Indonesia is developing 100 science and techno parks (STPs) as part of efforts to support the government’s nine-priority agenda or Nawacita. The technology parks are also expected to connect academics, small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and business and government.

As of 2013, four parks have operated — the Indonesian Research Center for Science and Technology (Puspiptek), Bandung Techno Park, Solo Techno Park and Cikarang Techno Park. Being developed are the Batam Technopark and Palembang Technopark.

While the Windsor region contends with the highest youth unemployment rate in the country, a representative of Ontario’s government travelled to the city to re-announce funding for entrepreneurship programs that have already been running for several years.

“We’re encouraging young people to say, hey, rather than me trying to find a job with someone else, if I’ve got a good idea and I want to be my own boss and employ myself, and eventually employ other people, I can do that,” said Daiene Vernile, parliamentary assistant for the Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Image: MPP Daiene Vernile speaks during a media conference on Friday, November 13, 2015, at the University of Windsor EPICentre regarding the province’s $27-million investment in young innovators. DAN JANISSE / WINDSOR STAR 

Jan Hammer, a partner at Europe's biggest venture capital fund Index Ventures, says we may have just passed the peak for tech valuations, which have been spiralling ever higher this year.

Rocketing valuations of tech companies — particularly in the US — have led some to worry that we could be in the middle of an inflating tech bubble. Uber is often held up as a prime example — the company is now worth over $50 billion (£33.2 billion) but is thought to be unprofitable.

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Let me assure you, from personal experience, and from helping many successful as well as struggling entrepreneurs, that starting a business is hard work, and doesn’t come with any of the benefits mentioned.

Startups disrupt markets

In The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen claimed that only startup companies can disrupt new markets and produce radical innovation. Sure enough, 57% of the participants in my 2008-2010 creativity in organizations study (see http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/latest-articles/2015/09/29/from-startup-to-maturity-how-to-un-kill-creativity/?Itemid=88) experienced higher degrees of creativity in startup companies, and only 10% felt more creative in established, mature companies. Startup companies don’t really have a choice but to be radically innovative, as they typically don’t stand a chance of survival (or even initial investment) unless they do something substantially different and very innovative.

There have been so many changes in the workplace in the past 10-15 year. Mobile phones, internet, faster and smarter technologies that make it easier to get things done. I wonder if anyone today would willingly go work in a place that didn’t have an internet connection. Our knowledge of these tools makes us eager to use them in our work and everyday lives. But it’s not only about tools – it’s also the way we do things and what we expect from an employer. Is there a way of knowing what changes we can expect in the next 10-15 years? Who is best qualified to answer these questions?

Image: http://be-novative.com

You may be — or might want to be — considering relocating if you are looking for job. How about a city with strong job growth? We've pulled some names, locations and data for you. As we guide you along in our What People Earn series, we take a stop at 20 of the top U.S. cities with the strongest job growth — which follows on our last dive, 20 U.S. cities with the worst job growth.

We're another step closer to extending the life span of human beings.

Researchers in Switzerland have been studying the effect of genes on the aging process and have published their results in the journal Nature Communications. Of the 40,000 genes they studied, they found 30 that allow a variety of animals, including roundworms, zebrafish, and mice, to stay healthier and live longer. But these scientists focused specifically on genes that are also found in human beings, so the next step in their project is to see if these genes also have an impact on us as well.

There are some companies we look at, admire, and say, “Wow, I really want to work for them.” These companies understand that employees are as important as the paying customers who consume the products and services they sell. And they know that the transparency of social media means the company’s reputation is highly dependent on what its employees say.

Lots of people dread public speaking. It’s also something most professionals will need to attempt at some point. Consequently, there’s a lot of advice out there on how to conquer your fears and engage the audience. Unfortunately, a lot of this advice will do nothing of the sort, and may make the situation worse. I asked frequent speakers for the worst advice they’ve been given. If you want to feel comfortable on stage, ignore anyone who tells you these gems.

