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innovation DAILY

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.

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You may think of freelancing as something twentysomethings do to earn a little extra side money, and you’d be right. But it isn’t true (and might even be a little bit ageist to imagine) that the freelance economy is powered mainly by the scrappy energy and entrepreneurial spirit of the young.

 Image: Source photos: Flickr users Kate Russell, Deseronto Archives

 

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The road to launching a life science start-up can be a long and difficult one, with founders often struggling to secure funding and manage the logistics of setting up a business. In a move to encourage innovation and help start-ups hit the ground running, there are an increasing choice of accelerator and support programs becoming available.

We spoke to Giovanni Rizzo, PhD MBA Chief of Innovation Division, Z-Cube S.r.l. to learn more about such programs and the difference they can make to innovation, as well as share some tips for academics beginning a start-up venture. 

Image: https://www.technologynetworks.com

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Organizations have always needed lealeaderders who are good at recognizing emerging challenges and inspiring organizational responses. That need is intensifying today as leaders confront, among other things, digitization, the surging power of data as a competitive weapon, and the ability of artificial intelligence to automate the workplace and enhance business performance. These technology-driven shifts create an imperative for most organizations to change, which in turn demands more and better leaders up and down the line.

 

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When you are starting a business with an exciting new idea, it’s easy to dismiss potential competitors as not being in the same space, or too fat, dumb, and happy to be concerned that you even exist. I hear it all the time as an angel investor, but I also see that same naïve or cavalier attitude come back to haunt entrepreneurs once they really get out in the marketplace.

Image: http://blog.startupprofessionals.com 

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Can you imagine a wind energy turbine floating in the ocean. It’s difficult to do so. Generally, wind turbines are magnificent structures which tower higher than the world’s tallest buildings, but are generally static and grounded with a massive supporting structure under waters. However, this is the direction modern technology is taking—converting the seemingly impossible to a possibility.

Image: https://www.linkedin.com 

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questions

When one is in the kitchen, one will however always have a choice between cooking everything from the scratch or either using pre-mixed ingredients in order to make the process quicker and easier. Starting a business isn’t thus all that different. The decision on which an incubator, if any, one should thus join boils down as to how much of entrepreneurial sauce one can, want and should however try in order to make on his own. Entrepreneurs however have a limited time, knowledge and the resources

 

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Deloitte The Future of Work is Here and Organizations Should Stop Speculating and Start Acting

NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As technology continues to blur the line between digital and physical, there is a heightened focus on what the future of work will bring. The latest issue of Deloitte Review examines key trends shaping the future of work —from new talent models, cognitive tools and augmented reality to the gig economy and more — and how companies and employees alike can take action to help define what comes next.

Image: http://www.prnewswire.com 

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money

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — The bloom is off seed funding, the business of providing money to brand-new startups, as investors take a more measured approach to financing emerging U.S. technology companies.

Seed-stage financing has been sliding for the last two years, with the number of transactions down about 40 percent since the peak in mid-2015, data show. Dollar investments in fledgling companies have also declined, although less dramatically, dropping more than 24 percent over the same period.

 

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When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I never considered loneliness. Entrepreneurship was going to be an energizing experience, right? While there are definitely joys of entrepreneurship, there are also significant challenges. It wasn’t until I was working with my first attorney that I understood loneliness was a common feeling for entrepreneurs.

 

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college

Neither of my parents went to college. My father dropped out of high school in 1944 to join the Navy, and my mother took a job as a riveter following her graduation in 1949. They married, built a home, and raised two children. When my father passed away last December, he was mourned as a dedicated father, a caring husband, a talented machinist, and a decorated World War II veteran. At 87, my mother continues to live independently, volunteering 20-hours a week at a local medical center where she outpaces even the candy-stripers.

 

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Scott Levitan

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Scott Levitan, who has more than 30 years of experience in real estate and research park development, is the new CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation, which oversees development of Research Triangle Park.

Levitan started his new duties Tuesday.

Levitan takes over the CEO job from interim chief executive Liz Rooks. A long-time executive with the Park, Rooks came out of retirement to take on the CEO job when Bob Geolas left the position last September.

 

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Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers shut its seed investing program, a two year-old effort to get the venture capital firm back into the potentially lucrative field of early-stage startup investing.

All three partners who ran the $4 million KPCB Edge program, Anjney Midha, Roneil Rumburg and Ruby Lee, departed in recent weeks, a spokeswoman for the firm said. There are no immediate plans to hire new early-stage experts to replace the trio. Instead, existing partners at Kleiner Perkins will evaluate and invest in seed deals as part of their daily duties, she said.

 

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patent

Aarhus University announced today it has launched its Open Science platform, which will publish fundamental research conducted in partnership with corporations without any patents attached to it.

Supported by a DKr2.5m ($390,000) investment from business-focused philanthropic organisation Danish Industry Foundation, the project aims to tackle obstacles that currently make it difficult and expensive for companies to access basic academicresearch that could be of high value to them.

 

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skills

Getting a decent job when you don’t have a BA is getting harder, it’s true–chiefly because of a loss of employment at factories. Since 1991, 2.5 million “good jobs” have disappeared from manufacturing plants, chiefly through automation and offshoring (and Trump would say: unbalanced trade relations).

But to earn a decent amount of money, you don’t have to have a college degree. There are 30 million positions that don’t require a BA in the U.S. currently offering at least $55,000 a year on average, compared with 36 million positions paying the same money for people with college qualifications.

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The IoT is infiltrating every aspect of day-to-day life — and the office is no exception. From meeting owls to smart forks to virtual bartenders, our workplaces are getting smarter — and a bit quirkier — thanks to IoT-based tech. Here are the 10 of the weirdest and most wonderful IoT devices that you need for your workplace.

Image: https://readwrite.com 

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The BioInnovation Center presents the fifth annual Innovation Louisiana Conference on Monday and Tuesday November 6-7, 2017. This is the cornerstone of our annual event calendar, attracting innovators from around the state to learn about forming, funding, and growing a bioscience startup from national industry experts. In celebration of the conference’s fifth anniversary, we’re embracing the ingenuity found across our state and highlighting pioneering local innovation that often flies under the radar.

 

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Last November, Pharmaceutical Online had the privilege of visiting GSK’s U.S. global R&D hub in Upper Providence, Pa. The 1.4-million sq. ft. facility will soon house the company’s consolidated U.S. R&D activities across the areas of HIV and infectious disease, oncology, immune-inflammation, metabolic pathways and cardiovascular, and dermatology. By 2018, it will be home to more than 3,200 employees, who will collaborate on target identification, safety studies, active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacture, and many other R&D-related activities.

Image: https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com 

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home office

Congratulations! You just got hired for your first remote job. A world of possibilities just opened up to you: You can now work in your PJs at any hour. Set your own schedule. Remote workers have been shown to feel happier and more valued at work compared to all other workers, but there is a dark side as well.

Cross-time-zone communication, a lack of structure, more distractions, and isolation all threaten to overshadow the joys of remote work. But don’t worry–we’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. This guide will walk you through the major challenges you will face in your remote job–and how to conquer them.

 

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