Global Innovation Index 2020 Focuses on Who Will Finance Innovation

According to the 13th edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), "As long as innovation has existed, a central challenge facing innovators worldwide is the mobilization of stable and accessible financing mechanisms. Financing affects all stages of an innovation cycle, from ideation to commercialization, expansion, and, eventually, long-term business sustainability."

The Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation? is the result of a collaboration between Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as co-publishers, and their Knowledge Partners including the Confederation of Indian Industry, Dassault Systèmes, The 3DEXPERIENCE Company, and the National Confederation of Industry Brazil.

The Global Innovation Index 2020 provides detailed metrics about the innovation performance of 131 countries and economies around the world. Its 80 indicators explore a broad vision of innovation, including political environment, education, infrastructure and business sophistication. The 2020 edition sheds light on the state of innovation financing by investigating the evolution of financing mechanisms for entrepreneurs and other innovators, and by pointing to progress and remaining challenges – including in the context of the economic slowdown induced by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.

Below are the six key findings of the GII 2020:

1. The COVID-19 crisis will impact innovation—leaders need to act as they move from containment to recovery

"The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered an unprecedented global economic shutdown," the report notes. "Now that global economic growth will fall deeply in 2020, the question becomes—will R&D, VC, IP, and the political determination to foster innovation also slump? As innovation is now central to corporate strategy and national economic growth strategies, there is hope ahead that innovation will not slump as deeply as foreshadowed."

2. Innovation finance declines in the current crisis, but there is hope too

"In the context of the GII 2020 theme 'Who Will Finance Innovation?', a key question is the impact of the current crisis on start-ups, VC, and other sources of innovation financing."

The report provide some home noting that in "key VC hot spots—Singapore, Israel, China, Hong Kong (China), Luxembourg, the United States of America (U.S.), India, and the United Kingdom (U.K.)—will continue to be magnets for VC. They are likely to bounce back quickly, in part due to the thirst for return on capital worldwide. Chinese VC deals, which halved earlier this year, are already rebounding strongly. Importantly, the direction of VC and innovation seems to have been redirected towards health, online education, big data, e-commerce, and robotics."

3. The global innovation landscape is shifting; China, Viet Nam, India, and the Philippines are consistently on the rise

"This year, the geography of innovation is continuing to shift, as evidenced by the GII rankings. Over the years, China, Viet Nam, India, and the Philippines are the economies with the most significant progress in their GII innovation ranking over time. All four are now in the top 50."

The report adds that "Switzerland, Sweden, and the U.S. lead the innovation rankings, followed by the U.K. and the Netherlands. This year marks the first time a second Asian economy—the Republic of Korea—cracks the top 10, next to Singapore."

What is more, "The top-performing economies in the GII are still almost exclusively from the high-income group. China is the only exception, ranking 14th for the 2nd time in a row and remaining the only middle-income economy in the GII top 30. Malaysia (33rd) is the second-most innovative middle-income economy. India (48th) and the Philippines (50th) make it to the top 50 for the first time. India now ranks 3rd among the lower middle-income group—a new milestone. The Philippines achieves its best rank ever—in 2014, it still ranked 100th. Viet Nam ranks 42nd for the second consecutive year—it ranked 71st in 2014. In the lower middle-income group, Indonesia (85th) joins the top 10.

"The United Republic of Tanzania tops the low-income group (88th)."

4. Stellar innovation performance found in developing economies

"Beyond GII top-level rankings, innovation performance reveals itself in a few other ways, highlighting that some top innovation performance takes place in emerging markets too."

The report "assesses which economies consistently hold the top global spots on particular GII innovation facets, such as VC, R&D, entrepreneurship, or high-tech production. Hong Kong (China) and the U.S. lead on this count; Israel, Luxembourg, and China tie for 3rd place; Cyprus ranks 4th; and Singapore, Denmark, Japan, and Switzerland tie for 5th place."

However, "Some top spots on selected innovation indicators are not held by high-income economies. In South East Asia, for example, Thailand is 1st in business R&D globally, and Malaysia is top in High-tech net exports globally. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Botswana ranks 1st in Education spending globally and Mozambique leads in Investment globally. In Latin America, Mexico is the largest creative goods exporter worldwide."

