Stalled growth in employment rates and slowing high-tech industry see Israel's Global Innovation Index ranking slip to 22nd place from 15th, says Finance Ministry chief economist • New report urges introduction of comprehensive policy to remedy situation.

Israel's position as a leading global innovator has been compromised and it can no longer be considered a "startup nation," Yoel Naveh, the Finance Ministry's chief economist, said in an economic review released on Sunday.

Image: "The lack of skilled personnel in the high tech sector is unlikely to resolve itself," new report warns (illustrative) | Photo credit: Reuters

Potential investors without any startup exposure need to filter out the noise to find the best deals.

Here are the five things I always look for in a good Aussie startup.

1. A HIGH-QUALITY TEAM WITH COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS

People make things happen; great people make magic happen.

When evaluating a team, think about what Niki Scevak always says: “Can this team get shit done? Why do they give a shit?”

The mini brains are derived from human stem cells thus, may be used instead of animal models to test new drugs, revolutionizing the way lab experiments work.

The process may offer more exact test results and prove helpful in the development of latest, more effective drugs. With a normal culture, which looks a little like eggs sunny-side up, there's not a very dense cell wall where all these brain cells come together. They plan to discuss their research at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington, D.C. on February 12.

Image: http://youngherald.com

Today’s venture capital market is one where a company with less than 200 employees can rake in more than $100 million from investors. But one corner of the market has largely been left behind: companies offering new medical devices.

Total venture funding for medical device companies dropped after the 2008 recession and never recovered, even as funding has rebounded elsewhere, funding data show.

Image: https://www.washingtonpost.com

The Blumberg Institute at the Biotech Center is sponsoiring a very unique training course in IP for entrepreneurs. The course, "Intellectual Property: A Limited Enrollment Course Critical to a Successful Business Strategy," is being offered at the Biotech Center on Monday's beginning in April. This is a limited enrollment course which includes a private consultatiion with the course professor, Dr. Nik Heble.

Professor Heble, a registered patent attorney with the law firm Blank Rome LLP, has vast experience handling intellectual property related matters, including patent procurement, infringement and validity studies, and due diligence; particularly in the areas of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, biotechnology, organic chemistry, drug and oral care formulation, and medicine. 

In recent years, research universities across the country have faced squeezed public financial support as the agencies that channel funds through them, like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), dealt with sequestration and the 2013 cuts in federal government funding.

So what does the $1.5 trillion spending measure that passed in Congress in December mean for scientific research and the so-called innovation deficit in the United States?

Once you strip away all the business guru rhetoric and the MBA case studies, there are really only three ways to innovate a new product that can succeed in the marketplace:

You can build it, buy it, or collaborate to get it.

By “build it,” I mean developing in-house the products and services that customers want, and then relying on your own resources to gain market share and profits.

The 2016 Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the opening of the nomination period for FLC positions!

This year the FLC will elect five national positions: Finance Officer, Recording Secretary, and three Members-at-Large; as well as Regional Coordinators and Deputy Regional Coordinators for the Midwest, Far West, and Mid-Atlantic regions.

In December Business Insider released its sixth annual list of the 50 best business schools in the world — the schools whose MBA programs have the best reputations, highest starting salaries, lowest tuitions, and best job-placement rates.

Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management came in at No. 44 on our overall list. It's the least expensive US program and least expensive two-year program, and it took first place on our list of the best business schools for your money, making it one of the most underrated MBA programs out there.

Image: Facebook/marriottschool

The Board of Directors of Tech 2020 voted Tuesday to begin an orderly process to wind down operations after more than two decades focused on technology-based economic development activities in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region. 

"Tech 2020 has truly been an innovator, not only in this region but also across the nation for more than 20 years," said Teri Brahams, Tech 2020 chair. "The Board believes this strong advocacy role for entrepreneurship has made a lasting impact on our community and helped spawn a much more robust ecosystem than the one that existed in 1994. We want to see how that legacy of service can be continued through other organizations." 

Earlier this week, President Obama released his final budget proposal, outlining $4.1 trillion in spending for federal agencies. Total spending would increase 4.9 percent over the current fiscal year, but with a less than 1 percent increase in discretionary spending in accordance with the spending caps set last year.  The fiscal year 2017 budget request includes funding and legislative proposals supporting the lineup of initiatives announced by the White House over the past few weeks including the Computer Science for All initiative, the National Cancer Moonshot, the 21st Century Clean Transportation System initiative, the Mission Innovation global climate initiative, a major investment in cybersecurity and a water innovation plan.

