For more and more companies in today’s hypercompetitive business environment, success depends on the ability to innovate and put innovations to productive and profitable use. For those companies—and for government agencies, nonprofits, school systems, and other organizations facing their own innovation challenges—the question is how do you actually create an infrastructure of innovation? How do you establish the conditions that produce breakthrough innovation—not just once, but again and again?
X-Teams for Innovation
X-Teams for Innovation. By Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bregman. ASK Magazine.
Inspired by Biology
To assess the current work and future promise of the biology-materials science intersection, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation asked the NRC to identify the most compelling questions and opportunities at this interface, suggest strategies to address them, and consider connections with national priorities such as healthcare and economic growth. The book, Inspired by Biology: From Molecules to Materials to Machines, presents a discussion of principles governing biomaterial design, a description of advanced materials for selected functions such as energy and national security, an assessment of biomolecular materials research tools, and an examination of infrastructure and resources for bridging biological and materials science.
Public Understanding of Engineering
Encouraging young people to make a difference in the world through an engineering career is more likely to attract them to the field than emphasizing the challenge of math and science skills, says a new report from the National Academy of Engineering.
The report, Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering, offers tested messages that reposition engineering as a satisfying profession that involves creative ideas and teamwork. It also recommends that the engineering community begin using these messages in a coordinated communications strategy.
The report, Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering, offers tested messages that reposition engineering as a satisfying profession that involves creative ideas and teamwork. It also recommends that the engineering community begin using these messages in a coordinated communications strategy.
Gilberto Gil: Better intellectual property rights
Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! interviewed Gilberto Gil - the musician, politican and campaigner for better intellectual property rights. Read the transcript or watch the video on the Democracy Now site.
BIF-4 Collaborative Innovation Summit
Each year, BIF Summit offers a limited number of full and partial scholarships to students, young entrepreneurs and community development professionals. The BIF-4 Collaborative Innovation Summit on October 15-16, 2008 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Now in its fourth year, the BIF Collaborative Innovation Summit has earned a national reputation for its unique storytelling approach to an event that has been described as more conversation than conference. BIF-4 will bring together many of today's most compelling innovators, business model renegades and true transformers to reveal the secrets of innovation success through personal storytelling.
Now in its fourth year, the BIF Collaborative Innovation Summit has earned a national reputation for its unique storytelling approach to an event that has been described as more conversation than conference. BIF-4 will bring together many of today's most compelling innovators, business model renegades and true transformers to reveal the secrets of innovation success through personal storytelling.
SVN Innovation Awards
The Social Venture Network (SVN) is accepting applications until July 15th for their 2nd Annual Social Venture Innovation Awards. Go to http://www.svn.org/awards for more information.
THE WORLDWIDE GOVERNANCE INDICATORS 2008
The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project attempts to measure governance by synthesizing the views and reports of diverse sources, including Economist Intelligence Unit, Latinobarometro, Afrobarometer, World Economic Forum, Freedom House, Gallup World Poll, Bertelsmann Transformation Index, Institutional Profile Database by French Government Agencies, OECD Development Center African Economic Outlook, Global Integrity Index, Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Asia, and Reporters without Borders, among others.
Governance is defined by the WGI authors as the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.
This year’s study is the seventh update of the WGI, a decade-long effort by the researchers to build and update the most comprehensive cross-country set of governance indicators currently available. The newly released set of the six updated aggregate indicators, as well as data from the underlying sources, are at www.govindicators.org.
Over 2002-2007, the Indicators show sharp improvements in governance, along with reversals. Examples include strong improvements in Voice and Accountability in countries such as Ukraine and Haiti; improvements in Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism in Argentina; and improvements in Control of Corruption in Georgia and Tanzania.
But despite governance gains in some countries, overall quality of governance around the world has not improved much over the past decade.
Good governance has also been found to significantly enhance the effectiveness of development assistance in general, and of World Bank-funded projects in particular.
Governance is defined by the WGI authors as the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.
This year’s study is the seventh update of the WGI, a decade-long effort by the researchers to build and update the most comprehensive cross-country set of governance indicators currently available. The newly released set of the six updated aggregate indicators, as well as data from the underlying sources, are at www.govindicators.org.
Over 2002-2007, the Indicators show sharp improvements in governance, along with reversals. Examples include strong improvements in Voice and Accountability in countries such as Ukraine and Haiti; improvements in Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism in Argentina; and improvements in Control of Corruption in Georgia and Tanzania.
But despite governance gains in some countries, overall quality of governance around the world has not improved much over the past decade.
Good governance has also been found to significantly enhance the effectiveness of development assistance in general, and of World Bank-funded projects in particular.
$250,000 for Nonprofits That Collaborate
The Lodestar Foundation has launched a $250,000 Collaboration Prize: The Collaboration Prize recognizes collaborations among two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff. The Prize also seeks to build an information base of effective practice models that can be studied and used by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers to inspire and advance their work.
Sportables - Design Competition
Architecture for Humanity is teaming with Google SketchUp to host "Sportables," a one-week design sprint. How can we build a unit that turns would-be play spaces around the world into instant stadiums--equipment and all? Help us design a demountable play space and equipment library. Designs will be showcased on the Open Architecture Network and on Google SketchUp's 3D Warehouse. The winning team will receive $1,000 design stipend to further develop their concept.
Enter the Sportables Design Competition
Deadline: June 30, 2008
Enter the Sportables Design Competition
Deadline: June 30, 2008
Design firms for Social Impact
The Rockefeller Foundation and IDEO recently presented their research on how design firms can get more involved in social sector work. We presented this work in the form of a how-to guide and a workbook on how to use design to intentionally create positive social impacts.
DHL Fast Forward
DHL Fast Forward is the first worldwide business simulation of the logistics industry. Attractive prizes with a total value of over 50,000 Euros await the winners: Management trainings, travel vouchers as well as VIP tickets to Formula 1 races or the IMG Fashion Weeks.
Low carbon energy for the poor
This report is a summary of a review of Ashden Awards winners, commissioned by the Department for International Development (DFID) and carried out by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). It has shown the potential for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), both for-profit and not-for-profit, to provide low-carbon energy access (LCEA) to poor households at significant scale, using improved stoves, biogas systems, solar home electrical systems, lanterns, water pumps, and better built homes. the review highlights a number of findings and emerging themes.
