After working to rebuild New Orleans as an entrepreneurial hub, Vitrano took the lessons he'd learned to the fast food industry. His goal? Creating something that mattered.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina inspired Robbie Vitrano to refocus his entrepreneurial energy on doing something meaningful in New Orleans.

I played my first poker game recently.  Although my hope for beginner’s luck didn’t pan out, I learned a lot during that first game and saw many parallels to starting a company. And the more I understood poker, the more it made sense as to why poker was declared a game of “skill”, instead of a game of pure chance.

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What if we could increase productivity and stave the capital flight by helping Life Sciences startups build their companies more efficiently? We’re going to test this hypothesis by teaching a Lean LaunchPad class for Life Sciences and Health Care (therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and digital health) this October at UCSF with a team of veteran venture capitalists.

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A new 68,000-square-foot business school building is opening this week at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The Henry W. Bloch Executive Hall for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is named for the co-founder of the tax preparation company H&R Block. Bloch donated $32 million for the new hall.

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In poverty-stricken nations, entrepreneurship isn't just a sign of a rebounding economy. It's necessity-driven, offering people a sustainable way out of poverty. There's a growing base of organizations picking up where donations and services leave off, building financial literacy and skills in product development, accounting, marketing and sales.

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This year's Summit will focus on the challenge felt globally of how to do a better job of accelerating technology and knowledge transfer for commercialization of government funded research in order to enhance regional economic growth and competitiveness. Summit session highlights will include examples of compelling cases that attract industry to the research being done in the institutes; smart collaborative platforms that align research institutes and industry; creative funding and partnerships that support commercialization, and the valuable role that regional innovation accelerators play in catalyzing, mentoring, and contributing to this important technology transfer process.

Studying animal behavior in the wild usually starts with figuring out just where the wild animals are hiding. Field biologists can use a combination of methods—radio collars, aerial surveys, and camera traps—to remotely monitor animal movement. However, to an expert eye, a well-preserved footprint can also reveal a surprising amount about an animal—its species, gender, age, even its individual identity.

Recognizing startup businesses as a powerful force in building stronger local economies, a number of universities across the country have announced significant expansions in their entrepreneurship offerings over the last few weeks. Universities in Missouri and Virginia have announced new and expanded entrepreneurship programs for students, while a nationwide network of top business schools, including Babson College, Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, plans to launch an online entrepreneurship program that can be licensed to other schools. The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded $2.5 million in grants through its 2013 University Center Economic Development Program that will be used to support regional entrepreneurship and innovation.

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There is a lot more creative talent in Ottawa than just within the walls of Shopify.

Last week the Martin Prosperity Institute announced the results of its Global Cities project on the creative economy and Canada's capital came out on top.

Based on the three T’s of economic development (Talent, Technology, and Tolerance) along with the fourth dimension of quality of place as outlined in Rise of the Creative Class, the Institute analysed 61 cities.

Hospital executives have never been frivolous when it comes to investing in technology, but as reimbursements shrink, the need to carefully analyze each purchasing decision has never been more urgent.

Given all the worthwhile – and not so worthwhile – options, what choices are hospital administrators currently making?

Since IT spending is largely taken up by meeting meaningful use and ICD-10 requirements, said Chantal Worzala, director of policy at the American Hospital Association, hospitals don’t have much left over for investments in other things.

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Using a millennium of data for 12 countries in the East and in the West, this article tests the extent to which contracting institutions, property right institutions and culture can explain economic development and the Great Divergence. It is tested whether these theories influence growth through science and technology or through human capital or channels that are independent of these two channels. It is found that culture, contracting institutions and property right institutions have all been relevant for growth and development.

Alex, a summer intern in public relations, found herself facing the end of a successful summer internship without the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Alex was smart, talented and well regarded by her colleagues. Her agency, however, simply didn't have a full time job to offer her at the end of her internship.

So Alex's manager took it upon herself to help Alex find a full-time job. Unfortunately, she's the exception, not the rule. Only 37% of students say internships are a good job search resource.

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Fed up with the morning commute on the roads of Birmingham, an internet entrepreneur has come up with a novel way of getting to the office.

Mike Bandar has taken advantage of the fact that the city has more canals than Venice and is paddling his way to work.

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I'm always struck by the number of people who complain about the amount of email they receive and how much they despise their inbox -- not because their complaints aren't valid but because my own view couldn't be more different.

By design, my inbox has essentially become the central hub of my workflow -- it's the way I routinely communicate and exchange information with our 4,300+ employees operating in 26 cities around the world. That's not to say I've always been a fan of email, or that I haven't had my own Sisyphean inbox experiences.

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When seeking out your first round of venture funding, preparation is key. And what better way to prepare than by hitting the books?

We've asked around the Business Insider newsroom and scoured the Web, collecting 11 books that will help startup founders hone their pitch, build their confidence, and better their salesmanship — all while giving them the tools to take a fresh look at their startup.

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In Korea, the software industry is commonly referred to as the "4D industry," -- Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous, and Dreamless. While the country has a strong foothold in the manufacturing sector, the software industry remains underdeveloped and is one of the least popular industries for employment. The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade in a report Wednesday cited low pay as the main reason for the lack of interest, since small- to mid-sized companies make up a large chunk of the software industry.

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Oklahoma’s small businesses should be more competitive and have the potential to secure larger federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants due to a recently formed partnership among OCAST, Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and i2E.

Oklahoma EPSCoR will utilize a portion of their funds for the Oklahoma SBIR Collaborative Resources (OSCR) program. Helping Oklahomans better compete for the federal small business grants has long been a part of the OCAST and i2E services.

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Understanding the temperature of the Arctic ocean and the way icebergs form and melt is hugely important for climate models. A new laser tracking technology should help

 Having been a scientific backwater for much of the 20th century, the Arctic has recently become the subject of furious interest and study. That’s partly because of the discovery that the region is sensitive indicator of climate change and partly because of its natural resources that various countries are vying to exploit.

Global damage from flooding could cost coastal cities as much as US$1 trillion per year — and developing countries will be hardest hit, a study warns.

According to the paper published today in Nature Climate Change, a "risk sensitive planning" strategy is needed to protect coastal cities, which are increasingly at risk because of climate change, subsidence and a growing population.

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Congress is a mess right now.  There are many, many problems that this iteration of the federal government of the United States is being called upon to solve with very little hope of actually solving them.  This Congress is so dysfunctional that they can’t even pass legislation to pay the government’s already agreed upon financial obligations, let alone fund new projects or provide basic services.  Major legislation would seem to be out of the question entirely.