5. Regional divides persist, yet some economies harbor significant innovation potential

The report remarks that "Despite some innovation 'catch-up,' regional divides exist with respect to national innovation performance: Northern America and Europe lead, followed by South East Asia, East Asia and Oceania, and more distantly by Northern Africa and Western Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively."

Moreover, "Latin America and the Caribbean continues to be a region with significant imbalances. The region is characterized by its low investments in R&D and innovation, its incipient use of IP systems, and a disconnect between the public and private sectors in the prioritization of R&D and innovation. With low innovation inputs, the region also struggles to translate these efficiently into outputs. Only Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil produce high levels of Scientific and technical articles, and only Brazil ranks high in Patents by origin."

With respect to the African continent, which the GII includes both Sub-Saharan Africa and Northern Africa, the continent "has one of the most heterogeneous innovation performances across continents. While some economies rank in the top 75 (e.g., South Africa, Tunisia, and Morocco), others rank much lower.

"Innovation systems in Africa are broadly characterized by having low levels of science and technology activities, high reliance on government or foreign donors as a source of R&D, limited science-industry linkages, low absorptive capacity of firms, limited use of IP, and a challenging business environment.

"But these are broad regional generalizations. Some economies within regions stand out because they harbor significant innovation potential.

"For example, the typical innovation leader in Africa usually has higher expenditure on education (Botswana, Tunisia) and R&D (South Africa, Kenya, Egypt), strong financial market indicators such as venture capital deals (South Africa), openness to technology adoption and inward knowledge flows, an improving research base (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), active use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and organizational model creation (Kenya), as well as a stronger use of their IP systems (Tunisia and Morocco). Innovation is also more pervasive in Africa than what existing innovation data suggest."

6. Innovation is concentrated at the level of science and technology clusters in select high-income economies, plus mainly China

The report explains that "Divides also exist as to the ranking of the global science and technology (S&T) clusters. The top 100 clusters are located in 26 economies, of which 6—Brazil, China, India, Iran, Turkey, and the Russian Federation—are in middle-income economies. The U.S. continues to host the largest number of clusters (25), followed by China (17), Germany (10), and Japan (5).

Furthermore, "In 2020, Tokyo-Yokohama is the top-performing cluster again, followed by Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Seoul, Beijing, and San Jose-San Francisco."

Readers will appreciate how the GII 2020, for the first time, "presents the top 100 clusters ranked by their S&T intensity—that is, the sum of their patent and scientific publication shares divided by population. Through this fresh lens, many European and U.S. clusters show more intense S&T activity than their Asian counterparts. Cambridge and Oxford in the U.K. emerge as the most S&T-intensive clusters. These two clusters are followed by Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and San Jose-San Francisco (U.S.)."

My colleagues and I find reports like the GII useful in understanding how the world is changing and how that creates opportunities to be seized and risks to be managed. How does this report help you make strategic decisions for your business?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

The Mobile Industry Plays an Increasingly Important Role in Accelerating Social Progress in West Africa

West Africa's mobile ecosystem generated more than $50 billion in economic value last year – equivalent to 8.7 percent of the region's GDP, according to a GSMA study. Authored by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA, The Mobile Economy, West Africa 2019 further finds that rising mobile phone ownership and the ongoing migration to mobile broadband networks and services across the region will see the mobile ecosystem's economic contribution continue to increase over the coming years, forecast to reach almost $70 billion (9.5 percent of GDP) by 2023.

Available in both English and Français, the report reveals that:

• The number of unique mobile subscribers across West Africa reached 185 million at the end of 2018, equivalent to 48 percent of the region's population. This number is forecast to rise to 248 million by 2025, 54 percent of the population;
• Future subscriber growth will largely be driven by young consumers owning a mobile phone for the first time; more than 40 percent of the region's population are under 18 years old, according to the report;
• 3G will overtake 2G to become the leading mobile technology in West Africa this year, supporting about half of the region's mobile connections. 4G momentum is also building: ten new 4G networks have recently launched in West Africa, including the first ever 4G networks in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Togo;
• Local mobile operators are increasing investment in their networks and are expected to spend $8.5 billion (capex) on network infrastructure and services over the next two years (2019/2020);
• West Africa's mobile ecosystem directly employs around 200,000 people, supports 800,000 jobs in the informal employment sector, and a further 600,000 jobs across the wider economy; and
• Mobile is the primary platform for accessing the internet in West Africa; at the end of 2018, there were around 100 million mobile internet users in the region, up almost 20 million year-on-year.

