Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis. These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, which brings the world the international testing program of 15-year old students known as PISA, just issued a new report called “Measuring Innovation in Education: A New Perspective, Educational Research and Innovation.”
Image: http://www.washingtonpost.com
Innovation has been a major factor in the growth of productivity in the U.S. over the past 50 years, and for businesses and countries the world over it continues to grow in importance.
So says Andrew Taylor, partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group. Taylor, who heads up the firm’s innovation strategy practice, gave the keynote address late last week at the 2014 Product Development and Management Association-UIC Innovation Doctoral Consortium at the UIC Forum.
Image: Andrew Taylor, partner and managing director of The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (Courtesy of Andrew Taylor)
Unable to join a youth entrepreneurship conference in Sydney, Australia, this week, I used the saved travel time to engage virtually in the conversations and to take a look at the entrepreneurship ecosystem “Down Under” that has been making a lot of noise up and over the world during the last five years.
Over the history of various annual indices such as the Index of Economic Freedom and the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking, Australia has advanced toward the top. Since the 1980s, successive governments have deregulated financial and labor markets and opened trade avenues.
Image: http://entrepreneurship.org
You've probably heard the figure before: the average full-time working woman earns just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. This, despite the fact that since 1967, the number of women working in the United States has been steadily rising--from 29% to 46.9% in 2012. Women continue to make strides in workforce participation, yet not all female laborers are treated the same across the country. It turns out, where women live impacts how much they make and how equal their earnings will be to their male counterparts.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
America, seen either from here or from abroad, doesn’t look so good these days. The country that maintained world peace for decades now “leads by behind,” or not at all. You don’t have to have nostalgia for George W. Bush’s foreign policy to wish for someone in the White House who at least belongs in the same room with the likes of Vladimir Putin. Some wags now suggest that President Barack Obama has exceeded Jimmy Carter in foreign policy incompetence – Carter certainly was more effective in the Middle East.
Image: http://sxc.hu
NBA All Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Carmelo Anthony is getting in the seed investing game in partnership with Stuart Goldfarb, the former executive vice president of NBC and chief executive of Bertelsmann Direct North America.
The pro athlete and the media entrepreneur have formed a fund, M7 Tech Partners, to invest in seed-stage tech startups.
Image: http://blogs.wsj.com
I can remember, just a few short years ago, when I would have done ANYTHING to get “unstuck”.
I had “played the game” just like I’d been told.
Went to school, picked a major that made sense, got good grades and followed the rules.
There’s always that moment when you’ve crafted the perfect email, re-read it twice, confirmed your contact’s email address, and find yourself staring at a blank subject line wondering how to proceed. “Nice to meet you”? No. “Kelsey Manning--Met at XYZ Party”? Absolutely not. That subject line just stares back at you, unblinking, daring you to come up with something pithy and brilliant that will stand out in that person’s inbox. It’s not easy. So we brought in some experts.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
We’ve all been at a restaurant where the waiter forgets your special request and looks as though he’d rather be just about anywhere else in that moment. Then there’s the grocery store clerk who avoids eye contact and is annoyed with your coupons. Clearly these people don’t care, but is it possible we’re sending similar signals at work without realizing it?
All countries are not equal – in gender as in much else. Our Annual Country Scorecards show how national culture and legislation impacts companies’ progress on gender balance. Where many European and North American companies have been on a slow but steady gender-balancing journey, big business in much of Asia is (at best) only just waking up to the issue. Here is a short travelogue of corporate gender balancing across a few key countries, based on data from the top 20 Fortune Global 500 companies in each one. You’ll find the more detailed reports here.
Image: http://blogs.hbr.org
Have an independent streak? If you’re an American, chances are you do.
The U.S. consistently leads developed countries around the world in the rate of entrepreneurship, and 25 million people were in the process of starting or running a new business in 2013, according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey. Every day, there are hundreds of people looking to hang out their own shingles, and there are even more who would like to.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Does America's immigration system make sense to anyone?
The recent influx of thousands of migrant children from Central America has highlighted the failure of reform efforts and gripped the nation’s attention. This is a humanitarian crisis that must be resolved. But forgotten in the emotional debates over immigration are the more than one million legal, skilled immigrants who have been held hostage to political wrangling. Many of these doctors, scientists and engineers are getting fed up with being in immigration limbo and are leaving the country. They are in high demand wherever they go. The loser is the United States, because it is limiting its economic growth and creating its own competition.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
These days, every business needs to innovate. While many in the past assumed that they could get by running the same old business the same old way, the fact is that 87% of the companies on the Fortune 500 in 1955 no longer exist. So clearly, today’s firms can’t stand still and must pursue a variety of innovation strategies. Some invest heavily in R&D, others use advanced technologies to improve existing products and others create open innovation partnerships to solve tough problems.
A California startup is developing flexible, rechargeable batteries that can be printed cheaply on commonly used industrial screen printers. Imprint Energy, of Alameda, California, has been testing its ultrathin zinc-polymer batteries in wrist-worn devices and hopes to sell them to manufacturers of wearable electronics, medical devices, smart labels, and environmental sensors.
Image: Printed power: A sheet of batteries made by startup Imprint Energy.
Singapore’s well-linked innovation ecosystem, strong innovation infrastructure and investments in human capital have helped the country earn a solid reputation as being an innovative economy.
According to the Global Innovation Index (GII), co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Singapore topped the regional rankings to emerge as the leading innovative economy in Asia.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
Do you like convenience, service, simplicity, competition, more jobs and all the other features of a free market that stays free and ever productive?
Then you’ll love a service such as Uber or Lyft, which use private drivers to give customers a, yes, lyft. No waiting forever, just door-to-door or even corner-to-corner service. Provided by friendly folks who use their own cars and stand to collect the lion’s share of the fares, the worker being worthy of his hire.
Who wouldn’t like it? It’s good for the customer, good for the driver, and good for the local economy.
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
As a business owner, are you really aware of your reputation online and what people are saying about you and your company? Do you know what online reputation management is? Online, people talk to each other about nearly every company they have had an experience with, and this news (word of mouth) can have a positive or negative impact on your business. Do you know what your employees, clients, and even your competition are saying about you? Did you know that your reputation could be broken in 140 characters or less while you are reading this?
image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
SPECIAL REPORT / The name - vortex generator - sounds more complex than the device itself. Yet the small component developed by German researchers provides a big solution to noise produced by one of the most widely flown passenger aircraft.
Under pressure from airlines and new regulations, aircraft manufacturers are locked in a fierce competition to produce planes that are easier on the ear and the environment. During rollouts of new or revamped models of engines and aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow this week, manufacturers are touting new or updated commercial products billed as the cleanest and quietest ever.
Image: A tiny device, shown here mounted upstream of a circular opening used to equalise the pressure in wing fuel tanks, reduces the whistling noise produced by the Airbus 320. (Photo courtesy of Lufthansa)
I don’t know about you, but I’ve set a goal for myself to get real about sales, revenues and profits around my business. You’re going to get a peek at some of the books I’ve been reading as guides to help me overcome my “issues around money and profits.”
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed Mike Michalowicz’ new book Profit First and today, I’m sharing The Millionaire Master Plan: Your Personalized Path to Financial Success.
The United Nations is inching closer to its Technology Bank, an international technology transfer organisation enabling tech transfer between the least developed countries. The UN will announce a panel of experts who will work out a full proposal through a feasibility study to that effect.
The panel, made up of some dozen experts including scientists, business leaders and government representatives, will detail governance arrangements, funding opportunities and defining working methods. Turkey is hoping to host the Technology Bank, and has committed funds towards the feasibility study.
