My [Jay Deragon ] post “The Emergence of the “Know” Profile” stirred numerous responses. Within these responses, and the subsequent dialog within the blogosphere , came many questions and perceptions as to the validity of someday actualizing the “know” profile as described.

Given this exchange I thought it would be worthy to examine some of the relevant issues raised and address them by sharing more details of how the “know” profile will emerge and how it will work.

How Can Knowledge be Indexed into an Inventory?

Libraries use numerical indexing to categorize books and the relevant content. The numerical indexing system applies numbers to make a search of relevant and relative words all contained in a taxonomy of subjects. These numeric indexes began in approximately 1894. This “taxonomy” of knowledge assets (contained in libraries of knowledge) can be found in places like Amazon, Encyclopedia Britannica or the Library of Congress etc. Ever seen anything like this ISBN 0-534-39200-8? That is the numerical index number for a book.

Now take that same concept and apply the related methodologies to “indexing an individuals knowledge assets” and what you create is a library of individual knowledge inventory. Computer algebra system would perform the required calculations. The new system would include various versions of algorithms used to index ones knowledge inventory based on education, learning degrees, life experiences and original published content. All of this currently rest in our social profiles but is yet to be indexed to reflect our individual knowledge inventory. Not yet but soon.

The Creative Economy Report 2008 is the result of an initiative put forward by the part- nership between UNCTAD and the UNDP Special Unit for South-South Cooperation. This policy-oriented study is the main output of the project, “Strengthening the Creative Economy in Developing Countries”, jointly coordinated by Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg, Chief, UNCTAD Creative Economy and Industries Programme, and Francisco Simplicio, Chief, Division for Knowledge Management and Operations of the UNDP Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.

The Partnership expresses its sincere gratitude to Yiping Zhou, Director, UNDP Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, for his deep support to this initiative. Without his vision and commitment, this work would not have materialized.

The Report was prepared under the leadership of UNCTAD and is a pioneering example of multi-agency cooperation reflecting the work of the United Nations Multi- Agency Informal Group on Creative Industries in an effort to build upon comple- mentarities and enhance policy coherence on matters relating to the creative industries and the creative economy. It is the first report to present the United Nations system-wide perspective on this innovative topic and it brings together contributions from five collaborating bodies: the United Nations Conference onTrade and Development (UNC- TAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Special Unit for South- South Cooperation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC).

Download the Full Report PDF

Despite everything the U.S. Department of Energy, President Barack Obama and common sense say, energy efficiency just isn’t very sexy. Energy management systems have fantastic rates of return — saving thousands, if not millions. And Cash upfront for installation yields much lower energy bills in the future. But energy management systems are still only penetrating 14 percent of the potential market, according to a new report from Pike Research

For context, energy management systems do not have to be elaborate. They can be as simple as installing efficient light bulbs, caulking windows, or adding installation. Or they can be as sophisticated as EcoFactor’s thermostat software that optimizes energy savings while automating heating and air conditioning.

One big obstacle to efficiency measures: winning over landlords. Most tenants pay their own electric bills, but renovations are still property owners’ responsibility. As a result, most buildings’ energy systems are antiquated, to be kind. Many tenants will find, if educated, that it is worth their while to pay for installation of home or commercial energy management systems themselves. This is another hurdle for system vendors: average consumers simply don’t know how much they could be saving.

In January, we had the “Fear the Boom & Bust” rap video that pitted John Maynard Keynes v. Friedrich Hayek rapping about their respective approaches to monetary and fiscal policy, and theories of the business cycle. Now Pantless Knights (a web comic team) offers a terrific spoof of the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys video “Empire State” of mind rap video—instead of “New York,” the video celebrates the “New Dork” and the “Entrepreneur State of Mind.”

Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and fueled by leaders and social hubs such as Micah Baldwin, Tech Stars mentor, #followfriday creator and now chief community caretaker at Graphic.ly of Digital X, and Robert Reich, the founder of Boulder/Denver Tech Meet-up, Boulder's startup community is pumping, even in the midst of recession.

Boulder is the home of Blue Mountain cards, one of the first successful online greeting cards websites. In the 1990s, Fortune 1,000 tech companies popped up all over the Western prairie between Boulder and Denver. Since then, Boulder's creative, crunchy, beautiful mountain environment has nurtured a self-supporting startup tech ecosystem.

Building on the ideas expressed in last month's newsletter about trend spotting, cross pollination and lateral thinking, it's interesting to learn that the internet is moving in a direction that will support all web pages and sites to function in a more relational way. This evolution could make it easier for more people to find the information they are looking for, while at the same time being able to see that information within different contexts and being able to drill down deeper to make more detailed connections.