On the topic of mobile contribution to social progress, the report says "[t]he mobile industry plays an increasingly important role in accelerating social progress in West Africa. With a sizeable proportion of the sub-region's population excluded from many services, mobile-enabled digital platforms provide a vital opportunity to deliver solutions that can improve the livelihood of the most vulnerable people in the society and foster greater socioeconomic inclusion. Across West Africa, the activities of mobile operators and other ecosystem players are enhancing digital and financial inclusion, driving innovation and supporting efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

Eleven years remain until the 2030 deadline to achieve the SGDs. The report notes: "Countries in the sub-region face an uphill task to attain these goals, mainly due to acute resource and infrastructure gaps. The mobile industry is, however, well positioned to support governments, the development community and other stakeholders in efforts to accelerate progress on key SDG targets. This is achieved in three main ways:

• Deployment of infrastructure and networks: The mobile industry drives impact through the provision of – and investment in – high-performing mobile networks, which provide the foundations for the digital economy and act as a catalyst for a diverse and innovative range of services.
• Access and connectivity: Mobile operators are continuing to connect the unconnected, with 30 million new mobile subscribers and 50 million new mobile internet subscribers across West Africa since 2015.
• Enabling services and relevant content: Mobile connectivity continues to transform the lives of millions of people across West Africa, by enabling the delivery of life-enhancing services, including education, health and financial inclusion. This is especially significant given the challenge of providing the services by conventional means amid considerable infrastructure and funding gaps."

The report encouragingly explains that "[t]he tech start-up ecosystem in West Africa is growing rapidly, with the emergence of a new generation of tech entrepreneurs and increasing funding from private investors. Tech innovators increasingly use mobile platforms, such as connectivity, mobile money and cellular IoT, to create and distribute innovative solutions that address a wide range of local challenges. This is helping bridge the digital content gap through the development of homegrown content and services with direct relevance to local consumers."

Infographic: GSMA Intelligence

What localized content or services do you think will provide value to West Africa's mobile ecosystem?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of Solutions for a Sustainable World.

A Tech-Driven Transformation in Africa is Making People Healthier, Wealthier, and Better Educated

Since my first trip to the African continent in the 1990s, I have appreciated the correlation between advances in technology and the rise of socioeconomic development. From obtaining a drove of information from the world wide web through a desktop computer using a dial-up modem to transferring cash through a service optimized for mobile phones, it is amazing to witness such transformations in the lives of those whom live in developing countries. Therefore, I read with great interest a special report entitled "Technology in Africa" in the Nov. 11, 2017 issue of The Economist.

The report's leading article, "The leapfrog model: What technology can do for Africa," notes that across "sub-Saharan Africa, countries are on the cusp of a tech-driven transformation that is already beginning to make people healthier, wealthier and better educated at a pace that only recently seemed unimaginable."

Providing some historical context of technological advances in Africa, the article explains:

The first taste of these new possibilities came when mobile phones swarmed across the continent a decade ago. Within just a few short years hundreds of millions of people were able to phone and text for the first time, bypassing monopolistic state-owned phone companies that kept customers waiting for landlines indefinitely. And leapfrogging over old technologies and business models with mobile phones quickly made other sorts of leaps possible. Thanks to M-Pesa, a service that lets people send money through their phones, everyone with a phone suddenly also had, in effect, a bank account in their pocket. As mobile money has lowered transaction costs, it has brought down barriers to innovation in all sorts of other areas, allowing lenders quickly to assess credit risks, insurers to sell life and medical cover in small chunks and new energy firms to sell electricity by the day or week.

What is more, "Some of these innovations are emerging from the thriving tech hubs that are popping up across Africa, but most of the technology transforming the continent comes from elsewhere. The $50 smartphones on which apps connect motorcycle taxis and customers in Rwanda are Chinese, for instance. However, these technologies are often being combined in new ways to solve uniquely African problems. If you want to book a truck to move your cow, or get an ambulance to go to hospital, you will probably turn to an African startup."

The article importantly mentions that "much of the money going into African technology comes not from philanthropists but from hard-nosed investors looking for attractive returns. In 2016 African tech firms raised a record $367m. Although paltry by the standards of Silicon Valley, this is helping to stimulate the setting up of firms such as Flutterwave, a Nigerian payments company, and Zipline, which uses drones to deliver blood to clinics in Rwanda."

