Bottom-up ways to deliver electricity
By Webmaster , 7 September 2010 -
News on ICT/Energy/Biotech
Local, bottom-up elecricity systems may be more sustainable and produce fewer carbon emissions than centralised schemes especially in under-served areas in developing countries
Closing the loop between ideas and results
By Webmaster , 7 September 2010 -
DID YOU KNOW?
There is a trade-off between efficiency and innovation. Established businesses are built for efficiency, which depends on predictability and repeatability. But innovation is by definition unpredictable and uncertain. Customised rules that guide the innovation process may lead to more predicatable outcomes.
Rethinking Industrial Policy
By Webmaster , 9 August 2010 -
Innovation
Few quarrel with the need for governments to help business with straightforward “horizontal” measures, such as research and development or fostering high-tech skills. But there is no accepted framework for “vertical” policy, favouring specific sectors and companies.
The Merits of Innovation Prizes
By Webmaster , 9 August 2010 -
DID YOU KNOW?
Incentive prizes do spur innovation. A study that investigated agricultural inventions in 19th-century Britain found a link between prizes and subsequent patents. The Royal Agricultural Society awarded nearly 2,000 prizes from 1839 to 1939, some worth £1m ($1.6m) in today’s money. The study found that not only were prize-winners more likely to receive and renew patents, but that even losing contestants sought patents for more than 13,000 inventions.
Mens sana in corpore sano
By Webmaster , 16 July 2010 -
DID YOU KNOW?
Research suggests that the control of diseases is crucial to a country’s development in a way that had not been appreciated before. Places that harbour a lot of parasites and pathogens not only suffer the debilitating effects of disease on their workforces, but also have their human capital eroded, child by child, from birth.