The Impact of SA 8000
Evaluating the Impact of SA 8000 Certification
Authors: Michael J. Hiscox, Claire Schwartz, and Michael W. Toffel
Full Working Paper Text
Working Paper Publication Date: May 2008
HBS Working Paper Number: 08-097
Executive Summary:
Authors: Michael J. Hiscox, Claire Schwartz, and Michael W. Toffel
Full Working Paper Text
Working Paper Publication Date: May 2008
HBS Working Paper Number: 08-097
Executive Summary:
The Social Accountability 8000 Standard (SA 8000), along with other types of certification standards and corporate codes of conduct, represents a new form of voluntary "private-governance" of working conditions in the private sector, initiated and implemented by companies, labor unions, and nongovernmental activist groups cooperating together. There is an ongoing debate about whether this type of governance represents real and substantial progress or mere symbolism. This paper reviews prior evaluations of private codes of conduct governing workplace conditions, including Ethical Trading Initiative's Base Code, Nike's Code of Conduct, and Fair Trade certification. The authors then discuss several best practices that should be employed in future evaluations of such codes of conduct.
Google Code Jam 08
Google Code Jam is a coding competition in which professional and student programmers are asked to solve complex algorithmic challenges in a limited amount of time. The contest is all-inclusive: Google Code Jam lets you program in the coding language and development environment of your choice.
Fighting Corruption
The World Bank Institute has released "Fighting Corruption through Collective Action - A Guide for Business." Created to help companies fight back against the insidious impacts of corruption, the Guide, and its companion web portal, outlines proven methods to fight marketplace corruption through Collective Action between business and other stakeholders.
Bits to save the planet
The Climate Group released a report on the high-tech industry’s potential to either contribute to global warming, The report – SMART 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the information age.
The report is the world’s first comprehensive global study of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector’s growing significance for the world’s climate. With demand for electronic equipment rising as the world becomes connected, this challenge is only going to become more apparent. Through increasingly more energy-efficient facilities, data centers and products, the IT industry can save a bundle in energy costs and do its bit to save the planet.
The report is the world’s first comprehensive global study of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector’s growing significance for the world’s climate. With demand for electronic equipment rising as the world becomes connected, this challenge is only going to become more apparent. Through increasingly more energy-efficient facilities, data centers and products, the IT industry can save a bundle in energy costs and do its bit to save the planet.
Entrepreneurial Society
Toward an Entrepreneurial Society: Why Measurement Matters. Carl J. Schramm.
Innovations, Winter 2008, Vol. 3, No. 1, Pages 3-10
Posted Online June 19, 2008.
(doi:10.1162/itgg.2008.3.1.3)
Innovations, Winter 2008, Vol. 3, No. 1, Pages 3-10
Posted Online June 19, 2008.
(doi:10.1162/itgg.2008.3.1.3)
Entrepreneurship and innovation are everywhere. Even in the world’s most remote
and impoverished places, the fabric of daily life is today continually being rewoven
by gradual improvements in existing goods and services and by radically new
inventions, unimaginable but a few years or even months before their sudden
appearance. From “Moore’s Law” to gene therapies, technological advance combined
with entrepreneurial initiative continues to deliver on the promise of “better,
faster, cheaper.” Such changes enhance the human experience directly, and also
drive sustained economic growth that improves lives further.
Empowering the Rural Poor
Empowering the Rural Poor to Develop Themselves: The Barefoot Approach. Bunker Roy, Jesse Hartigan.
Innovations, Spring 2008, Vol. 3, No. 2, Pages 67-93
Innovations, Spring 2008, Vol. 3, No. 2, Pages 67-93
Posted Online June 20, 2008.
(doi:10.1162/itgg.2008.3.2.67)
Empowering the rural poor means developing their capacity. It means developing
their skills so they become competent decision-makers with the confidence to act
on their choices. Thus far, conventional approaches to such empowerment have
failed. The approach that big donors and Western-conditioned experts have taken
to reach the poor—forget about allowing the poor to develop themselves—has
been patronizing, top-down, insensitive, and expensive. It excludes the marginalized,
the exploited, and the very poor and keeps them from making decisions on
their own. Thus it disempowers them, leaving them dependent and hopelessly ill
prepared to improve their lives. Moreover, these “patrons,” however well intentioned, have refused to learn from their mistakes. They are stuck in a rut that
wastes money on a process that simply has not worked.
But there is another way to empower the poor. It starts with giving the poor
the right to decide for themselves how they want to improve their quality of life.
They must have the right to choose whether they want the urban experts to come
into their villages with “modern” ideas. They must have access to information and
knowledge and the right to decide whether they would like to be independent of
advice and skills from outside when they already have such incredible technical,
human, and even financial resources within their own communities. They can
even decide whether some knowledge would be useful if they could adapt it to
serve their needs.What they need is the opportunity and space to develop themselves. When provided with that mental and physical space, the poor can achieve wonders without any outside professional interference or advice.
The Moral Sentiments
Policies Designed for Self-Interested Citizens May Undermine "The Moral Sentiments": Evidence from Economic Experiments. Samuel Bowles.
Science 20 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5883, pp. 1605 - 1609
DOI: 10.1126/science.1152110
Science 20 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5883, pp. 1605 - 1609
DOI: 10.1126/science.1152110
High-performance organizations and economies work on the basis not only of material interests but also of Adam Smith's "moral sentiments." Well-designed laws and public policies can harness self-interest for the common good. However, incentives that appeal to self-interest may fail when they undermine the moral values that lead people to act altruistically or in other public-spirited ways.
Eclipse Ganymede: RCP
The Eclipse platform provides developers with an elegant architecture, a native looking user interface, and an easy-to-use help system. By utilizing a common framework for developing applications, developers can focus on addressing the specific requirements of their application.
Because it is based on an OSGi-compliant component model, the system allows for
dynamic component discovery and loading, as well as easy updating and extension. This
reduces the time, costs and skill needed by developers to implement user friendly, rich applications.
The minimal set of plug-ins needed to build a rich client application is collectively known
as Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP).
The RCP is characterized by good interoperability with other technologies, being scalable
from desktop computers to embedded devices, having a wide cross platform support and providing a high quality end user experience.
