Talk for Swedish Incubators and Science Parks Network: "Designing Spaces for Networked Innovation"

I haven't posted in the last month, but it's because I've been travelling extensively promoting the Science In Place program. On November 10, I had the pleasure of giving an invited talk for the annual conference of SiSP, the incubator and science parks asssocation of Sweden. The meeting took place in Lund, one of the oldest university towns in Scandinavia, and less than an hour's train ride across the Oresund from Copenhagen. This is in the Malmo region, home to SonyEriccson and numerous other high tech companies. Truly one of the world's great technopoles.

DIYcity.org - Leveraging Web 2.0 for Smarter Cities

Here in New York City, there is an incredibly popular burger stand in Madison Square Park called The Shake Shack. It's one of the touchpoints for Silicon Alley, and a great meet-up spot. The problem is that its usually insanely crowded, with an hour-long line stretching well across the park.

MIT and Harvard Leaders Make Policy Recommendations for the Next US President

Technology Review is running an article today
comprised of three letters to the next US president, suggesting policy
initiatives that they think are needed to address future challenges.

First up is Ernest J. Moniz, Director of The MIT Energy Initiative,
who argues for plans to develop a "portfolio of proven low-carbon
technologies". His specific proposals include:

Lurching Towards Open Science

Openness is rocking the scientific world. Accept it or proceed at your own risk. As an article last week in Nature points out: scientists are posting unprecedented amounts of experimental data online in “open notebooks”.

But wait.
Science in academia is becoming more closed, driven by regulatory shifts in how funding is tied to ownership of research products. As the New York Times reports:

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Should America Create Innovation Zones to Spur R&D?

I spent the morning reading through a report released earlier this month by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), titled “The Power of Place: A National Strategy for Building America’s Communities of Innovation”. AURP is industry association that represents several dozen leading research parks and real estate developers with strong connections to major universities in the US and Canada.

Characteristics and Trends in North American Research Parks

The Association of University Research Parks represents several dozen university-based research parks and real estate organizations across the US and Canada, and this study builds on a comprehensive look at the state of research parks in 2007, "Characteristics and Trends in North American Research Parks: 21st Century Directions" (PDF). In that report, AURP identified several key trends that re-inforce several foundation forecasts at IFTF that have shaped the Science In Place agenda.

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UPDATED: Letter From Johannesburg: Mapping The Future of Science and Technology Parks

A small team of IFTF researchers are in Johannesburg this week, at the XXVth annual world conference of the International Association of Science Parks, being held for the first time ever in Africa.

We conducted a pre-conference expert workshop with 14 leading science park managers and experts, asking "what are are the big trends that will shape science and technology parks over the next decade?" and "what are some emerging innovation clusters that we'll be talking about in 2018?"

Science In Place is Coming to Scandinavia This Month

The stars have aligned and I'll be visiting three Scandinavian countries over the next six weeks, for two events with the Academy of Finland and Swedish Incubators and Science Parks under our rapidly growing Science In Place program.

Using Patent Activity to Find Emerging R&D Hotspots

London-based consultancy Innovaro, whose monthly Innovation Update newsletter is one of my favorite sources of critical insight, published an article yesterday on "Global Innovation Hot Spots".

The article argues that while there are many qualitative and quantitative indicators that point to various up-and-coming hubs of innovation, patenting activity is a "primary and hence critical source of underlying foresight that can help guide R&D location priorities".

Unleashing Open Source for Development in Africa

A few members of the Tech Horizons team are in Johannesburg, South Africa this week, launching a new IFTF program (Science In Place) at the XXV World Conference of the International Association of Science Parks.
I have been taking the opportunity to meet with a number of people who are trying to leverage open source technology to bridge the "digital divide" and spread computing and communications tools throughout the country and the entire continent.