A task force recommended Ohio universities provide incentives for university leadership to make commercialization a priority and improve collaboration between industry and public universities. Findings by the Ohio Commercialization Task Force — created by the Ohio Board of Regents — were presented to University of Cincinnati administrators Thursday. Ohio’s universities lack the commercialized collaboration with the private sector necessary to create a healthy environment for new growth and innovation.

Addressing a litany of government mandates while dealing with a sluggish economy and decreasing patient volumes and reimbursements have created a challenge for CFOs looking to raise large amounts of capital. Only a handful of organizations have the wherewithal to generate enough cash from existing operations, reserves, or endowments, leaving most to weigh the options. Small and large hospitals and health systems are turning to mergers to find financial strength. However there are other opportunities, including joint ventures, venture capital, bank loans, and blends of these that can provide the critical dollars needed to stay competitive.

Luc Filiatreault has been through every funding scenario imaginable. “I’ve worked with six growth companies through numerous rounds of financing, from venture capital to private investment. What I can tell you from experience is there is a complete shortage of capital for Canadian businesses.”

The real funding gap is the mid-market stage, says the CEO of Neuralitic Systems in Montreal. “Once a small company in the innovation stage hits mid-size, the possibilities for getting funding to grow soon run out.”

Entrepreneurs must decide early on how they will fund their new business ideas. It’s a critical decision that echoes throughout the life of the business in very profound ways. Whether you turn to investors, or go it alone, the decision will determine not only what capital you have to build your business, but the control, constraints, and the type of returns you need to generate.

As a web entrepreneur, my field is filled with stories about venture capital, private equity and angel investments. In fact, if you read the tech press, you could think that this is the only way to build a successful online company. But it’s not. I advocate that more entrepreneurs should take a different approach. One that involves not venture capital, but what I call boot capital, a nod to the well known term, “bootstrapping.”

From mobile health applications to medication adherence algorithms, electronic medical records (EMRs) will have a significant impact on the future of health care. Panelists from health service, ICT, pharma, and health care policy will discuss EMR opportunities and challenges on October 17, 2012, 6:30 p.m., at the German Center for Research and Innovation New York. Follow live on Twitter @gcri_ny (hashtag #EHRs).

Electronic medical records (EMRs) have the potential to transform the delivery and application of medical services. Ranging from remote patient monitoring to patient understanding via social media, innovations in electronic health care are patient-focused, efficient, and highly integrated. Whereas some regard the implementation of EMRs as a costly initiative, others foresee its capacity to enhance the quality of health care, to detect trends, and to even stop epidemics. Developments in health information technology promise to improve the cross-connectivity of health information platforms, the accessibility of health records, the quality of care, and patient safety. EMRs, in particular, allow health care providers to collect, store, retrieve, and exchange information electronically. Yet these advantages are countered by privacy, financing, and timely implementation concerns.

In a recent Harvard Business Review column, Max Marmer warned about the dangers about “celebretizing” entrepreneurship. In it, he cited the creation of reality television shows that thrust start-ups and entrepreneurs in the spotlight.

It seems that everywhere you turn, we’re putting entrepreneurship and start-ups on a pedestal. Every time, a start-up is acquired for an exorbitant amount (e.g. Instagram), we bow down to the smart and savvy entrepreneur who magically went from scratch to super-stardom literally overnight.

Serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel has opened up applications for his ‘20 Under 20‘ Thiel Fellows for 2013 intake. The program awards 20 budding entrepreneurs $100,000 grants each to work on developing innovative technology ideas. Those selected for grants are also mentored by experienced professionals from the Thiel Network. Applicants have until 11:59 P.M. (UTC–12) on December 31, 2012 to apply, and Fellowship recipients will be announced in Spring 2013.

Since the Fellowship, began back in 2011, more than 40 young people have been awarded Thiel Fellowships. Project ideas granted funding and help from the Thiel Network include nuclear and alternative energy, robotics, biotechnology, 3D printing, synthetic biology, public health, education, finance, scientific equipment, gaming, and software.

NEW YORK – Officials at the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and the Partnership for New York City Fund (Partnership Fund) today announced the creation of the New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA), a program aimed at spurring health IT innovation and job creation across the Empire State.

Officials bill the partnership as the largest-funded health IT accelerator program in the United States and one of the first to provide access to senior-level healthcare providers. With its initial investment of $4.2 million, NYDHA officials anticipate the program will create some 1,500 jobs over a five year period.

Slowly, but surely, Cornell’s New York City technology school is becoming more of a reality. Today Cornell revealed four new renderings of the Roosevelt Island-based technology campus to coincide with the beginning of its land use review process.

“Just as Cornell Tech will be pioneering new approaches to graduate research and education, our campus won’t look like any other university campus that exists today,” Daniel Huttenlocher, Dean of Cornell Tech, said in a statement today. “We are determined to innovate in every aspect of the development, from the way that students, faculty, researchers, industry and the local community are intermingled, to the sustainability of our buildings and their iconic architecture.”

