Social capital, intellectual capital and creative capital are the factors of production for the Innovation Economy; next economic paradigm. Few people realize that Silicon Valley arose from a perfect storm of social capital from the 1960’s, the music and arts scene of the same era, and the proximity of academic centers Stanford and Berkeley. The Bay area corporations may have been the beneficiaries, not necessarily the originators of innovation.

Creative Capital remains the least understood, yet most important element of the Next Economic Paradigm. As we continue our march into the regime of social media it is imperative that we understand, support, and develop this critical factor. We cannot “take it for granted” that creativity exists and will always exist. It must be recognized, developed, and integrated into the fold of Social Media.

A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today.

As the global population surges towards a predicted 9.1 billion people by 2050, western tastes for diets rich in meat and dairy products are unsustainable, says the report from United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management.

It says: "Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."

The environmental, economic and personal tragedy unfolding on the Gulf Coast is a clarion call to the country to redefine, expand and embrace the idea of sustainability.

For most Americans, "sustainability" conjures up images of granola-eating tree-huggers wearing hemp clothing and making extreme choices to reduce their carbon footprints.

We think the Deepwater Horizon's enduring legacy could be a new understanding of sustainability, rooted in economic realism and accepted across much of the political and economic spectrum.

Some people, ahem, are predicting a big resurgence in business software. Given how outdated most tools are, that’s probably a safe bet –  whether it happens now or in the next few years. While software as a service and open source have plugged many holes, most large companies still run themselves on one of two companies: Oracle or SAP. That can’t last forever.

But the amazing thing is, when it comes to small business software, the market is still pretty wide open, with most businesses still running themselves on pen-and-paper or Excel spreadsheets. There is a reason that Intuit has managed to keep a stranglehold on small business software—because it is hard to build and even harder to market to such a huge, fragmented market with so many different needs. Especially when the revenues per customer are necessarily puny.

A green global economy will require much high recycling rates of specialty metals like lithium, neodymium and gallium, says a new United Nations report.

These metals, needed to make wind turbines, solar panels and hybrid car batteries, are scarce in nature and expensive yet only about 1% of them are recycled, according to preliminary findings by the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP). It will publish the final version later this year.

Unless recycling increases dramatically, the report warns that specialty and rare earth metals could become "essentially unavailable for use in modern technology."

Companies are recognizing that not only are their customers talking about them online, but their employees are as well. Subsequently when companies jump into social many establish corporate guidelines for employees use of all things social.

Companies are just realizing that the social web has new implications for communications internally and externally. Their reaction is to try to control it.

What is sustainable food without the appetite to go along with it? Have you ever eaten really, really wonderful chocolate? How about a delicate cheese or a not-so-delicate cheese, one that costs the world and has a taste that is goaty but profound? In this coming season of wonderful abundance, as the local food crops begin to thrive and the delicacies just keep on coming, it's important to consider moderation. Yes, in the midst of abundance, moderation in appetite is something to savor as well.

Why moderation? Well, we have abundance, but sometimes our appetites do not lean towards the most sustainable food on the menu. Our restaurants and grocery stores are full of cheap food that is cheap for the body as well. It's loaded with fats, including trans fats. It's full to the brim with white sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Many convenience foods are processed and created in bulk from inexpensive ingredients. Yes, we can eat a lot but it does not mean that we eat well, and it does not mean that this food is a sustainable diet for the planet either.

It's hard sending a text message with arms full of groceries or while wearing winter gloves. Voice control is one alternative to using your fingers, but researchers are also working on other hands-free ways to control mobile devices. A team at Dartmouth College has now created an eye-tracking system that lets a user operate a smart phone with eye movement.

Eye tracking has been used for years, primarily as a way for people with disabilities to use computers and to enable advertisers to track a person's focus of interest. "The naturalness of gaze interaction makes eye tracking promising," says John Hansen, an associate professor at the IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark who works on gaze tracking. "Most of the time we are looking at the information we find most interesting."

Throughout the entire life cycle of your business one thing is constant – your business name. And this means getting it right, the first time.

Why? Consider this – assuming you optimize your Web site, post your business on local online listings, develop a social media strategy, and deliver a great service,  your business name and all that it represents will go viral (and hopefully in a good way).

And, of course, once it’s out there – there is literally no going back. The impact on search engine rankings of changing your business name and the necessary efforts to re-brand all of your online and offline materials and update your domain name, can incur troublesome and time- consuming business penalties.

The average number of citations gained by British research papers is now almost as high as that gained by U.S. papers, according to new ­figures.

The data, produced exclusively for Times Higher Education by Thomson Reuters, rank each of the G7 countries in 20 scientific subjects based on the average number of times each paper produced in that country was cited between 2005 and 2009. The U.K. is first in six subjects and is no lower than third in any. The U.S. is top in 10 subjects, but its ­aver­age rank is only slightly higher than the U.K.’s. Japan is the lowest-ranked G7 country on average.

