Is there a future for higher education? There is probably no other industry or social institution quite as invested in the future than education, yet its struggles with self-reinvention manifest as a ticking time bomb, putting the future of both the institutions and wider society at risk. Almost every commentary on a number of social ills has a subtext that highlights the uncertainties around the future of education. Poor civic engagement? Blame education. Job preparation? Fix education. STEM skills? Reinvent education.

The world was not prepared for America’s men’s curling team to come from behind and capture curling gold, but capture gold medals they did.

Then it came time for the medal ceremony on Saturday, and there was a little mix-up.

John Shuster’s U.S. men’s curling team stepped up to the podium for the part when they bestow that prized hardware. There were million-watt smiles and a few tears and other emotions one associates with moments like these. But after the ceremony, the winning team members looked down to notice something was off in the upper right section of the medallions.

In 2017, a Forbes magazine piece named Atlanta one of “5 U.S. Cities Poised To Become Tomorrow’s Tech Meccas.” Atlanta’s economy has historically been anchored by Fortune 500 giants, but as entrepreneurs from across the Southeast have converged on the city, Atlanta has seen a proliferation of young, venture-backed startup companies.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A newly created evergreen fund managed by the Indiana University Research and Technology Corp. will provide capital to faculty, students and staff at all IU campuses to help them further develop their research and innovations into startup companies.

The IU Philanthropic Venture Fund was originally envisioned in the Bicentennial Strategic Plan as part of the university's continuing efforts to contribute to the economic vitality of the state of Indiana. It is initially capitalized at $15 million but has the potential to reach $50 million or more, and it will be funded in large part with designated, tax-deductible gifts to the university.

A recent report by Financial Times featured 1,000 high growth companies in the APAC region with close to 300 Indian startups entering the list. Seeing the names of some of my colleagues and friends in the list made me proud and happy to be a part of this community. But it raised a question too.

The future of work is going to be determined by artificial intelligence and automation. These technologies will eliminate some jobs, but they will also create new opportunities and greater demand for the jobs that humans still do best. We decided to shine the spotlight on five positions you will see much more of on job boards in 2018. 

Image: NICK LITTLE - https://www.technologyreview.com

Every entrepreneur enters the business world with high hopes and big aspirations. Along the way, mistakes can happen, with potentially devastating effects on your organization.

Even many of the self-made millionaires in the world today have made significant mistakes that affected their businesses, but have learned from them and aspired to something even bigger. Whether it’s a bad investment deal or a poor choice in partnership, how your handle your mistake recovery can make all the difference on how you move forward after a business misstep.

Image: https://www.forbes.com

One of the biggest myths about starting-up is that all entrepreneurs must be either autodidacts or natural born geniuses with a brilliant idea. This false perception that you need to be a natural to succeed unfortunately leaves many budding entrepreneurs woefully ill-prepared for the challenges of starting a business today.

Running a business is hard, but many of the mistakes which cause nine out of ten startups to go bust can be avoided with the right business training.

It's rare to find women in venture capital. And it's even rarer to find women who've been in the business for more than two decades.

Such is the case of 25-year veteran Wende Hutton, a general partner at Canaan Partners, an early stage firm that manages $5 billion.

Hutton's career in venture started when she joined Mayfield Fund after working at biotech startups. At Mayfield, she was the first and only woman on the team.

Image: Canaan general partner Wende Hutton - Canaan Partners

ICOs, or initial coin offerings, are the new way for companies all over the world to raise money. This is how it is impacting Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley companies raise more money than companies anywhere else in the world. Companies here raised $26.6 billion in 2017, double the amount of the next U.S. metropolitan area. Likewise, Silicon Valley has more venture capitalists than anywhere else in the world. In fact, many companies make the pilgrimage to Silicon Valley to be closer to VCs, gaining better access to capital.

Ontario has been selected as the location for the Government of Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, which is part of a $748 million Innovation Superclusters Initiative. The supercluster will bring together small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations to generate bold ideas, resulting in new jobs, groundbreaking research and a world-leading innovation economy. Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister of Democratic Institutions, made the announcement on behalf of Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, on a recent visit to the McMaster Innovation Park, in Hamilton.

SAN JOSE — Silicon Valley remains the nation’s leader in tech job creation, but the region’s innovation economy is imperiled by inadequate levels of housing construction, skyrocketing home prices and a migration of residents to other states, according to a report released Thursday.

“The gap between job and housing growth is large and widening,” stated the 2018 report by the Silicon Valley Competitiveness and Innovation Project, which is headed by the San Jose-based Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Image: Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group A traffic jam on Interstate 880 in the Milpitas area. Silicon Valley remains the nation’s leader in tech job creation, but the region’s innovation economy is imperiled by inadequate levels of housing construction, skyrocketing home prices and a migration of residents to other states.

Research and development spending by U.S. business has finally begun increasing robustly as the economic recovery has continued, reaching $499 billion—the most spent by any nation in a single year—in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available. What’s more, the business sector’s share of those outlays rose to a record 69 percent. For mid-market companies, there’s even bigger news: Many are contributing more than their fair share to the R&D boom.

When Joe Whittinghill came into his role as general manager for talent, learning, and insight at Microsoft, the tech giant’s leadership model was characteristically thorough. There were eight competencies leaders needed to succeed, 10 behaviors that marked inclusive diversity, five things employees had to do in order to flourish, and over 100 skills you needed to train on, depending on your profession. These components “were not memorable,” Whittinghill said. “They were exhaustive.”

BOSTON – MassDevelopment today, February 22, announced the new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Bridge Loan Program from the Agency’s Emerging Technology Fund.

The SBIR Bridge Loan Program provides bridge financing to Massachusetts recipients of SBIR grants, which are federal grants that provide small businesses with funding for research and development of cutting-edge technologies.

Image: http://framinghamsource.com

You’re scanning the job boards daily, but there just aren’t any new listings that catch your eye or fit your experience level. But you don’t have to let your job search grind to a halt just because the pickings seem slim. There are a few other things you can do to keep things moving, even when there’s not much out there.

Image: Flickr user USAG- Humphreys/Karen Lee

If you thought earning more money would make you happier, you were only partly right. There’s a point at which more money has decreasing returns in terms of our emotional well-being and life satisfaction.

Using a survey of 1.7 million individuals from 164 countries, researchers calculated that $95,000 is an optimum salary for achieving fulfillment. (That’s just for individuals, not families, and an international average.)

The Guild of European research-intensive universities is calling for “a bold EU innovation policy” that will increase “the transferability of research results into innovations,” in a paper published today.

The signatories hope that EU’s next framework programme will enable stronger and more effective collaborations between universities, businesses, the public sector and civil society.

Image: https://sciencebusiness.net/

After a record amount of venture capital was invested in Korean start-ups last year, the government is coughing up 618 billion won ($581 million) for a joint venture capital “fund of funds” with the private sector that will total 1.16 trillion won this year.

A fund of funds invests in other types of funds for diversification and more secure asset allocation that is less affected by market volatility.

You have a startup, but you are at the point where you could use advice, direction and a little funding. That’s when you hear about accelerators located around the country that offer three- to four-month programs where you can get those things you are seeking. If you are still in doubt about going this route, here are 12 reasons why you should join an accelerator: