May 13, 2015 When it comes to his 21st Century Cures initiative, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton has an aggressive timeline in mind, starting with a subcommittee markup Thursday and ending with a bill on the desk of the president by the end of the year.

The Senate, being the Senate, isn't moving as quickly.

The legislation, in general, aims to enhance biomedical innovation by addressing how medical research is conducted and accelerating the process.

SAN FRANCISCO — More than a year after striking out on their own, the founders of Aspect Ventures are preparing a formal introduction of a sizable fund.

The firm plans to announce on Thursday that it has raised about $150 million for its first investment fund, a large sum for a two-founder venture capital firm.

Image: Jennifer Fonstad, left, and Theresia Gouw are the founding partners of Aspect Ventures. Credit Peter DaSilva for The New York Time

WE continue to rave about the country’s stable economic growth and rise in ranking by various ratings agencies but we also continue to hear how this growth has failed to trickle down to the masses. After five years under the Aquino administration, inclusive growth remains exclusive to those who already have the most in life. A survey among the populace reveals a rise in self-rated poverty or the number of those who believe they are poor.

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. You can count on it and plan for it, or you wait for the next survival crisis brought your way by this rapidly changing world. You can even give it a more elegant name, like “market-focused reinvention,” but it won’t be graceful if you don’t take the lead.

A new tax refund programme aimed at encouraging more people to start up their own business has been announced. The StartUP Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE) initiative allows individuals to obtain a refund from the Government of up to 41 per cent of the capital they invest in establishing their own company over a six-year period. It replacest the much criticised Seed Capital Scheme.

TECH COUNCIL OF MARYLAND NAMES WINNERS OF 27TH ANNUAL INDUSTRY AWARDS

Winners Represent Individuals and Companies Leading the State’s Innovation Economy

The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), Maryland’s largest technology trade association, last night announced the winners of its 27th Annual Industry Awards. The celebration and ceremony, which took place at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, was attended by more than 700 technology and business leaders from around the state.

The entrepreneurial leap looks a lot different for today’s young professionals. While most baby boomers don’t see entrepreneurship as a way to make a quick buck, millennials have watched their peers — people like Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel — do just that. They make it seem like every code-slinging 20-something has millions of dollars at his fingertips. That could be why more than half of all millennials recently surveyed in the US said they wanted to become entrepreneurs.

How a leader manages collective emotions can create or destroy enormous market value. It can also have a huge bearing on what large groups of stakeholders think of you.

One of the reasons Nokia lost the smartphone battle, despite holding a strong position before the iPhone came along, was its lack of speed and inability to react to changing circumstances. As I argued in a previous article, the reason for Nokia’s sluggish reaction was a collective fear among the company’s middle managers, not of the competition, but of losing status and resources within the organisation. 

SAN DIEGO, May 13, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) today officially launched as the leading voice for California’s life sciences sector. CLSA is now the largest state and regional life sciences advocacy group in the country, with more than 750 members. The organization advances California’s world-leading life sciences innovation ecosystem by advocating for effective national, state and local public policies and supporting entrepreneurs and life sciences businesses. CLSA is the result of a completed merger between BayBio and California Healthcare Institute.

It can be hard to figure out just what to say in an e-mail to someone you don’t know very well. A startup wants to make this easier by correcting messages as you type, suggesting changes that may make the recipient more receptive to what you’re saying. These suggestions are gleaned from data gathered about the recipients online.

Image: http://www.technologyreview.com

There seems to be something special about coworking spaces. As researchers who have, for years, studied how employees thrive, we were surprised to discover that people who belong to them report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale. This is at least a point higher than the average for employees who do their jobs in regular offices, and something so unheard of that we had to look at the data again.

Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser has named Matt Bailey the first director of technology innovation for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

The appointment is part of an effort to create innovative solutions to address the challenges that Washington, D.C., faces as a city, said Bowser in a release.

DURHAM, N.H. – The angel investor market in 2014 had a slight correction in investment dollars and in the deal size, according to the 2014 Angel Market Analysis released by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.

Total investments in 2014 were $24.1 billion, a decrease of 2.8 percent over 2013, but the number of entrepreneurial ventures receiving angel funding increased 3.8 percent over 2013 in investments to 73,400. The number of active investors in 2014 was 316,600 individuals, an increase of 5.9 percent from 2013.

Image: Jeffrey Sohl, director of the UNH Center for Venture Research 

(Reuters Health) - A Mediterranean diet with extra nuts and olive oil might help improve memory in older adults, a Spanish study suggests, though the results aren't definitive and more research is needed.

"This small study found that a Mediterranean diet, which is low in animal foods like meat and butter, and high in vegetables, legumes and whole grains, when supplemented with olive oil or nuts is associated with improved cognitive function," Samantha Heller, a nutritionist at New York University's Center for Musculoskeletal Care and Sports Performance who wasn't involved in the study, said by email.

Everyone in my family is sleep-deprived. My wife, who usually writes this column, is so overtaxed this month that she asked me to fill in for her. It's tempting to blame our sleep deprivation on nightly interruptions by our nine-month-old or our toddler. But it's my own fault, too: like 30 percent of my fellow Americans, my sleep habits are fairly wretched. Instead of treating my sleep as a valuable resource, I approach bedtime like folding the laundry: as a regular obligation that I'll get to, eventually.

We all know innovation is critical to a company’s survival, but how do you execute innovation? Today’s economic climate requires executives to amplify their innovation programs and processes. Innovation program management platforms can – and should – become the backbone of a sustained innovation program, propelling business value. How do you achieve innovation program ROI? With software that supports sustained innovation. Download this paper to learn how!

Image: http://www.brightidea.com

We’re living in a time of unprecedented change. Every week, some new astonishment fills our news feed—whether it’s autonomous vehicles prowling the suburbs or a computer writing a cookbook. Social media posts gasp over companies such as Uber and Airbnb hurtling to deca-billion dollar valuations, unburdened by the physical assets they broker and sell. We’re getting serious, as a species, about making a trip to Mars. It’s a grand time to be alive on our little rock.

Cancer is costly, pervasive and a growing problem for businesses.

It already accounts for between 10 percent and 15 percent of employers' health costs. As employees work longer before retiring, the bill could get bigger. That’s why Johns Hopkins Medicine is launching a new program that could reduce the business costs of cancer by helping employees better prepare for and cope with it.

The program, Managing Cancer at Work, is a wellness benefit that employers purchase to offer for free to their employees. Through the program, employees can learn about reducing the risk of cancer, treatment options and how to care for a relative’s illness. Nurses can help employees who have been diagnosed prepare for treatment in a way that minimizes its impact on their jobs.

Innovation is a concept that's fairly simple to define but incredibly difficult to achieve. Moreover, few companies introduce changes that are truly revolutionary and alter the course of a business, an industry or the world.

A research report from social insight firm Leadtail and software provider Brightidea recently explored the topic in an unconventional way. It did not attempt to identify specific personality traits for innovators, nor did it discuss organizational best practices. Instead, the study examined the things that enterprise innovation leaders—those on the front lines of business—think about, talk about and explore on a daily basis.

Investors and entrepreneurs should keep their eyes on the commercial potential  of research funded by the European Research Council (ERC), said ERC President, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon at the annual congress of the European Trade Association for Business Angels (EBAN) in Eindhoven.

In a session titled, ‘Science-Based Innovation and Investing in Disruptive Technologies’, Bourguignon explained to the crowd of investors and entrepreneurs, why the ERC and in particular, its Proof of Concept grantees, are worth watching.

Image: http://www.sciencebusiness.net