The core itself is formed by the following elements:
• Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT): Platform-independent API that
is tightly integrated with the operating system’s native windowing environment.
• JFace Toolkit: Platform-independent user interface API that extends and interoperates
with SWT, includes a variety of components and utility classes.
• Eclipse/OSGi Runtime: Provides the foundation for plug-ins, extension points and
extensions.
• Generic Workbench: Multi-window environment for managing views, editors,wizards, preferences, etc.
On starting a RCP application the Eclipse Platform Runtime discovers which plug-ins are
available and creates the plug-in registry. Although the platform registers all plug-ins, they are not loaded until first usage, a mechanism called lazy loading. This prevents the program from storing all plug-in related information in memory during runtime, which is especially useful for RCP applications consisting of many plug-ins. Each plug-in in a RCP program declares its dependencies to other plug-ins and controls the visibility of its classes and libraries.
The Eclipse RCP is a very powerful framework for building rich client applications. It ensures good integration with the host environment, by providing a native look & feel, a sophisticated window management and being highly customisable using editors, plug-ins and wizards.
Key new features in the Ganymede release include:
A new JavaScript IDE, called JSDT, provides the same level of support for JavaScript as the JDT provides for Java. Some of the new features include code completion, quick fix, formatting and validation.
The WTP JSF Tools Project has added features to improve web application development productivity.
The new SCA Designer provides a graphical interface for developers who wish to create composite applications using the SCA 1.0 standard.
The Policy Editor is a collection of editors and validators that makes it easy for developers to construct and manipulate XML expressions that conform to the WS-Policy W3C standard.
RAP 1.1 extends the API to include new features such as MouseEvents for SWT, ImageDecorators for JFace and it also incorporates new capabilities such as enhanced security and alpha-shading for widgets.
Because it is based on an OSGi-compliant component model, the system allows for
dynamic component discovery and loading, as well as easy updating and extension. This
reduces the time, costs and skill needed by developers to implement user friendly, rich applications.
The minimal set of plug-ins needed to build a rich client application is collectively known
as Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP).
The RCP is characterized by good interoperability with other technologies, being scalable
from desktop computers to embedded devices, having a wide cross platform support and providing a high quality end user experience.
The core itself is formed by the following elements:
• Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT): Platform-independent API that
is tightly integrated with the operating system’s native windowing environment.
• JFace Toolkit: Platform-independent user interface API that extends and interoperates
with SWT, includes a variety of components and utility classes.
• Eclipse/OSGi Runtime: Provides the foundation for plug-ins, extension points and
extensions.
• Generic Workbench: Multi-window environment for managing views, editors,wizards, preferences, etc.
On starting a RCP application the Eclipse Platform Runtime discovers which plug-ins are
available and creates the plug-in registry. Although the platform registers all plug-ins, they are not loaded until first usage, a mechanism called lazy loading. This prevents the program from storing all plug-in related information in memory during runtime, which is especially useful for RCP applications consisting of many plug-ins. Each plug-in in a RCP program declares its dependencies to other plug-ins and controls the visibility of its classes and libraries.
The Eclipse RCP is a very powerful framework for building rich client applications. It ensures good integration with the host environment, by providing a native look & feel, a sophisticated window management and being highly customisable using editors, plug-ins and wizards.
Key new features in the Ganymede release include:
A new JavaScript IDE, called JSDT, provides the same level of support for JavaScript as the JDT provides for Java. Some of the new features include code completion, quick fix, formatting and validation.
The WTP JSF Tools Project has added features to improve web application development productivity.
The new SCA Designer provides a graphical interface for developers who wish to create composite applications using the SCA 1.0 standard.
The Policy Editor is a collection of editors and validators that makes it easy for developers to construct and manipulate XML expressions that conform to the WS-Policy W3C standard.
RAP 1.1 extends the API to include new features such as MouseEvents for SWT, ImageDecorators for JFace and it also incorporates new capabilities such as enhanced security and alpha-shading for widgets.
Fabbers in Agriculture
In developing countries farmers are dependent on natural resources of water, farmers generally irrigate their fields with water flowing on the fields and the majorityof water evaporates in the presence of sun.
There is a need for developing appropriate technologies mainly irrigation technologies (drip and aspersion irrigation) to water plots of at least 1 hectar. It would allow rural farmers to generate additional income and should be designed so that they are affordable and available to rural farmers.
The purpose of our project is to review various fabbers configurations (Fab@Home, RepRap), identify locally available materials and components, perform usability tests, make recommendations for improvements and then create a construction manual for an inexpensive fabber to make small components for drip and aspersion irrigation.
There is a need for developing appropriate technologies mainly irrigation technologies (drip and aspersion irrigation) to water plots of at least 1 hectar. It would allow rural farmers to generate additional income and should be designed so that they are affordable and available to rural farmers.
The purpose of our project is to review various fabbers configurations (Fab@Home, RepRap), identify locally available materials and components, perform usability tests, make recommendations for improvements and then create a construction manual for an inexpensive fabber to make small components for drip and aspersion irrigation.
There is only mathematics
From Discover magazine: According to cosmologist Max Tegmark, “there is only mathematics; that is all that exists.” In his theory, the mathematical universe hypothesis, he updates quantum physics and cosmology with the concept of many parallel universes inhabiting multiple levels of space and time.
Guide to green printing and design
Monadnock paper's third edition of its guide to green printing and design looks at the various choices designs have when picking paper, inks, finishing choices and layout.
The report is available for free on Monadnock's website.
Firefox Download Day - June 17, 2008
The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008. Join our community and this effort by pledging today.
Legal empowerment for development
A report titled Making the Law Work for Everyone finds that 4 billion people – the majority of the world’s people – are excluded from the rule of law. It argues that “in the 21st century, legal empowerment of the four billion excluded is the key to unlocking vital energies needed to end poverty and build a more stable and peaceful world."
The report, by the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, a group co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, calls on governments, international institutions and civil society to make legal empowerment a top agenda item in the fight against global poverty.
Majority Markets
A study conducted by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, which creates a so-called Opportunities for the Majority (OM) Index of publicly traded firms operating in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region for investors. The new index rates and ranks LAC companies based on their performance and positioning on critical OM issues with regard to four criteria: strategic governance, human capital, stakeholder capital and the environment
Majority Markets
SNV Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) conducted the first regional mapping of more than 500 top Latin American and Caribbean companies operating in 13 countries. The study, A Firm-Level Approach to Majority Market Business , found that almost half are engaged in business initiatives that aim to bring the hemisphere’s poorest citizens into the formal economy.
