infancy stages but once in place will certainly change and revolutionize the way the Internet looks and operates. This major change to the Internet will equal opportunity, so if your not sure if you want to try an Internet based opportunity understand this the Internet has only just begun to effect human kind! But what does all this mean in terms of the environment? Well if you look at it terms of our carbon foot print the Internet has saved millions of trees from being used as paper and has let millions of people work from home. In the future the Internet will be integrated with every thing we own from our homes and cars to our coffee makers making them more energy efficient.

Estoril, Portugal, Nov 30.- Cuba warned on Monday that innovation and knowledge will be the essential tools to eradicate poverty in Latin America, if the regional countries are able to change the current unfair and unworkable international economic order.

That statement was made by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, speaking during the opening session of the 19th Ibero-American Heads of State and Government Summit in this city.

Entrepreneurship is hard. First time entrepreneurs make it harder for themselves by making some basic mistakes regarding their personal finances. Here is a quick guide on what these common mistakes are and what one can do to avoid them.

Government needs to support research for clean energy-powered cars. But auto makers need to make their own success.

America’s auto industry is at an unprecedented crossroads.

At the core of the debate is whether American car companies can adapt to a changing marketplace where the demand for greater fuel efficiency and cutting edge design supersedes brand loyalty and vehicle size.

The auto industry of tomorrow – which already is emerging – will be based on a different model. It will reward innovation. It will cater to new economic realities. It will listen to customers. The question is, will it be located in the U.S., or elsewhere?

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey report conducted in collaboration with the APEC CEO Summit 2009 Organising Committee

Is the worst of the economic crisis over? What is the role of APEC economies in rebuilding the global economy? This report highlights three key areas in which APEC could make substantial contributions:

We created the light bulb, automobile, computer chip and Internet. But is the United States losing its innovative mojo? That’s the fear of 61 percent of Americans surveyed by Newsweek and Intel recently, who said they believe the economic recession has hurt the nation’s edge in innovations.

Today, political leaders, policymakers and the titans of industries gather in Washington to hash out ideas on how to get that mojo back and what the key is to unlocking innovations of the future.

(Nanowerk News) Michael R. Drapp, a 34-year veteran of the high-technology industry, has formed nanoEdge™ Technologies, a business development and intellectual property management company focused on the emerging nanotechnology space. The company also plans to invest in promising technologies and act as a nanotechnology incubator.

“Nanotechnology is the next great frontier: for technology, for industry, and for humanity as a whole,” says Drapp. “This isn’t hyperbole. Every previous technological shift has been limited to mankind’s external environment. Nanotechnology will also invade our internal space. Our medical treatments, our food, our entertainment…even our very definition of “self” will be impacted. This next shift will redefine the current demarcation between technology and humanity.

I recently gave a presentation to the 128 Innovation Capital Group on raising money from angel investors. A copy of the slides is below and the video can be found here.