Not all of the news, however, is so optimistic:

Technology is advancing far more slowly in Africa than it is in the rich world, so the gap has been widening in recent years. "The poverty gap is a technology gap," says Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Ghana's science and technology minister. It is also a knowledge and education gap. Three-quarters of children in their third year of schooling in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are unable to explain the meaning of the sentence "The name of the dog is Puppy" after reading it aloud. If the education system cannot prepare youngsters for jobs in a tech economy, Africa risks falling even further behind.

The do it yourself method of learning, which I have witnessed all so well during my travels to Africa, continues to thrive. The article explains that "given an opportunity to grasp that technology, many in Africa do so with both hands. In a tech hub in Lagos, Nigeria, enthusiastic youngsters tap away on laptop computers, practicing coding skills that many have picked up through online portals such as Udacity or by watching YouTube videos." Furthermore, "Jean-Claude Bastos, who sponsors an annual innovation prize in Africa as well as a tech hub in the slums of Luanda, Angola, recalls how alarmed he was when he first put a 3D printer into the center, only to find that the youngsters there immediately dismantled it. 'They took it apart, then put it back together, then did it again. Now if anything in it breaks they rebuild it on intuition, like it is a motorbike or car,' he says."

Lastly, the report says,

A cluster of new technologies promise to have a huge impact on Africa, not least because they can help solve some of Africa's biggest and longest-standing problems. These include weak state-run education systems, a high burden of disease, broken infrastructure and low productivity on farms and in factories. What made mobile phones so much more important in Africa than in the rich world was that for hundreds of millions of people they were the first and only form of telecommunication available. Equally, if a vaccine is developed for malaria, it will make little difference in the rich world but could save millions of lives in Africa. 'Investments in health R&D for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases will be a massive boon for poor countries where the disease burden is highest,' says Bill Gates, whose foundation funds some of this research. 'The same is true for innovations like better seeds that enable poor farmers to increase crop yields.'

The Economist's special report is presented through the following articles:

• "Good night, gloom: Africa might leapfrog straight to cheap renewable electricity and minigrids"
• "The right connections: Beefing up mobile-phone and internet penetration in Africa"
• "Yes, we have no bananas: How technology can cure market failures in Africa"
• "Someone to watch over them: Electronic surveillance may save the rhino"
• "Doing more with less: Technology can make scarce medical resources go further"
• "Robots in the rainforest: Technology may help compensate for Africa's lack of manufacturing"
• "Four legs good, four wheels better: The sharing economy, African style"
• "Light in the tunnel: Technology cannot solve all of Africa's problems, but it can help with many"

How do you think technology will transform the lives of people living in Africa?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of Solutions for a Sustainable World.

Verified Credential Management for the Professional World

The previous post discussed my experience of attending the 9Mile Labs Demo Day or "Milestone9" where participating companies (cohort) present their idea to an audience of investors, mentors, executives, community partners, and the greater entrepreneurial community. 9Mile Labs is an Seattle, Wash.-based accelerator focused on enterprise or business-to-business (B2B) software and cloud technologies. In writing the previous post, I found the notes from my attendance of Milestone9 on May 14th, 2015.

The nine companies participating in Cohort IV include:

1. Camp Native -- Marketplace to list, discover, and reserve campsites;
2. Fasterbids -- Remodel pricing in seconds, saving time, saving money;
3. Kodu Care -- Kodu Care brings patient success management to mental health;
4. Mowdo -- On-demand app and pricing engine for the 74B lawn care industry;
5. Pingle -- Verified credential management for the professional world;
6. Qalendra -- Mine, fuse and structure data from multiple sources to generate predictions and insights for the travel industry;
7. SalesPrepper -- A salesperson's personal research analyst;
8. Unoceros -- We turn mobile phones into datacenter-like-instances; and
9. Variat -- Quality control solution optimized for medium-sized manufacturers with global aspirations.

While each company presented a unique solution to a particular problem, I enjoyed the presentation made by Pingle, Inc. Founded by Kristian Alcaide and RedWolf Pope, Pingle "uses a patent-pending machine learning verification engine to instantly provide credentials for professionals in maritime, construction, medical and other industries," according to an GeekWire article that includes an interview with Mr. Pope.