The project constitutes a ground-breaking effort to gather first-hand information from private sector decision-makers to further understand current motives, strategies, incentives, obstacles, and benefits as perceived by firms that work with majority markets.
Business and Poverty
The World Bank's publication Development Outreach examines the realities of private sector operations involving low-income communities and the potential risks and benefits for local development.
The contributors outline, in 13 articles that cover a wide range of case studies, market-based approaches to reducing poverty.
The contributors outline, in 13 articles that cover a wide range of case studies, market-based approaches to reducing poverty.
Solar Energy Award
Karl W. Boer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Award
Nominators Invited for 2009 Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit
The Executive Director of the Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Trust, Prof. Robert W. Birkmire and the Vice Chairperson of the Award Committee, Ms. Monica V. Oliphant, invite nominations for the medal, which also carries a cash award of $50,000.
Nominators Invited for 2009 Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit
The Executive Director of the Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Trust, Prof. Robert W. Birkmire and the Vice Chairperson of the Award Committee, Ms. Monica V. Oliphant, invite nominations for the medal, which also carries a cash award of $50,000.
PICNIC Green Challenge 2008
To encourage and aid the invention of great new green products and services, the Dutch Postcode Lottery and PICNIC present the PICNIC Green Challenge 2008. Send in your idea by 31 July.
The preliminary jury will select five finalists to present their ideas in person in Amsterdam at PICNIC’08. After this public Deciding Round, the final jury will choose the winner on 25 September.
The preliminary jury will select five finalists to present their ideas in person in Amsterdam at PICNIC’08. After this public Deciding Round, the final jury will choose the winner on 25 September.
Call for International Action on Climate Change and Global Health
The science academies of the G8 countries, as well as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa, issued statements urging leaders worldwide to take action on two pressing global challenges: Climate Change and Global Health.
Earth Observations from Space
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Academies published the report Earth Observations from Space: The First 50 Years of Scientific Achievements (2008).
This book describes how the ability to view the entire globe at once, uniquely available from satellite observations, has revolutionized Earth studies and ushered in a new era of multidisciplinary Earth sciences. In particular, the ability to gather satellite images frequently enough to create "movies" of the changing planet is improving the understanding of Earth's dynamic processes and helping society to manage limited resources and environmental challenges.
This book describes how the ability to view the entire globe at once, uniquely available from satellite observations, has revolutionized Earth studies and ushered in a new era of multidisciplinary Earth sciences. In particular, the ability to gather satellite images frequently enough to create "movies" of the changing planet is improving the understanding of Earth's dynamic processes and helping society to manage limited resources and environmental challenges.
Health Commons
The Health Commons, a project aimed at bringing the same efficiencies to human health that the network brought to commerce and culture.
The project, founded by Science Commons in collaboration with CommerceNet, CollabRX and the Public Library of Science (PLoS), is introduced in a white paper posted on the Science Commons website. The paper, Health Commons: Therapy Development in a Networked World [PDF], is co-authored by John Wilbanks, Vice President of Science at Creative Commons, and Marty Tenenbaum, an Internet commerce pioneer and founder of CommerceNet and CollabRX.
The project, founded by Science Commons in collaboration with CommerceNet, CollabRX and the Public Library of Science (PLoS), is introduced in a white paper posted on the Science Commons website. The paper, Health Commons: Therapy Development in a Networked World [PDF], is co-authored by John Wilbanks, Vice President of Science at Creative Commons, and Marty Tenenbaum, an Internet commerce pioneer and founder of CommerceNet and CollabRX.
OLPC XO-2
Bridging the Global Digital Divide, One Laptop at a Time. Published: June 11, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton .
On May 20, the non-profit One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program unveiled the second version of its XO laptop, which is designed to bring affordable, modern technology to children in developing countries. In April, Intel announced its next-generation Classmate PC, which targets the same market. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been tweaking its Windows XP operating system for these educational devices, which also run on the open source Linux operating system. Experts at Wharton say that the focus on third world countries is promising, but they question whether these efforts will be effective.
Synthetic Biology: Social and Ethical Issues
The UK’s research council for biological sciences, the BBSRC, has published a report of the potential ethical and social dimensions to the development of synthetic biology. The report - Synthetic biology: social and ethical challenges is by Andrew Balmer & Paul Martin.
It reviews what synthetic biology is, where it has come from, and where it is going, as well as making recommendations to research funders and the scientific community about how social and ethical issues should be addressed.
It reviews what synthetic biology is, where it has come from, and where it is going, as well as making recommendations to research funders and the scientific community about how social and ethical issues should be addressed.
400 Years of the Telescope
400 Years of the Telescope: A two-hour HD documentary
The first act will explore humanity’s pre-telescopic observations of the skies, and the philosophies they inspired, from ancient times, until Hans Lipperhey's invention of the lens spyglass, and Galileo's inauguration of telescopic astronomy. The program's account of different cultural views of the universe will culminate with Galileo's 1632 work “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,” which he based on his telescopic observations, and how that book led to his confrontation with the Church about the true nature of the cosmos.
The second act will open with the story of Sir Isaac Newton’s invention of the reflecting telescope, of his studies of light, and of the paradigm shift in astronomy that this work initiated. The program will feature two parallel thematic threads: the continued improvement of telescopes and the changes in western philosophies that arose from these technological advances. The program will close with Edwin Hubble’s discovery that our solar system resides within just one of the billions of galaxies that populate an expanding universe.
The final act will look through the present to the future, to see how our ability to send instruments beyond the obscuring veil of atmosphere has opened our eyes to a previously unglimpsed cosmos. Emerging advances in space-borne and ground-based instruments should reveal new phenomena, as well as Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, the likeliest sites for future explorers to detect signs of life beyond the solar system. The series will conclude with astronomers and philosophers contemplating the impacts on our civilizations if and when we determine we are not alone in the universe—and how our journey of discovery began with two small polished pieces of glass.
Yacha Salud
In rural areas of Peru, 7 of 10 individuals are poor. The majority of the rural poor are active in agriculture, mainly as producers and often with limited access to health, education and markets. The Sierra region consistently has the worst indicators for access to health, water and sanitation services, education, poverty and extreme poverty.
