There is a great deal of conversation about collaborative environments built on trust and engagement within corporations or across corporate relationships. The problem is that when layoffs come around, people will throw each other under the bus.

It reminds me of the old backward tipping demonstration where the team dynamics leader would have everyone fall backwards into the arms of their co-workers to demonstrate “letting go” and trusting thy colleague.

Some university technology administrators are adopting the idea that the crowning outcome of public research is commercial money-making. This idea is wrapped around a shift in vocabulary from “technology transfer” to “technology licensing” to “commercialization”. These are very different concepts. But in the hands of the bozonet, they are all the same thing–meaning, I guess, the concepts mean next to nothing (see Frankfurt, again, for the details–here).

Technology transfer means the new development of the capabilities needed to practice a technology (a means of accomplishing some practical thing, a “useful art”). A technology is transferred when someone new is using a technology that someone else knows. This could be from an established use in one industry to a new use in another, or from a developed country to a developing country, or from a lab to practice. There is nothing in technology transfer that requires company formation, commercial products, or even licensing of rights. These things may come along for the ride, but they are not front and center and certainly are not essential. Technology transfer is challenging, worthy, and not an unqualified public good.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grantees associated with the winning i6 Challenge teams may be eligible for additional funding from their respective funding agencies. An applicant may partner with NIH or NSF SBIR grantees, or SBIR grantees can be part of a team that forms a non-profit, which becomes an applicant

As a consultant who works in the innovation space, I've seen lots of innovation initiatives. Some were successful in spite of themselves, and some were failures even when all the "right" people were involved. Some rely overmuch on technology, and some succeed using paper and pencil. Some have plenty of training and process, some purely adhoc. But the common denominators of all successful innovation projects are two factors: vision and passion. Let's explore each of them briefly.

When I say vision, I am using the word to represent several characteristics or components. To me, vision is understanding the need to create something new, and understanding the emerging opportunities and/or challenges that a team should address. Vision is also about being able to communicate those facts to others and get them to see the same opportunities as you do.

From the zany to the dangerous to the just plain dumb, here is TIME's list (in no particular order) of some of the world's bright ideas that just didn't work out.

WINDY talk about innovation is mind-numbingly abundant. Unusually, however, the grandees taking part in a conference in Paris this week organised by the OECD received some pointed advice. The rich-country think-tank has unveiled a thoughtful new report on how governments can do better at spurring and measuring innovation.

The grandees were also unusually attentive. Many governments are facing not only slow economic growth but also big deficits and heavy debts. At the same time, problems such as global warming and rising prices for natural resources demand their attention. Innovation, the OECD argues, offers a way out. It is already the chief engine of productivity in the rich world, and thus holds out the tantalising prospect of sustaining economic growth on the cheap. It could also provide affordable fixes to the thorniest global problems, argues John Kao, the founder of the Institute for Large Scale Innovation, which advocates the use of prizes and contests to encourage breakthroughs on social ills.

Each year the IISE announces a list of the Top 10 New Species for the preceding calendar year. The Top 10 New Species described in 2009 are listed below with links to additional details about each species.

If you would like to nominate a species for the 2011 Top 10 New Species please click here.

An overwhelming majority – 88pc – of venture capitalists polled believe some form of State intervention is needed to help increase the supply of equity finance and stimulate the venture capital market.

Two years after the Government unveiled its smart economy vision and promised a €700m Innovation Fund would be available to support start-ups, it is clear that all is not well in the equity business.

It is clear that high-growth entrepreneurial companies will lead Ireland out of recession. However, lack of funding, particularly at an early stage due to banks not lending and Government cutbacks, will take a serious toll on the recovery.

In honor of National Small Business Week and as part of her continued efforts to help Central Florida’s small businesses, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) today introduced legislation to support small business incubators so they can foster innovation and reduce costs for early-stage businesses. The Early-Stage Business Investment and Incubation (ESBII) Act (HR 5411) will create a national incubator grant program administered by the Economic Development Agency (EDA) to provide grants for incubators that support the development of early-stage small businesses in targeted, high-growth industries.

A 2008 EDA study found that business incubators are an effective public-private approach that produces new jobs at a low cost to the government. According to the study, up to an estimated 70 jobs are created for every $10,000 in EDA funds invested in business incubation programs.

PEOPLE tend to think of entrepreneurs as lone heroes, but this isn’t how it works in real life. Many live up to their reputation as risk-takers and some remain outsiders, but despite this outlier status, entrepreneurs need support to be successful.