For most of us using the internet is something we just do without much thought or care about the underlying structures or processes that allow for near instantaneous access to billions of web pages. The limitations present in first generation web pages (which were static 'pages' ) were innovatively removed by standards which allowed interaction and user generated content. These second generation web pages evolved to support social networking and various connections between human beings.

The EU commissioners for innovation and regional policy, meeting in Spain this week, have called for an end to duplication and misuse of EU funding between their vast policy machines and pledged to work better together.

Research and Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn outlined ways their departments could work together to improve the innovation output of Europe's regions and reduce overlap between their services.

Speaking at the launch of the Week of Innovative Regions in Europe (WIRE), held in Granada as part of the Spanish EU Presidency, they stressed that more "synergies" were required "to avoid any further multiplication and fragmentation of Community funding".

Bangalore: Innovative ideas are not a new thing for Indians, especially with India's premiere institute like IITs churning out batches of sharpest minds around. Many innovators have been trying to simplify some process or change something traditional with the help of latest technology. One such example can be taken of Pradip Sharmah who has collaborated with IIT Guwahati to design lighter, larger and more stable rickshaws, about 5000 of which are currently plying on the roads in Assam and other states.

Sharmah has also worked with the Centre for Rural Development to approach insurance companies and banks to provide rickshaw pullers with social security and financing options. "We provide them with a comprehensive package that includes the newly designed rickshaw, the insurance, two sets of uniforms, a license from the municipal corporation, a photo ID and a pair of Hawaii chappals (slippers)," he said to Live Mint. "The best part is we are not doing this as charity. Nothing is given free. These rickshaw pullers pay us Rs. 25 a day as rent, but this leads him to become an owner of that asset in 15-18 months time."

From an economic development standpoint, research and development involves developing new knowledge about products, processes, and services, and then applying that knowledge to create new and improved products, processes, and services for the market.

This process often involves partnering between a research-oriented university and a more commercially focused business enterprise.

In Oklahoma, the commercialization of technology receives support from state-funded groups that encourage and solicit commercialization as a means to continuously fill the state's pipeline of evolving industries.

These organizations may award seed capital for especially promising projects that meet their guidelines. This money can be used for initial investment in a project or startup company, for proof-of-concept, market research or initial product development.

The idea of harnessing the vast power of Earth's oceans has fascinated and tantalized humans for centuries. Today, we may be on the cusp of realizing this potential.

Ocean, tidal and stream energy are renewable resources that we should seriously consider as an addition to our global portfolio of energy supply alternatives. Here's why:

• The wave and tidal/stream hydrokinetic energy resource available to be converted to electricity is significant;
• The technology to convert those resources to electricity is emerging and is ready for testing in natural waters;
• Wave and tidal/stream hydrokinetic energy can be cost competitive with other renewable technologies; and
• We can overcome the significant challenges that remain to finding the pathway to commercialization of wave and tidal/stream energy technologies. 

In this time of economic uncertainty, the person who has a fabulous idea to build a better mouse trap and build it successfully may find it difficult to procure the necessary funds to get a business off the ground. But if that person lives in Maine, there's one venture capital source that might well be of help.

The Small Enterprise Growth Fund was formed by an act of the Maine Legislature in 1995 and seeded with a $5 million bond approved in statewide voting two years later. A venture capital fund, its goal is to invest exclusively in promising growth companies based in Maine. As of now, there is roughly $9 million in the fund.

Fund manager John Burns said the fund acts in many ways as a typical venture capital investor, coming in after funding from what he called "the four 'f's'" have been exhausted: the founder, the founder's family, the founder's friends and "foolhardy" strangers.

A robust silicon economy and innovation ecosystem is taking root in Europe, just as the global microelectronics industry is coming out of the recession.

Europe's emerging free-trade zone of innovation is being created by an elite community of leaders linked to silicon and its derivative technologies, including nanotechnology and smart energy technology.

Innovation and technology development thrive in an environment of creative intellectual energy that offers a networked economy, proximity to research institutions and universities, unique intellectual property development, a diverse base of high-tech talent, access to investment capital and infrastructure. This economic alchemy is no longer the exclusive preserve of Silicon Valley.

However, from a competitiveness perspective, historically, Europe has always struggled to hold its own in the global semiconductor business where it has long ranked behind the Americas, Japan and Asia Pacific in absolute terms of total market share.

Chances are, you're already familiar with the concept of the Air Sandwich, if not the term itself. An Air Sandwich is what happens when the leadership within an organization issues orders from 80,000 feet and lobs them down to the folks at 20,000 feet. Without the benefit of feedback, questions, or even a reality check from below, this strategy isn't destined for blazing success.

When I witnessed it firsthand, I was working at Autodesk (ADSK), the third-largest software company in the world, where I managed revenues for the Americas region.

