INSEAD, the international business school, issued a report on its most recent research conducted under its Innovation and Policy Initiative revealing the UAE joins Australia and the US as one of the most attractive destinations globally for foreign talent and investment.

The report 'Measuring Innovation Capabilities of Nations' gives valuable insights into the progress of the UAE in becoming a knowledge-based economy.

Commenting on the need for economies to pursue innovation to create new socio-economic value, Dr. Sami Mahroum, Director of Innovation and Policy Initiatives at INSEAD Abu Dhabi, said, "Our new report adds a new member to the family of innovation and technology indices produced by INSEAD. It emphasizes our commitment as a school to conduct research that is relevant to the world of business and decision-making."

Deloitte Center for Health Solutions has created an interesting six-minute video in which Paul Keckley, the Center’s executive director, describes the seven mega-trends that will influence the healthcare industry in 2013.

All seven reinforce an undeniable reality — that business as usual won’t do — and present a “new normal.” It goes without saying that simply recognizing the mega-trends won’t do. Accepting them and changing is key. In other words, the dictum — using another well-worn cliche – is “change or die.”

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Private equity funds quadrupled their investment in India's primary healthcare, betting the sick and ailing will stop seeing family doctors in often cramped and dingy quarters and check into modern chains sprouting up across Asia's No.3 economy.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Warburg Pincus LLC, Sequoia Capital and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp are among investors that pumped $520 million into India's basic healthcare industry this year, compared with $137 million in 2011, according to Thomson Reuters data. Some analysts predict investment will surpass $1 billion in 2013.

Drones are everywhere.

Less than a decade ago, the Pentagon had about fifty unmanned combat air vehicles (known as drones or UAV — unmanned aerial vehicles). It is estimated that they currently have about seven thousand of them (and Congress asked for about $5 billion worth of more drones in 2012). There's a scene in Showtime's hit television series, Homeland, where Nicholas Brody (the former prisoner of war and current United States congressman) is told by David Estes (the director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center) that the use of drones in the war on terrorism has moved from forty unmanned combat air vehicles to nearly four thousand in no time at all. While that was a fictitious scene, it was the type of statement that would make anybody raise an eyebrow. What makes it all that more interesting, is that those fictional numbers aren't even close to the staggering reality of how many drones are in operation. And, that's just the work being done by the United States. The International Institute for Strategic Studies has identified fifty six different types of drones being used in over ten countries (and this data does not include places like China, Turkey and Russia).

Faced with the recession, and the growing dominance of Amazon and other online retailers, many American malls are becoming ghost towns. Stores are closing — especially big ones — and new retailers aren’t stepping up to fill the empty spaces. The problem is simple, writes Jeff Jordan at the Atlantic Cities: “America has too many malls.”

The stats aren’t good. Jordan, quoting an industry study, reports that there are more than “200 malls with over 250,000 square feet that have vacancy rates of 35 percent or higher.” Yikes. But for mall lovers, there’s no reason to freak out — yet. Yes, many malls will close, but a few mega-malls will remain: we’re not moving to online-only shopping anytime soon. Even so, the downfall of malls could have a huge impact on the real-estate market. Malls are palatial spaces, so it won’t be easy to re-purpose them for other uses. Sadly, many will be demolished.

It’s no secret that times are tough for funding clean technology startups. But innovators are adapting to the many things that have changed since the go-go years of the mid to late 2000s.

Research company the Cleantech Group yesterday released data showing just how much venture investors have soured on clean technologies, with the amount of money invested into clean-tech startups plummeting 33 percent last year to $6.46 billion.

Even though fewer startups are being funded, innovation in energy and environment continues, albeit under very different business conditions. Here are some thoughts on the business and technology trends shaping this year.

You've got a great idea. I know you do. But I also know it's just sitting there. In your head. Like a lump. Why? Because you haven't pitched it to anyone.

Everyone -- even your best friends -- all seem so busy, right? And even if they're not busy, you... um....er... uh... don't really know how to kick-start the conversation to get them to help you develop your idea. The hardest part? Beginning.

Over the past couple of months we have been following 3 of the 10  teams that have been progressing through the SpringBoard accelerator program of fall 2012. They are iJudgeFighs, WeArePopUp and XtGem… But now it’s graduation time! SpringBoard will be setting off this weekend with all the startups involved in the program for a week long pitching trip spread between New York City and California. If you are an investor and would like to have the opportunity to see these great teams pitch, you can register to attend the events below!

A University of Alberta researcher’s examination of fossilized dinosaur tail bones has led to a breakthrough finding: some feathered dinosaurs used tail plumage to attract mates, much like modern-day peacocks and turkeys.

U of A Paleontology researcher Scott Persons followed a chain of fossil evidence that started with a peculiar fusing together of vertebrae at the tip of the tail of four different species of dinosaurs, some separated in time and evolution by 45 million years. Persons says the final vertebrae in the tails of a group of dinosaurs called oviraptors were fused together forming a ridged, blade-like structure. “The structure is called a pygostyle” says Persons. “Among modern animals only birds have them.”

In many cases, obesity is caused by more than just overeating and a lack of exercise.

Something in the body goes haywire, causing it to store more fat and burn less energy. But what is it? Sanford-Burnham researchers have a new theory—a protein called p62. According to a study the team published December 21 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, when p62 is missing in fat tissue, the body’s metabolic balance shifts—inhibiting “good” brown fat, while favoring “bad” white fat. These findings indicate that p62 might make a promising target for new therapies aimed at curbing obesity.

“Without p62 you’re making lots of fat but not burning energy, and the body thinks it needs to store energy,” said Jorge Moscat, Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham professor. “It’s a double whammy.” Moscat led the study with collaborators at Helmholtz Zentrum München in Germany and the University of Cincinnati.

On the Internet, nobody really likes to be called a troll. Especially the people who absolutely know they are trolls. It is a derogatory term meant to denigrate somebody who is deliberately provocative to produce the maximum amount of disruption to other parties' goals. We think of trolls as people that flame message boards and comments sections on news articles. Throughout the technology industry, especially in mobile, there are also patent trolls, whose goals are much larger than just upsetting people in a message board.

Patent trolls are also deliberately provocative to produce the most amount of disruption possible. The end goal for patent trolls, however, is to line their wallets. They may think of themselves as purveyors of fine intellectual property, but they are not actually creating anything or delivering useful items to the innovation economy. Patent trolls, by definition, are Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) – they do not practice what they preach (or litigate over). 

A first of its kind type of accelerator is preparing to hoist anchor and set off on a unbelievable journey. Unreasonable at Sea, the startup accelerator taking place entirely on a boat, has announced it would be setting sail around the world starting on January 9. On board are 11 entrepreneurial teams, selected through the Unreasonable Institute and the non-profit Institute for Shipboard Education, that have a desire to advance their companies internationally.

Mark Cuban is a successful businessman and investor, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, a judge on the popular TV show Shark Tank, and a… crowdfunding enthusiast?

It certainly seems that way after listening to today's NextMarket podcast, in which Cuban tells host Michael Wolf that “Kickstarter should be a requirement for every startup.” He explains:

It's a way for you create demand and sell the product without giving up any equity. That is a compliment to what an investor might do. In terms of PE (price to equity), there are strategic investors and then there's just money. I'm not a big fan of money investors, which is what most angel investors turn out to be, because they just want their money back. I try to be very strategic, I try to add value, or I don't make the investment.

A remarkable new tool is becoming increasingly available to help end extreme poverty and ensure dignity and opportunity for people around the world—a tool that few people think about when they consider how to bolster international development efforts. That tool is data, and in particular “open data“—data freely available in formats that are easy to use in new and innovative ways, while rigorously protecting privacy. The possibilities are truly endless—it could be regional epidemiological statistics being made available to community health workers; or real-time weather information being made available to small-holder farmers; or loan information being made accessible to first-time borrowers. In these and countless other arenas, open data has the potential to not only improve transparency and coordination, but also dramatically accelerate progress in development.

