Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis. These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.
One day, Judith Danovitch overheard her son interrogating Siri on the family’s iPad.
“What color shirt am I wearing?” the then four-year-old asked.
Danovitch, a researcher at the University of Louisville, says he was testing the boundaries of Siri’s knowledge—something that, her research finds, often happens when kids get to be about that age. And the more studies she and others in the field conduct, the more robust the behavior appears.
Customer service isn’t static. Phones replaced house calls. Email edged out phones. To keep existing customers and attract new ones, you need cutting-edge customer service. Consumers are four times as likely to buy from a competitor after a service issue than they are after a product one, according to research by Bain & Company. Still, customer-service overhauls aren’t cheap. Invest wisely by considering these five predicted trends that will shape customer service over the next five years.
TRENTON – The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has announced the first recipient of the New Jersey Innovation and Research Fellowship Program (IRFP) grant to support technological research and the state’s growing innovation ecosystem.
Dr. Peter Worthington of Jersey City will receive a $115,000 grant stipend over two years to further his research with Visikol, a biotechnology company in Hunterdon County.
For nearly two centuries, the Rieckmann family has raised cows for milk in this muddy patch of land in the middle of Wisconsin. Mary and John Rieckmann, who now run the farm and its 45 cows, have seen all manners of ups and downs — droughts, floods, oversupplies of milk that sent prices tumbling. But they’ve never seen a crisis quite like this one.
Image: Mary Rieckmann with her son Russell tending to their cows on Nov. 20, 2019. Jason Vaughn for TIME
Many of the fastest-growing jobs in the US offer flexible schedules or can be done from the comfort of your couch.
FlexJobs, a job site for remote work, released a ranking of 10 flexible jobs that will be in high demand in 2020.
The company defines "flexible jobs" as professional-level careers that can be done from home, or offer flexibility in scheduling. Many of the jobs that made the list can be done remotely, on contract, or part-time. Some, like high paying physician assistant positions, allow employees to choose their own hours.
Good things are happening in Ohio, where "venture capital investors in three cities are taking a different approach by working together to boost the state's startup appeal," Axios reports.
The website notes that the Ohio Third Frontier Commission recently approved about $77 million to support tech startups statewide and has invested more than $2 billion since 2003. "A sizable portion of the latest round of funds," Axios says, went to three of the state's venture development funds: CincyTech in Cincinnati, JumpStart in Cleveland and Rev1 Ventures in Columbus.
Image: https://www.crainscleveland.com
Moving to a big city in the US can get expensive, so to avoid the high city costs, Zach Both and Nicole Lopez decided to do something different.
The couple moved into a 730-square-foot yurt — a circular tiny house built from poles and fabric — on a small island just outside Portland, Oregon, in April 2019. For the past few months, they've been living in their yurt full time and documenting their experience on a blog, Do it Yurtself.
Image: https://www.businessinsider.com
Across the U.S., the federal government provided 53 percent of R&D funding at institutions of higher education in FY 2018. Those institutions provided 26 percent of the funding themselves, and most of the remainder was provided by a mix of nonprofit organizations (7 percent), industry (6 percent), and state and local government (5 percent). The specific contributions varied from state to state, however, with some relying more on specific relationships to support R&D within the state.
In an age where we take the search for signs of life beyond the confines of the Earth very seriously—as a scientific frontier—it’s interesting to consider a little of the history of the very concept itself. This isn’t entirely frivolous. The ways that we think about the natural world, and the ways that we formulate our questions, are always going to be biased and orientated by our preconceptions and speculations. Having a better appreciation of those predispositions may help us avoid obvious pitfalls.
Image: C. Scharf 2019
The right business model could unlock the economic and environmental potential of the Arenga palm tree.
If oil palm monoculture is a villain in the story of climate change, the sugar palm could be its hero. Since the 1990s, vast tracts of Indonesian forest have been razed for the intensive cultivation of oil palm trees, adding to greenhouse effects and threatening the survival of species like the orangutan. What if another type of palm tree – the sugar palm – created better economic opportunities for the farmers while helping to restore the environment?
Image: https://knowledge.insead.edu
BioNexus KC has announced the creation of a seed capital fund focused on guiding early-stage life science entrepreneurs as they take new technology to market.
KC Nexus Fund, led by Managing Director Tony Simpson, aims to bridge the funding gap between academic funding and commercialization. This stage is referred to as the "valley of death," a period of time when startups fall victim to a funding desert and fail to transfer those innovations from the lab to the market.
In the battle for talent and economic growth, U.S. cities are often competing with each other to become the next tech hubs and lure new investment and jobs. In Ohio, however, venture capital investors in three cities are taking a different approach by working together to boost the state's startup appeal.
Early stage investing can be tremendously beneficial for early stage technology companies, the broader startup ecosystem, and of course, investors. But getting started isn’t easy.
We both know this first-hand, having overcome obstacles to become investors ourselves. We know many people who are in similar situations but haven’t yet taken the same leap. We see three primary reasons that people don’t get into investing.
Image: Minda Bruse and Heather Redman. - https://www.geekwire.com
Maybe starting a new business isn’t your passion, but in these days of rapid change, where everyone is dealing with uncertainty, I believe that thinking and acting like entrepreneurs will help you get ahead in any profession. In simple terms this means taking control of your life, going after something you love to do, and taking action. Stop letting life decisions happen to you.
Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com
As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, the most common question I get is, “I want to be an entrepreneur — how do I start?” The obvious answer is that you need an idea first, but I’ve come to realize that the process is really much more complex than that. Many people with great ideas never make it as entrepreneurs, and true entrepreneurs can make a business out of anything.
When you're trying to get your dream business off the ground, you're juggling an enormous to-do list and a loaded schedule. When you're running from meeting to meeting and checking things off your list, it helps to have everything you need to get the job done on hand.
Image: Amazon
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merica may be divided into 50 states, but many areas are culturally similar.
In his fourth book, "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures in North America," award-winning author Colin Woodard identifies 11 distinct cultures that have historically divided the US.
Image: The 11 nations of North America Colin Woodward and Tufts/Brian Stauffer
If all you want to do in your retirement is play golf, New Jersey might be the state for you, otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere. State and local tax rates in New Jersey are the second-highest in the entire country, and real estate is right up there amongst the most expensive in the USA. New Jersey’s cost-of-living is 22% higher than the national average. If you want your retirement dollars to go as far as they can, this is not the state for you.
Think back to the last conference you attended. How many presentations do you remember? Probably not too many. As a leader or aspiring leader at any level, one of the biggest challenges you face is to inspire and motivate other people so that they can take the right actions on behalf of themselves and the group — that is, to have impact. That’s why you want to be a leader with a strong presence not just at conferences, but in every interaction. And if you are such a leader, then every aspect of your presence — including your physical self, your intellect, your voice, and your emotions — is intimately bound up with your message.
The alternative workforce has arrived. There will be a projected 42 million self-employed workers in the US by 2020, according to research from Deloitte. Thanks to a shortage of tech workers, use of contract workers is becoming more attractive because it allows businesses to streamline singular projects as needed.
