Here's a video of mosquitoes being shot with Intellectual Ventures' laser zapper I mentioned in my TED round up yesterday. I'm not sure if the soundtrack ought to be "Blue Danube" or "Yakety Sax."

I took some photos of the gadget, along with Intellectual Ventures' project Scientist, 3ric Johanson standing next to it. It was made from off-the-shelf parts purchased on eBay. See them after the jump.

The necessity for a radical change in Russia's economic development paradigm has become clear in recent years. President Medvedev has responded by formulating principles of innovative economic development and outlining the industrial priorities of the state. However, the success of Russia's effort to modernize depends on real cooperation between government and society in taking concrete actions that can facilitate technological breakthrough.

For the first time in recent history, Russia is making a serious attempt to drop the use of invocations and declarations while speaking about the innovative renewal of the Russian economy, and instead acting pragmatically by formulating both a plan of priorities and the basics of long-term policy. Russia's modernization plan has two major components: a) seeding innovation and technological breakthroughs inside the country and b) importing technology and equipment more efficiently for use in the real sector of the economy.

Both components are necessary.

In the past two weeks alone, the Cleantech Group's reporters have spotted quite a bit of activity in the water industry, underscoring again the importance of water as a cleantech category.

Recent stories include Grundfos six-month test of a new compact wastewater treatment technology; Coca-Cola’s 16 rain water harvesting projects in India; Brunel University spin out, WaterBoxs’ disaster relief efforts and H20 Innovation India joint venture between Chembond Chemical and H20 Innovation.

To boot, Cleantech Group is also featuring water leaders at its upcoming San Francisco Forum (more info here): NanoH20 (confirmed), Microvi Biotechnologies (confirmed) and HydroPoint Data Systems (pending).

Since 2005, however, the share of cleantech venture investment in water technologies has been on the decline, yet the fundamental premise of water investing appears to remain strong: demand is high and supply is low.

On Tuesday, I attended the Front End of Innovation conference in Amsterdam. It was good to see innovation leaders from a wide range of companies in attendance — to me it was a small but important sign of an increasingly stable global economy.

I provided a few thoughts in the morning, and then heard a fascinating presentation from Patrick O’Riordan — global director of innovation at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Here are some of his lessons for innovators:

Explain strategic objectives in simple terms. AB InBev is the world’s largest beer company. Its strategic objectives are to increase SOB (share of beer) and SOT (share of throat). It can achieve these objectives by getting consumers to switch to its products, consume its products in new locations, or attract new consumers. I’m guessing that the simple and immediately memorable language brings great clarity to AB InBev’s innovation efforts. Importantly, it clarifies things that InBev won’t do, which is an overlooked innovation enabler.

According to the Department of Labor, the majority of jobs in the near future will have a heavy focus on technology and having technical skills, including technical consulting and computer systems design. To ensure college students graduating have those skills, IBM announced today the launch of what it calls a free “academic cloud,” which is a bundle of web-based IBM software to help professors teach technology skills to students.

The announcement will officially come at a New York City get together of over 200 education and industry influencers set to discuss the changing landscape of cloud computing and it’s integration in the education community. If you’re interest, you can see the live stream here at 8:30am Eastern. The hopes for the conference and academic cloud are high. IBM sees users becoming tomorrow’s entrepreneurs using these technology skills in information management and business analytics, digitized patient records, and clean technologies.And of course this is a way for IBM to put its software in front of potential future users at an early stage.

SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley’s economy is sputtering and risks permanently stalling, according to an annual report by a group of researchers in the region.

Part of the toll on Silicon Valley has resulted from the recession. The region, the center of the global technology industry, lost 90,000 jobs from the second quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009. Unemployment is higher than national levels and the worst in the region since 2005, when technology companies were still recovering from the dot-com implosion.

The drop in the number of midlevel jobs — the engineers who drive much of the Valley’s growth — has been sharpest. And when companies do hire, they are cautiously hiring independent contractors instead of regular employees, and are hiring abroad, according to the “2010 Index of Silicon Valley” report, which was produced by the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, two local nonprofit groups.

The Taxation Committee of the Maine Legislature will hold a hearing this Tuesday (February 2nd) on a bill submitted by the President of the Maine Senate and gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell, LD 1666 An Act To Improve the Seed Capital Investment Tax Credit Program. After review by the TechMaine Policy Committee and Board, TechMaine is supporting this bill. Listed at the end of this message is our testimony to the Taxation Committee.