It started innocently enough. My boss stopped by my office, excited, with big news: The company had decided to introduce six new product lines within the coming 18 months.

We've talked a lot about full-body security scans in airports, as it's powerful and challenging tech. But should travelers worry about them--or is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) what they should be more concerned about?

Over two dozen complaints filed with the TSA over the last year suggest that it's failing to do this job as well as it really should. Over 51 pages of these documents have just been requested by the Electronic Privacy Information Center under the Freedom of Information Act. They cover a broad swath of issues, with the main issue being lack of full disclosure by the TSA. Travelers complained there wasn't enough signage, or explanations about an alternative to the scan (a detailed pat-down by a person.) And others expressed concern that there was no explanation about the safety or potential risks involved in exposing children or pregnant women to the scans--medical issues which it's frankly inexcusable of the TSA to not be open about.

Some background: Most full-body scans essentially use electromagnetic radiations which are capable of penetrating through clothing but which bounce off flesh. Image sensors then create a picture of your body as if it were unclothed--leaving few places left to conceal weapons or contraband items. The scans are an augmented layer of security, designed to accompany metal detectors and pat-downs, alongside x-raying of your hand luggage. And they're being promoted all around the world as the next great thing in terrorism prevention, partly in the wake of the underwear bomber.

The Taoiseach has launched a report which says up to 250,000 jobs in all sectors could be created through increased innovation.

The report of the Innovation Taskforce says some jobs can be brought through quickly.

Read the full report here

The report says Ireland is different from many other countries because it has a lot of multinational firms operating in a small area. It says greater co-operation and openness on the part of Government could help encourage such activity and give us a unique edge.

When Apple's iPhone hit the market, it looked like it was only a matter of time before Apple ate BlackBerry maker RIM's lunch. While that could still be case, RIM has done a great job defending its turf to this point.

The newest data from comScore's mobile subscriber report shows RIM's slow but steady ascent over the past two years as the U.S. smartphone leader. Note that comScore data is based on user surveys, and reflects subscriber base -- not simply market share of a specific quarter's sales.

How is RIM doing it? It started by being very popular with businesses, and it gradually shifted its focus to consumers. Verizon, the top U.S. carrier, has been promoting the heck out of it, including several buy-one, get-one promotions. And generally lower prices have made the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl very popular phones among mobile Web users and also people who just want a phone that's good for text messaging.

  Economics Bloggers Forum
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CDT
Friday, March 19, 2010

Watch leading economics, technology, and finance bloggers discuss key policy issues and cutting-edge research on topics related to entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth. After a keynote address from David Warsh, author of the online economics column Economic Principals, a series of panel sessions will discuss the Great Recession, global economic development, and U.S. fiscal policy, and Stanford economist Paul Romer will address the forum with an original presentation on "Persuasion and Norms."

View Web Cast

Used in everything from soup to nutritional supplements and skincare products, sharks are a multi-billion dollar, global, mostly unregulated industry. Now conservationists want to declare eight species endangered.

With a powerful torpedo-shaped body almost the size of a bus, the ability to sniff out one drop of blood in 25 gallons of water--or up to three miles away--and fearsome toothy jaws, it's no wonder the very thought of sharks can send shivers up the spine. (Cue the theme music from Jaws).

But these deep-sea predators have much more to fear from humans than the other way around. Used in everything from soup to nutritional supplements and skincare products, sharks represent a multi-billion dollar global industry and the growing demand is pushing them towards extinction. Alas, even these eating machines have champions. And if they have their day during the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Conference of Parties, which starts Saturday, eight shark species will be protected to ensure the sustainable trade of their products--oceanic whitetips, scalloped, smooth and great hammerheads, sandbar sharks, porbeagle sharks, and spiny dogfish (a type of shark).

EVER SINCE the sky fell on us some time in 2008 we have, as a country, been struggling to see what we should be doing to get us back into economic health. What we have mainly focused on is controlling public expenditure and trying to shore up the exchequer.

The problem with this approach is that it deals with a really critical risk facing the country, but on its own it does not restore our fortunes. As anyone running a company knows, you cannot succeed in business simply by cutting costs. And this is where the national innovation agenda comes in.

It was first presented in the Government’s plan for economic recovery published in December 2008, Building Ireland’s Smart Economy. One of the key areas identified for attention was what was described as creating the “innovation island”, or developing economic success through human capital, or the translation of ideas into “valuable processes, products and services”.

Richard Caruso, co-founder of Integra Life Sciences, a regenerative medical device firm, shares his passion for being an entrepreneur. Says Caruso, "You have to get up with a mission in the morning as to what you want to accomplish, you have to be passionate about what you want to do."