We are reaching a new critical shortage in the workforce. In addition to the health care sector’s impending lack of qualified nurses (and enough teachers to educate new ones) industry experts are sounding a similar alarm for cybersecurity experts.

Since the massive breach at Target in 2013, many other organizations have fallen prey to cybercriminals. The next year saw hacks into UPS, Goodwill, JP Morgan Chase, Sony, and others. Forrester Research predicted that 60% of brands would experience a breach of sensitive data in 2015. That estimate may have been conservative considering that last year, those organizations successfully targeted by cyberhackers included the FBI, Trump’s hotel chain, Experian, and Scottrade, among others.

Image: Flickr user allen

As startups nationwide and in Charlottesville clamor for adequate workspace central to housing, culture, shops and amenities, localities are building and planning business districts that focus on tech- and innovation-centered small businesses.

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer has expressed the need to foster an innovation ecosystem — a culture that nurtures and celebrates small and medium-sized ambitious companies, and supplies ample fallback options for their employees.

Image: Ryan Kelly, The Daily Progress - Tim Miano, founder and CEO of sp@ce in his office on the Downtown Mall.

Foreign entrepreneurs building new companies in the United States could soon gain a new immigration option that would grant them temporary entry for up to five years, under a rule proposed on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security.

The proposal, which does not require congressional approval, would allow immigration officials to admit entrepreneurs case by case. To qualify, an applicant must have an “active and central role,” and a significant ownership stake, in an American company founded in the last three years.

Image: When Patrick Collison, an Irish immigrant, co-founded the payment processing company Stripe, visa issues were a significant hurdle. Credit Pau Barrena/Bloomberg

The technology giants of Silicon Valley have long predicted that all our fridges, ovens and light bulbs will soon be connected to the internet. But British households have yet to embrace the so-called “internet of things”, according to new research showing that sales are flatlining.

Figures from Deloitte show that the popularity of connected home gadgets has barely changed in the last year, despite manufacturers and retailers trying to boost sales.

Image: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

In the past few years, we have seen digitization bring its first benefits to the industrial sector, particularly in processing and manufacturing, yet enormous untapped potential remains. Digital capabilities such as e-commerce platforms can significantly improve traditional customer-supplier experiences. Additional advances in automation, big data and analytics, and the Internet of Things create additional opportunities for substantial gains along the entire industry value chain.

Most countries tax some form of corporate income. However, the rates differ around the world, ranging from 0% in Bermuda to 55% in United Arab Emirates. The rest of the world, of course, falls somewhere in between. The GDP-weighted worldwide average is just under 30 percent. With most countries falling under the average, the United States faces strong competition for business investment.

Image: http://taxfoundation.org

Every year, millions of fish raised in aquaculture die of nervous necrosis virus (NNV). “The disease affects the brain, and the fish lose their vision and balance,” says Vikram Vakharia, professor of marine biotechnology at UMBC. As a result of damage to the nervous system, “the fish just swim in circles,” Vakharia says. His lab is housed at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Image: http://news.umbc.edu

BOSTON When it comes to grappling with the internet-fueled changes roiling the Massachusetts economy, local political leaders are taking a glass half-full/glass half-empty outlook.

At the Statehouse, lawmakers have largely embraced major players in the online economy. They've passed ride-booking regulations, but agreed not to require drivers for Uber and Lyft to be fingerprinted, despite calls from Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, noting that Boston taxi drivers must submit fingerprints.

Schwab (oddly enough, no relation to Charles R. Schwab, founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation) was the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the largest shipbuilder and the second-largest steel producer in the U.S. at the time. The famous inventor Thomas Edison once referred to Schwab as the "master hustler." He was constantly seeking an edge over the competition.

In 1975, U.S. colleges and universities offered just 100 entrepreneurship majors, minors and certificates across the country, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 

In 1985, the number grew to 250.

The most recent count, from 2008, had some 5,000 entrepreneurship courses taken by 400,000 students from 9,000 faculty.

Image: Kurt Wilson

When Steve Jobs was trying to lure John Sculley to be Apple’s CEO in the early 1980’s, he asked him, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” Sculley would achieve little at Apple, but Jobs would later make it the most valuable company on the planet.

Image: Dharmendra Modha, chief scientist for Brain Inspired Computing at International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), works in the SyNAPSE chip testing room at the IBM Almaden Research Center. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Life sciences investor Sofinnova Ventures is raising fund number 10 in what, as FierceBiotech notes, appears to be its largest fund to date. A previous fund, dating back to 2014, raised $500 million.

The investment firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Sofinnova Venture Partners X fund.

The company’s strategy of investing in late-stage private companies has found some receptive buyers for those businesses, demonstrated by acquisitions of its portfolio companies from the likes of Teva, Shire and Pfizer.

Image: http://medcitynews.com

In 1996, farmers planted the first commercial biotech crop. The global uptake of plant biotechnology by farmers since has made it the fastest-adopted technology in the history of agriculture. Farmers who have the choice to use the technology have chosen it on an unprecedented level because of its benefits.

However, today those farmers are no longer being provided the choice to utilize a broader suite of technologies on more crops in more places from a diverse set of technology providers. The regulatory hurdle is too high and completely disproportional to any risk presented by plant biotechnology. This needs to change if the world’s innovation is to be used by our farming communities for society’s greater good.

Image: Farmers rely on the latest advancements in technology to produce crops in the safest and most sustainable way. (Image Credit: GMO Answers)

The private sector as an engine of economic growth is playing a key role in Bangladesh's progress, but limited access to finance still remains as a major barrier to developing new entrepreneurs, analysts said yesterday.

They also suggested creating an 'entrepreneurial ecosystem' to develop and promote entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept refers to the collective nature of entrepreneurship, as new enterprises emerge and grow not only because of heroic, talented and visionary individuals.

Image: Analysts attend a discussion on how to develop entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, organised by the Prothom Alo in association with Daffodil International University, on the premises of the newspaper in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: Star

Call it Christmas in August--at least for some founders. The White House today, just unveiled a new proposal aimed at encouraging high-potential immigrant entrepreneurs to start up in the U.S.

The proposal, dubbed the International Entrepreneur Rule, would be administered by the Department of Homeland Security and would affect only entrepreneurs who, among other criteria, have received funding from qualified U.S. investors or institutions. Still, the program could lead to an uptick in new business creation, which in the U.S., has been falling for years.

When it comes to big venture exits, the names of a few Silicon Valley firms appear a lot more than others.

A report from CB Insights this month named New Enterprise Associates, Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners as the investors with the most big IPOs and M&A deals from their portfolios since 2009.

Having a great idea for a business is one thing. Getting the financial backing to grow, scale and make it a success is quite another.

Most entrepreneurs approach funding in stages, starting by dipping into their own savings, going cap-in-hand to friends and family, taking advantage of government grants, crowdfunding and potentially seeking angel and venture capital.

In 2010, Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurial studies in Cleveland, wrote Born Entrepreneurs. He took the stand that some people are born with the genetic characteristics and personality traits that make them naturally successful as entrepreneurs. According to his research, as well as that of others, genes can actually predict whether a person will start a business and even how much money they might make in that business.

41% of BUSINESS/PARTNERS' clients are female-owned SMEs – where at least 25% of the business is owned by women, and in which the female entrepreneur is actively involved. Further encouraging is that of the R310m invested in female entrepreneurs in the 2016 financial year, the majority went to businesses in the traditionally male-dominated industries of manufacturing and retail.

O'Shares ETFs Chairman Kevin O'Leary discusses his outlook for small business. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets." (Source: Bloomberg)