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Innovation Watch Newsletter - Issue 12.11 - June 1, 2013 ISSN: 1712-9834
David Forrest is aCanadian writer andstrategy consultant. His
Integral Strategyprocess has been
widely used to increasecollaboration in
communities, buildsocial capital, deepen
commitment to action,and develop creativestrategies to deal with
complex challenges.
David advises
organizations onemerging trends. He
uses the termEnterprise Ecology todescribe how ecological
principles can beapplied to competition,
innovation, andstrategy in business.
Highlights from the last two weeks...
companies develop software for designing life... crowdsourcingcould raise money to fund science... new technology could lead to400 gigabit per second internet speeds... Google Glass will soonsupport facial recognition... Kenya leads the world in mobilemoney... contrarian thinking sparks innovation... the scary futureof personal data... Jaron Lanier wants to rebuild the middleclass... Chinese farms go global... New Zealand and China talkabout linking their currencies... China plans to implement a pilotcarbon-trading program... global fisheries are changing due toocean warming... Elon Musk imagines a new transportationtechnology that will reduce travel time from Los Angeles to San
Francisco to 30 minutes... brace yourself, we are entering aresource-shock world...
More resources ...
a book by Noah Scalin and Michelle Taute: The Design Activist'sHandbook... a link to the BSR website on global sustainability... avideoclip from the Skoal Foundation on imagining the future... ablog post by Dan Baum on the world's most ambitious eco-city...
David Forrest
http://innovationwatch.com/innovation-watch-newsletter-12-11-june-1-2013/http://innovationwatch.com/innovation-watch-newsletter-12-11-june-1-2013/7/28/2019 Innovation Watch Newsletter 12.11 - June 1, 2013
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David is a member of
the Professional WritersAssociation of Canada,the World Future
Society, and otherfutures organizations.
He is a member of theAdvisory Committee of
the Institute forScience, Society and
Policy at the Universityof Ottawa.
Innovation Watch
SCIENCE TRENDS
Top Stories:
Bio-Hackers, Get Ready (Tech Crunch)- A pair of companies
in San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood and Tel Aviv are positioning
themselves as the "Wintel" of the bio-hacking era. One company,
called Genome Compiler, builds software for designing synthetic
life forms, while the other, Cambrian Genomics, is experimenting
with ways to cheaply laser print DNA. Like the old Microsoft-Intel
relationship of the PC era, they believe they have the symbiotic
relationship necessary to usher in a new era where anybody can
inexpensively create their own life forms. Genome Compiler is
backed with $3 million in funding, including $2 million from
Autodesk. Cambrian is funded by Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures
and Draper Associates.
Is It Possible to Kick Start Science? (BBC)- Kickstarter,
IndieGogo and other crowd funding sites are increasingly hosting
an array of technology projects, with some raising a lot of money,
while others have raised debate. 3Doodler claims to be the first
3D printing pen, and raised over $2.3m, having required just
$30,000. Currently the Glowing Plants project is creating
enthusiasm and controversy with the team's plan of making
sustainable natural lighting by using synthetic biology to make
plants glow. There has also been a growth in platforms for crowd
funding purely for science research, but there are questions as towhether such a model is feasible for science, and if it does more
harm than good.
More science trends...
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
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Top Stories:
Noise-Canceling Tech Could Lead to Internet Connections
400 Times Faster than Google Fiber (Venture Beat)-
Researchers noted that sending twin light beams down a fiber
optic cable along with the original transmission of data could
basically eliminate that noise, as the light beams would pick up
the noise and cancel it out. BBC News notes that the research
team led by Xiang Liu of Bell Laboratories used this technique,
called phase conjugation, to send a signal of 400 gigabits persecond through 12,800 km of fiber optic cable. For perspective,
Google Fiber offers its subscribers 1 gigabit per second, and the
length Liu's team sent that signal is longer than the transoceanic
fiber links.
Google Glass: Facial Recognition Coming Soon (Telegraph)
- The new software from Lamda Labs, who are based in San
Francisco, raises the prospect of never forgetting a face again, and
also of internet recommendations for who Google Glass wearers
should meet at large social gatherings. It will launch to computer
programmers in days. Google has been at pains to remind usersthat Glass itself does not include facial recognition, and has come
under pressure from American senators to answer questions they
claim the wearable computer raises over privacy. But the device's
terms and conditions do not explicitly forbid using the device's
camera to detect faces and then to identify them via Glass's
screen, which sits above the users right eye and is visible only to
them.
More technology trends...
BUSINESS TRENDS
Top Stories:
Why Does Kenya Lead the World in Mobile Money?