In his interview, Mr. Pope, who also serves as the company's chief executive officer, explained that "Pingle verifies peoples credentials, lets employers check compliance, and offers renewal options when they expire. So we facilitate communication with workers, employers and schools, but we also verify everyone and each credential, so that trust is added to the equation."

One of Pingle's value proposition is saving time as the current system of verifying credentials is a painstaking manual- and telephone-based process that may take weeks. Saving money is another value of Pingle's service as the "costs of a bad hire or expired credentials can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," according to the company's website. Moreover, "Current tracking solutions are overly complex, costly and add more work to the HR department."

Given the challenges HR departments may have in maintaining compliance in managing and verifying the credentials of their current or prospective employees, or professionals needing to manage their credentials, there is certainly a market opportunity for a service like Pingle's.

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

A Cloud-Based Storm Water Monitoring Platform Among the Innovative Solutions from the 9Mile Labs Startup Accelerator

9Mile Labs is a Seattle, Wash.-based accelerator focused on enterprise or business-to-business (B2B) software and cloud technologies. The startups accepted into the program receive a $35,000-$105,000 investment in exchange for 7-10% of the startup's equity, a diverse network of mentors who can help provide counsel and connections to the companies, workspace for the company, and networking and social events run by 9Mile Labs during the program. At the end of the 14-week program, the participating companies (cohort) attend a graduation ceremony, 9Mile Labs Demo Day or "Milestone9," where each company is provided with the opportunity to present their idea to an audience of investors, mentors, executives, community partners, and the greater entrepreneurial community. I had the pleasure of attending Milestone9 on March 3, 2016 in Seattle.

The 11 companies participating in Cohort V at MileStone9 include:

1. ClientLinkt -- Custom App for Realtors®, helping them add value & stay connected;
2. CPE Suite -- Continuing Professional Education (CPE) marketplace for licensed professionals;
3. Globatom -- Cloud-based platform that automates International trade;
4. IoTfy -- Enabling IoT in Enterprises;
5. Jodone -- Robotic/Human hybrid solution for Solid waste and Recycling, the mechanical Turk for robotics;
6. minima -- SaaS solution that helps Enterprise IT control data sprawl;
7. Muze -- Helping small businesses grow through entertainment and advertisements;
8. Namastream -- Namastream is a comprehensive, on-demand virtual wellness studio platform;
9. StormSensor -- StormSensor is the only cloud-based storm water monitoring platform;
10. trenzi -- Trenzi enables everyday influencers to promote products for brands;
11. Viato -- World's First Deal Escrow: Providing protection against channel conflict to indirect sales partners who register the deals early.

Photo of StormSensor's
Erin Rothman: GeekWire

Among the companies listed above, I am particularly impressed by StormSensor. During her presentation, Erin Rothman, StormSensor's co-founder and chief executive officer said, “We built StormSensor, the only solution that automates the entire data collection, monitoring, and reporting process for storm water data at test sites.” Ms. Rothman continued to say that "StormSensor notifies our users of rainfall at their sites so they know exactly when to sample…so they can focus on solving problems instead of wondering [if] they have one."

I appreciate the way Ms. Rothman presented the problem her company is solving and the solution she and her colleagues are creating. Specifically, I see value in the real-time analytics, data availability, and workflow notifications StormSensor is providing to their customers, which include government agencies and companies from the private sector. (For additional information about the company, I recommend reading this interview of StormSensor's co-founder, Anya Stettler, by Taylor Soper of GeekWire.)

This was the second Milestone9 event that I attended (the first being Cohort IV on May 14, 2015) and I enjoyed seeing the variety of creative ingenuity in the area of B2B software or cloud technology.

Aaron Rose serves as President and CEO of ROI3, Inc., a Seattle, Wash.-based company that empowers people in emerging economies through innovative, technology-based solutions. He is also the editor of Solutions for a Sustainable World.

“Global Challenge” Competition to Reward Graduate Students for Developing Business Solutions that Support International Development

College students worldwide are receiving an education not to solely benefit financially in a future career, but to make a social difference as well. Aspiring business leaders are reevaluating success not on the basis of a financial return on investment, but on the social return on investment and the impact on the environment and surrounding communities. And more than ever are we seeing the need to understand the critical role of the private sector in international development. The Global Challenge, a collaborative effort by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will reward graduate students from across the United States to employ their creativity, research skills, business acumen and passion for seeking solutions that advance growth and reduce poverty.

