If the high-tech development of a California-made fuel cell that produces electricity is a genuine clean-energy breakthrough, then American ingenuity will have reached some important new milestones.
First, it could indicate a significant revival of the U.S. technological innovation that has largely slipped away into the hands of China, Germany, and other nations. China is currently [...]
Filed under: News on March 1st, 2010 @ 9:26 am
Tagged with: Business, clean energy, economy, effective, efficiency, energy, Environment, funding, global, government, innovation, sustainability, Technology, US
In the San Francisco Bay Area’s high-tech hub, the economic downturn caused jobs, patents, and venture capital investment to decline in 2009, according to the “2010 Index of Silicon Valley” study released this month. The survey also shows office vacancy at its highest rate since 1988, as the focus has shifted from software to green [...]
Filed under: News on February 24th, 2010 @ 11:10 am
Tagged with: Business, Community, economy, Environment, funding, growth, innovation, sustainability, Technology
This week, a business coalition formed by AT&T and the Henry Ford Community College announced the creation of the Michigan Alliance for High-Tech Skills Training, an industry-led job retraining program that will be available to displaced workers and interested students in Michigan this year.
Henry Ford Community College will design a curriculum to develop core competencies [...]
Filed under: News on February 12th, 2010 @ 8:00 am
Tagged with: Business, economy, efficiency, funding, government, infrastructure, jobs, markets
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced it’s going to use a philanthropic vehicle called program related investments (PRI) through the creation of a $400 million fund. PRIs are new and largely unused investments that allow a philanthropy to achieve its charitable mission.
The other part of the story is about L3Cs, which are a [...]
Filed under: News, Uncategorized on January 4th, 2010 @ 8:00 am
Tagged with: alternative, charity, funding, giving, investing, News, philanthropy
San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area conjure up images of pristine shoreline, beautiful ocean views, and a natural beauty that comes to typify many outsiders’ views of the California landscape. Unfortunately, the amount of plastic waste piling up around the bay, on the shores, and in the tributaries feeding into the sea has raised [...]
Filed under: Community, Environment, News on September 17th, 2009 @ 10:00 am
Tagged with: California, Community, Earthnews, Environment, environmental awareness, funding, legislation, plastic, recycling, Save the bay, sustainability, waste
In an effort to get further involved in the growing opensource movement, Microsoft has announced that it will be creating and funding ($1 million annually) the CodePlex Foundation. The initial framing of the announcement, is as a neutral place for companies and developers to share ideas and interact, ultimately increasing the commercial opportunities for all [...]
Filed under: News, Technology on September 11th, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Tagged with: Business, funding, growth, interactive, investing, investment, launch, leaders, management, microsoft, open source, opensource, opportunities, opportunity, product, sharing, software, strategy
BusinessWeek makes a compelling argument for a return to the heyday of large scale scientific research funded by a combination of public and private funds as a necessary antidote for our struggling economy. This “pure” research can lead to the kind of breakthroughs and innovations that can create new industries and improve old ones, which [...]
Filed under: Business, News, Technology on September 3rd, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Tagged with: biotech, Business, economy, funding, government, growth, innovation, innovative, jobs, knowledge, research, research and development, scale, sustainability
I was a bit stunned to learn that on average, it takes a patent application 32 months to receive final approval in the US, a fact that is clearly hurting the prospects of entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to move forward with their ideas and inventions. Given the nature of the business world, where in [...]
Filed under: Business, News, Technology on September 2nd, 2009 @ 5:23 pm
Tagged with: Business, economy, entrepreneur, funding, government, innovation, innovative, patent, patent approval, process, recovery, start-up, streamline, streamlining, US
Coming on the heels of the “Cash for Clunkers” program that helped reinvigorate the auto industry, while simultaneously adding some much needed fuel efficiency to the US highways, the government has announced a $300 million incentive aimed at the appliance industry. Beginning in October, consumer will receive rebates ranging from $50 to $200 for the [...]
Filed under: Business, Environment, News on August 28th, 2009 @ 2:51 pm
Tagged with: appliances, cash for clunkers, consumer, economy, efficiency, energy efficient, Environment, funding, government, growth, industry, job creation, jobs, manufacturers, markets, progress, stimulus, sustainability
Back in March, Nokia invested $35 million into Obopay, a start-up that lets people transmit money to one another via text message, making it the single largest round of funding given to any such service this year. Apparently that move was designed to bolster Nokia’s own platform, as the mobile company announced a new mobile [...]
Filed under: News, Technology on August 28th, 2009 @ 10:00 am
Tagged with: funding, investing, investment, markets, mobile, mobile payments, mobility, Nokia, Nokia Money, retail, smartphones, start-up, US
This week industrial engineer James Dyson stressed the role of science and engineering with the release of a new report entitled “Making the UK the leading high-tech exporter in Europe”. Dyson – who is perhaps best known for his bagless vacuum cleaners – is calling for more investment and support for innovative engineering.
GreenRoad announced last month that it has raised $10 million in financing from Generation Investment Management, the investment firm co-founded by Al Gore in 2004. GreenRoad, which is developing technologies to encourage safe and fuel-efficient driving behavior, intends to use the proceeds to accelerate the deployment of its GreenRoad 360 service among new and existing customers. GreenRoad [...].