In Peru the quality of available health care is a problem. Health services tend to take a curative rather than a preventive approach, because of the training of health personnel. Health professionals may not speak the same language, which creates a barrier in interpersonal communication and creates in the population a fear of poor treatment.
In Peru health problems do not solely rest on the access to health services but the problems are also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food consumption and hygiene. Certain traditional health practices may have strong ceremonial or religious ties, or may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition.
In Peru an integrated public health strategy has not until now been implemented on a national or regional scale, whether due to lack of technical capacity, administrative constraints, or lack of political will.
New local initiatives emphasize participation of schools. In addition to education the new approach includes education on health, hygiene, nutrition and entrepreneurship. They are more applicable to Peru, due to understanding of budget, government, and cultural constraints.
Evidence from around the world demonstrates that investments in public health and education are fundamental to improving human welfare, resistance to disease and reduce poverty through improving worker productivity. Integrating health, hygiene and nutrition messages into the basic education curriculum, particularly for girls, could be an effective approach to improving health of future generations.
Non-governmental organizations in Peru have many years of experience working successfully with the model of community health promoters. The public sector has started to establish a system of community health promoters affiliated with the health sector, who would have direct contact with families in their homes, providing outreach, services, and learning activities related to health, hygiene, and nutrition.
We propose to develop Yacha Salud in the 8 poorest regions of Peru, around 6 million people. The target groups for the proposed media project are school children; school teachers; pregnant and lactating women; adolescent mothers and girls; household in extreme poverty; health professionals and health promoters.
Content will be designed according to national health guidelines and based on local successful strategies for community health. We are involved with the formulation and review of health-related programs.
Health professionals and health promoters will receive technical assistance and training on Community Health and ICTs tools, enabling then to participate in the creation of content. The training materials will be distributed through partnership with our Peruvian partners that can translate it into native languages and add relevant localized content. The project will be implemented in a decentralized manner for maximum responsiveness to local needs. The ICTs training will be implemented by our local partner. The curriculum includes practical classes on use of Wikis (Wikimedia), Blogs (WordPress) and CMS (Drupal).
The initiative’s focus on Health, Hygiene and Nutrition addresses an unmet need with tremendous potential: Improving household access to and use of quality health information and services translate into healthier, better educated families that can benefit generations to come.
In Peru the quality of available health care is a problem. Health services tend to take a curative rather than a preventive approach, because of the training of health personnel. Health professionals may not speak the same language, which creates a barrier in interpersonal communication and creates in the population a fear of poor treatment.
In Peru health problems do not solely rest on the access to health services but the problems are also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food consumption and hygiene. Certain traditional health practices may have strong ceremonial or religious ties, or may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition.
In Peru an integrated public health strategy has not until now been implemented on a national or regional scale, whether due to lack of technical capacity, administrative constraints, or lack of political will.
New local initiatives emphasize participation of schools. In addition to education the new approach includes education on health, hygiene, nutrition and entrepreneurship. They are more applicable to Peru, due to understanding of budget, government, and cultural constraints.
Evidence from around the world demonstrates that investments in public health and education are fundamental to improving human welfare, resistance to disease and reduce poverty through improving worker productivity. Integrating health, hygiene and nutrition messages into the basic education curriculum, particularly for girls, could be an effective approach to improving health of future generations.
Non-governmental organizations in Peru have many years of experience working successfully with the model of community health promoters. The public sector has started to establish a system of community health promoters affiliated with the health sector, who would have direct contact with families in their homes, providing outreach, services, and learning activities related to health, hygiene, and nutrition.
We propose to develop Yacha Salud in the 8 poorest regions of Peru, around 6 million people. The target groups for the proposed media project are school children; school teachers; pregnant and lactating women; adolescent mothers and girls; household in extreme poverty; health professionals and health promoters.
Content will be designed according to national health guidelines and based on local successful strategies for community health. We are involved with the formulation and review of health-related programs.
Health professionals and health promoters will receive technical assistance and training on Community Health and ICTs tools, enabling then to participate in the creation of content. The training materials will be distributed through partnership with our Peruvian partners that can translate it into native languages and add relevant localized content. The project will be implemented in a decentralized manner for maximum responsiveness to local needs. The ICTs training will be implemented by our local partner. The curriculum includes practical classes on use of Wikis (Wikimedia), Blogs (WordPress) and CMS (Drupal).
The initiative’s focus on Health, Hygiene and Nutrition addresses an unmet need with tremendous potential: Improving household access to and use of quality health information and services translate into healthier, better educated families that can benefit generations to come.
OpenEd 2008 Scholarship
To apply for an OpenEd 2008 Scholarship, simply submit an essay titled "Why I Deserve an OpenEd 2008 Scholarship." Essays should be no longer than one thousand words (1,000 words), and can include topics like the reasons you want to attend the conference, what you hope to gain from attending the conference, Open Education 2008: Celebrating Ten Years of Open Content, and potential benefits to others of your attendance.
Application Deadline :: July 31, 2008
Application Deadline :: July 31, 2008
Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism
Business involvement in philanthropy is increasing day by day, but is it a blessing, a curse, or somewhere in between? Just Another Emperor? is the first book to take a comprehensive and critical look at this vital new phenomenon. Whatever position you take, this will be one of the most important debates of the next 10 years.
Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software
In Two Bits, Christopher M. Kelty investigates the history and cultural significance of Free Software, revealing the people and practices that have transformed not only software, but also music, film, science, and education.
Drawing on ethnographic research that took him from an Internet healthcare start-up company in Boston to media labs in Berlin to young entrepreneurs in Bangalore, Kelty describes the technologies and the moral vision that binds together hackers, geeks, lawyers, and other Free Software advocates. In each case, he shows how their practices and way of life include not only the sharing of software source code but also ways of conceptualizing openness, writing copyright licenses, coordinating collaboration, and proselytizing for the movement. By exploring in detail how these practices came together as the Free Software movement from the 1970s to the 1990s, Kelty also shows how it is possible to understand the new movements that are emerging out of Free Software: projects such as Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that creates copyright licenses, and Connexions, a project to create an online scholarly textbook commons.