In fact, we’re a lot like Formula One drivers: the person in the cockpit gets all the glory since fans tend to forget about the pit crew and all the behind- the-scenes effort it takes to keep the driver out on the track. Business is no different, since an entrepreneur does not succeed alone.

As part of a broad effort to spur innovation and achieve clean energy breakthroughs, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman today announced the selection of a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for an award of up to $122 million over five years to establish and operate a new Nuclear Energy Modeling and Simulation Energy Innovation Hub.

The Hub, which includes partners from universities, industry and other national labs, will use advanced capabilities of the world’s most powerful computers to make significant leaps forward in nuclear reactor design and engineering.

From the tropical rainforest to the backyard garden there are key elements keeping that ecosystem in balance and nurturing the larger global bionetwork. For economies, that key element is the small business. Nurturing the environment where small businesses can take root and grow is an ongoing challenge.

Around the country, simultaneous light bulbs are turning on across a network of local, state and federal agencies that regulate small business. With over 26 million ‘small businesses’ in America, and fewer than 17,000 ‘other-than-small businesses,’ the S.O.S. messages being sent by small companies over the past few years have finally been heard. These critical lifelines to the corporate world have had weak vital signs since the start of the recession in late-2007 and current assistance program offerings simply haven’t been enough to revive these companies. Small business is the backbone of our economy and people are starting to take notice.

As more and more college students look for internships, hoping to gain valuable work experience prior to graduation, startups would be wise to create strong internship programs. That was the message of Richard Bottner, founder of the college recruiting firm Intern Bridge and Mark Babbit, founder of the internship matching service YouTern, in a talk yesterday on "Building Successful Internship Programs for Startups."

Almost 70% of college students plan to pursue an internship while in school, a smart move considering that recent figures show that 90% of direct-from-college jobs will go to students who've had internship experience.

Even if you don’t have a job title that has the word green or sustainable in it, there are countless ways to bring sustainability into your job.

This is one reason why I wrote the book, “The Sustainable MBA: The Manager’s Guide to Green Business” — to give individual employees the tools to bring sustainability into their workplace and to change business from the inside out.

We often don’t realize the positive impact that we can have through the decisions we make every day as employees and as consumers — decisions that effect both the companies we work for and the planet.

As we emerge slowly from the first global recession since World War II, many governments have taken a more proactive approach to boost growth and competitiveness, and many business leaders support these efforts. Given the fragility of the business and economic climate—and strained public coffers—the responsibility to get policy right is acute.

Experience shows that governments have, at best, a mixed record in this regard. An important reason why public intervention in markets has been hit or miss is that action has tended to be based on academic and policy research that has looked through an economy-wide lens to understand competitiveness—in other words, whether one country is "more competitive" than another. This approach has all too often failed to capture the fact that the conditions that promote competitiveness differ significantly from sector to sector—and so, therefore, do the most effective potential regulations and policies.

MGI's analysis offers policy makers a pragmatic guide to help them make the right decisions and trade-offs, drawing on a bottom-up, sector-based approach. The research is based not only on McKinsey’s industry expertise but on nearly two decades of MGI sector-level analysis in more than 20 countries and 28 industrial sectors. In the latest research, MGI studied competitiveness and growth in six industries (retail, software and IT services, tourism, semiconductors, automotive, and steel) across eight or more countries in each case, including both emerging and high-income economies. The lessons that emerge from our case studies are applicable to other sectors, both existing and emerging, and across countries at different income levels.

The Small Business Association of Michigan and Small Business Foundation of Michigan have released their 2009-2010 Entrepreneurship Score Card. This comprehensive report examines Michigan’s competitiveness around many entrepreneurial measures including:

* Entrepreneurial Change: The amount of entrepreneurial growth or decline in an economy over the recent years
* Entrepreneurial Vitality: The level of entrepreneurial activity – pace and robustness of entrepreneurial activity
* Entrepreneurial Climate: The capability of an economy to foster entrepreneurship

The report finds the state of entrepreneurship in Michigan to be mixed. Encouragingly, the state improved on the above measures from previous years; Michigan is outperforming most Great Lakes States; and the concept of economic gardening is being embraced more thought leaders in the state. Disappointingly, though, the state still ranks very low in comparison to other states in measures such as economic competitiveness and “Best States for Business.”

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The entrepreneurial spirit must burn brightest in centers of venture activity such as Boston, New York or California, right?

Nope.

The most active states for entrepreneurial activity last year were Montana and Oklahoma, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.

