Group items tagged

Research on technological change and innovation.

"Through the framework of Collaborative Innovation Groups (CIGs), the Ocean Power Innovation Network (OPIN) offers support to SMEs to collaborate with other organisations, to solve problems which are barriers to the deployment of ocean energy. CIGs focus on challenges which cannot or have not been solved by one SME alone. The OPIN Team have supported a Collaborative Innovation Group (CIG) focussing on creating awareness on the impact of corrosion on offshore renewable projects and how corrosion monitoring can improve corrosion management."

"This book tells a tale of innovation, disruption, and transformation. Mobile money, e-money, e-float, e-wallets, mobile banking, however you characterise it, is not just a cool app. It s a killer app, the first for mobile phones in the developing world. It s also a disruptive innovation that threatens incumbent businesses and is sparking new business formation and entrepreneurship. Nowhere is this mobile money phenomenon more prevalent and successful than in Kenya. In five years, 19 million Kenyans, more than 70% of the adult population, have signed up for mobile money services. Fifteen million are customers of M-PESA ( M for Mobile and pesa means money in Swahili). Now, one out of every two people in the world who sends money over a mobile phone is a Kenyan. Mobile money is the rare case in which an African country is the global market leader and an exporter of innovation." The author says, "It has been so successful in these markets because it leapfrogged the payment card industry," he said, "which requires expensive ATM and Point of Sale (POS) networks to function. ATMs and POS Terminals require regular maintenance and, with ATMs, regular liquidity balancing. By leveraging third party retail outlets and making the phone the primary means of exchange, mobile money bypassed the need to distribute ATMs and POS Terminals. The reverse is true in the US: mobile money isn't leapfrogging the payment card industry, it's augmenting it."

Cross-collaboration amidst governments and departments are key to promote innovation "These matrices generally corresponded to a few categories: collaboration between governments, collaboration between governments and businesses, and collaboration between governments and citizens. Through these types of innovative efforts, governments at all levels are recognising the significant transformative potential of building matrixed governments that respect, recognise and enable different ecosystems to collaborate in order to make key contributions to society."

"I have seen one fool's gold rush from up close in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis. It feels like we may be on the cusp of another with cryptocurrencies (crypto) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The 2008 crisis holds lessons that can help industry and regulators chart a better path and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past."

"The smart homes market was valued at USD 79.13 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 313.95 billion by 2026 and register a CAGR of 25.3% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Across real estate companies and the architect ecosystem, the 'new normal' defined through the social distancing results in a requirement to go back to the redesign basics and reinvent the residential real estate product by factoring in new-age designing, efficiency, and innovation. As the redesign happens, the need for a totally new set of amenities has resurfaced and gained prominence. What the customer will need in the 'new normal' has undergone a revolution in the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is leading to a paradigm shift in residential spaces."

"Innovations in digital technology and the use of alternative data sources have decreased the cost and increased the speed of data collection and use. Harnessing this potential requires increased investment by donors and governments and a more effective approach that strengthens foundational data systems and governance frameworks, and supports local knowledge and capacity development. "

The paradoxical result of widespread remote work is that it represents both a centralization and a decentralization of where new technologies are built. That is, even as workers disperse geographically, more of them are doing their work in a single place: the internet. This change is already helping Silicon Valley giants break through logjams like regional housing crises in order to poach talent wherever it lives. The world has never managed hybrid work before. We're going to see a huge issue with culture and connection. How can you be connected and motivated. New slick tools aren't enough. Humans need and require human engagement.

New materials can be seen as a disruption but,at the same time, innovation to the corrosion control industry workforce.Legislation,Legislation, Internet of Things and Microbiologically influenced corrosion are a few of the main changes perceived by experts that may might affect the corrosion industry and its workforce.

Scientists continue to invent advanced materials with highly specific properties that outperform existing materials and enable more innovative product designs.

"The space in which work gets done has radically shifted, but human nature remains the same. As workers, we crave a digital experience that's reliable, equitable, productive, helpful, and pleasant. The organizations that overcome the "experience debt" that overhangs typical digital workplaces - by reimagining and deploying the digital workplace the right way - are the ones that will attract and retain top talent. At the same time, they're continuously improving productivity+.. In doing so, they'll become the organizations and the people that thrive in an ever-disruptive world. + = innovation, inclusion, connection, collaboration, purpose, engagement, and beyond…" This piece hints to that need for a radical new workspace. So good.

The comments hint at Musk's goal, stated multiple times over the years, that he would like to transform the planet's atmosphere to make it more hospitable to human life. It forms part of his overall goal with SpaceX: reduce spaceflight costs, use it to establish permanent human presences elsewhere in space, and transform humanity into a multi-planetary species. I absolutely love that he thinks about changing another planets atmosphere. For get changing the world, change a different planet. Amazing.

The state of Massachusetts might become the first to install the first-ever solar-powered roadside sound barrier, Energy News Network reported. It is expected that this innovative pilot project will be able to generate around 800 megawatt-hours of power every single year.

This project has taken a broader approach to explore how different governments have developed their foresight ecosystems over time and to map the features that can support integration of long-term thinking into policymaking at the most strategic level. It aims to provide a guiding framework to build and sustain foresight in policy-making and to do so in a way that creates long-term impact from futures work. The School of International Futures exists to help policy-makers and business leaders improve the present and the future by using foresight and futures methods to make better strategic choices about the future, to improve the quality of their innovation and make their organisations more resilient by better understanding and managing risk.

A very interesting but lengthy read. The report describes a system for using foresight to develop EU R&I policy, which includes: - a set of future scenarios for different World Regions, - a mechanism for signposting relevant trends and - a process for assessing policy options combining standard policy assessment mechanisms with future scenarios. The regional scenarios include: ● China ● Japan, South Korea & Taiwan ● ASEAN ● India & its Neighbours ● Australia & New Zealand ● Russia & Central Asia ● The Middle East & North Africa ● Sub-Saharan Africa ● Central & South America ● United States, Canada & Mexico

NHTSA demonstrates its dedication to saving lives on our nation's roads and highways through its proactive and inclusive approach to the safe development, testing, and deployment of new and advanced vehicle technologies that have enormous potential for improving safety and mobility for all Americans, NHTSA demonstrates its dedication to saving lives on our nation's roads and highways.

"An interdisciplinary approach is needed to find new solutions to a problem that costs the US economy $276 billion per year. What's already happening in one industry could be the solution to another's problem. A great example of this is the use of NASA's analytical methods to examine bacteria in spacecraft in a breast cancer study looking at the links between the disease and bacteria."

The global impacts of corrosion are significant and far-reaching, and until recently, so were the negative effects of anti-corrosion coatings on our environment as well as human health and safety. Innovative eco-friendly additives should be good news for economies, industry and ecosystems.

Corrosion is a huge cost to the environment. These range from structural failures resulting in environmental contamination, to harmful pollutants being released from iron corrosion, to the over-utilization of natural resources when repairing and replacing damaged metals (Hanson, 2011).(....)the longevity of the metal assets in question across key industries such as O&G, aerospace and architecture is one of the largest drivers for innovation in the coatings industry.

Federal Bank regulators are struggling to figure out how to handle electronic assets in order to maintain the stability and security of the financial system while also allowing innovation and progress.