George Washington's exploits as both a politician and general are well known, but should he be equally recognized as a businessman? According to author Edward Lengel, the answer is an unqualified yes. In his new book, First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His–and the Nation's–Prosperity, Lengel makes the case that Washington's business acumen and economic principles are just as important to understanding the man and the country he helped form.  

2016 has had a rocky start. After seven years of strong venture financing activity, startups may face tightening conditions as they try to raise capital and look for exits.

The U.S. startup scene has been a happy place for the last few years.  An influx of angel and seed funds have given rise to thousands of startup companies.  Large funding rounds and high valuations created unicorns. And as recently as last year, 170 companies went public, including some big tech names including FitBit, Square, Box and Atlassian.  But the recent data points paint a tougher environment for startups.

There is nothing easy about selling private securities. But, long before the hard road of selling is taken, the CEO must erect the entire marketing and regulatory framework. The marketing and sales of the securities must fit into the legal and regulatory framework. If that framework in built, then Verdonik suggests that the CEO can begin internet selling activities.

Verdonik begins the discussion of selling securities with his detailed analysis of the components of the capital markets that make deals happen. Verdonik calls one of these parts of the market the deal-makers, or in the case of accredited investor crowdfunding, the “Little Dogs.”

John Dascher is the new CEO of the E2E Accelerator, which is launching this year in Wichita, Kansas. Dascher has been involved in venture capital and business acceleration outside the Valley since 1997, when he started with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Philadelphia. Most recently, he worked as Investment Director for two venture capital funds in Denmark with a combined capital base of over $200 million. SPN caught up with Dascher over the phone.

SPN: You’ve been involved with startups for almost two decades now. Tell us a bit more about how you got into the field.

JD: I started my career as an aerospace engineer for about a year in Philadelphia, where I grew up and where I went to school. I just knew I didn’t enjoy engineering work in a factory environment.

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A few years ago, the most enthusiastic advocates of MOOCs believed that these “massive open online courses” stood poised to overturn the century-old model of higher education. Their interactive technology promised to deliver top-tier teaching from institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, not just to a few hundred students in a lecture hall on ivy-draped campuses, but free via the Internet to thousands or even millions around the world. At long last, there appeared to be a solution to the problem of “scaling up” higher education: if it were delivered more efficiently, the relentless cost increases might finally be rolled back. Some wondered whether MOOCs would merely transform the existing system or blow it up entirely. Computer scientist Sebastian Thrun, cofounder of the MOOC provider Udacity, predicted that in 50 years, 10 institutions would be responsible for delivering higher education.

Image: https://www.technologyreview.com

Angel investors are an increasingly crucial component to the success of Canada’s emerging startups.

In the past four years, members of the National Angel Capital Organization have invested $270 million in startups.

Here are five trends members of the organization see moving forward.

1. Greater investment in Canada’s tech industry.

The country has all of the necessary ingredients to be a tech powerhouse and strategically investing in this sector can offset the thousands of jobs lost from sectors like oil," says Manny Padda of New Avenue Capital in Vancouver.

Image: http://www.techvibes.com

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, a network of over 300 government-run labs and agencies that work to make federal technology and expertise available to industry, this week announced the opening of its newly remodeled website, federallabs.org.

Sporting a major design overhaul, the revamped interface allows businesses to access federal technologies and facilities, and also facilitates communication between industry professionals and scientists who can offer advice on enhancing commercialization goals.

Alec Ross is an innovation expert. That's an extraordinarily ridiculous title to go throwing around, and the sort of LinkedIn era self-branding you've probably learned to tune out by now. But in this case it's true.

MORE ROBOTICS

Research alliance announces moonshot: Reverse engineering the human brain

Over the next five years, computer scientists at several prestigious research institutions hope to unlock the secrets of human learning.

Read More Ross is the former Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and is currently a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Image: http://www.zdnet.com

In his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasized five key points as the basis of a fourth industrial revolution: education, infrastructure, innovation, population diversity and public-private investment. Make no mistake – the knowledge economy is here to stay. Or, as Mr. Trudeau put it: “What it takes to grow and prosper isn’t just what’s under our feet, it’s what’s between our ears.”

It’s refreshing to know that our government understands the need to diversify our economic base to include knowledge-based industries if we are to remain competitive. It was an optimistic, upbeat address to invite the world to invest in Canada.