Scientists on Wednesday released new footage of the widespread devastation across Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The reef's northern section suffered the worst coral bleaching event in history earlier this year following an extreme underwater heatwave in 2015-2016. 

Bone-white branches and coral covered in predatory starfish now stand where healthy, colorful organisms once thrived.

The Global Competitiveness Report assesses the competitiveness landscape of 138 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. Switzerland, Singapore and the United States remain the three world’s most competitive economies.

The 2016–2017 edition of the Global Competitiveness Report is being launched at a time of rising income inequality, mounting social and political tensions, and a general feeling of uncertainty about the future. Growth remains persistently low: commodity prices have fallen, as has trade; external imbalances are increasing; and government finances are stressed. However, it also comes during one of the most prosperous and peaceful times in recorded history, with less disease, poverty, and violent conflict than ever before. Against this backdrop of seeming contradictions, the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings both unprecedented opportunity and an accelerated speed of change.

Image: http://www.innovationmanagement.se

When Charla Shaner appeared at a recent parent-teacher conference with Zac, she looked immaculate in pressed coral blouse, skirt and smooth blond hair. Few of the teachers realized how much effort went into maintaining that middle-class facade.

Ms. Shaner’s intense focus on her two sons helped steer them into the Topeka public school system’s gifted track, based on their exceptionally high IQ’s in elementary school. She has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and for some years ran a daycare center out of her house.

The Bird of Prey claims to be aerodynamic, eliminate strain on the back, and improve stability because it positions the rider on his or her stomach.

Image: http://mashable.com - cut from video.

I know there are many entrepreneurs out there who aren’t funded to the gills. They’re no strangers to making every penny count toward realizing their vision. And if you can relate to this in any way, you’re probably like me— forever working to find ways to maximize efficiency and to deliver more value to your customers.

Whether eliminating waste in your processes or improving the user experience of your website, the entrepreneur is constantly striving to maximize value. Here’s a little secret: The tech world is making some really interesting strides in this effort, and they call it DevOps.

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and David L. Cohen, chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees, invite Penn students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees and friends, as well as the region’s business and tech community, to a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony from 12:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28. The festivities will mark the official launch of the new three-story, 58,000-square-foot Pennovation Center, which opened in September as Penn’s new hub for innovation and new business ventures at 3401 Grays Ferry Ave.

When you visit the Government of Canada’s Innovation Agenda website, you find these words:

“Our creativity and resourcefulness define us. Innovation is a Canadian value. It’s in our nature, and now more than ever, it will create jobs, drive growth and improve the lives of all Canadians. It’s how we make our living, compete and provide solutions to the world. We have the talent, the drive, the dedication and the opportunity to succeed. So, what’s next?”

Data-driven algorithms govern many aspects of life: university admissions, resume screening, and a person’s ability to get a car or home loan. Often, using data leads to more efficient allocation of resources and better outcomes for everyone. But algorithms can come with unintended consequences—and without care, their application can result in a society we don’t want.

As part of its inaugural discussion, participants at the State Economic Development Agency Leaders Workshop (November 2015 in Phoenix, AZ) learned more about the Business Incentives Initiative that CREC conduced with the Pew Charitable Trusts. As follow up, the participating leaders asked for information about the performance indicators peer states use to assess their incentive programs.

In response, CREC sent email requests in December and January to the leaders of the state economic development organizations that participated in the November meeting to request information on program performance indicators in use. CREC facilitated this request by providing each state with a template with program names (from the Council for Community and Economic Research or C2ER State Incentives Database) and asking for input on indicators and activities/milestones used to monitor each of the state’s programs.

With this year’s approaching holiday gift season the rapidly growing “Internet of Things” or IoT—which was exploited to help shut down parts of the Web this past Friday—is about to get a lot bigger, and fast. Christmas and Hanukkah wish lists are sure to be filled with smartwatches, fitness trackers, home-monitoring cameras and other wi-fi–connected gadgets that connect to the internet to upload photos, videos and workout details to the cloud. Unfortunately these devices are also vulnerable to viruses and other malicious software (malware) that can be used to turn them into virtual weapons without their owners’ consent or knowledge.

