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.
In an era of fast and profound change, Canadians need to be adaptable and resilient so that they can spot the opportunities to create jobs, drive growth across all industries and improve lives. The country is at its most prosperous when everyone has a fair chance at success.
Innovation is the path to inclusive growth. It fosters a thriving middle class and opens the country to new economic, social and environmental possibilities. It is essential in shaping our future.
The Queensland government has committed a further $225 million to the state’s startup sector as part of a “whole-of-government” innovation agenda with 13 new initiatives.
Announced by premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday, the funding adds to the $180 million previously pledged to the Advance Queensland program and will be a “centrepiece” of the state’s 2016-17 budget.
“I’m determined to make Queensland Australia’s innovation leader, which is why I have dramatically increased our investment and broadened our focus to embrace opportunities across the economy,” Palaszczuk says in a statement.
Image: http://www.startupsmart.com.au
Starting a business at a young age can be challenging. But if you have a strong community around you, it can be much easier. The city or community in which you decide to start your business can make all the difference. But the cities you might immediately think of when choosing a business location may not be the best choices for young entrepreneurs.
Image: http://smallbiztrends.com
Raise your hand if any of the following workplace distractions sound familiar: You are sitting in your cubicle working away when all of a sudden two employees — one on either side — stick their heads above the cubicle walls and begin a conversation, with you in the middle. You’re minding your own business, working on an important project that the boss wants to have finished today, when a co-worker, seeing your office door open, decides to pop in and tell you all about his weekend at the beach, sparing no detail.
TEDCO was created by the Maryland State Legislature in 1998 to facilitate the transfer and commercialization of technology from Maryland’s research universities and federal labs into the marketplace and to assist in the creation and growth of technology-based businesses in all regions of the State. TEDCO is an independent organization that strives to be Maryland’s lead source for entrepreneurial business assistance and seed funding for the development of start-up companies in Maryland’s innovation economy. In Maryland and beyond, TEDCO is a resource of mentoring, funding and networking for entrepreneurs and start-ups that need guidance as they bring innovative concepts to market. TEDCO is more than an early stage funding resource. It is the hub of Maryland’s entrepreneurial network where start-ups find mentors, organizational assistance, facilities for daily operations, and a roadmap for success. TEDCO’s mission is to:
Monday, Microsoft shocked the tech world by announcing plans to acquire business networking site LinkedIn for an eye-popping $26.2 billion in cash. At $196 per share, that’s 50 percent higher than Friday’s closing stock price — though still a bargain compared to what the price would have been back in the winter.
Why? It’s about Microsoft gaining a greater foothold in enterprise services, as TechCrunch explained:
Image: http://medcitynews.com
With everything from how we collaborate to the technology we use undergoing enormous transformation, many believe that the future of work will look very different in 10 years.
By some estimates, roughly half of U.S. jobs will be potentially affected by automation in the near future. So what are the skills we need to build now to remain employable over the next decade? While specific abilities and knowledge will certainly vary from industry to industry, there are some overarching trends that will affect most of us says workplace futurist Jeanne Meister, a partner at Future Workplace, a New York workplace consultancy. Here are five skills to start building now to maintain your marketability over the next decade.
It’s very fashionable these days to declare yourself a social entrepreneur, working for the good of society, the environment and a better life. Most social entrepreneurs don’t like to talk about making money, but often they still ask for help finding investors. As an adviser, I have to tell them they should be looking for philanthropists, who look for social value rather than financial returns.
Delaware’s burgeoning tech scene soon might get a huge boost – from Germany
Factory Berlin, one of Europe’s largest business incubators, says it plans to open its first U.S. location in Wilmington in the coming years.
The move is expected to bring promising German startups to Delaware, while providing local entrepreneurs an opportunity to network with some of the largest tech companies in the world.
“We think Delaware can be, in the next five or 10 years, one of the most important places to do business,” founder Udo Schloemer said Monday during his second visit to the state. “This is where we want to be.”
Image: COURTESY OF FACTORY BERLIN
Merck has added a month-long Silicon Valley stay to the pot on offer for start-ups participating in the next round of its accelerator programmes in Germany and Kenya. The programmes seek to support healthcare, life science and performance materials start-ups, with a particular focus on those developing digital solutions. In a bid to internationalise its accelerators Merck will give two start-ups - one from its Nairobi and one from its Darmstadt programmes - the opportunity to move to California for a month.
