BY VIVIAN GIANG "In most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again."

That quote was made famous by Harvard psychologist William James in his 1890 book The Principles of Psychology, and is believed to be the first time modern psychology introduced the idea that one’s personality becomes fixed after a certain age.

More than a century since James’s influential text, we know that, unfortunately, our brains start to solidify by the age of 25, but that, fortunately, change is still possible after. The key is continuously creating new pathways and connections to break apart stuck neural patterns in the brain.

Given the complexity and difficulty of the challenges that government leaders face, encouraging innovation among their workers can pay dividends. Government-wide employee survey data, however, suggest that much more needs to be done to foster this type of culture at many federal organizations.

According to that data, nearly 90 percent of federal employees are looking for ways to be more innovative and effective, but only 54 percent feel encouraged by their leaders to come up with new ways of doing work. To make matters worse, fewer than a third say they believe creativity and innovation are rewarded in their agencies.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today announced that he will sign into law 10 bills directly related to encouraging economic development and job growth in the state of Maryland. He will sign the bills into law at the next bill signing ceremony, to be held tomorrow, April 28, from 9 to 11 a.m.

“The following bills all address ways to improve the state’s business climate and make it easier for the hardworking men and women of our state to thrive and succeed,” said Governor Hogan. “The primary focus of my administration is to get Maryland open for business once again and create greater economic opportunity for our citizens, and I am proud to sign these bills into law.”

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is pleased to offer you a sneak peak at its new and improved branding. While the official unveiling of the new branding will take place at the 2015 national meeting, the FLC is eager to share exclusive insights into the new logo design and refreshed brand message with its members.

As the FLC looks forward to its 30th year after being chartered, the organization wanted to portray a more modern look and feel that reflects the progressive achievements and innovations of its member laboratories and research centers.

As America’s “third” city, Chicago competes for international attention against the usual rivals: New York and Los Angeles. Even San Francisco, next to Silicon Valley, claims prominence for its cutting-edge industries and progressive culture. Ultimately, though, Chicago’s domestic peers have global status through definitive leadership in industries with visibility and impact (New York in finance, Los Angeles in entertainment, Houston in energy, and San Francisco in technology and innovation). Chicago has dim prospects of replicating such undisputable competitive advantages, but it may not need to.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks preventing thousands of smart start-ups from coming to life is funding. For bidding entrepreneurs, a multi-billion dollar idea doesn’t become such without capital to hire staff and capture the attention of prospective customers.

Funding to get your business off the ground doesn’t have to be complicated. By creating a good business plan and honing your pitch to wow your audience, you increase your odds of getting the financing. You need to put your ideas in motion. Consider the following ways of acquiring seed capital for your business:

Judging by migration patterns in Silicon Valley, the technology industry may be relying more on foreign talent during the current economic surge. An updated study commissioned by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group found a net increase in residents from abroad in Silicon Valley (defined as Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties) last year, along with a net decrease in U.S.-born residents.

TORONTO, April 27, 2015 /CNW/ - As announced today by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Scale Up Ventures Fund has received an investment of up to $25 million from the Government of Ontario, which will be matched with $25 million from private investors.  This new venture capital fund will provide Ontario's most promising start-ups with a unique combination of capital, mentorship and market access.  

Led by the Chair Nadir Mohamed, former CEO of Rogers Communications, Scale Up Ventures has assembled a Leadership Council of more than 30 of Canada's most prominent executives who have agreed to contribute their time and expertise to foster the growth of the next generation of Canadian start-ups. In addition to mentorship, they will provide access to their networks, opening up markets to which new companies would otherwise not have access.

Leawood-based Flyover Capital made its first investment in a locally based company, participating in a $3.7 million investment in Olathe-based Innara Health. Flyover Capital is an early-stage venture capital company founded in 2013. It’s a subsidiary of Leawood-based Montage Investments, the asset management arm of Mariner Holdings LLC. Flyover raised a fund of about $40 million so far and could get as large as $75 million.

In the vast areas of the planet covered by water, human activity threatens the survival of countless species.

There was a time, for example, when manta rays were tossed back, dead or alive, when they were accidentally trapped in fishermen’s nets in places like Sri Lanka. Now their dried gills are prized in China for treating everything from cancer to measles — without any proof that they are effective — and one of the sea’s most majestic creatures is being fished nearly out of existence.

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. I have found it to be more productive and effective to lead with the model that no meetings will take an hour, and may be done in as little as five minutes.

An article that captured my attention this week was the cover story of Spiegel Online, in the international version of the German publication, entitled ‘How Silicon Valley shapes our future’. Reading it gives you a real sense of the dominance of Silicon Valley, despite what we see as a democratization of innovation across the globe through the internet, and the ability to collaborate on global technology platforms.

In watching successful innovation clusters evolve around the world, we’re beginning to see the theory of creating an innovation ecosystem being successfully deployed in practice, with appropriate localization according to the destination. Whether it be the USA, UK, Germany, India, Brazil, or some countries in the Middle East, every government (national and local) appears to now recognize that they need to work with industry and academia to create the right environment, highlight role models and case studies for innovation and entrepreneurship, and stimulate an ‘innovation economy’.

By Nitin Dahad  

Everyone wants to build the next Silicon Valley, says Dileep Rao in a Forbes article recently. He is spot on with his analysis. A common question I get asked is ‘where is the next Silicon Valley’ – and it is also one that many business and mainstream media also ask in various articles and commentaries.  All appear to be on a quest to identify the next big tech hub that has the ingredients that can generate the economic impact that Silicon Valley itself does.

Facebook is the best company to work for, according to a recent study by Business Insider and PayScale. There are a lot of reasons for this, not the least of which being some top-notch employee perks included in Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters.

Back in 2013, Martin Zwilling announced that predictive analytics was a goldmine for startups, referring to a wide variety of applications such technologies may have. Indeed, as big data gets bigger and as processing technologies advance, the potential of using predictive analytics in different industries keeps growing. Correspondingly, the market expands too and, as suggested in a report by MarketsandMarkets, is estimated to grow at 25.2% CAGR to reach US$5.24-billion in 2018.

Even before the Apple Watch was released, professors and pundits began speculating on whether it and other wearable devices might play a role in college classrooms. On Monday researchers at Pennsylvania State University’s main campus announced that they would be among the first to test the device’s usefulness in the classroom.

"Men and women are increasingly pressed for time and, as a result, struggle to meet their work and family responsibilities."

So stated a June 2014 White House report entitled Nine Facts About American Families and Work. The report revealed that 46% of working Americans said their job demands interfered with their family life "sometimes or often," a figure that increased from 41% in 2002.

More than 300 women gathered to learn, discuss and support one another in tech-related pursuits at the 2015 Women in Tech Summit. The keynote speech and workshops all pertained to the needs of technology entrepreneurs and professionals inside and outside of the office.

Image: Attendees of the 2015 Women in Tech summit. (Photo by Nadia James)

Inspiration is tricky, as you never know when or where it will strike.  It rarely hits when you need it, coming instead at random times and from random sources.  I tend to get my best ideas when I’m relaxed and engrossed in something totally unrelated to work.  More often than not this happens when I’m watching a movie.  I used to think I was alone in drawing entrepreneurial inspiration from film, but the response I received from people who read my article about the business lessons hidden in ‘Ghostbusters’ proved otherwise.  I received a fair number of questions from readers about other films I found inspiring.  Well, dear reader, ask, and you shall receive.  Here is my list of four movies that inspired me to start my own business.