Vivek Prabhakar is a passionate traveller, and it was his adventures across the globe that got him thinking about one of the great mysteries of life - why is it that you can never find quality fun magnets on India, in India? Every time he travelled overseas, Prabhakar would bring back a fun memory of that place in the form of a fridge magnet but he could never any interesting memorabilia - souvenirs that mark a cherished memory or simply fun gifts and giveaways - on India. So he decided he would make them himself. After toying with the concept for four years, Prabhakar finally launched his start-up Chumbak in 2009, a company that specialises in designing and manufacturing products like key chains, fridge magnets, coasters, bookmarks, laptop sleeves and even boxer shorts, all of them with a twist. And surprise, surprise! The company turned profitable in its fifth month!

Dealmaker Media's Debbie Landa is on a mission to bring Silicon Valley's culture of entrepreneurship to Canada through her GROWtalks series.

According to Landa, the Valley culture wants to see everyone else succeed and as a result industry experts are willing to share their knowledge open and freely.

First introduced last year during the 2012 Grow Conference in Vancouver, GROWtalks is a one day conference on how to create, actionable metrics to make better product and marketing decisions.

Is that €50 bill Grandma slipped into your Christmas card burning a hole in your pocket? There are a decent amount of crowdfunding projects going on in the Nordics and Baltics, and here are a few that may spark your interest. Also if you have your own project that you would like to get crowdfunded, check out these things to consider for Reward-based and Equity Crowdfunding by Antti Hemmilä from Attorneys at law Borenius.

And now that we're talking about lawyers, we should probably say these are just a few things that caught our eye, and not to be taken as investment advice or expressed support these companies or crowdfunding platforms.

The “evisceration of the manufacturing work force” may have dimmed America’s “capacity to innovate,” reports Annie Lowrey in The New York Times (12/14/12). “In sector after sector, we’ve lost our innovation edge because we don’t produce goods here anymore,” says Mitzi Montoya of Arizona State University. This is particularly true in high-tech sectors, in which some experts contend “companies that keep their research and manufacturing employees close together might be more innovative than businesses that develop a schematic and send it overseas for low-wage workers to make.”

General Electric, for example, maintains a battery-manufacturing plant near its research campus in upstate New York, so that its scientists can “work out kinks on the assembly line, and test prototypes of and uses for the battery … The idea is to knit together manufacturing, design, prototyping and production.” As GE’s Michael Idelchik explains: “We believe rather than a sequential process where you look at a product design and then how to manufacture it, there is a simultaneous process … We think it is key for sustaining our long-term competitive advantage.”

Statistics show that most Americans who make a New Year’s resolution fail to achieve it. A study by the University of Scranton found that only 46 percent of us maintain our resolutions after six months. Why is it that so many of us fail to make a lasting change? And what are the lessons for businesses and regions?

We might be able to find the answer in the concept of “The Sigmoid Curve,” written about by Charles Handy in “The Age of the Paradox.” Imagine the Sigmoid Curve as the curve of life of an individual, an organization or an entire economic region. The curve initially declines in a time of experimenting and learning, then rises in a period of growth and prosperity, and finally declines leading to the end. The key to sustaining a healthy life, a healthy business or a healthy region is to make a transformation to a new curve before the current one is too far in decline.

In 2007, I’d just wrapped up a stint at Harvard Business School, and I was restless to do something on my own. After a few months with a Silicon Valley-based VC firm, I decided to start my own company in the mobile technology market.

After testing the waters, my co-founders and I pivoted around mobile advertising to launch InMobi, the global company we’re proud of today. From the outset, we wanted to break the mould of the mobile technology market and rather than base ourselves in the U.S., which was the biggest market for mobile advertising at the time, we decided to build out the technology platform from India’s Silicon Valley, Bangalore. We raised early venture funding from blue-chip valley firms Kleiner Perkins and Sherpalo and set out to grow the business.