An unique incentive to buy an electric car: free collision insurance Is this the seed of a trend?  General Motors tried the idea but dropped it earlier.

big data can help businesses offer much more precisely tailored products or services through an ever-narrower segmentation of customers lots of data points in this article

the second major phase of the Internet, in which the number of human users will be dwarfed by the number of cell phones, remote sensors and devices connected by the Internet. a projected 50 billion devices will be Internet-enabled by 2020

By the year 2050, some 7 billion people will be living in cities. As many people who live on the planet today will be city dwellers just 38 years from now. Two years ago, for the first time in human history, over 50 percent of the population of the world now lives in cities, and that trend is accelerating. Every month, 1 million people in the world move to a city. If we don't get cities right, we're kind of - don't have a very bright future as humankind.

A new kind of consumer called the "prosumer" wants information, not a sales pitch

Here's a way for museums to invite the local community in...offering their unused/unscheduled spaces

options for improving personal futures: do-it-yourself homesteading (home as driver of economic value not respository for consumer goods) shared consumption employment: choice between making a living and creating a life

Noise filtered through generations of listeners eventually becomes melodic, offering insights into how our tastes evolved.

Venture capital for helping salespeople connect with clients via social networking. "We are offering a third space, between the sales team and a client, where they can come together," he said. Can museums use this model to connect with potential donors/members?

Many businesses can be run successfully from anywhere in the world, using modern collaboration software and teleconferencing, but other businesses may need "an environment where people interact in person, and startups are a great example of that.

The vaunted "third space" isn't home, and isn't work-it's more like the living room of society at large.  It's a place where you are neither family nor co-worker, and yet where the values, interests, gossip, complaints and inspirations of these two other spheres intersect.  It's a place at least one step removed from the structures of work and home, more random, and yet familiar enough to breed a sense of identity and connection.  It's a place of both possibility and comfort, where the unexpected and the mundane transcend and mingle. And nine times out of ten, it's a bar.

This kind of "third space" is really a workplace that is not home and not a coffee shop.  Alternative workspaces that draw people out of the homes and give them more and better access to workplace amenities can help people be more productive and create community.

"I'm still looking for someone to generate a 'lingering index' so that we can measure the impact of just plain old hanging out - but that's really at the heart of place-making, and we shouldn't forget it."

Developing a program of traveling exhibitions gives museum a new source of revenue

A tongue-in-cheek presentation of the traditional print-on-paper book as the most convenient device for reading.  Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to embrace all things digital.  What does the future hold for museums and printed publications?

"Purpose" is emerging as a powerful new driver of attraction, retention, and productivity. on average, 57 percent of respondents (64 percent Germany, 58 percent US, 48 percent UK) said they would favor joining an organization that has a clearly defined Purpose. Moreover, an average of 65 percent of respondents claimed that Purpose would motivate them to go the 'extra mile' in their jobs and 64 percent claimed it would engender a greater sense of loyalty towards the organization they work for.

$100/month membership-based workshops filled with otherwise inaccessible and often hugely expensive machinery, such as CNC mills, 3D printers and laser cutters. populated by people whose skills in computed-aided design and access to new materials is changing the world of manufacturing Perhaps, as has been suggested, the greatest opportunity for small scale manufacturing is in the developing world. But can Tech Shop be replicated in regions that aren't flush with people who have sizable disposable incomes?

how, where and with whom we work will undergo some big changes Today we value journalists and surgeons much more than janitors, but in 2022 we may think very differently. We will need to understand what humans are really good at and foster those skills, outsourcing the rest

Non-profit invests in journalism... A Ford Foundation spokesman said that, as media organizations face challenges funding reporting through advertising and traditional revenue streams, "we and many other funders are experimenting with new approaches to preserve and advance high-quality journalism."

The Shift Age is about humanity's new era. As the Information Age gives way to the Shift Age, we are entering a time of transformation and change that offers both great risk and incredible opportunity. Why do things happen so fast? Why do we feel unsettled, even out of control? David Houle identifies and explains the dynamics and forces that already have reshaped and will continue to reshape our world for the next 20 years. He comments from the front lines of the Shift Age on issues and topics that affect our lives. We have entered the final, global stage of humanity's cultural, social, and economic evolutionary journey: the Shift Age.