From the monthly archives:

October 2013

The Global Innovation 1000 – Navigating the Digital Future

October 29, 2013

On October 22, Booz & Co published the 2013 Global Innovation 1000 study. This years study reflects the increasing importance of knowledge based, digitally oriented companies and it demonstrates that it is not how much companies spend on research and development that determines success. What really matters is how those R&D funds are invested in […]

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IASP World Conference 2013

October 28, 2013

The 30th IASP World Conference took place in Recife in Brazil from the 14th to the 17th of October. The theme of the conference was “Science parks shaping new cities”, which is crucial for the future of science and technology parks (STPs) and other areas of innovation. Below is a brief documentary about the event. […]

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The Five Characteristics of Successful Innovators

October 27, 2013

There is not much agreement about what makes an idea innovative, and what makes an innovative idea valuable. We have written about these controversies before on this blog. What we do know is that creativity, knowledge and sound judgment are key components in coming up with innovative ideas. However creativity alone is not sufficient. Innovation […]

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Want to spot innovation opportunities? – take a closer look at Africa

October 25, 2013

Lack of basics in life, war and scarcity is still the common picture when we in the west flip on our TV-news channels and open the daily newspapers. This is still true, but it is definitely not the only truth anymore. GDP in the Sub-Saharan African countries is blooming in a way that makes European […]

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How the economy works

October 24, 2013

Ray Dalio is the king of the global hedge fund industry. He founded Bridgewater Associates in his Manhattan apartment in 1975 and it has since grown to become the world’s biggest hedge fund firm with about $150 billion in assets. According to Forbes Dalio is the 31st richest person in America and the 76th richest […]

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Report from OECD on what drives the knowledge economy

October 20, 2013

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.  The OECD defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify […]

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Stockholm–The Tech Start-up Paradise

October 18, 2013

The power of clearly defined place management and talent attraction strategies. For the third year, WIRED Magazine´s European edition have visited the continent’s start-up hubs to identify the ten tech cities you need to know about. Their conclusion: Europe is on a roll and Stockholm, Sweden is in the midst of it. The Stockholm start-up […]

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The Current State of Globalisation

October 15, 2013

The Economist this week (Oct 15 issue) includes a special report on the world economy, where an important conclusion is that the forward march of globalisation has paused since the financial crisis, with nations states and trade unions returning to a more conditional, interventionist and nationalist model. According to The Economist, a simple measure of […]

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Global Competitiveness and Innovation

October 13, 2013

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress. – Herbert Hoover The The Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 from the World Economic Forum, published last month, ranks 148 economies around the world shows a strong link between innovation and economic competitiveness. The report is published for the […]

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Manage your memory – the Nobel Laureates sharpest tool

October 11, 2013

During this week this years Nobel Laureates have been presented. The Nobel Prise is awarded annually to individuals and organisations that make outstanding contributions in their respective fields. What has been most important for you success – is the most common question Nobel Laureates has been asked over the years. Excluding family love and intelligent […]

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European Week of Regions and Cities – RegioStar Awards 2014

October 7, 2013

This week, October 7 to 10, it will be will the 11th European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels. The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of […]

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Inside the Doomsday Machine

October 6, 2013

Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing. – Warren Buffett This article is about the powerful doomsday machine, which by paradox is the same machine, defined by Adam Smith, that has brought market economies wealth  and high standards of living, and at the same time in the information age risks bringing us into collapse. […]

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The Geography of Business

October 5, 2013

I am spending my Saturday at the Park Inn Hotel in Sandton, the business district of Johannesburg. The Park Inn Hotel is a comfortable but anonymous place. If I did not look out the window, where I see construction work, the signs of a booming business economy, this place could be just about anywhere in […]

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Castles in Spain – the origin of the Parador hotels

October 4, 2013

Castles in Spain – the origin of the Parador hotels One of the great benefits of living in Spain’s beautiful capital Madrid is the closeness to one of the countries best preserved cultural heritages – the legendary Paradores. Last weekend my family and I visited the Parador the Oropesa located just outside Spain’s former capital […]

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Highlights of Architecture in Croatia

October 3, 2013

In the first days of autumn, with some moisture in the air but still a pleasant weather for sightseeing, on 27th September until the 29th September 2013. the 4th Congress of Croatian Architects took place in the city of Osijek. It was the fourth Congress of architects in Croatia, with some 600 architects participating. The […]

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Consequences of Corporate Closures – the other way around

October 2, 2013

Characteristics affecting re-employment probability – the power of thinking the other way around   Thinking intensively about one subject often makes you realise that you really do not know much about it at all, subsequently, it results in an eagerness to learn more about that subject. As outlined in one previous blog-post the stories of success […]

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Lessons of Steve Jobs

October 1, 2013

Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley author, speaker, investor and business advisor. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. Today he  published a PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare that I would like to promote, as I think it captures the essence of the genius of Steve Jobs. See […]

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Flat packed renewable energy, Swedish style

October 1, 2013

Sweden’s IKEA have announced plans to commence selling solar photovoltaic panels to the private home owner. The innovation furniture giant  are taking their first steps into a new home market, which they hope to roll out world-wide. Moving away from their standard business model of flat pack and home self-assembly, IKEA are proposing an all-inclusive […]

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