All companies yearn for innovation, and particularly innovation from IT. A myriad of books and articles discuss how to build and sustain an innovative culture. Walk through any organization and you’ll see innovation departments, units or teams. Unfortunately, there is usually very little to show for their effort and investment.

Of course, if you were to comment that there is little to show, it would spark a contentious discussion. They would point out to you all their successfully completed initiatives and their creative ideas. But if you were to push further, you might get a different view of the accomplishments.

Cori Bargmann's new job description includes "to help cure, prevent or manage all diseases by the end of the century." That's quite a lofty goal.

Bargmann is a neuroscientist and president of science for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the joint venture of pediatrician Priscilla Chan and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The couple pledged $3 billion to solve major medical problems by helping scientists and engineers collaborate long term, over 25, 50, even 80 years.

If you believe the forecasts of the presidential election, another glass ceiling will soon be broken. While this is great news for women, the road to equality has been long and slow. Less than 20% of C-suite offices have a woman in them, and only 4.2% of companies in the Standard & Poor 500 Index have a female at the helm.

Fewer women are on the path to leadership because they’re less likely to receive the first critical promotion to manager, according to the Women in the Workplace 2016 study conducted by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company. Those who do rise to CEO are more likely to be targeted by activist shareholders.

Innovation-led growth can square a circle that is challenging modern capitalism: how to generate sustained and sustainable economic growth, built on high-value, well-paying jobs. This is at the core of entrepreneurial societies, and it is a good objective. The problem is how to get there. Although many countries have set the goal, few have achieved it.

The reason for this elusiveness lies in widespread misunderstandings about how innovation-led growth has been achieved in the past. These misunderstandings have allowed the wrong narratives to drive policy making, with individual entrepreneurs and companies as the central characters of the story.

This table shows the "sticker prices" — published tuition and required fees — at more than 3,400 colleges and universities for the 2016-17 academic year. Click the institutions' names to see historical data back to 1998.

A lot of people start thinking about a new job around this time of year, according to LinkedIn, but companies’ hiring doesn’t pick up in earnest until the new year.

If you’re looking for work, this is actually good news because it gives you a couple of months to brush up on the skills LinkedIn says employers are most likely to want to see on your resume. The networking site just released its list of the top skills for the year and—spoiler alert—technology dominates. Not just four or five but every single one of the top 10 skills is technological in nature.

Amgen Europe GmbH, an affiliate of Amgen Inc, has invested in an Israel-based digital health incubator, eHealth Ventures, to serve patients by driving innovation and sustainable healthcare through technology discovery. 

“This addition will provide a new strategic element to our screening process and build significant value to our portfolio companies. Having Amgen on board will deliver invaluable assets and know-how in many of the digital health innovation aspects, including market input, commercialisation of R&D, business modeling, go-to-market strategies and more," said Talor Sax, chief executive officer, eHealth Ventures Incubator.

In July of this year, Republican Patrick McHenry from North Carolina spearheaded two important bills. Both passed through the House in a landslide vote as part of The Fix Crowdfunding Act. The bills are designed to make it easier for smaller companies and entrepreneurs to secure more funding for their business ventures. It’s an important bill that can have a lot of impact for any business or organization seeking to use crowdfunding as a tool to secure investors.

Crowdnetic has published its annual  Crowdwatch report on Title II investment crowdfunding as enacted under the JOBS Act of 2012. Title II, or Reg D 506(c), allows issuers the option to “generally solicit” or to promote their securities online to accredited investors. According to their numbers, as of September 23, 2016, there has been 6,613 Title II offerings from 16 different online platforms. These offers have generated over $1.47 billion in aggregate commitments during the past three years.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte announced the opening of its new Center for Government Insights, which produces thought-provoking research to help government solve its most complex problems. Through publications, forums and immersive workshops, the center engages with government leaders on a journey of positive transformation to uncover and understand trends, overcome constraints, and expand the limits of what is possible.

Led by author and government innovator William D. Eggers, managing director, Deloitte Services LLP, the center is a space for collaboration with government and commercial clients, academicians and former and current public officials. It also is a source of up-to-the-minute insights on the most important issues facing local, state and federal governments.