Open Innovation workshop
Check out the
Licensing Executives Society add-on workshop on Open Innovation, with Berkeley's own Henry Chesbrough as speaker. A variety of folks will be speaking about the principles & examples of open innovation.
It's a great book . . . and it's coming out in
paperback in September. All about companies management of innovation. Is it inside the company? Spun out? What kind of champion is needed, and where? Excellent things to consider when looking at new innovation in your organization.
Blog now
Company leaders advised British leader Tony Blair (and other politicians) to
try blogging. What kind of exciting information do you think they would write? Most of it, at least in the U.S., would probably be classified.
What if I blogged about every day work life? Hmm, today I listened to 13 - 15 voicemails, deleted many e-mail messages (yes, I did read a few of those), signed a few agreements, set up a few contracts with financial details, updated my colleagues on key activities over the last weeks, oh, and yes, responded to a few companies on negotiations.
Ok, I could be more specific. But I suspect that blogging by sitting politicians (provided they are not also running for office) may not be that exciting. But what major politician will give it a try?
Oh yes, the other key thing pointed out in the U.S. economy was the link between universities and the economy. UC Berkeley even got a shout. . .but behind Stanford. Hey, we have quite a few of those "start-up" things, too. . .
California & other states trump the feds
Unsurprisingly, states continue to move forward in funding stem cell research, with their "own" money. Given Bush's first momentous veto, the
California Governator announced a loan to California's initiative, to actually start research here. A few fellowship grants went out, but otherwise the poor leaders have not been able to focus on much else than court cases. With a President who is so anti-science, who will stand up with him at election time?
Wired Magazine had a good piece a few months ago on stem cell laws around the world, to compare how conservative or liberal countries are on this issue.
10 hot things in IT
according to the
publication Network World, and not a single Berkeley project on the list. Some interesting things, though. A new search engine. . security features. . etc. Certainly some stuff to watch out for. Quite a few projects that the U.S. federal government has invested in, and companies are now taking up. Way to go, technology transfer!
Intuition Review
I just finished by Allegra Goodman, which is about allegations of scientific misconduct in a cancer research lab, and the aftermath. I was intrigued by it because it had received rave reviews and was about an issue close to what I see - not that I see misconduct, but certainly research.
I was unimpressed. It's slow, plodding and predictable. You're not that interested in what happens, and the characters -- while some have interesting possibilities -- are not that well developed.
The only sensational event that takes place is a hearing, so it doesn't get too far fetched. But overall, disappointing.