Drawing on ethnographic research that took him from an Internet healthcare start-up company in Boston to media labs in Berlin to young entrepreneurs in Bangalore, Kelty describes the technologies and the moral vision that binds together hackers, geeks, lawyers, and other Free Software advocates. In each case, he shows how their practices and way of life include not only the sharing of software source code but also ways of conceptualizing openness, writing copyright licenses, coordinating collaboration, and proselytizing for the movement. By exploring in detail how these practices came together as the Free Software movement from the 1970s to the 1990s, Kelty also shows how it is possible to understand the new movements that are emerging out of Free Software: projects such as Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that creates copyright licenses, and Connexions, a project to create an online scholarly textbook commons.
Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software
In Two Bits, Christopher M. Kelty investigates the history and cultural significance of Free Software, revealing the people and practices that have transformed not only software, but also music, film, science, and education.
Drawing on ethnographic research that took him from an Internet healthcare start-up company in Boston to media labs in Berlin to young entrepreneurs in Bangalore, Kelty describes the technologies and the moral vision that binds together hackers, geeks, lawyers, and other Free Software advocates. In each case, he shows how their practices and way of life include not only the sharing of software source code but also ways of conceptualizing openness, writing copyright licenses, coordinating collaboration, and proselytizing for the movement. By exploring in detail how these practices came together as the Free Software movement from the 1970s to the 1990s, Kelty also shows how it is possible to understand the new movements that are emerging out of Free Software: projects such as Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that creates copyright licenses, and Connexions, a project to create an online scholarly textbook commons.
Drawing on ethnographic research that took him from an Internet healthcare start-up company in Boston to media labs in Berlin to young entrepreneurs in Bangalore, Kelty describes the technologies and the moral vision that binds together hackers, geeks, lawyers, and other Free Software advocates. In each case, he shows how their practices and way of life include not only the sharing of software source code but also ways of conceptualizing openness, writing copyright licenses, coordinating collaboration, and proselytizing for the movement. By exploring in detail how these practices came together as the Free Software movement from the 1970s to the 1990s, Kelty also shows how it is possible to understand the new movements that are emerging out of Free Software: projects such as Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that creates copyright licenses, and Connexions, a project to create an online scholarly textbook commons.
Agricultural Outlook 2008 - 2017
The Theory and Practice of Online Learning
The Theory and Practice of Online Learning
Edited by Terry Anderson
May 2008
E-Book
978-1-897425-07-7 (e-book)
Edited by Terry Anderson
May 2008
E-Book
978-1-897425-07-7 (e-book)
Every chapter in the widely distributed first edition has been updated, and four new chapters on current issues such as connectivism and social software innovations have been added. Essays by practitioners and scholars active in the complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving field of distance education blend scholarship and research; practical attention to the details of teaching and learning; and mindful attention to the economics of the business of education.
The International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM)
The International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) is the premiere Synthetic Biology competition and the largest Synthetic Biology conference in the world. Working at their own schools over the summer, participants use standard biological parts to design, build, and operate biological systems in living cells.
Software tools will play a critical role in the design and evaluation of biological systems. iGEM 2008 has a special track for software tools for synthetic biology and our team is planning to participate in this new track.
Our project is implement an application written entirely in Python which will be installed on a grid of servers. We thought about implementing a full functionality Mechanochemistry Simulator with the possibility to extend and add new features in the future. Our work is based on the research of peruvian scientist Carlos Bustamante [http://alice.berkeley.edu/content/publist.php]
Software tools will play a critical role in the design and evaluation of biological systems. iGEM 2008 has a special track for software tools for synthetic biology and our team is planning to participate in this new track.
Our project is implement an application written entirely in Python which will be installed on a grid of servers. We thought about implementing a full functionality Mechanochemistry Simulator with the possibility to extend and add new features in the future. Our work is based on the research of peruvian scientist Carlos Bustamante [http://alice.berkeley.edu/content/publist.php]
Links: Entrepreneurship
General Entrepreneurship Sites
MIT Entrepreneurship Center: http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/
MIT Open Courseware Project: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html
Kauffman Foundation: http://www.kauffman.org
Endeavor: www.endeavor.org
Development Gateway: http://home.developmentgateway.org/
International Entrepreneurship Portal: http://www.internationalentrepreneurship.com/
Entrepreneur.com: http://www.entrepreneur.com /
The UNDP Special Unit for South-South Cooperation: http://tcdc.undp.org/
UNDP Commission on the Private Sector and Development: http://www.undp.org/cpsd/indexF.html
Young Americas Business Trust : http://www.ybiz.net
Ashoka: http://www.ashoka.org
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship: http://www.schwabfound.org/
Global Social Venture Competition: http://www.socialvc.net
Low Cost BioSensor
Designing a low cost sensor for sensing pathogens and contaminants in food, water and soil. I would develop a permittivity based sensor for real time sensing of pathogens and contaminants. It immobilizes any patogen or contaminant and then the capacitance of a reference sensor and that of target sensor are compared. If the capacitances differ, the patogen or contaminat is present. Each individual sensor or a group of them can be functionalized for a given specific target: E. coli, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Hg, Pb, As. With the use of mathematical algorithms, the rate of positive events provides data about the concentration of the target pathogen or contaminant.
The sensor will use low costs ICs and insumes for sample preparation and It will be connected through USB or Analog Port.
The sensor will use low costs ICs and insumes for sample preparation and It will be connected through USB or Analog Port.
Mobile Devices: Speech Recognition and Synthesis
Since mobile hardware donn't have a fast cpu, normal speech recognition and synthesis
algorithms and engines may not suitable. It would call for a significant amount of processing power, not to mention storage capacity for the large databases.
There are of course other creative solutions that would need to be considered in implementing this type of system, such as server-based storage and processing or portable unit in the form of an external card.
Such applications would be particularly useful in communities that are traditionally oral, visually-impaired, illiterate and identity verification.
It looks like the obvious choice will be to implement HMM given its ease of use and implementation. HMM is the most reliable with respect to getting a usable result. You could start with Festival[1] and Flite[2] or with Sphinx[3] and PocketSphinx[4]. All packages Festival/Flite and Sphinx/PocketSphinx have been developed by CMU.
[1]http://festvox.org/index.html
[2]http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/flite/
[3]http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/html/cmusphinx.php
[4]http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/pocketsphinx/
algorithms and engines may not suitable. It would call for a significant amount of processing power, not to mention storage capacity for the large databases.
There are of course other creative solutions that would need to be considered in implementing this type of system, such as server-based storage and processing or portable unit in the form of an external card.
Such applications would be particularly useful in communities that are traditionally oral, visually-impaired, illiterate and identity verification.
It looks like the obvious choice will be to implement HMM given its ease of use and implementation. HMM is the most reliable with respect to getting a usable result. You could start with Festival[1] and Flite[2] or with Sphinx[3] and PocketSphinx[4]. All packages Festival/Flite and Sphinx/PocketSphinx have been developed by CMU.
[1]http://festvox.org/index.html
[2]http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/flite/
[3]http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/html/cmusphinx.php
[4]http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/pocketsphinx/
66 XOs laptops have been stolen in Peru
66 XO laptops have been stolen in Huancayo (Peru).
Three armed criminals robbed this morning 66 [XO] laptop computers for the school No. 31939, located in the human settlement of San Pedro, El Tambo district in the province of Huancayo, Junin, reported police sources.
UK: The value of mathematics
The report, The value of mathematics, from the think tank Reform, states that many students are turned off by the narrow teaching of mathematics, and that this has led to a generation of "lost mathematicians". These "lost mathematicians" earn £10,000 a year less than they would if they had completed a maths A-level, and this translates to £136,000 less over a lifetime. The report concludes that this has cost the UK economy an estimated £9 billion since 1990.
Technological Innovation and National Security
Technological Innovation and National Security by Paul Bracken.
Can the blitz speed of strategic advantage, which we know exists in the world of multinational corporate competition, not apply at the nation-state level? My view is that it does apply
GAIN Award for Innovation in Nutrition
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) invite companies to enter the GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition.
The GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition is now open for entries from small to large companies, in a range of sectors. Entries need to demonstrate that their innovation measurably benefits the nutrition of the poor, applies a business model that is sustainable, and, where appropriate, involves working in partnership with other organisations. Companies delivering products and services that help fight malnutrition are invited to enter before 30 September 2008
The GAIN Business Award for Innovation in Nutrition is now open for entries from small to large companies, in a range of sectors. Entries need to demonstrate that their innovation measurably benefits the nutrition of the poor, applies a business model that is sustainable, and, where appropriate, involves working in partnership with other organisations. Companies delivering products and services that help fight malnutrition are invited to enter before 30 September 2008
Rio Tinto Alcan Prize for Sustainability
Rio Tinto Alcan and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) are pleased to announce the US$1 million Rio Tinto Alcan Prize for Sustainability* 2008 is now open for entries. Information on eligibility criteria and how to enter the Prize is available at www.alcanprizeforsustainability.com. The closing date for receipt of entries is midnight, 12 September 2008 (GMT).
Lemelson RAMP - Recognition and Mentoring Programs
In India, Indonesia and Peru, the Lemelson Foundation has teamed with leading institutions to create RAMPs that provide support systems for student and grassroots inventors who are working to advance the broad objectives of sustainable development.
I have selected to receive support from RAMP Program in Peru.
I have selected to receive support from RAMP Program in Peru.
Distributed Security
Does giving the government more information make us safer? Is Facebook the end of privacy as we know it? Are surveillance societies inevitable and irresistible? – when someone asked a seemingly innocent question: Does a lack of privacy actually make us less secure?
Jeff Jonas, an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist for Entity Analytics Solutions, explains:
Jeff Jonas, an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist for Entity Analytics Solutions, explains:
Regenerative Medicine
The capacity of most tissues to regenerate derives from stem cells, but there are many barriers to the use of stem-cell-based therapies in the clinic. More in Regenerative Medicine from the Nature.
Energy Efficiency at Dow
The business case for energy efficiency at Dow is simple: Saving energy makes the company money. Dow benefits from wider uptake of energy efficiency standards through less upward price pressure on the hydrocarbons it uses as feedstocks, and greater demand for its efficiency-related products.
Google Summer of Code
Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. Google will be working with several open source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund several projects over a three month period. Historically, the program has brought together over 1,500 students with over 130 open source projects to create millions of lines of code. The program, which kicked off in 2005, is now in its fourth year.
This year I am a mentor for OpenMoko. I am working with Saurabh Gupta on "Speech recognition facility in open moko".
Google Summer of Code has several goals:
* Get more open source code created and released for the benefit of all;
* Inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development;
* Help open source projects identify and bring in new developers and committers;
* Provide students in Computer Science and related fields the opportunity to do work related to their academic pursuits (think "flip bits, not burgers");
* Give students more exposure to real-world software development scenarios.
This year I am a mentor for OpenMoko. I am working with Saurabh Gupta on "Speech recognition facility in open moko".
Google Summer of Code has several goals:
* Get more open source code created and released for the benefit of all;
* Inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development;
* Help open source projects identify and bring in new developers and committers;
* Provide students in Computer Science and related fields the opportunity to do work related to their academic pursuits (think "flip bits, not burgers");
* Give students more exposure to real-world software development scenarios.
Food & Beverage: Expanding Economic Opportunity
A new report by Harvard University and FSG Social Impact Advisors argues that the food & beverage industry plays a unique role in expanding economic opportunity because of its universality to human life and health. The industry operates at multiple levels of society where billions of people grow, transform, and sell food, particularly in developing countries where agriculture dominates all other economic sectors. The report provides insight into how pioneering large firms are breaking this dilemma and building economic opportunity around food & beverage value chains.
Grameen’s Social Business Initiatives
Grameen Bank itself would be an example of such a social business enterprise, which provided microfinance related services to the designated rural poor and the bank is also owned solely by the borrowers themselves. Some of the social enterprises were created in direct response to the demand of GB borrowers as well as the rural poor, for essential services needed for development of health, education, nutrition, and alleviation of poverty.
New ventures aim to provide nutrition and health services to a targeted client. In these new ventures, after the initial capital costs have been fully recouped, the investors agreed to take only nominal dividends, plowing back all profits for further expansion of the social business. Grameen-Danone Foods Ltd, and the newly formed Grameen Eye Hospitals are the latest examples of more rigorously designed social business models.