The Seed Capital Investment Tax Credit Program is designed to encourage equity and near equity investments in young business ventures, directly and through private venture capital funds. State income tax credits to investors for 40% to 60% of the cash equity they provide to eligible Maine businesses may be authorized. Investments may be used for fixed assets, research or working capital.

LD 1666 would increase the Seed Capital Tax Credit to 60% statewide and allow it to be refundable, which would allow non-taxable and out-of-state investors to invest in innovative Maine businesses take advantage of the credit.

The Taxation Committee meets in room 127 of the Cross State Office Building in Augusta at 1:00 pm this Tuesday, February 2nd – we urge you to attend the hearing and testify on the real world impacts of LD 1666 on your company. If you can’t attend; please send an email, or make a call.

---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
BILL SUMMARY
This bill changes the seed capital investment tax credit program by increasing the existing credit from 40% of an eligible investment to 60% and applying it uniformly across the State rather than basing it on unemployment rates. The bill eliminates the up-front tax credit for investors in certain venture capital funds and makes changes to the conditions and restrictions related to business ownership by investors in private venture capital funds. The bill retains the current amount of $30,000,000 as the aggregate amount of credits that the Finance Authority of Maine may issue through the end of calendar year 2011 and then increases the amount to $50,000,000 starting in 2012. It allows investors entitled to the credit that are part of a partnership, corporation or similar entity to allocate the credit using an alternate allocation method rather than allocating the credit in direct proportion to their respective interests in those partnerships, corporations or similar entities. It adds the partners, members or equity owners of certain nonprofit, civic and charitable organizations to the list of those entitled to the credit and states that they must be treated as taxpayers for the purposes of this refundable credit. The bill provides an exception to the provision that specifies that 25% of the tax credit must be taken in the year the investment is made for certain time periods and provides a schedule that specifies what percentage must be taken in each taxable year. The bill also makes the tax credit refundable to provide an incentive for investment in Maine businesses.

Link to the Legislation:  http://www.mainelegislature.org/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280035115
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------

Now is the time for you to contact Representatives and Senators on the Taxation Committee, explain to them how this bill could improve the growth of your company, and urge the legislators to vote YES on LD 1666. Please contact these Committee members and make sure your voice is heard.

Maine Legislature Taxation Committee Members' e-mail addresses

Senate:

Senator Joseph C. Perry (D-Penobscot), Chair
http://www.mainesenate.org/perry/email.htm

Senator Lawrence Bliss (D-Cumberland)
http://www.mainesenate.org/bliss/email.htm

Senator Richard A. Nass (R-York)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 
House:
 
Representative Thomas R. Watson (D-Bath), Chair
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Donald E. Pilon (D-Saco)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Mark E. Bryant (D-Windham)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Linda M. Valentino (D-Saco)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Patsy Crockett (D-Augusta)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Lawrence Sirois (D-Turner)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Elspeth Flemings (D-Bar Harbor)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Kathleen D. Chase (R-Wells)*
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative L. Gary Knight (R-Livermore Falls)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Representative Brian D. Langley (R-Ellsworth)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------

TechMaine's Position

LD 1666 - An Act To Improve the Seed Capital Investment Tax Credit Program

This testimony is offered in favor of LD 1666. TechMaine, The Technology Association of Maine, believes that LD 1666 would have a positive impact on the growth of Maine’s science and technology related industries.  We ask you to vote for this proposed legislation.

TechMaine is supported by hundreds of member businesses across the State of Maine that either create or are reliant on the productivity gains brought about through new technologies. Many of our member technology companies are capable of above average growth; both in terms of revenue and in the number of employees they hire. Lack of investment funding in Maine at crucial stages during a company's early years limits their growth and the health of Maine's economy.  Maine needs additional financing vehicles to attract new companies and ideas and to fund and retain our current entrepreneurs. LD 1666 could be an attractive part of a strategy to position Maine as a haven for entrepreneurs. Maine tech companies have consistently called for efforts to increase access to capital and this bill is an important step forward.