Both presidential campaigns released statements on how they would grow the technology startup industry. In letters addressed to the regional trade organization, NYTechMeeetup, both candidates gave moderately specific answers. Obama focused on his track-record of technology policy, including the release of government data through the newly created Chief Technology Officer, the overhaul of patent reform, and the legalization of “crowdfunding.” Romney promised more high-skilled immigrants, the creation of a new free trade zone, and to fund research. We’ve included the full statements below and some bulleted point explanations on the specifics.

THIS WEEK’S launch of a regional venture capital fund that will pool government and private contributions should be good news for the Atlantic economy and business innovation.

First, there’s a clear need for the fund, which is starting with $37.5 million to support the growth of high-potential knowledge-based companies in the region.

The difficulty in finding local equity, and the problems associated with going down the road to venture capitalists who don’t know this region, have long frustrated entrepreneurs. Regional development expert Donald Savoie’s 2010 report to the premier on growth strategies identified the scarcity of venture capital as a problem throughout Atlantic Canada.

Forty years ago, Eugene Kleiner and Tom Perkins set out to disrupt the then nascent venture capital industry. Kleiner, who was one of the founders of Fairchild Semiconductor, and Perkins, who was a member of Hewlett-Packard’s early computer hardware division, raised $8 million to invest in startups. Flash forward four decades, the firm has over $7 billion under management and is one of the most successful venture firms in the world.

Investments in iconic technology giants like Google, Amazon, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Sun, Symantec and others helped put Kleiner on the map. Kleiner, like every VC firm and investor on Sand Hill Road, has been actively looking for the next Google, with investments in Path, Square, Spotify, Klout and others. The firm is also debuting a new timeline feature today, here, which includes key milestones in the firm’s investments such as Google IPO, Genentech IPO, launch of products like Square and Nest thermostat.

In working with entrepreneurs and other business people over the years, I often hear stories of entrepreneurs who were so close to success, but somehow let it slip through their fingers. They could always give a rational excuse, like the market changed, but somehow it seemed that they were actually afraid of success, so they subtly undermined their own efforts.

I couldn’t really believe that anyone would be afraid of success, until I recently finished a self-help book by Patrick Daniel, “Finding Your Road to Success.” This is billed as a must-read for any entrepreneur who needs a shot of optimism. Relative to my suspected entrepreneur fear of success, Patrick outlines six rationales that my positive-thinking mind would never even consider:

With more than 850 biotechnology companies, the Bay Area is the oldest, largest and most productive life sciences cluster in the world, employing more than 125,000 people in the region. For more than 30 years, this region has led the world in researching and delivering new cures and treatments for debilitating diseases including cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and HIV/AIDS. But the industry is facing serious challenges with early stage innovation in the current economic climate.

For years, our strong roots, supported by our vibrant businesses, academic community, and engaged elected officials – have brought countless biotech firms to the Bay area, cementing our nationwide role as a leader in biotechnology and biomedical scientific breakthroughs. In short, this is where all the action’s taking place.

Invest Nebraska, a venture development organization founded in 2002 that advises and invests in innovative, growing and early-stage business ideas in Nebraska, welcomed its new chief executive and investment officer, Mark Crawford, to its operations in June. Crawford previously worked for SFI Financial, a Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm. Crawford’s experience includes investing capital in all stages of the corporate life cycle from seed to maturity. In addition, Crawford has completed more than $100 million in deals throughout his career.

According to Dan Hoffman, Invest Nebraska’s chief operating officer, the corporation will be slowly moving away from its business plan competitions and using Crawford’s experiences to deploy a significant amount of capital across the state. Invest Nebraska’s primary focus will be directed toward start-ups and small businesses.

I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about parenting. When my first daughter (Loïs, now 10) was born and the nurse led us out of the hospital I looked at my girlfriend and said “How can they just let us go? Do they know we don’t have a clue how to do this?”

It felt totally weird, and irresponsible, to leave such a small and vulnerable creature in the hands of amateurs like us. I had felt a lot more comfortable around professionals.

The UK government's policy of curbing immigration for skilled and highly skilled non-European Union applicants has had an unlikely fallout. While highly skilled immigrants from India have been hit hard by last year's announcement on the Tier 1 migration programme, which has been closed for most categories of people, the UK government has been rolling out the red carpet for high net worth individuals (HNIs) from India to live and invest in the country.

Under the Tier 1 (investor) category visa, HNIs who have the ability to invest £1 million in the UK, can live in the country and do not need any job offer to apply for immigration. They can apply, along with their families, for settlement at a very early stage. Even as this category becomes the most flexible immigration category for Indian investors, the UK government has set up the UK business hub, a single point of contact for investment into the country which provides services to investors on different issues, including immigration details.

If you want to create a culture of innovation, begin by becoming aware of the possible detours along the way. Click below for 56 reasons why most corporate innovation initiatives fail, a new article of mine in the Huffington Post.

Not as catchy a title as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, but I hope you'll walk through this with me:

I can outline a strategy for you, but if you don't have the tactics in place or you're not skilled enough to execute, it won't matter if the strategy is a good one.

Your project's success is going to be influenced in large measure by the reputation of the people who join in and the organization that brings it forward. That's nothing you can completely change in a day, but it's something that will change (like it or not) every day.