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. Read the rest of this entry »
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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“.
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.
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Tax talk putting you to sleep?
Flow-through shares… tax credits… income tax act regulations section… maximizing investor potential… qualifying transactions, blah, … Zzzz zzzzzzzzzz. Snore!
Wow, nothing can put a pragmatic, action-oriented cleantech entrepreneur to sleep faster than the tax code. But wake up, cleantech entrepreneurs, the intricacies of flow-through shares might be just the trick to land that key investor.
Green and the city: Sheraton's Waterfall Garden in Toronto
Save money; increase productivity. Tell me more!
Seventeen years ago, Indian researcher Kamal Meattle (see his “TED in 3 Minutes” talk here) became allergic to New Delhi’s air when pollution had reduced his lung capacity by 70% and made him very sick. His subsequent research efforts led him to discover that there are three basic green plants to put in specific spots indoors in order to grow all the fresh air we need to stay healthy:
Henry Chesbrough first coined the term “open innovation” in his book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003). He described a shift from a traditional closed model of innovation to an open model in which R&D-driven firms look outside their organization to solve internal research and development problems. By working with external individuals or organizations, a firm can benefit from an increase in the number and diversity of potential solutions that would not have been possible in-house.
Life sciences businesses can now take advantage of this trend after the launch of the latest online marketplace for problems and solutions.
Reward: $60K for cleantech ideas
What better way to start my MaRS Cleantech blog than to inform all those aspiring cleantech entrepreneurs of a $60,000 award! Ok, it’s not cash - but it is high-value access to Global 500 executives at Yet2.com’s exclusive Fortune 500 Executive Briefing and $20,000 worth of high-powered consulting services from Drayton Weissenfels Inc. It’s called “Clean 15″ and the idea is to connect cleantech startups with large companies. A kick-start to your cleantech business.
Illustration Remix by Kirby Ferguson
Changemakers everywhere, take note. The first rule of thumb if you want your cause du jour to make waves? Assume the position of any self respecting marketer and come up with a memorable, recognizable brand.
Sure, adopting a capitalist approach to social awareness campaigns feels scary–maybe even downright slimy. But if motivating the public to act up is a part of your leftist-led throwdown, branding and delivering a clear message is very, very necessary.
Case in point: Net Neutrality.
Mobile apps do good
Last night’s Mobile Monday at MaRS (affectionately known as #MoMoTo) featured two mobile applications of interest to not-for-profit organizations: Calliflower (presented by Alec Saunders) and XMGive, from the group that brought you Admeris (presented by Simon Law).
This special event was held in conjunction with Net Change Week and we thank Jim Brown and the organizers for working with us on this great event.
Allyson is establishing the social innovation program at MaRS that includes the creation of Social Innovation Generation (SiG@MaRS). This program provides social innovators and entrepreneurs access to resources to turn their ideas into positive outcomes for society.
