Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has announced its list of the Smart21 Communities of 2008. The list includes communities from 14 nations, with first-time entries from Puerto Rico, Qatar and South Africa. Three of the communities named to the 2007 Top Seven list (Tallinn, Dundee and the Gangnam District of Seoul) again appear among the 2008 Smart21.
Watch: IntelCities Measurement
The conference “Futures & Regions: Making Futures Work for Regional Development’ has brought together leading futures experts from the corporate sector, public sector and academia concerned with improving the way public bodies plan successfully for regional development in Europe.
The Economist has published a special report on innovation. The magazine spotlights on the open innovation – the notion of looking for bright ideas outside of an organisation. It provides a good, and critical overview featuring among others Professor Eric von Hippel, head of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Larry Page, co-founder of Google.
Technology Review explains how aerial photos and satellite images are combined to create one of the most useful tools on the Internet, Google Earth. The magazine interviewed engineers at Google and at DigitalGlobe, the company that supplies Google’s satellite photos, and did a little bit of reverse-engineering to figure out how it works.
This publication presents statistical data and indicators based on a number of data sources available at Eurostat (mainly related to science, technology, innovation and regions). It provides the reader with statistical information to appreciate the evolution and composition of science and technology (S&T) in Europe and its position with regard to its partners.
Fast Company magazine has selected 30 urban centers that are shaping our future. The list includes creative-class meccas, R&D hot spots, even cities so fast they’re scary. It calls them Fast Cities. They are cauldrons of creativity where the most important ideas and the organizations of tomorrow are centered. They attract the best and brightest. They are great places to work and live.
The Microsoft Emerging Business Team has announced a new program for innovative software startups around the world. The Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program helps high potential startups accelerate their partnership with Microsoft.