innovation watch newsletter 13.01 - january 11, 2014
TRANSCRIPT
7/27/2019 Innovation Watch Newsletter 13.01 - January 11, 2014
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Innovation Watch Newsletter - Issue 13.01 - January 11, 2014 ISSN: 1712-9834
David Forrest is a Canadian writer and strategy consultant. His Integral Strategy™ process has been widely used to increase collaboration in communities, build social capital, deepen commitment to action, and develop creative strategies to deal with
complex challenges.
David advises organizations on emerging trends. He uses the term Enterprise Ecology™ to describe how ecological principles can be applied to competition, innovation, and strategy in business.
Highlights from the last two weeks...
breakthroughs in understanding human origins... new technology could create on-demand vaccines... brainlike computers can learn from their own mistakes... Intel wants to "make everything smart"... electric-car vending machines could upend the auto industry... a new geography of innovation is emerging... the academic degree is doomed... the maker movement has arrived... emerging nations have launched a new space race to show their technological prowess... US drone plans call for autonomous missions worldwide by 2022... China declares 8 million acres of farmland too polluted to grow food... honeybee shortage threatens crop pollination in Europe... Japan is losing population and half of the world is following close behind... the future is
bright for science and technology graduates...
More resources ...
a new book by Shannon Belew: The Art of Social Selling: Finding and Engaging Customers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Other Social Networks... a link to the Networked Globe website on developments in the world of Internet of Things and Machine to Machines (M2M) industries... the video of a profile on Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors and SolarCity... a blog post by Stephen Wolfram on the Wolfram Connected Devices Project...
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David is the founder and president of Global Vision Consulting Ltd., a strategy advisory firm. He is a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, the World Future Society, and the Advisory Committee of
the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa.
David Forrest Innovation Watch
SCIENCE TRENDS
Top Stories:
What We Learned About Human Origins in 2013 Will Blow
Your Mind (Huffington Post) - The existence of a mysterious ancient human lineage and the possibility that the earliest humans
were actually all one species were among the human-evolution-related discoveries of 2013. Other breakthroughs include the
sequencing of the oldest human DNA yet. Here's a look at what scientists learned about humanity and human origins this year.
On-Demand Vaccines Possible With Engineered
Nanoparticles (Kurzweil AI) - Vaccines usually are made en masse in centralized locations far removed from where they will be
used. They are expensive to ship and keep refrigerated and they tend to have short shelf lives. The new technology makes it
possible to produce a vaccine on the spot. "For instance, a field doctor could see the beginnings of an epidemic, make vaccine
doses right away, and blanket vaccinate the entire population in the affected area to prevent the spread of an epidemic," said
François Baneyx, a UW professor of chemical engineering and lead author of a recent paper published online in the journal
Nanomedicine.
More science trends...
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Top Stories:
Brainlike Computers, Learning From Experience (New York
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Times) - Computers have entered the age when they are able to learn from their own mistakes, a development that is about to turn
the digital world on its head. The first commercial version of the new kind of computer chip is scheduled to be released in 2014.
Not only can it automate tasks that now require painstaking
programming -- for example, moving a robot's arm smoothly and efficiently -- but it can also sidestep and even tolerate errors,
potentially making the term "computer crash" obsolete.
Intel Unveils Series of Wearable Devices (The Next Web) - Intel wants to "make everything smart" -- and it's focusing on wearable devices at CES 2014. "Wearables are not everywhere
today because they aren't yet solving real problems and they aren't yet integrated with our lifestyles," CEO Brian Krzanich says,
and explains that Intel is out to change that. First of all, Intel unveiled its own take on a smartwatch. Krzanich showed off a
prototype at Intel’s keynote address tonight, and noted that it comes with all the typical features of a smartwatch, but it is also
capable of location-based notifications unlike other smartwatches currently on the market. He didn't provide any more details,
though it is likely that a complete picture of its smartwatch and commercial availability will come some time this year.
More technology trends...
BUSINESS TRENDS
Top Stories:
Kandi Crush: An Electric-Car Vending Machine From China
Could Upend the Auto Industry (Forbes) - China is growing so fast it's sometimes difficult to get different sources to even agree
which the biggest cities are and how many people live in them. But that said, among them is a name unfamiliar to most
Americans, the city of Hangzhou, located in eastern China, and home to 8.7 million as of 2010. That would make it the biggest
city in the U.S. even though it's barely a third the size of
Shanghai, the world's largest. But Hangzhou isn't just big, it's also home to an ambitious experiment that combines electric vehicles,
giant vending machines and a Zipcar-like business model. Oh, and
if it works, private car ownership as we know it is probably going to disappear in the world's biggest cities.
Big Idea 2014: Goodbye Silicon Valley, Hello Silicon Cities
(LinkedIn) - Innovative companies and talented workers are revaluing the physical assets and attributes of cities. A new spatial
geography of innovation is emerging and, in 2014, it will reach a critical mass worthy of recognition and replication. This new model
-- the Innovation District -- clusters leading-edge anchor institutions and cutting-edge innovative firms, connecting them
with supporting and spin-off companies, business incubators,
Find us on
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mixed-use housing, office, retail and 21st century urban amenities.
More business trends...
SOCIAL TRENDS
Top Stories:
The Degree is Doomed (Harvard Business Review) - The value of paper degrees will inevitably decline when employers or
other evaluators avail themselves of more efficient and holistic ways for applicants to demonstrate aptitude and skill. Evaluative
information like work samples, personal representations, peer and manager reviews, shared content, and scores and badges are
creating new signals of aptitude and different types of credentials. Education-technology companies EduClipper and Pathbrite, and
also general-interest platforms such as Tumblr and WordPress, are used to show online portfolios. Brilliant has built a math-and-
physics community that identifies and challenges top young talent. Knack, Pymetrics, and Kalibrr use games and other assessments
that measure work-relevant aptitudes and attitudes. HireArt is a supercharged job board that allows applicants to compete in work
challenges relevant to job openings. These new platforms are measuring signals of aptitude with a level of granularity and
recency never before possible.
