Inside a series of nondescript buildings in the driest desert in North America, an entrepreneurial enclave is chasing the next frontier of commerce. Explosions are routine. The science is complex. Brain power and ambition are high, as is danger. This cluster of 17 young companies at the Mojave Air and Space Port, 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles, is shooting for the moon—and beyond.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in collaboration with the Chamber of Digital Commerce announces a health standards and data innovation Code-a-Thon.  Code-a-Thon contestants will use open source distributed ledger technology and health-specific standards to address one of the following health IT Tracks:

Building big infrastructure projects is always risky, but there are ways to improve the odds of a smooth landing.

Infrastructure megaprojects are crucial to the future of cities, states, and individual livelihoods. The problem is that these projects often go off the rails, either with regard to budget or time—or both.

Organizations strive to tap into the potential of crowdsourcing by asking people around the world to come up with ideas. But what makes crowdsourcing work? We conducted a large-scale research project to understand why some organizations succeed to attract crowds and others fail.

Efforts to leverage the knowledge of external contributors have been used for centuries. For instance, the British Parliament used crowdsourcing to find the solution to the longitude problem that was one of the most pressing scientific problems of the 18th century. Similarly, Napoleon struggled to supply nutritious food for his troops who fighting wars far from home and turned to crowdsourcing to find a solution.

Calgary is a city in the Canadian province of Alberta with a metropolitan population of 1,214,839, making it the largest city in Alberta, and the third-largest municipality in Canada. Their citizens trend younger with an average age of 36 years and represent a diverse cross-section of cultures with 28% visible minorities, and growing. And since redefining itself after the energy sector slump in the 1980s it’s diversified its industries to include financial services, film and television, and others and continues to find new ways to reinvent itself and create value.

Image: https://ideascale.com

Knowledge@Wharton: What got you to look at this topic?

Maurice Schweitzer: Happiness is something that we tend to think is always good. There’s a positive psychology field that says we should be positive, upbeat, we should strive for happiness. The pursuit of happiness is deeply embedded in our national thinking. Yet sometimes people who are very happy are exactly the kinds of people who are exploited. That’s what we document in our research, where we look at people who are very happy. If they seem more happy than baseline happiness — people who are very happy, always chipper, always upbeat — they strike us as naive. We found that link consistently. One of the most robust findings in our research is that people see very happy individuals as naive, and in our last couple of studies we found that people are more likely to exploit those individuals.

Earth has eight continents, and world maps should reflect this, geologists say.

The eighth, a lost continent called Zealandia, isn't a huge landmass that geographers have somehow missed. Rather, only small bits — including New Zealand, New Caledonia and a few other specks of land in the vast Pacific Ocean — are above sea level. The rest of this continent lies beneath the waves, a new study suggests

Image: Based on geological definitions of a continent, the Earth actually has a lost eighth continent, known as Zealandia. Most of this continent is submerged beneath the sea, while a tiny sliver, including New Zealand, is above the water. Credit: GSA Today 2017

We've been obsessed with making the Star Wars speeder bikes come true, and now, a Russian startup has finally made it happen. 

'HoverSurf' have released a video of their concept hoverbike, 'Scorpion-3.' It's the first fully-manned hoverbike in the world.

Companies once deemed “too big to fail” are increasingly exposed to failure. The threat of disruption is everywhere. Startups are taking on the Goliaths in every market. Scores of malls across the United States are in collapse. Many household brand names are losing ground or even shutting completely. Regardless of industry, businesses face digital Darwinism, the evolution of technology and markets. Disruption is just a matter of when, where and why. To compete, executives must make tough decisions but more so, they must look to new horizons for new insight and direction. Whether companies thrive or cower in the face of digital Darwinism is a choice.

Image: http://www.innovationmanagement.se

Techstars, the global ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to market, has announced the launch of its first Asia-Pacific based accelerator in Australia – Techstars Adelaide.

Techstars Adelaide is designed to support early-stage companies advancing state-of-the-art applications in Internet of things (IoT), big data, sensors and robotics, with potential to developing and commercialising technologies connected to the defence and security sectors.

Image: http://anthillonline.com

Understand everything that matters most about the changes in the modern workforce. Gallup's in-depth analytics help leaders optimize their attraction, retention, engagement and performance strategies during a time of extraordinary change.

State of the American Workplace Report

Today, the old ways of running a workplace -- annual reviews, forced rankings, outdated competencies -- don't get the intended results. Leaders must gain scientific insight into employees' evolving wants and needs and learn how to build an exceptional workplace.

