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.
According to an analyst, Lagos is expected to become Africa’s technology hub by 2020. That’s per recent trends that have seen an impressive number of tech startups sprung up within the last few years. In efforts to further encourage and embrace this vision, chief campaigner for the “Lagos Silicon Village” has officially detailed his plans recently.
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In a new report by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, entitled “Supporting the Creative Economy”, the committee has strongly criticized the Hargreaves Review’s proposed changes to copyright and condemned the motives of big tech companies such as Google and the agenda of the British government. For those unfamiliar with the workings of British government, the committee is appointed by the House of Commons and is made up of MPs whose job it is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
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95%. That’s how certain the hundreds of scientists who contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which released the first chapter of its fifth assessment on global warming this morning, are that human beings are the “dominant cause of observed warming” that’s been seen since the mid-20th century.
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Just as a mirror allows you to see your true appearance, other people in your life can help you see beyond your assumptions and blind spots. No matter how confident you are in your abilities, there will come a time when you are uncertain of the next step. In these situations, it’s important to have someone who can help you stay aligned and remind you of what’s truly important.
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How are happiness and productivity related? If you want to improve productivity, look no further than your mindset. Marcus Aurelius reminds us: "Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."
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When Google went public in 2004, the company had a simple message for employees: Keep the sports cars at home.
Google's IPO created plenty of millionaires and even some billionaires, but founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin worried that it might also create a visible wealth disparity and shift employees' focus away from their work. "They were very clear they didn't want to see the fancy cars in the company parking lot," Lise Buyer, an analyst with Class V Group , who helped plan Google's IPO, told Mashable. "We were very worried about that at Google ahead of time. You need the organization to keep functioning."
General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, Intel, and Siemens. What do these companies have in common?
These four companies have been recognized for their dedication to leadership and career development throughout all levels of the organization. According to CareerBuilder, they have been ranked high for providing ”extensive training, education and mentoring programs’.
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During a “demo day” in Silicon Valley last August, entrepreneur Mattan Griffel took the stage with a well-practiced, carefully timed pitch.
“We teach people how to code, online, in one month,” said Griffel, adding meaningful pauses between the words. The startup he cofounded, One Month Rails, will “change the face of online education,” Griffel promised.
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Climate is the tenor of the workplace ecosystem. An openly innovative climate cultivates engagement and enthusiasm, challenges people to take risks, fosters learning, and encourages independent thinking. Open innovation is a term promoted by Henry Chesbrough, which simply put means “innovating with partners by sharing risk and sharing reward.” If your company isn’t providing that climate for innovation, then it is stifling innovation.
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Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. One would think that with all the sad stories and tools published over the past twenty years, this problem would be behind us. But people are still begging for more technology or laws, often to protect them from themselves.
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The National Science Foundation issued the following news release:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently partnered with the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) to help 10 early-stage biotechnology companies present new drug discovery, diagnostics and related medical advancements at the 12th Annual BIO Investor Forum (http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://www.bio.org/events/conferences/12th-annual-bio-investor-forum).
The forum is an opportunity for small biotechnology companies to connect with leading investors and cultivate potential partnerships.
The innovation mindset isn’t just about product innovation.
Some organizations have focused on product innovation for so long they don’t know how to innovate in any other areas. For example, in 2010, Microsoft —one of the world’s best product innovators for the last two decades — launched a social phone called Kin. The product was a complete disaster. Within six weeks of the launch, the entire product group was shut down, and, according to their earnings reports, Microsoft took at least a $240 million write-off.
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The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) named the Oklahoma University Research Campus as the 2013 Outstanding Research Park. The 18th Annual AURP Awards of Excellence ceremony, held this year in Philadelphia, recognized the achievements of outstanding research parks and those who direct them, and encourages the development of best practices among university research and science parks.
"AURP is proud to honor the Oklahoma University Research Campus as 2013 Outstanding Research Park for demonstrating exceptional leadership in innovation amongst university research parks, individuals and companies," said AURP President David Baker.
The decision to accept a job at a startup is not an easy one. For starters, since three out of four startups fail, chances are you'll be left looking for another job within the next few years. What seems like a unique, breakthrough business idea could very easily be just that: a great idea. Or the startup could fail for reasons pertaining to execution, like not taking customer feedback into account during product development or changing course too frequently to keep up with customer demands. Plus, you never know in advance if people will pay for your product, how the competition will respond to your encroachment on their territory, or whether you'll have access to the resources needed to prove out the business model.
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Most companies begin on a shoe-string -- under-funded, under the gun, and under the radar. The company I co-founded in 1986, Idea Champions, was no exception.
When my business partner and I began, we had almost nothing -- just an idea, some chutzpah, and a deep desire to succeed.
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Facebook is useful for interacting with people you care about. Twitter, on the other hand, is extremely fruitful for following the people who share your same interests. That’s why Young Entrepreneurs should, at least, follow the people we are listing here. The list might have been longer, we might have added more and more people, but we have decided to opt for a small group of people who are making Entrepreneurship what we love.
Roger La Salle is the king of innovation. The founder of ‘La Salle Matrix Thinking’ believes there isn’t a product in the world that can’t be made better with just a little bit of thought.
Ahead of speaking at the Creative Innovation 2013 conference in Melbourne (November 27-29), he reveals to SmartCompany some top tips for how businesses can innovative and become more competitive – with little effort.
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Robots usually look rigid and nonhuman, with joints engineered to avoid the elasticity that can make their movements less predictable and harder to control. Roboy, a robot developed by Rolf Pfeifer and colleagues in the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of Zurich, is an example of a different approach that is slowly gaining momentum.
Roboy has a four-foot-tall human shape and a set of “muscles” inspired by the human musculoskeletal system. The plastic muscles work together via electrical motors and artificial tendons. Tendon-driven systems like Roboy mimic the flexible mechanics of biology, and could result in a new class of robots that are lighter, safer, and move in a more natural way.
Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, also known as the “Oracle of Omaha”, is undoubtedly the most successful investor of the 20th century and one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. Despite all his worldly success, he is also one of the most humble and generous human beings alive. He recently donated a great portion of his wealth to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be used for philanthropic purposes. At 82 years old, Buffett also has a wealth of life experiences and wisdom to share with the young professionals of my generation. Here are three of his best pieces of advice for entrepreneurs and young professionals to achieve success in business and life:
I used to think that hard work was the cornerstone to success. I believed that if you wanted to achieve anything in life, you simply had to work hard. Harder than anyone else.
I remember reading a quote recently that didn’t make any sense: “Hard work. Well, that’s all right for people who don’t know about anything else”.
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