Leading a business is complex work. It’s not a matter of walking into the office, churning out a few ideas and considering yourself done for the day. No, the reality is that you’re going to be doing a little bit of everything -- especially in the earliest stages of your business’s development.

In 1999, when China’s per capita income was just $850 a year, a 31-year-old entrepreneur named Neil Shen and three friends nevertheless bet that China would soon develop a huge domestic tourism industry. They created a travel-booking website, Ctrip.com. China’s per capita GDP has since grown ninefold, and the domestic tourism market has ballooned to more than $400 billion. Ctrip, which had an initial public offering on Nasdaq in 2003 (and nearly doubled its price on the first day of trading), now has a market capitalization of over $10 billion—and Shen, who went on to found other travel-related companies in China, is a billionaire.

Image: Neil Shen - http://www.technologyreview.com

At 16:56 UTC on August 29, 2009, an Iridium communications satellite suddenly fell silent. In the hours that followed, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network reported that it was tracking two large clouds of debris—one from the Iridium and another from a defunct Russian military satellite called Cosmos 2251.

Image: http://www.technologyreview.com

Over the past two years there’s been a lot of talk regarding “unicorns”, or startups carrying US$1-billion valuations. While the buzzword still makes for catchy headlines, skeptics fear that there is a bubble developing within the tech industry.

This belief has been reiterated in a new report by US-based First Round Capital, which surveyed 500 VC-backed startup founders. The majority (73%) believe that we are, in fact, in a bubble or witnessing over-speculation of the tech industry. Specifically, industries such as wearables and bitcoin are believed to be overhyped, while autonomous vehicles and mobile are underhyped.

The Innovation Voucher program lets businesses unlock R&D capacity here in Rhode Island. Rhode Island enterprises with fewer than 500 employees can receive grants of up to $50,000 to fund R&D assistance from a Rhode Island university, research center or medical center.

The initial application deadline is January 5, 2016. The Commerce Corporation will begin reviewing and advancing applications upon receipt. Applications submitted after January 5, 2016 may not be reviewed until the Commerce Corporation has completed its consideration of the applications submitted by that deadline.

Uber is reportedly shopping itself to investors for another round of funding, and this time it's seeking a valuation of $62.5 billion.

As this chart from Statista shows, that means Uber is now more valuable than the major U.S. car companies Ford and GM, more than media giants like Fox and Time-Warner Cable, and almost twice as much as eBay.

Image: http://www.businessinsider.com

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE INNOVATION STATEMENT

How will Australia become an innovation nation? Startups and the tech sector are banking on the Turnbull government's industry statement to be launched on Monday.

Much has been made of the building blocks the country already has for a thriving innovative economy - a wealthy and educated population, highly-funded public research sector and access to the lucrative Asian market - but the challenge will be in coming up with policies to capitalise on that.

Companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, and Nike have no problem finding talented people to interview. Their in-demand products make jobs with their companies in demand, too. What employees don’t often demand, however, is a premium salary. In fact, most are willing to work for less in exchange for putting a top brand on their resume, according to the study "Employee-Based Brand Equity: Why Firms with Strong Brands Pay Their Executives Less" by Nader Tavassoli and Rajesh Chandy of the London Business School and Alina Sorescu of Texas A&M University.

Many entrepreneurs consider themselves successful when they raise a series of funding from Angels and VCs. Without taking away the prestige of raising money through traditional investors, I’m going to discuss how important it is to get the “crowd” involved before VCs.

Arlington cybersecurity start-up ThreatConnect said Tuesday that it has raised $16 million from investors, led by the corporate venture capital arm of SAP’s North American subsidiary in Rockville. The next morning just down the road in Sterling, Va., a similarly-named start-up called ThreatQuotient said it raised $10.2 million, led by prolific technology investor New Enterprise Associates. A few weeks ago Arlington-based Trustar announced a $2 million in seed funding.