Numerous Grameen social enterprises have had both direct and indirect social development impact. They have clearly demonstrated that some of the social objectives of a poverty alleviation program can be achieved in a business like way.DOE: $130 Million for Fuel Cell Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) yesterday that offer up to $130 million over three years for research and development (R&D) of fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable power applications. DOE is also seeking proposals to demonstrate fuel cells in distributed energy systems and to launch market transformation efforts that provide real-world operation data. The agency plans to select up to 50 projects through this competitive funding opportunity, which is open to industry, universities, and national laboratories. Applications are due by August 27. http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=true&oppId=17781
AIDS: Evolution of an Epidemic
From Outbreak to Epidemic
Examine from a historical perspective how the public and medical community responded to the deadly epidemic we now know as AIDS.
Examine from a historical perspective how the public and medical community responded to the deadly epidemic we now know as AIDS.
Report Urges Support for Early-Career Investigators and High-Reward Research
The report, ARISE: Advancing Research in Science and Engineering, from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, documents obstacles facing faculty as they launch their independent careers, as well as the dearth of support for potentially transformative science and technology research. It contains specific recommendations for action by government funding agencies, universities, and private research institutes that will help overcome those barriers.
Evaluating the Impact of SA 8000 Certification
SA 8000, along with other types of certification standards and corporate codes of conduct, represents a new form of private governance of working conditions, initiated and implemented by companies, labor unions, and non-governmental activist groups. Whether these codes represents a substantive or merely symbolic approach to governing working conditions is the subject of an ongoing debate, which to date has been dominated by philosophical and political discourse due to a lack of systematic evaluation.
Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-097.pdf
Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-097.pdf
Reverse Brain Drain
More than a million skilled foreign nationals in the United States, including doctors and scientists, face mounting visa backlog.
In this study, "Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog, and a Reverse Brain-Drain," researchers offer a more refined measure of this rise in contributions of foreign nationals to U.S. intellectual property and seek to explain this increase with an analysis of the immigrant-visa backlog for skilled workers. The key finding from this research is that the number of skilled workers waiting for visas is significantly larger than the number that can be admitted to the United States. This imbalance creates the potential for a sizeable reverse brain-drain from the United States to the skilled workers’ home countries.
In this study, "Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog, and a Reverse Brain-Drain," researchers offer a more refined measure of this rise in contributions of foreign nationals to U.S. intellectual property and seek to explain this increase with an analysis of the immigrant-visa backlog for skilled workers. The key finding from this research is that the number of skilled workers waiting for visas is significantly larger than the number that can be admitted to the United States. This imbalance creates the potential for a sizeable reverse brain-drain from the United States to the skilled workers’ home countries.
The Open University offers free education content on iTunes U
The Open University today joins Stanford, MIT, Yale and other world-class universities in publishing materials via Apple’s iTunes U service.
More than 300 video and audio files drawn from current courses across the University’s broad curriculum are now available to download for playing on a Mac, PC, iPod or iPhone.
The University also plans to extend the range of items beyond course materials to include some of its research activities. The site can be found at http://www.open.ac.uk/itunes
More than 300 video and audio files drawn from current courses across the University’s broad curriculum are now available to download for playing on a Mac, PC, iPod or iPhone.
The University also plans to extend the range of items beyond course materials to include some of its research activities. The site can be found at http://www.open.ac.uk/itunes
Social Intrapreneurs
The SustainAbility report – The Social Intrapreneurs: A Field Guide for Corporate Changemakers – identifies a new breed of corporate leader who is determined to channel business strengths and market skills to tackle global sustainability challenges.
Cyclone’s Green Revolution Engine
Cyclone’s Green Revolution Engine represents true “thinking outside the box.” This is because it is not a new variation of the internal combustion engine, but rather, a highly advanced External Combustion Engine. Unlike IC engines, the Cyclone engine uses an external combustion chamber to heat a separate working fluid, de-ionized water, which expands to create mechanical energy by moving pistons or a turbine. Since the combustion is external to the mechanism, the Cyclone external combustion engine can run on any fuel, liquid or gaseous.
Lighting Future: Compact Fluorescent Lamps
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) have emerged as one of the most environmentally prudent indoor-lighting options. They use one-quarter to one-fifth the electricity of incandescent bulbs, and can last about 10 times longer. Switching to CFLs is the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a McKinsey & Company analysis.
By saving energy, greater CFL usage also results in less coal-based power generation. This is important when considering that the roughly 2 tons of mercury contained in the 380 million CFLs sold in the United States last year was dwarfed by the 50 tons of mercury that U.S. coal plants emitted into the atmosphere.
Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program FY2008 now accepts Applications
The themes this year are “Global Warming Countermeasures” and “Biodiversity Conservation”, representing serious and urgent issues for preserving the earth′s environment.
The Program has two categories of grants. One is called General Grants, which has no restriction regarding project implementation site(s) and the limit of the grant amount per project. The other is Small-scale Grants, targeting community-based grassroots activities implemented in Japan with simpler application procedures.
Application Period: From Friday, April 25 to Friday, June 20, 2008
Application must be arrived by June 20, 2008.
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environment/ecogrant/program.html
The Program has two categories of grants. One is called General Grants, which has no restriction regarding project implementation site(s) and the limit of the grant amount per project. The other is Small-scale Grants, targeting community-based grassroots activities implemented in Japan with simpler application procedures.
Application Period: From Friday, April 25 to Friday, June 20, 2008
Application must be arrived by June 20, 2008.
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environment/ecogrant/program.html
Pamoyo
Berlin-based fashion label Pamoyo have decided to release the designs for their clothes under a CC BY-NC-SA license, allowing people to recreate Pamoyo’s styles at home as long as they don’t sell their creations. Similarly, someone can build upon one of Pamoyo’s existing designs - if they release the new design publicly they must do so under the same license, continuing the process of reuse and creativity.
Nature's Photonic Crystal: Lamprocyphus augustus
Researchers have discovered a species of Brazilian beetle that has the unusual trait of reflecting iridescent green from almost any angle.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20840/
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20840/
Future Supply and Value Chain 2016
"Future Supply Chain 2016" and "Future Value Chain 2016" are studies conducted by Capgemini, looks at how supply and value chains will need to change to move into the future. The report covers challenges that will forces companies to alter their operations, innovations that currently exist, ways in which collaboration will be beneficial and other solutions to issues such as carbon dioxide emissions and traffic congestion.
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