I often share my thoughts on how leaders and organizations can leap forward and lead others into the future. Sometimes the examples come not from business, but from government, and in this case, perhaps an unlikely one.

Rwanda, a small country in Africa that barely survived a horrific genocide that decimated it in 1994, planted some of the seeds of recovery via cutting-edge technology. For example, starting in their capital city, Kigali, they are deploying a fully-integrated electronic information system that will replace all existing traffic management processes from drivers’ license tests to traffic fines. You’ll actually be encouraged to electronically pay the fine to the police officer issuing a citation right after you’re caught speeding! The New Times: How the hi-tech traffic control devices work, Times Reporter

The products that make cities "smart" will be developed, tested and perhaps scaled in our backyard.

A partnership of the Herndon-based Center for Innovative Technology, D.C.-based Smart City Works and 22 CityLink, the master developer of the Gramercy District smart city planned for Ashburn, is accepting applications for its initial cohort of companies in Smart City Works @ Herndon. The program, expected to launch March 27, is pitched as the world’s first smart city “actuator” — think next-level accelerator — focused exclusively on early-stage companies with products that serve the needs of smart cities.

Image: http://www.bizjournals.com

If you’re learning how to develop CRADAs or have ever wished for an easy guide, take our newest free e-course! “The CRADA Developer’s Guide” is now available to take at your own pace in our Learning Center!

The CRADA is one of federal tech transfer’s most powerful tools. This course helps you understand the process and considerations for developing and managing a good CRADA, including:

When to choose a CRADA How to craft a CRADA Managing a CRADA Troubleshooting strategies. It’s interactive and lets you easily refer to any section where you need the most help, so you can consult the guide again and again whenever you need it!

Union Square Ventures (USV) has been one of the most successful venture capital firms of the past 10–15 years and continues to be a leader in our industry. Recently the firms two founding partners (and also Managing Partners) — Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham — decided to transition management of the firm to Andy Weissman (who joined in 2012) and Albert Wenger (joined in 2008 and writes one of the most thoughtful blogs in our industry). Fred & Brad aren’t leaving but wanted Andy & Albert to take over management.

The hiring pace among Boston and New York software companies has slowed to a crawl, amid a broader downshift in the tech industry.

During the fourth quarter of last year, the two tech hubs saw their weakest job growth in the past five years. That’s according to a quarterly study compiled by John Barrett, a Boston-area partner with executive recruiting firm On Partners.

Niche-specific content is usually not readily available through regular generic search engines. One example is the academic and scholarly content. While running a  search query about an academic topic through a generic search engine such as  Google would probably render fairly decent results, it, however, usually takes digging into so much fluff before finally landing on relevant results. This is where having access to topic-specific search engines comes in handy.

One of the toughest questions a startup founder can ask themselves is, "Should I hire a CEO?" The earliest days of your own role as CEO in the company can seem pretty straightforward: You're knee-deep in sales, product development and financials. As your company scales, however, managing an ever-growing set of priorities can prove difficult, even impossible. If you do decide it's time to look outside for leadership, it's important to know what it takes to lure a proven executive into a startup.

VILLAGE 36 PITCH COMPETITION!

COMPETE FOR $50K IN TOTAL PRIZE MONEY!

While at 36|86, Village 36 companies get unparalleled access to the largest gathering of early-stage investment firms in the Southeast,

plus insights from thought leaders, innovators and fellow entrepreneurs

AS PART OF VILLAGE 36, YOU’LL HAVE:

Chance to compete for $50k in total prize money

$500 travel stipend plus three nights lodging

Pitch session on the Main Stage

Investor speed-dating

Dedicated exhibit space

Two complimentary 36|86 conference all-access passes

Invites to Welcome Party, exclusive Village 36 Investor Brunch & VIP access to Street Fair

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (2-20-17) Contact: Tom Still or Laura Kaiser at 608-442-7557 To learn more, visit: www.wistechsummit.com

MADISON – Chris Rizik, the CEO and fund manager for the groundbreaking Renaissance Venture Capital Fund in Michigan will speak during the March 27 Wisconsin Tech Summit in Waukesha.

Rizik has been integral to Renaissance’s success as a state-based, corporate fund of funds. It has invested in 22 venture capital funds so far, which is why Michigan has experienced double-digit growth in venture capital dollars in recent years. Renaissance has raised two funds totaling $124 million since 2008 through investments by a number of major Michigan companies, foundations and other institutions. That list includes Ford, DTE Energy, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Meijer and more.