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.
As companies and countries slowly realize that happiness (elusive as it is) is one of the most important indicators of economic health, more emphasis is being staked on workplace ergonomics than ever. Co-working spaces are installing climbing gyms, and designers are producing desks that discourage you from actually sitting.
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For many technology companies, design is mysterious. So when I work with startups, I try to demystify design by talking about processes and skills. The idea is: Design is not a magical creative thing that designers are blessed to do. It's rational and objective, and the components are pretty easy to understand.
Whether it’s a big donation to a nonprofit or a business-boosting investment, asking for money can be tough. It’s all sweaty palms and dry throats as we build ourselves up to seem worthy enough for the money source to fork over some dough.
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ROCKVILLE, Md. and BALTIMORE, Feb. 18, 2014 -- ROCKVILLE, Md. and BALTIMORE, Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) and China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd. (CFLD) announced today that they have signed an agreement to jointly manage a newly created Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) position to be located at the BHI headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. This first-of-its-kind position will lead in the scouting of technologies and partnership opportunities in life science hubs in the U.S. and China.
A breakthrough is made in detecting autism. And another in stopping HIV. Two game-changing start-ups attract big-name investors. A pair of world-class scientists are recruited to our state. New insights emerge into what causes schizophrenia … how the brain expresses emotion … and why children get Type 2 diabetes.
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Federal and Maryland officials signed an agreement on Tuesday with the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg to develop new cyber security technology and provide opportunities for students in the state. The agreement plans to expand on a February 2012 collaboration agreement signed by NIST, Maryland officials and Montgomery County officials to establish the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.
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Entrepreneurs and investors speak about the need and urgency to increase investment and Scale Up start-up communities in their countries. Yet when it’s time to invest capital, the culture of risk impedes the flow of money from the wallets of local investors into the pockets of entrepreneurs.
What are the fears which domestic capital has for technology up-starts and emerging growth companies—& what solutions exist to reverse such behaviors? It was these subjects which I spoke to at the global conference on Start-Ups, organized by APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) for its member countries and hosted by the Ministry of Production, the Government of Peru.
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If you’d like to have an in-person meeting with venture capitalist Brad Feld, there’s only one place where you can do it: Boulder, Colorado. Last year Feld, who is managing director at Foundry Group and co-founder of TechStars, announced he would no longer travel for business. He equipped his Boulder offices with state-of-the-art video conferencing systems, and now holds meetings using this technology or asks business partners to travel to see him. Feld, who recently wrote about this decision in Inc. Magazine, told HBR why he went cold turkey. Excerpts:
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Scientists have a crystal ball on their hands: bursts of activity in the energy-producing mitochondria in a worm’s cells accurately predict how long it will live.
The findings, published today in Nature1, suggest that an organism’s lifespan is, for the most part, predictable in early adulthood. Unlike other biomarkers for ageing, which work under limited conditions, these mitochondrial bursts are a stable predictor for a variety of genetic, environmental and developmental histories.
Image: BILL LONGCORE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY - Bursts of activity in a mitochondrion produce free radicals that can damage the cell powerhouses.
It'd be easy to conclude that all governors say the same things in every state of the state address. “It’s jobs, it’s the economy, and then transportation and education,” said Tucker Martin, who helped write the annual speeches for former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Image: Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his State of the State address on Feb. 3, 2014. AP/Mark Zalesk
“The big trick in sales is not talking, it’s listening.”
This was one of many gems that Mark Elliott, co-founder of Venture Accelerator Partners, shared with our attendees at last week’s Entrepreneurship 101 lecture on business-to-business (B2B) sales. After hearing all of the wisdom he shared, it’s not surprising that Mark has been successful in this area. Here is some of his advice.
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Back in the 1960s, and for well into the 1980s, California stood at the cutting edge of youth culture, the place where trends started and young people clustered. “The California teen, a white, middle-class version of the American dream” raised in a world of “suburbs, cars, and beaches,” notes historian Kirse Granat May, literally shaped the national image of youth, from the Beach Boys and Barbie to Gidget.
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"Use your imagination." You've probably heard this phrase since before you can remember.
It was your imagination you were using to create your first finger painting; your imagination that let you visualize what it might be like to make out with your high school crush; your imagination that helped you dream up the idea for your business or book or the house you'll one day build.
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To get what you want, you have to do more than ask.
I was standing at the supermarket the other day watching a mother struggling with a young child who kept asking for her mother to buy her something and thinking back to my own vain attempts to keep my kids from pestering me for treats every time we went to the store. I told them repeatedly to stop asking me for things, but still they persisted. Why didn’t they listen?
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As part of a new federal budget, the Canadian government has created the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, which will provide 1.5 billion Canadian dollars (about $1.4-billion) over 10 years to support university research that contributes to the country’s long-term economic competitiveness. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada hailed the move as well as modest increases in other research funding, praising “the government’s recognition of university research as a significant driver of prosperity.”
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WASHINGTON – The theme of this year’s Association of International Education Administrators conference is “Universalizing Global Learning in the 21st Century Academy,” and a session on Monday focused on broadening, if not universalizing, global learning experiences for students who have historically been underrepresented in study abroad: those in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
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At a recent panel discussion organized by XPRIZE, the global leader in the creation of incentivized prize competitions, USAID’s Margaret Sullivan, who oversees the Agencies prize-based initiatives and strategic partnerships, shared some of the most ingenious social innovations supported by their Development Innovation Ventures and Grand Challenges for Development programs. Below, learn more about those innovations and the minds behind them.
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If you are pulled over on suspicion of drunken driving, the police officer is likely to ask you to complete three tasks: Follow a pen with your eyes while the officer moves it back and forth; get out of the car and walk nine steps, heel to toe, turn on one foot and go back; and stand on one leg for 30 seconds.
Score well on all three of these Olympic events, and there’s a very good chance that you are not drunk. This so-called standard field sobriety test has been shown to catch 88 percent of drivers under the influence of alcohol.
Image: A billboard in Newark. A highway safety official in Colorado, where marijuana is legal, said that “a lot of people don’t think D.U.I. laws apply.” Carlo Allegri/Reuters
It might sound difficult to define what makes a smart company, but you know one when you see it. When such a company commercializes a truly innovative technology, things happen: leadership in a market is bolstered or thrown up for grabs. Competitors have to refine or rethink their strategies.
This is what the editors of MIT Technology Review looked for as we assembled this list. We didn’t count patents or PhDs; instead, we asked whether a company had made strides in the past year that will define its field. The biggest of these strides happened at Illumina, which is driving down the price of DNA sequencing to levels that will change the practice of medicine.
When you're in the early stages of a startup, there's a lot to consider — from revenue models to hiring early team members and developing your product. When it comes to legal matters, many founders want to wait to incorporate the business until they are further along, and know that their concept is viable or their company is fundable.
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