Maine’s annual evaluation of R&D programs has revealed that with support from the Maine Seed Capital Tax Credit, Maine companies have been in a better position to:

• Grow employment and revenues that exceed state averages
• Lead to furthering leveraging of needed debt and equity financing
• Generate intellectual property protection

Passage of this legislation will provide private funding incentives for commercialization of Maine’s R&D efforts, extend the tax credit to 60% statewide, regardless of location, and add flexibility for investors which will increase the potential for investment in Maine companies.

Attracting investment for early stage businesses is challenging in Maine during good economic times; it is extremely difficult in our current economic environment. If enacted, LD 1666 could lead to a significant improvement in the results of Maine entrepreneurs to stay in Maine and attract investment capital to help grow their companies. 

One thing Boston and Silicon Valley have in common: it's very hard to see the places where innovation actually happens. The interesting work takes place in labs behind locked doors and in conference rooms that require clearance to enter. Want to dine at Google's cafeteria in Mountain View, or walk the halls at BBN in Cambridge where some of the researchers who helped build the Internet and develop e-mail still toil? You'll need a special invitation.

So when a visitor asks you how they might see what's interesting and vibrant about the tech scene in either place, the answer isn't easy.

That's why I wanted to put together a short tour of Boston places where you can actually get a sense for what has made the city's innovation economy tick, over more than two centuries. I asked some friends on Twitter for help ? and got it.

Writing a business plan is a time consuming and challenging effort and takes significant management bandwidth. Though there are a number of excellent resources/templates/articles on “how” to write a business plan, many times, people who are writing it for the first time get too involved in the “process” of writing and as such may not effectively communicate the core “message” intended.

While the process (in terms of structure/presentation etc) is important, communicating the message/conclusion is far more important. Many first time entrepreneurs lose their way in fitting their business plan into the generally accepted/recommended templates (ranging from size of the plan, number of pages etc). What may help first time business plan writers is to actually start with the conclusion/core message and then collect/present data in support of such conclusions/hypothesis.

The Wall Street Journal: China is known in some circles as a bastion of rampant product piracy and intellectual property theft, but that image could be changing for the positive in the near future according to a recent piece by Benjamin Bai. From his topical piece entitled Yes, China Does Protect Intellectual Property, Bai reports on this slow-but-sure revolution in Chinese IP protection:

Multinationals also can benefit from several positive IP trends within China. One is a growing emphasis by policy makers on building a functional intellectual property regime. The State Council in 2008 released a new “Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy” that acknowledges that robust IP protection is a critical component of an innovation-driven economy. China’s patent law was amended for the third time last year to bring it further in line with international standards. China also is reforming the judicial system in response to the increasing number and complexity of IP suits, clarifying venue rules and considering establishing courts of appeal for IP cases.

China now has a domestic constituency for improved IP enforcement: its own innovative companies. For instance, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a Shenzhen-based telecoms company, filed the most Patent Cooperation Treaty applications (which lay the groundwork for patent applications in other countries) in 2008, according to statistics published by the World Intellectual Property Organization—beating Panasonic, Phillips, Toyota and other multinational companies that used to hold the top spot. Chinese companies like Huawei benefit from strong IP protection, too, and could help pressure policy makers to strength the IP regime more broadly.

That’s not to say that national interests tend to trump international demands at times, but overall, the trend is strongly in favor of multinational companies investing additional IP resources into gaining a strategic foothold in China.

British Columbia, Canada is increasingly being recognized as the world leader and incubator of many green technology innovation start-ups; companies who are striving to revolutionize the way we live our lives, consume resources, and produce energy. A scan of the top 10 finalists from the British Columbia Innovation Council’s ‘New Ventures BC’ annual competition reveals that many of the finalists come from the clean tech sector and provide innovative solutions to problems such as low-energy saltwater desalination, low-cost solar power, electric vehicle systems for existing vehicle fleets, in-home energy monitoring, and cradle-to-grave building materials that are completely recyclable and long-lasting. In 2008, the top 3 winners were clean/green technology start-ups and included Pulse Energy (formerly Small Energy Group), who is bringing real-time Venue Energy Tracking to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, a first for Olympic sites.

