Conceptual design of the superconducting super collider

Smart Grid Technology

Accelerating Smart Grid Investments, a new World Economic Forum report sets out how smart grids can be the backbone infrastructure for tomorrow’s energy solutions and green economy. The report explains how smart grid technology brings together the advancements in the information technology and telecommunications sectors – sensing, computing and communications – to deliver a more resilient, more efficient and lower-carbon electricity system.

High-tech Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Sixteen percent of high-impact, high-tech firms have at least one immigrant founder, according to a study released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. These immigrant entrepreneurs are highly educated and appear to be strongly rooted in the United States. Roughly 55 percent of the foreign-born founders hold a masters degree or a doctorate. This report outlines important new data about immigrant entrepreneurs

Broadband in the Andes

After the wave of neo-liberal policies during the 90s, the Andean region has seen important changes. The State played a larger role and the telecommunications policies that were put in place reflected this change. Under these new circumstances, broadband plays a critical role in the social and economic development of the region and its people. In order to better understand the new opportunities and challenges that are emerging as a result of the current political and economic landscape, APC conducted a series of studies in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela from a civil society perspective. The objective of the study is to devise informed propositions so that the expansion and development process around broadband is supported by inclusive and democratic policies.

Safe Water at the Base of the Pyramid

IFC recently issued Safe Water for All, a report about the opportunities for the private sector in delivering clean water to the base of the pyramid.

Open Source Translation - The Manual

Open source translation tools will allow translators to share work with collaborators around the world. This manual was designed and written by a community of Open Translation innovators using the FLOSSManuals platform to collaboratively author the content.

The field of translation is in a state of transition, and software tools to support language translation are evolving with corresponding rapidity. Open Translation describes a nascent field of practice emerging at the crossroads of three dynamic movements: Open Content, The Free/Libre/Open Source Software and Open production. It is the set of practices and work processes for translating and maintaining open content using FLOSS tools, and leveraging the open nature of the internet to make that content and those tools and processes available to the largest number of contributors and consumers. It promises to profoundly broaden access to knowledge across language barriers.

ICT for Economic Growth

Information and communication technologies (ICT) can serve as fundamental enablers for the global economic recovery according to the World Economic Forum whitepaper ICT for Economic Growth: A Dynamic Ecosystem Driving the Global Recovery.

Challenges in doing business with the BoP

The report by the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Harvard's Kennedy School of Governmen explains how inclusive business models fall into 3 broad categories: buying from, distributing through, and selling to those at the so-called "base of the economic pyramid" (BOP).

Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products

Life Cycle Assessment is a method of gathering information about possible and real effects of product life cycles. The life cycle of products causes material, energy and financial flows and it also influences the life of the involved workers, the production site, the consumers and the actors of the value creation chain. The publication "Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products" edited by the Life Cycle Initiative offers a frame and best practice examples to especially assess the social and social economic dimensions of product life cycles. For more information http://lcinitiative.unep.fr/

Public praises scientists - scientists fault public

A new report by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that overwhelming majorities of Americans believe that science has had a positive effect on society and that science has made life easier for most people. The public - even those skeptical of some scientific conclusions on such topics as climate change and evolution - rates scientists highly and believes government investments in science pay off in the long term.

But the study, conducted in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), also finds that the public has a far less positive view of the global standing of U.S. science than do scientists themselves.

Information and Communication for Development

The World Bank Report takes an in-depth look at how ICT, and particularly broadband and mobile, are impacting economic growth in developing countries.

The second issue of the series Information and Communication for Development "IC4D 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact" takes a close look at mobile and broadband connectivity; it analyses the development impact of high-speed Internet access in developing countries and provides policy options with the opportunities and challenges of convergence. The report also presents a framework of e-government applications and discusses various country experiences with the institutional and policy arrangements for e-government and for the development of local information technology (IT) industry.

The Small Business Economy

The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President 2009 documents the 2008 recession’s effects on small business as well as their role in the 2008 economy. The report prepared by the SBA Advocacy includes chapters focusing on the state of small business and financing.

The business of product innovation

This article studies product innovation by firms with data from 68 countries, covering more than 25,000 firms in eight manufacturing sectors. The author assesses the predictions of inter-disciplinary research on innovation by firms. The econometric evidence suggests that globalization and local knowledge increase the likelihood that firms will introduce new products. By contrast, domestic regulatory impediments to competition are not robustly correlated with product innovation.
http://tinyurl.com/mzx563 World Bank paper.

The Future of Learning

ASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory) announced a new report called, “The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age,” now available at MIT Press. The report is in response to our changing times, and addresses what traditional educational institutions must know to keep up.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Ernst & Young LLP released the report, Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The keys to global economic recovery, that highlights the vital importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in today’s economy. At a time when business leaders are struggling to balance short-term survival with long-term demand for growth, innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset is essential.

Open Educational Resources

UNESCO has released its first openly licensed publication. Open Educational Resources: Conversations in Cyberspace brings together the background papers and reports from the first three years of activities in the UNESCO OER Community.

The Opportunity Equation

The Opportunity Equation, a report detailing the innovations needed to transform mathematics and science education in America. The report focuses on methods for establishing new common standards in mathematics and science that are fewer, clearer and higher, along with high-quality assessments; improving teaching and professional learning; and redesigning schools and school systems to deliver excellent, equitable math and science learning more effectively.

The funding challenge

The global economic crisis is already placing pressure on the world's most vulnerable populations who, after being hit by food and fuel price hikes in early 2008, now face fallout from much softer prices and a slump in world trade. Risks will quickly loom if donor countries do not honour their aid commitments.

A new survey of donors' forward spending plans suggests an 11% increase in programmed aid between 2008 and 2010, including larger disbursements by some multilateral agencies. Debt relief may also increase slightly. However, even with the rise in 2008 and the projected increases to 2010, at least $10-15 billion must still be added to forward spending plans if donors are to meet their current 2010 commitments.

World Economic Forum on Latin America

Final Report from the World Economic Forum on Latin America 2009

Prizes and competitions to incentivize change

McKinsey and Co. Social Sector Office recently published a study entitled “And the Winner Is…” examining the ways social sector organizations are using prizes and competitions to incentivize change.