Out later this month from Boston entrepreneur Jennifer Floren is "The Innovation Generation: The Gen Y Way & How New Thinking Can Reclaim the American Dream." Floren is founder and CEO of Experience, a company that links students, colleges, and employers to help students and recent grads find fulfilling internships and jobs.

The book makes the case that more than ever, employers need to be clever about identifying and hiring the best entry-level talent. "A lot of companies don't do internships or hiring of students, or get their front-line people into the world of education as mentors, and that's a huge missed opportunity," Floren says. If they don't, as the Baby Boomers start to retire en masse, "that's going to put them at a competitive disadvantage," she says.

Many of you will know something about angels because most deals that venture capitalists fund have received at least some money from individual investors. Frequently these investments are considered the "friends and family" round, despite the fact that they often include neither friends nor family but rather simply individuals known to the entrepreneur and willing to bet on making a monetary return by investing in him or her.

These "angels" have been a large source of investment dollars for startups, and yet they come from a source which has been historically diffuse and unbranded and therefore difficult for VCs to work with in a professional and consistent way. But, about 15 years ago, angel investors began to become more organized.

With proper backing, cultural and creative industries can also provide a significant contribution to the economy, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said on Wednesday.

Mr Fenech was speaking at the launch of a consultation process as part of the Creative Economy Project, an initiative originally announced in the 2010 Budget speech.

In line with the Budget, a working group was set up to help draft the regulatory and fiscal organisational framework to promote a creative economy.

The creative industries include a wide variety of activities, including, among others, fireworks manufacture and software design. The working group classifies creative industries under 4 headings: heritage, the arts, the media and creative business services, although they are nevertheless related to and dependent on each other. A group of experts for each heading is to be set up, and each group will hold a number of consultation meetings to develop a strategy for creative and cultural industries.

President Obama railed recently against critics of his administration’s handling of the BP crisis by arguing that the government has done all it could to get control of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But clearly the public doesn’t think so — recent polls show the spread of the oil stain across the Gulf of Mexico is also staining his presidency.

No one thinks Obama can fix the leak, but there appears to be a hunger for him to become the adult in charge and take action. Action is the essence of crisis leadership, and the main reason why I think Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is one the few political leaders whose reputation is gaining in this mounting mess.

(WASHINGTON) June 10, 2010 – Chairman Lipinski and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee focused on the role that improving technology commercialization of government-funded research can play in driving economic growth and job creation. If there is a silver lining to the economic crisis our country now faces, it is that policymakers and academics, as well as citizens, are now paying tremendous attention to job creation and economic growth. For far too long, the sources of job creation have been taken for granted. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has been interested in economic growth through the mechanisms of innovation and firm formation, and we welcome the renewed focus on these issues generally, as well as the more narrowly focused conversation we will have today on technology commercialization.

In my testimony today, I will highlight three main policy proposals and review the Kauffman Foundation's current thinking on best practices in technology commercialization. First, we call for an increase in the transparency of research resulting from federal funding through the creation of an "Innovation Exchange." Second, we encourage federal agencies funding research to become more involved with driving university-specific improvements in technology commercialization. Third, we call for an increase in funding allocations for proof-of-concept centers and commercialization education programs through federal agencies funding research.

The summers are hard for a lot of people. Business slows down and the calls of the beach and BBQs make it mentally difficult to stay inside and focus on growing our businesses. And even though you love your business and providing value to your customers, you start to feel a little burnt out and you’re less productive than you should be. We’ve all be there. But here are 7 ways to help avoid the summer burnout, so that you can enjoy your business and the nice weather.

Put more focus on the things you value: Go grab pen and paper and write down everything that you did last week. Note how many times you tweeted, how much time you spent on email, every task that you completed during the day. Then cross off everything that you did that didn’t provide value to your business. By doing that you’re likely to find that you waste a lot of hours doing work that you don’t really have to do, stuff you just picked up along the way. Use the summer months to rid yourself of these “extra” tasks to help you re-focus your effort on the things that do provide to your business. Doing so will increase your productivity and make you more excited about the work you’re doing. Re-adjust your work and your priorities to focus on bringing direct value to your business.

Think your company must innovate to stay ahead of the competition? Imagine being a product manager at Gillette.

Beset by competitive forces from all sides, whether it’s rival manufacturers looking for an edge or fickle consumers looking for the next best shave, the Procter & Gamble subsidiary is forced to innovate – or go dull.

In its mandate to “innovate or perish,” the company this month introduces the Fusion ProGlide. The new, multi-blade razor features seven new “innovations.” Whether this is the next – or the last – step in shaving innovation remains to be seen.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that broadband funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will improve the quality jobs of life for half a million Americans living in rural areas. Over 5,000 immediate and direct jobs will be created as a result of the funding.

"The Obama Administration supports the expansion of rural broadband so that all areas of the country have access to the tools necessary to spur economic development and job creation in the 21st century economy," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement. "These broadband loans and grants, provided through the Recovery Act, are critical to building and revitalizing the economy and infrastructure of rural America."