Early stage venture capital, which has been scarce in the Eugene-Springfield area, may start becoming a bit more plentiful this summer because of a new fund that is trying to reach entrepreneurs in underserved areas in the Pacific Northwest.
In January, entrepreneur and investor Nitin Rai launched Elevate Capital, a Portland-based venture capital firm. The firm’s Elevate Capital Fund aims to raise $10 million from investors in the next 12 months. About $1 million of the $10 million will be raised from Willamette Valley investors, with plans to plow most of it back into the Willamette Valley, said Rai, Elevate Capital’s managing director.
Outsourcing. It is not an unfamiliar word in the entrepreneurial sphere. More and more entrepreneurs are trying to infuse this tactic in their business to be more productive.
With books like “The 4 Hour Work Week,” the benefits of outsourcing have been overstated. Many entrepreneurs want to start outsourcing. However, many of them do not know where to start.
First, it is important for the entrepreneur to know and plan which areas of their business are better suited to be outsourced to an agency or group of freelancers.
I have been involved with the Indian startup ecosystem for more than a decade now. About a year ago we started toying with the idea of launching a platform for independent consultants (freelancers) and smaller consulting firms (and later launched an initiative as Feelance Co. in January 2016).
As a firm we manage relationships with a lot of freelance consultants and consulting firms on a daily basis.
How does a company cope with change? It’s a question that looms large for many executives who are struggling to keep up with the breakneck pace of business. Those who fail to answer it may face loss of market share, or, in extreme cases, financial ruin. All too often, companies respond to these pressures by fixating on the future. What will consumers want? Where will technology take us? What are the most critical emerging business opportunities?
Image: Illustration by Lars Leetaru - http://www.strategy-business.com
If there are ways for your firm to improve the customer experience with digitisation or use technology to reduce costs, you should move quickly or risk being disrupted by an outsider.
Day in, day out, business leaders are reminded that digital disruption is coming for their customers, for their talent, and for their bottom lines. CEOs of traditional companies consistently rate digital upstarts disrupting their business models as their number one concern.
Image: http://knowledge.insead.edu
Scaling a growing business can be as challenging as starting one. These tips can help you navigate the roadblocks that come with success. You would think growing pains are a nice problem to have, but the challenges of scaling a business can trip up even the savviest of entrepreneurs. Sure, your store has grown forty percent in sales over last year, but you may not have the space to keep up with this growth next year. The increase in sales has helped cash flow, but that’s still not enough cash to open up a second location. How, then, do you scale?
The amount of people joining the road to entrepreneurship is climbing - according to Business News Daily; “the number of Americans involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity is the highest it has been since The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) began back in 1999.” Also according to site, research has found: 13% of Americans are involved in entrepreneurial activity.
Kara Miller, host of WGBH radio’s Innovation Hub credits two main reasons why young adults in particular are becoming entrepreneurs: there’s the fame that follows the founder of the next big thing and the sheer necessity of finding work in a stagnant economy.
The age of startups, innovation and entrepreneurs has triggered an increasing in universities offering degrees in entrepreneurship, but it's yet to be seen if the courses are successful.
Born out of the business schools of Australia's leading universities, including Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and University of Technology in Sydney, the courses are designed to create the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Phase 1: High Touch
As your company goes through various phases of its lifecycle, the CEO role must also undergo some pretty dramatic changes. In the formative days of your company, it’s all hands on deck. It doesn’t matter if you’re CEO or intern, you’re getting your hands dirty with the nitty gritty. That’s unavoidable.
However, as your company grows past a few dozen employees, the complexity of the business increases exponentially. At that point, you might find yourself needing to change the hands-on approach if you want to do right by your team. To put it succinctly, at this stage, you should no longer be focused on building an amazing product- you should shift your focus to building a company that can build an amazing product. It’s a nuanced, but extremely important, difference.
Image: http://beacon.wharton.upenn.edu
Curriculum will integrate academic training alongside establishment of avantgarde initiatives in the fields of humanity’s challenges, such as: technology, biomedicine, globalization and sustainability
Adv. Nava Swersky Sofer, an entrepreneur and expert in the fields of technology and innovation, has been appointed by Prof. Uriel Reichman as Managing Director of IDCBeyond, the new innovative flagship program at Adelson School of Entrepreneurship at IDC Herzliya. Building on IDC’s unique entrepreneurial record, IDCBeyond is designed to empower participants to develop and launch innovative ventures that apply exponential technologies to help solve 21st century global challenges in the fields of technology, sustainability, globalization and bio-medicine
