John Manley takes another role
The Honourable John Manley - a member of the MaRS Board of Directors and chair of MaRS’ inaugural fundraising cabinet - is set to take on his next role in a career of distinguished public service.
As of October 2009, Mr. Manley will succeed Thomas D’Aquino as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. The policies the council influences have an impact on all who work in Canadian business.
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Measuring wellbeing
“How are Canadians really doing?” This is the question posed by the first report of the Institute of Wellbeing. Why does it think that we don’t “really” understand Canadians’ wellbeing? Because GDP remains the most common measure, despite the fact that it wasn’t originally intended to be used as such, and that it implies a very narrow idea of what makes life good. Spending on tobacco, natural and human-made disasters, crime and accidents all make GDP go up, but they are hardly signs that Canadians are better off. The Report unveils a better measure, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), in the hope of re-centering public policy and discourse on a more relevant set of priorities.
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Betting on management is quite the gamble.
An interesting study has recently been released which calls into question the validity of the “always bet on management” mantra.
To study the impact of management talent on fundraising, Dr. David Townsend (North Carolina State U.) and Dr. Lowell Busenitz (U. Oklahoma) followed the capitalization outcomes for 144 Oklahoma-based technology ventures ranked for management strength and technology strength.
Not surprisingly, ventures which had a combination of strong management and strong technology were able to raise funds to meet their development needs.
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Here’s the round-up of the week in the newsfeeds. Below I highlight my favourite articles of the week from each category.
Today’s Top Pick - “Investors Bet on Payments via Cellphone“. Find out more under Business and Entrepreneurship.
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Download MaRS' industry briefing
The verdict is in: Brains are hotter than ever. You could say the whole field of neuroscience is on fire. Daily we are bombarded with news highlighting our expanding understanding of cognition, neurogenesis and neuroplasticity.
Canada strongly holds its own in the world of neurotechnology. Canada’s neuroscience research is world-class, ranking fifth in the world in the number of neuroscience citations. For details check out MaRS’ latest industry briefing, “Neurotechnology: Focus on Aging“.
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From Body & Soul, a play for fearless women
Our social innovation program (SiG@MaRS) works with many female social entrepreneurs who are creating a new path outside stereotypical roles. To celebrate them and the other “fearless women” making a difference, SiG held an event featuring Judith Thompson’s play, Body & Soul at the Tarragon Theatre last Tuesday. There, SiG@MaRS and the Ontario Trillium Foundation announced a feasibility study for the School for Social Entrepreneurs based on the UK model.
Julia Moulden, author of We are the New Radicals, asked the room of 100+ entrepreneurial women, “Do you hear that? It’s the sound of women rising”. Her position is that today’s fearless women are on a mission, “and this time we intend to save the world.”
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Less radiation for thyroid cancer
Researchers from Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital have presented data at the ENDO 2009 Symposium (in Washington DC) indicating that lower doses of chemotherapy are just as effective as larger doses in adjuvant treatment of thyroid cancer.
Dr. Kumar and colleagues were able to reduce the radiation dose by 70 per cent and maintain the same treatment effect as the standard higher dose.
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Here’s the round-up of the week in the newsfeeds. Below I highlight my favourite articles of the week from each category.
Today’s Top Pick - “Government of Canada Announces $450 Million in New Funding for BDC to Assist Canadian Businesses“. Find out more under Venture Capital.
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Making digerati out of changemakers
When new methods of communicating, organizing and mobilizing are brought to bear on chronic social issues, amazing change can happen. Between June 8-12, 2009, MaRS held our first ever Net Change, a week dedicated to exploring this intersection between social technology and social change.
What are the implications of new media, technology and strategies to social causes? Fourteen different Net Change events, including an art show, experimented with ways of creating and sharing information and knowledge on this question.
Bridging the “digital divide” between web professionals and people creating social change, participants were from all different sectors and leadership levels. They picked up not only critical skills and tactics in new disciplines, but also an understanding of how to apply them to their organizational strategy. Want to cross the divide too?
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