Making It (The New Yorker) - The maker era might not be upon us yet, but the maker movement has arrived. Just who are these
people? Like the Arts and Crafts movement -- a mélange of back-to-the-land simplifiers, socialists, anarchists, and tweedy art
connoisseurs -- the makers are a diverse bunch. They include 3-D-printing enthusiasts who like making their own toys, instruments,
and weapons; tinkerers and mechanics who like to customize household objects by outfitting them with sensors and Internet
connectivity; and appreciators of craft who prefer to design their own objects and then have them manufactured on demand.
More social trends...
GLOBAL TRENDS
Top Stories:
China’s Moon Landing is Part of a New Space Race by
Emerging Nations (Los Angeles Times) - China watched this month as the nation's first lunar rover rolled across the moon's
surface. It was a moment of national pride when images of the
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six-wheel rover, dubbed Jade Rabbit, were transmitted live back to
Earth, showing the red and gold Chinese flag on the moon for the first time. The lunar triumph offered many Americans their first
glimpse at an unfolding new space race involving countries with emerging economies. Space exploration, once the exclusive
domain of the world's superpowers, is now being undertaken by dozens of nations aiming to show the world their technological
prowess.
Military Drone Plans Call for "Autonomous Missions Worldwide" by 2022 (Buzzfeed) - This week, the Department
of Defense released a comprehensive 168 page "roadmap" report laying out the future of its drone program. The DOD also released
its public unmanned aircraft inventory (as of July 2013), revealing that, alltogether, the Defense Department 10,964 drones. The
report is mostly forward-looking, however. Here's a rough visual roadmap for aerial drones, including little birdlike craft and "nano"
devices.
More global trends...
ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS
Top Stories:
China Declares 8 Million Acres of Farmland Too Polluted to
Grow Food (Inhabitat) - Pollution already poses serious health
threats to locals. Enveloping smog affects air quality and there
have been numerous complaints of of contaminated water
supplies. These problems have eclipsed the issue of contaminated farmland, however, and officials have until now downplayed the situation's severity. With 8 million acres of formerly fertile
farmland contaminated, China's food supply could be in serious peril. The polluted farmland makes up about two percent of the
country's growable land, a considerable size for China's booming population.
Honeybee Shortage Threatens Crop Pollination in Europe
(BBC) - In more than half of European countries, there are not
enough honeybees to pollinate crops, according to new research.
Scientists believe that a boom in biofuels has sparked a massive increase in the need for pollination. The shortage is particularly acute in Britain which has only a quarter of the honeybees
required. Researchers believe that wild pollinators including bumblebees and hoverflies are making up the shortfall.
More environmental trends...
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FUTURE TRENDS
Top Stories:
Japan is Rapidly Losing Population -- And Half the World is
About to Join It (Quartz) - Japan is shrinking at a record pace.
The country lost 244,000 people in 2013 as births plunged and deaths soared. It faces the prospect of losing a third of its
population in the next 50 years, raising fears about its economic
prospects and labor market. But while Japan may be grabbing headlines, with its alleged aversion to sex and a sudden need for
more eldercare robots and adult diapers, its predicament is one that much of the world will soon have to face. According to the
United Nations, some 48% of the world’s people lives in a country where birthrates are not sufficient to sustain existing populations:
All of Europe except Iceland, BRIC mainstays Brazil, Russia, and China, and even some emerging markets like Vietnam.
The Future Looks Bright for Problem Solvers with Science
and Engineering Degrees (Smarter Planet) - Steve Hamm –
"You don’t have to be a visionary to see the tremendous opportunities that exist today at the intersection of science and
society. When I look at what's going on at IBM and elsewhere, it seems to me that never has a science, technology, engineering or
math (STEM) degree been more valuable, nor have the applications of technology to real-world problems and puzzles
been more varied and exciting. If you’re a high school or university student with an aptitude for science and math, find a
domain that inspires you and go for it."
More future trends...
From the publisher...
The Art of Social Selling: Finding and Engaging Customers on
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Other Social Networks
By Shannon Belew
Read more...
A Web Resource... Networked Globe - Networked Globe looks at news and developments in the world of Internet of Things and Machine to Machines (M2M) industries. Along with the technology, it also discusses the broader economic and social effects along with the ethics and moral issues involved in connecting all aspects of our lives to the internet.
Multimedia... TESLA CEO Elon Musk (Dream TV) - Elon Musk is an engineer and entrepreneur who builds and operates companies to solve environmental, social and economic challenges. He co-founded PayPal and currently drives strategy, development and
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design at two companies he created, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Tesla Motors, and oversees a third company, SolarCity, which he co-founded. He led SpaceX’s efforts to be the first private company to successfully launch and dock a spacecraft with the international space station. (52m 6s)
The Blogosphere... Launching the Wolfram Connected Devices Project (Stephen Wolfram) - Stephen Wolfram – "Connected devices are central to our long-term strategy of injecting sophisticated computation and knowledge into everything. With the Wolfram Language we now have a way to describe and compute about things in the world. Connected
devices are what we need to measure and interface with those things. In the end, we want every type of connected device to be seamlessly integrated with the Wolfram Language. And this will have all sorts of important consequences. But as we work toward this, there's an obvious first step: we have to know what types of connected devices there actually are. So to have a way to answer that question, today we’re launching the Wolfram Connected Devices Project -- whose goal is to work with device manufacturers and the technical community to provide a definitive, curated, source of systematic knowledge about connected devices."
Email: [email protected]