(Economist)- Paying for a taxi ride using your mobile phone is
easier in Nairobi than it is in New York, thanks to Kenyas world-
leading mobile-money system, M-PESA. Launched in 2007 by
Safaricom, the country's largest mobile-network operator, it is
now used by over 17m Kenyans, equivalent to more than two-thirds of the adult population; around 25% of the country's gross
national product flows through it. M-PESA lets people transfer
cash using their phones, and is by far the most successful scheme
of its type on earth.
Tap into Y Combinator's Contrarian Thinking (Inc.)- To
create something entirely new -- something that the world has not
seen before -- requires contrarian thinking. Peter Thiel, a co-
founder of Paypal who's now one of the world's best-known
venture capital investors, says you know you're on the right track
http://innovationwatch.com/44334/noise-canceling-tech-could-lead-to-internet-connections-400-times-faster-than-google-fiber-venture-beat/http://innovationwatch.com/44334/noise-canceling-tech-could-lead-to-internet-connections-400-times-faster-than-google-fiber-venture-beat/http://innovationwatch.com/44322/google-glass-facial-recognition-coming-soon-telegraph/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-technologyhttp://innovationwatch.com/44318/why-does-kenya-lead-the-world-in-mobile-money-economist/http://innovationwatch.com/44318/why-does-kenya-lead-the-world-in-mobile-money-economist/http://innovationwatch.com/44307/tap-into-y-combinators-contrarian-thinking-inc/http://innovationwatch.com/44307/tap-into-y-combinators-contrarian-thinking-inc/http://innovationwatch.com/44307/tap-into-y-combinators-contrarian-thinking-inc/http://innovationwatch.com/44318/why-does-kenya-lead-the-world-in-mobile-money-economist/http://innovationwatch.com/44318/why-does-kenya-lead-the-world-in-mobile-money-economist/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-technologyhttp://innovationwatch.com/44322/google-glass-facial-recognition-coming-soon-telegraph/http://innovationwatch.com/44334/noise-canceling-tech-could-lead-to-internet-connections-400-times-faster-than-google-fiber-venture-beat/http://innovationwatch.com/44334/noise-canceling-tech-could-lead-to-internet-connections-400-times-faster-than-google-fiber-venture-beat/7/28/2019 Innovation Watch Newsletter 12.11 - June 1, 2013
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when you can explain what you're trying to by saying: "Most
people believe in X. But the truth is 'not X.'"
More business trends...
SOCIAL TRENDS
Top Stories:
You are Your Data: The Scary Future of the Quantified Self
Movement (Pando Daily)- Few if any consumers who fell
behind on their credit card payments in the early 2000s thought
that half a decade later employers would use their credit report to
determine their job worthiness. Few avid social media users must
have realized that insurance companies, the IRS, law enforcement,
and credit agencies would soon use their their data to investigate
fraud, determine creditworthiness, and monitor other potentially
illegal activity. History suggests they should have.
Jaron Lanier Wants to Build a New Middle Class on
Micropayments (Nieman Lab)- "We're used to treating
information as 'free,'" writes Jaron Lanier in his latest book Who
Owns the Future?, "but the price we pay for the illusion of 'free' is
only workable so long as most of the overall economy isn't about
information." Lanier argues that a free-culture mindset is
dismantling the middle-class economy. In his estimation, the idea
"that mankind's information should be free is idealistic, and
understandably popular, but information wouldn't need to be free
if no one were impoverished."
More social trends...
GLOBAL TRENDS
Top Stories:
Chinese Farms Go Global (The Diplomat)- If the Chinese
government is to achieve its goal of accelerated urbanization, oneissue it must deal with is food security. Already, as China has
developed more of its land, concerns have developed over whether
enough arable land will be available to produce enough food to
feed its massive population. This problem has serious implications.
As Katherine Morton, a specialist on Chinese environmental
governance, notes: "Ten percent of the Chinese population is
estimated to be undernourished, the rural labor force is declining,
and agricultural productivity is increasingly vulnerable to climate
change, natural disasters and water shortages."