A review of other prominent lists reveals a similar trend; green technology and innovation is everywhere in BC.  Ready to Rocket’s ‘Emerging Rockets’ has an impressive list of companies trying to enter the market and establish a customer base, and includes companies developing modular electric vehicle systems, emissions reductions controls, and LED lighting (low-energy) for retail and commercial applications. Some of my personal favourite start-ups include innovative companies trying to redefine their industry by providing better alternatives; sustainable gift giving and biodegradable dinnerwaremade from naturally shed palm leaves.

The EU commissioners for innovation and industry are drawing up a new policy paper to feed into a top-level debate on the direction of innovation strategy.

The document will be presented by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, commissioner for research, innovation and science, and Antonio Tajani, commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, on 3 March.

It is likely to reflect much of the thinking that has gone into the European innovation action plan – which Tajani's services have been working on – while incorporating the views of Geoghegan-Quinn's research directorate.

The paper will bring a broad approach to solving innovation "bottlenecks" and is likely to tie together a range of problems from research mobility to public procurement, according to Geoghegan-Quinn.

A few weeks ago I was struggling for a blog post and Anita suggested that I share some of my favorite business Twitter people. Using examples to highlight people doing things well is often just what the rest of us need for that advice we always hear to finally ‘click’. With that in mind, below is a list of some of my favorite business Twitterers and the people that I learn from on a consistent basis.I’d love it if you’d be willing to share some of your own personal Twitter Stars. Together we can create a great list of people to follow.

Jonathan Fields: You’re probably already familiar with Jonathan. I’ve mentioned him here on SmallBizTrends, he’s the author of Career Renegade and he also writes one of my favorite blogs on entrepreneurship. Jonathan stands out in my Twitter stream for a number of reasons. He constantly provides links to fantastic articles, he’s into the conversation (which can’t always be said of the Twitter Elite) and his stream instantly puts me in a good mood. Every morning Jonathan tweets hello to his audience and asks who he can help today. It gets everything started on the right foot, but it’s also a good reminder that helping others is our end goal. We became entrepreneurs to provide a valuable service or product for other people. If there’s a reason for all this madness, that’s it.

Staten Island, NY (PRWEB) February 11, 2010 -- As the world's elite athletes gather in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics, CollegeSurfing.com is recognizing the top 50 colleges and universities that are harnessing social media. Instead of awarding medals for luge, ice dancing, or giant slalom, the site "judged" how some of the nation's top higher education institutions are utilizing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other multimedia to engage current and prospective students. Dubbed the "Web 2.0 College Olympics," CollegeSurfing.com is pleased to announce its gold, silver, and bronze college and university picks.

"In the fast-paced world of social media, where a tweet can scoop even The New York Times, colleges and universities are learning that they need to have a power Web 2.0 combination that gets users interested, and, more importantly, involved," says Dawn Papandrea, Managing Editor of CollegeSurfing.com."Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms are great ways for schools to interact with students, and we wanted to recognize some of the terrific things we've been seeing on the Web."

New Delhi, India (CNN) -- A young mechanic turns a motorcycle into a tractor while another one uses bio-waste to run a diesel engine.

One farmer finds a herbal cure for animals hit by a breast infection called mastitis. And about 5,000 men have been delivering homemade lunches to 200,000 workers for more than a century in what is hailed as a recession-proof service in a financial hub of Mumbai.

India's databank of grass roots inventors is swelling as the nation officially marks the 2010s as a decade of innovation.

The country's National Innovation Foundation (NIF) has 140,000 entries compared with 10,000 when it was set up by the federal government in 2000.

But 10 years later, India acknowledges that bringing its innumerable small-scale experiments to the masses remains a challenge in an economy that is attracting businesses worldwide partly because of high-tech capabilities and a growing middle class.

In our interconnected and always-on world, business lifecycles get shorter and shorter. Companies have always expected to change business models from time to time, but now many keep updating them rapid-fire. Sometimes, when the model continues to meet your organizational goals for revenue, cost and competitive differentiation, you don't have to change it right away. But you must be ready to update it at any time, and you must know when and how to do so.

Business leaders are more prepared than ever to test, tweak and redesign their core activities. In fact, business models are changing as often as product designs. So are partnerships, revenue models and whole host of core business decisions. It is very similar to the way designers keep improving products in light of customer experiences and preferences. Driving this new fluidity of business design is the simple reality that changes in customer expectations and competitive activity don't adhere to yearly planning schedules. Change is being driven by what happens in the marketplace, not the conference room.