The annual study of new business creation found that the two states had the highest entrepreneurial activity rates, with 470 per 100,000 adults creating businesses each month. The other states with the highest rates were Arizona (460 per 100,000 adults), and Texas and Idaho, both with 450 businesses started per 100,000 adults. The five states with the lowest rates of entrepreneurial activity were Mississippi (170 per 100,000 adults), Nebraska (200 per 100,000 adults), Pennsylvania (200 per 100,000 adults) Alabama (210 per 100,000 adults) and Minnesota (220 per 100,000 adults).

Everyone wants to hit the water for summer vacation. But there are plenty of places where you should think twice before taking a dip -- it might be your last. The water may look fine, but there are dangers underwater and on the surface. After 2010's succession of shark, jellyfish, and crocodile attacks, travelers wanting to cool off this summer would be wise to take extra care in these locations. Read on for the most dangerous waters in the world.

Topeka, Kan. (May 17, 2010) – Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) has announced its equity investments for fiscal year 2010. During this fiscal year, KTEC has invested a total of $350,000 in five companies: AthletixNation, Olathe; EcoFit Lighting, Inc., Lenexa; KCBioMedix, Inc., Shawnee; Matrix Electronic Measuring, Inc., Salina; and Nitride Solutions, Inc., Wichita.

KTEC invests in early-stage technology-based companies that have the potential to compete on a national or global level, generate revenue, create high paying jobs and, ultimately, provide a return on investment for Kansas.

“As we assess these companies, we look at a number of things, including the marketplace, truly innovative technology, leadership and the ability of the company to attract additional capital,” said Kevin Carr, interim CEO. “In my mind, we‟re trying to find what I call „game changers‟ – companies that will help put this region on the map in terms of building our economy, creating high paying jobs and generating spin-off business for other Kansas companies.”

KTEC investments for FY ‟10 include:

• AthletixNation (AXN) received $100,000 from KTEC. Founded in 2007 by Davyeon Ross, an Olathe-based entrepreneur, AXN is a multi-media sports content provider, delivering college sports video and sports applications to third party web sites and mobile devices. AXN offers a comprehensive technology platform solution that leverages social media tools, video, mobile technology and content management to promote user interaction and engagement.
• EcoFit Lighting, Inc., Lenexa, received an investment of $50,000. Founded in 2008, EcoFit Lighting designs, manufactures and markets high-output LED streetlights. The patent-pending EcoFit module allows municipalities and utilities to utilize existing fixtures, resulting in lower costs, quicker installation time and elimination of waste from discarded fixtures. EcoFit was founded by Cason Coplin, president and COO.
• KCBioMedix, Inc., Shawnee, received an investment of $50,000 from KTEC. KCBioMedix is an early-stage medical device company focused on developing and commercializing products that are used by neonatal healthcare providers to assess and treat feeding issues in premature infants. KCBioMedix was founded by D. Michael Litscher and David Stalling, PhD, in 2006.
• Matrix Electronic Measuring, Inc. recently received $50,000 from KTEC. Jan Srack, president and CEO, founded Matrix in 2003. The Salina-based company developed the Matrix Wand, a patented, Stereoscopic 3-D computer measuring system designed to capture and document images of collision damaged vehicles before, during and after repair. The wireless, handheld tool produces images that can be referenced to an accuracy of two millimeters.
• Nitride Solutions, Inc., Wichita, received an investment of $100,000. The company, founded in 2007 by Jason Schmitt, developed a proprietary high-volume, low-cost production process for Aluminum Nitride substrates for use in lighting, air and water purification, industrial and medical applications.

KTEC‟s application process for direct capital investment includes submitting a business plan, demonstrating through market research that a considerable market exists and demonstrating the potential to create high paying jobs and generate a return on investment. In addition, each company is required to provide matching funds.

About KTEC: KTEC is a Kansas-funded entity charged with promoting technology-based economic development. KTEC assists Kansas entrepreneurs and technology companies by supporting the development of new technologies, through a statewide network designed to support researchers, entrepreneurs and technology companies through each phase of the technology life cycle. KTEC‟s ultimate goal is to create rapid-growth companies and higher paying jobs. To learn more about KTEC, visit www.ktec.com.

Today at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, Michael is on stage to talk about the future of mobile with Facebook’s Chris Cox, Google’s Vic Gundotra, and Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley.

Below find my live notes (paraphrased):

MA: there’s so much with privacy issues around Facebook. What’s happening?

CC: It’s been an intense and humbling couple weeks for us. We’ve spent a lot of time talking to advocacy groups. Mark wrote a post. Starting tomorrow we’ll be rolling out “drastically simple” privacy controls.