http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-businesshttp://innovationwatch.com/44287/you-are-your-data-the-scary-future-of-the-quantified-self-movement-pando-daily/http://innovationwatch.com/44287/you-are-your-data-the-scary-future-of-the-quantified-self-movement-pando-daily/http://innovationwatch.com/44281/jaron-lanier-wants-to-build-a-new-middle-class-on-micropayments-nieman-lab/http://innovationwatch.com/44281/jaron-lanier-wants-to-build-a-new-middle-class-on-micropayments-nieman-lab/http://innovationwatch.com/44281/jaron-lanier-wants-to-build-a-new-middle-class-on-micropayments-nieman-lab/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-societyhttp://innovationwatch.com/44338/chinese-farms-go-global-the-diplomat/http://innovationwatch.com/44338/chinese-farms-go-global-the-diplomat/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-societyhttp://innovationwatch.com/44281/jaron-lanier-wants-to-build-a-new-middle-class-on-micropayments-nieman-lab/http://innovationwatch.com/44281/jaron-lanier-wants-to-build-a-new-middle-class-on-micropayments-nieman-lab/http://innovationwatch.com/44287/you-are-your-data-the-scary-future-of-the-quantified-self-movement-pando-daily/http://innovationwatch.com/44287/you-are-your-data-the-scary-future-of-the-quantified-self-movement-pando-daily/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-business7/28/2019 Innovation Watch Newsletter 12.11 - June 1, 2013
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New Zealand, China in Talks on Convertibility of Currencies
(Wall Street Journal)- Seeking to help its exporters, New
Zealand is negotiating with China to make their currencies directly
convertible, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Key said.
Wellington's push is aimed at driving down costs for companies
that do business with China, which is close to overtaking Australia
as New Zealand's No. 1 trading partner. Talks are in the "very
early stages" and "progressing," the spokeswoman said, adding
that the issue had been brought up during Mr. Key's visit to China
last month.
More global trends...
ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS
Top Stories:
China Unveils Details of Pilot Carbon-Trading Programme(Guardian)- China has unveiled details of its first pilot carbon-
trading programme, which will begin next month in the southern
city of Shenzhen. The trading scheme will cover 638 companies
responsible for 38% of the city's total emissions, the Shenzhen
branch of the powerful National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) announced. The scheme will eventually
expand to include transportation, manufacturing and construction
companies. Shenzhen is one of seven designated areas in which
the central government plans to roll out experimental carbon
trading programmes before 2014.
Fisheries Could Be in Hot Water Due to Climate Change (Ars
Technica)- As our planet warms from excess carbon in the
atmosphere, some of that heat is absorbed by the ocean. Fish and
invertebrates are responding to warming waters by moving to
higher latitudes or deeper waters where the water is cooler, and it
was expected that these shifts would eventually affect availability
of some commercially harvested species. "Eventually" may be
now. Ocean warming has already affected global fisheries in the
past four decades, according to a new study published in Nature.
By looking at catch statistics, scientists discovered that the
composition of species in fisheries around the world is already
shifting and changing our menu.
More environmental trends...
FUTURE TRENDS
Top Stories:
http://innovationwatch.com/44309/new-zealand-china-in-talks-on-convertibility-of-currencies-wall-street-journal/http://innovationwatch.com/44309/new-zealand-china-in-talks-on-convertibility-of-currencies-wall-street-journal/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-globalhttp://innovationwatch.com/44278/china-unveils-details-of-pilot-carbon-trading-programme-guardian/http://innovationwatch.com/44278/china-unveils-details-of-pilot-carbon-trading-programme-guardian/http://innovationwatch.com/44266/fisheries-could-be-in-hot-water-due-to-climate-change-ars-technica/http://innovationwatch.com/44266/fisheries-could-be-in-hot-water-due-to-climate-change-ars-technica/http://innovationwatch.com/44266/fisheries-could-be-in-hot-water-due-to-climate-change-ars-technica/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-environmenthttp://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-environmenthttp://innovationwatch.com/44266/fisheries-could-be-in-hot-water-due-to-climate-change-ars-technica/http://innovationwatch.com/44266/fisheries-could-be-in-hot-water-due-to-climate-change-ars-technica/http://innovationwatch.com/44278/china-unveils-details-of-pilot-carbon-trading-programme-guardian/http://innovationwatch.com/44278/china-unveils-details-of-pilot-carbon-trading-programme-guardian/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-globalhttp://innovationwatch.com/44309/new-zealand-china-in-talks-on-convertibility-of-currencies-wall-street-journal/http://innovationwatch.com/44309/new-zealand-china-in-talks-on-convertibility-of-currencies-wall-street-journal/7/28/2019 Innovation Watch Newsletter 12.11 - June 1, 2013
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We Think We Know What Elon Musk's Hyperloop is, and
How It Can Get You from LA to San Francisco in 30 Minutes
(Business Insider) - Tesla founder Elon Musk has been teasing
an exciting idea for a new form of transportation for the last year.
He calls it the "Hyperloop" and he says it's better than a bullet
train. The Hyperloop would get people to Los Angeles from San
Francisco in 30 minutes. However, he's been vague about how
he's going to make the Hyperloop a reality. The closest to detail
he's gotten is when he said the Hyperloop is a "cross between a
Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table."
Entering a Resource-Shock World (Yahoo)- Brace yourself.
