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Crowdsourcing for the Greater Good

Jan-26-11 By Aminda
Just as General Electric has utilized crowdsourcing in an effort to advance sustainable, environmentally sound technologies, Sony, in partnership with the World Wildlife Federation has recently announced the result of their Open Planet Ideas Project. The goal was to tackle and address a defined set of looming environmental problems using already existing Sony technology. The winner is a cross platform software application designed to mobilize a new generation of volunteers accustomed to social networking.

Profiting from Patents: Part 2

Jan-25-11 By Aminda
A previous post on selling patents highlighted the importance of creating a strong, sellable patent and of knowing the marketplace and the competition. It warned against both selling too soon and not soon enough. This is all critical research to have done before entering the next step in profiting from a patent which is choosing whether to sell or license the patent.

Keeping the Internet Open

Jan-24-11 By Aminda
A Canadian blog is alerting readers to potential changes taking place in Internet accessibility.  The premise is that as big telecom companies broaden the scope and influence, their effect will mean they ultimately replace smaller, independent Internet service providers (ISPs), which will in turn lead to the demise of open internet thus impeding innovation.

Developing Innovation Talent

Jan-22-11 By Aminda
Cultivating an innovative culture is a team effort between employers and employees. Here are some tips for both.
What Organizations Can Do
Innovation Management magazine recently published an in-depth piece about cultivating innovation talent management. Some of their key points:
Keep innovation Visible
In the most innovative companies, the concept is a defining part of the organization’s strategy; from definition and development to execution. It is regularly discussed in company meetings from the Board on down and as normally as topics such as marketing, sales, operations and finance.

Selling a Patent – Part 1

Jan-21-11 By Aminda
IdeaConnection provides a useful forum for patent owners to pitch their invention to a market of motivated buyers. Any inventor will maximize their return if they first maximize their research.  Here are few tips on getting started.

A Marked Need for Marketing

Jan-20-11 By Aminda
An organization’s marketing department is often thought of in terms of only one function – the communication. Granted, this is the most visible side, the ads and glossy brochures, but it really is only part of what Marketing does. Smart R&D teams will understand that they should be communicating and connecting with marketing to generate products not only with the best technology, but that are going to be the best sellers. Why? Because marketing is charged with tapping into the voice of the consumer, generating useful information about what features are desired and how much consumers are willing to pay for them.

In Celebration of an Original

Jan-19-11 By Aminda
Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary is Wikipedia.org, having grown from “Hello World” into the world’s fifth largest internet commodity. Within a month of founder Jimmy Wales sounding the challenge to write a complete encyclopedia from scratch, the site reached 1,000 articles. Within a year, the site was expanding into different languages. By 2008, Wikipedia had become the largest encyclopedia on the Internet with 10.6 million articles in 250 languages and more than 2,500 visitors per second. If the site were published as a book in English, it would require at least 1,500 books to print. Today it receives 400 million visitors per month and used by 42 percent of American adults, according to a Pew Internet study.

Grading Government Open Technology

Jan-18-11 By Aminda
Innovative companies interested in U.S. government projects will want to check out a report from Open Source for America.  The Federal Open Technology Report Card evaluated key indicators of open government and open technologies developed through online crowd sourcing and refined metrics outlined by the OSFA leadership committee. These included questions regarding public budgets, use of social media, and open source technology practices.

Keeping the Traditional Current

Jan-14-11 By Aminda
Investment education site, The Motley Fool, has posted an insightful profile of house-care products producer, Clorox. The author recommends Clorox as a value stock to purchase following a slump in earnings. What’s interesting, however, is his rational for selecting a company that wouldn’t normally be on the radar of active investors, with its relatively flat stock movement.

He goes on to applaud Clorox for the company’s ability to innovate and keep up with social media, despite being such a large, traditional organization (they have been around nearly 100 years). And despite being a producer of such uninspiring products as toilet bowl cleaner, bleach, trash bags and mops.

The State of Science, Technology and Innovation

Jan-13-11 By Aminda
A recent study published by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reviews key trends in science, technology and innovation (STI) in OECD countries and a number of major emerging economies. Using the latest available data and indicators, the study looks at the role STI will play in recovery from the global economic crisis. While OECD countries show divergent practices, overall, indicators show that investment in R&D has slowed in these countries. For example: