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TechShop Gets Detroit’s Innovation Motor Running

May-06-12 By IdeaConnection
When it comes to inventing things, where would you be without a spanner, monkey wrench and a lathe?  TechShop, America’s first nationwide open access workshop provides its members with free use of a vast array of design and fabrication tools to build the things they've always wanted to.

And it has just teamed up with Ford Motor Company to open up a new DIY workshop in Detroit.

What a Performance! Opera by You Awards Announced

May-01-12 By IdeaConnection
It’s almost the home stretch; the two year Opera by You project will soon be entering the direction process, prior to its premiere in July.

Over 400 members from all over the world have taken part in this community opera project and the most active participants have just been awarded travel packages to the Savonlinna Opera Festival and world premiere of Free Will on 21st July 2012.

Ten of the Best: Quotes about Creativity

Apr-26-12 By IdeaConnection
Creativity is the fuel that feeds innovation. Here are ten inspirational quotes about creativity to fire up your innovation burners.

Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.
Tina Turner

Crowdsourcing the Ultimate Paradise for Men

Apr-23-12 By IdeaConnection
One of the big big pluses of brands using crowdsourcing initiatives is that they can attract global media attention. Australian beer brand XXXX Gold has certainly done that with an inspired piece of marketing genius. It has bought a 15-acre island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, called it XXXX Island and is now asking the crowd to help decide what to put on it.

What Can Open Innovation Do For Our Communities?

Apr-17-12 By IdeaConnection
Open innovation is not just a powerful business practice, it is also fast becoming a tool for democracy that encourages deeper citizen engagement with local, regional and national government bodies. A forthcoming interactive workshop in Vancouver on Crowdsourcing, Citizen Engagement and Open Innovation will help attendees understand best practices and answer many questions about how the crowd can make change happen in our communities.

NASA to Bring Space Down to Earth

Apr-16-12 By IdeaConnection
The American space Agency NASA has a colossal 100 terabyte library of images and data collected from three decades worth of research - the Planetary Data System (PDS) archive.

To make this more accessible to the public it has announced an open call crowdsourcing competition to create some awesome new mobile and web-based apps.

NASA hopes that with this kind of data at everybody’s fingertips remarkable discoveries will be just round the corner. Copernicus didn't even have a telescope as they hadn't been invented in his day, so what could you do with 30 years of NASA research accessible through your iPad or smartphone?

French City Crowdsources Bike Design

Apr-15-12 By IdeaConnection
Get on your bike and ride with open innovation!

In the very near future when residents of Bordeaux, France push their pedal to the metal on the city’s public bike rental system, they’ll be zipping around the streets on a two-wheeler that some of them had a hand in designing.

Last year, city authorities invited citizens to come up with ideas for a novel bike design for its bike-share scheme.  And more than 300 people took part.

Enhance Your Problem Solving Skills by Drinking Beer

Apr-13-12 By IdeaConnection
There are many ways to boost your brain power to help you to think faster, improve your memory and enhance your creativity. Mind mapping, solving logic puzzles, exercise and power naps are a few that spring to mind.

And according to recent scientific research there’s another way to get smarter, and that’s to drink alcohol. A new study has found that men can sharpen their minds with a cool couple of beers inside them. Contrary to popular belief the refreshing libation actually improves cognitive ability.

A Spoonful of Open Innovation for Drug Discovery

Apr-09-12 By IdeaConnection
“Realistically speaking, open innovation is the future of drug development.” That’s the view expressed by Samir Brahmachari, director general, CSIR (the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - India) in an interview with Forbes India on drug discovery and open innovation.

In How Open Source Drug Discovery Is Helping India Develop New Drugs, Seema Singh writes about how an OI approach is helping to develop drugs that pharma companies don’t find attractive.

Heineken Rolls Out Open Innovation Challenge

Apr-08-12 By IdeaConnection
Calling all innovators and problem solvers!  Dutch brewing group Heineken has launched an open innovation competition asking the public to come up with new ideas for sustainable beer packaging.

Ideas are requested for the 1) re-use or recycling of packaged materials 2) discovery of new packaging materials and 3) creation of sustainable ways to improve packaging in relation to transport. The winner of the best entry will be handed a check for $10,000.