You may not be able to tell yet, but according to global experts
and the US intelligence community, the earth is already shifting
under you. Whether you know it or not, you are on a new planet,
a resource-shock world of a sort humanity has never before
experienced. Two nightmare scenarios -- a global scarcity of vital
resources and the onset of extreme climate change -- are already
beginning to converge and in the coming decades are likely to
produce a tidal wave of unrest, rebellion, competition and conflict.
At first, such mayhem is likely to arise largely in Africa, CentralAsia and other areas of the underdeveloped South, but in time all
regions of the planet will be affected.
More future trends...
From the publisher...
The Design Activist's Handbook: How to Change the World (Or
at Least Your Part of It) With Socially Conscious Design
By Noah Scalin and Michelle Taute
Read more...
Trends and Futures... New Books- New and not-yet-published books on trends andfutures.
A Web Resource... BSR- Businesses and institutions around the globe are working tocreate an economy that thrives within planetary boundaries and enables all the world'speople to lead dignified, prosperous lives. Turning this vision into reality is the centralchallenge of the 21st century. BSR works with a global network of more than 250 membercompanies from its offices in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, to developsustainable business strategies and solutions.
Multimedia...Dare to Imagine (Skoll Foundation) - What will the world look like in 50years? The problems facing our world are so large that they demand disruptive thinking. Wedon't have time to think in incremental terms. It's time to challenge the status quo, anddare to imagine what we can do. (8m 21s)
http://innovationwatch.com/44341/we-think-we-know-what-elon-musks-hyperloop-is-and-how-it-can-get-you-from-la-to-san-francisco-in-30-minutes-business-insider/http://innovationwatch.com/44341/we-think-we-know-what-elon-musks-hyperloop-is-and-how-it-can-get-you-from-la-to-san-francisco-in-30-minutes-business-insider/http://innovationwatch.com/44341/we-think-we-know-what-elon-musks-hyperloop-is-and-how-it-can-get-you-from-la-to-san-francisco-in-30-minutes-business-insider/http://innovationwatch.com/44297/entering-a-resource-shock-world-yahoo/http://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-futurehttp://innovationwatch.com/the-design-activists-handbook-how-to-change-the-world-or-at-least-your-part-of-it-with-socially-conscious-design-by-noah-scalin-and-michelle-taute-how-bookshttp://innovationwatch.com/new-bookshttp://www.bsr.org/enhttp://innovationwatch.com/44009/dare-to-imagine-skoll-foundation/http://innovationwatch.com/44009/dare-to-imagine-skoll-foundation/http://www.bsr.org/enhttp://innovationwatch.com/new-bookshttp://innovationwatch.com/the-design-activists-handbook-how-to-change-the-world-or-at-least-your-part-of-it-with-socially-conscious-design-by-noah-scalin-and-michelle-taute-how-bookshttp://innovationwatch.com/the-design-activists-handbook-how-to-change-the-world-or-at-least-your-part-of-it-with-socially-conscious-design-by-noah-scalin-and-michelle-taute-how-bookshttp://innovationwatch.com/trendwatch-futurehttp://innovationwatch.com/44297/entering-a-resource-shock-world-yahoo/http://innovationwatch.com/44341/we-think-we-know-what-elon-musks-hyperloop-is-and-how-it-can-get-you-from-la-to-san-francisco-in-30-minutes-business-insider/http://innovationwatch.com/44341/we-think-we-know-what-elon-musks-hyperloop-is-and-how-it-can-get-you-from-la-to-san-francisco-in-30-minutes-business-insider/http://innovationwatch.com/44341/we-think-we-know-what-elon-musks-hyperloop-is-and-how-it-can-get-you-from-la-to-san-francisco-in-30-minutes-business-insider/7/28/2019 Innovation Watch Newsletter 12.11 - June 1, 2013
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The Blogosphere... Inside the World's Most Ambitious Eco-City (PopSci)- Dan Baum "At first glance, Masdar City appears a mirage. From a distance it looks like a singlemulticolored building, standing lonely on the horizon. Part of the illusion is due to the city'sstrange setting: next to Abu Dhabi airport, just across the highway from the Arabian Gulf,in a deeply inhospitable stretch of desert. Between it and downtown Abu Dhabi lie 20 milesof the most wasteful urban development I've ever seen -- a featureless plain studded withostentatious walled houses the size of the Supreme Court and crisscrossed by empty six-lane boulevards. But the illusion is also a matter of density. Masdar City, an $18-billion
experiment, will hold 40,000 residents in only two square miles."
Email: [email protected]
http://innovationwatch.com/44285/inside-the-worlds-most-ambitious-eco-city-popsci/mailto:[email protected]://twitter.com/innovationwatchmailto:[email protected]://innovationwatch.com/44285/inside-the-worlds-most-ambitious-eco-city-popsci/Top Related