The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) and the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) are joining forces to create more opportunities to link investors with entrepreneurs.

The two associations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and have created a dual membership to increase education and communication among members of both organizations. Through this alliance, NASVF and NBIA seek to create more networking opportunities and make available additional resources to encourage dialogue between business owners and funders.

“I am really excited about forging a partnership with NASVF, as we hope this will bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and investors,” said NBIA President and CEO David Monkman. “We understand that this is a central concern to our members and their clients.”

Business incubation programs facilitate the process of starting and growing companies by providing entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. NBIA estimates that in 2005 alone, North American incubators assisted more than 27,000 start-up companies that provided full-time employment for more than 100,000 workers and generated annual revenue of more than $17 billion. Approximately 7,000 business incubators operate worldwide. NBIA’s membership includes more than 950 organizations in over 55 countries, encompassing 1,880 industry professionals.

"NASVF is very pleased to promote this dual membership as we strive to cooperate with industry partners in growing innovation capital, creating job growth and increasing job opportunities throughout America,” said Jim Jaffe, NASVF president and CEO.

The two associations have created a dual membership to increase education and communication among members of both organizations. Through this alliance, NBIA and NASVF hope to create more networking opportunities and make available more resources to encourage dialogue between business owners and funders. Membership is $950, and this promotion is offered through March 31, 2010.

To apply for membership, click this link. Also add: For more information contact Kelly O'Day, VP Membership at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 207-653-7648.

So much about the practice of economic development is information-driven and the Internet has facilitated the creation of several web-based tools that make data on regional competitiveness more accessible than ever. A newly launched web site makes such analytical tools available to economic developers and public officials in an effort to support better decision-making, particularly in rural regions. These web-based tools are part of the Rural Innovation Project, which is a collaborative effort between three Midwestern universities and a couple of private research firms.

With funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the project has built three analytical tools that are designed to inform strategic thinking about what it means to be competitive in a knowledge-based “innovation economy”. The three tools are: 1) the Innovation Index, 2) Cluster Analysis, and 3) Regional Investment Analysis. The Innovation Index is comprised of four sub-indexes (human capital, economic dynamics, productivity and employment, and economic well-being) and allows a region to compare itself to other regions, a state, or the U.S. on key measures of innovation. The Cluster Analysis tool allows users to examine the characteristics of 15 pre-defined occupational clusters and 17 industry clusters that are knowledge-based in their orientation. The Regional Investment Analysis tool provides a framework for prioritizing public investments that support innovation-based economic development within five broad categories:

• Brainpower
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Networks
• Quality, Connected Places
• Branding Experiences
• Civic Collaboration

Internet giant Google is the poster child for demonstrating that revolutionary technologies can be developed by a small number of people on a limited budget. The company, whose name is now a household word and whose net profits exceeded $6 billion last year, was incorporated in a garage by Stanford Ph.D. students who were doing a dissertation on search engine development.

In the world of clean energy, no one knows yet which companies will be the equivalents of Google, creating the technological breakthroughs that will change the course of U.S. energy history. But the Department of Energy is trying to ensure that at least some companies get a leg up in their efforts to win that coveted title. In November 2009, the DOE awarded 125 grants of up to $150,000 each to more than 100 small businesses that are working to develop new technologies to decrease carbon pollution and increase energy efficiency. “Small businesses are drivers of innovation and are crucial to the development of a competitive clean energy U.S. economy,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu in the DOE’s announcement of the awards.

Doing business in Japan has often presented cultural difficulties for westerners. However, as our expat entrepreneur living in Tokyo Jon Sparks reveals in this new series, Japan might be in the shadow of the emerging markets of China and India, but is still one of the best places in Asia for entrepreneurs to operate.

I have worked around Asia and the experience has been fantastic. On the business front, it has provided markets many times (or orders of magnitude) those I could access from Australia. In addition to shear size, these markets come with a population density that offers great opportunities around economies of scale and low distribution costs.

Having run operations in China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan has allowed for some fairly pragmatic comparisons of commercial codes, employment practices, access to funding and the like. Even better has been the opportunity to see the “softer” areas of business, such as the work-ethic of the labour force, the amount of red tape encountered when doing business and gauging how level the playing field is in a society where you operate as a outsider.