According to a press release dated January 28, 2010, the Global Challenge is “a first-of-its-kind competition that challenges teams of MBA (Master of Business Administration) and other graduate students to develop business solutions that support international development. Teams will be tasked with devising a new public-private alliance that allows a private enterprise to meet its long-term business goals while contributing to international development initiatives in a specified region.”

G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, said, “We invite MBA and graduate students from across the nation to employ their creativity, research skills, business acumen and passion for seeking solutions that advance growth and reduce poverty. It is our hope that future business leaders balance profit-making with social impact and take all stakeholders into account when making decisions, values we are committed to fostering at the Smith School.”

In describing the format of the innovate competition, the Smith School’s announcement explains, “In round one of the competition, teams will submit written proposal in response to a specified Global Challenge prompt, then up to eight groups will be invited to compete in the oral presentation final-round competition at USAID’s headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 2010. Judges will include representatives from USAID, industry-leading private sector companies, and academia.”

Teams will compete for $8,500 in cash prizes: $5,000 for first place, $2,500 second place, and $1,000 third place. Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to establish relationships and receive guidance from business leaders, international development experts, and other students. Winners of the Global Challenge will have their work published and distributed to international development professionals worldwide. Teams may register online through February 5, 2010.

The Global Challenge is sponsored by USAID’s Business Growth Initiative and the Smith School’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) and Center for Social Value Creation. Launched in 2009, the Center for Social Value Creation’s mission is to engage students in courses and experiential learning programs to enable them to become global leaders who understand how to use business as a vehicle for both economic prosperity and transformative social change, and to support faculty research in related areas.

GE Launches $250 Million Fund to Invest in High Potential Healthcare Technology

I strongly support any initiative from the private sector that provides financial support to emerging companies designing innovative solutions to current or preventing future problems. Investments made by Microsoft, Boeing, IBM, Intel, and Cisco Systems, just to name a few, have allowed other companies to create, market, and launch innovative products and services that millions, or perhaps billions, of people use daily.

GE is one such company that has created a fund to support healthcare technology companies. On October 21, 2009, GE announced "the formation of the 'GE Healthymagination Fund', a new equity fund that will make investments in highly promising healthcare technology companies. The fund will invest in companies globally that have innovative diagnostic, IT, and life sciences technologies aligned with the strategic objectives of GE's Healthymagination initiative. The fund will also support healthcare companies developing innovative and unique business models and services."

Furthermore, according to the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company, "The formation of the fund is part of GE’s $6 billion Healthymagination initiative, a global commitment to deliver better healthcare to more people at lower cost." Creating a global footprint, the fund will draw on capabilities from across GE Healthcare, GE Capital and GE Global Research. Moreover, the fund will target three areas for investment:

• Broad-based Diagnostics, including imaging, home health, patient monitoring, molecular diagnostics, pathology, novel imaging agents and other technologies for disease diagnosis;
• Healthcare Information Technology, including electronic medical records, clinical information systems, healthcare information exchanges and value-added data services; and
• Life Sciences, including tools for research and development in biopharmaceuticals and stem cells, and technologies for manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines; and

Here is an advertisement for GE Healthymagination:

Win $10,000 in "Apps for Innovation" Contest

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, an Arlington, Virginia-based trade association promoting growth in the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry, "launched the new Innovation Movement 'Apps for Innovation' contest and opened an online portal for submissions of software applications for judging by a panel of industry experts. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 and a free trip to the 2010 International CES®" in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 7-10.

According the CEA's press release dated October 7, 2009, "The contest is looking for developers to build apps that demonstrate how innovation and entrepreneurship are making an economic impact in the United States. The contest will also accept submissions from developers that create apps to help consumers advance policy goals that support innovation."

Furthermore, "The contest is part of the Innovation Movement, the grassroots campaign launched in June by CEA to mobilize Americans in support of public policies such as broadband, alternative energies and international trade that will play a key role in the global economic recovery and U.S. job creation. The mission of the Innovation Movement is to encourage the U.S. government to reward innovation and investment and support policies that foster entrepreneurship in a free-market system. More than 35,000 Americans have already joined the Innovation Movement."

Applications must qualify in one of two categories: apps that illuminate with data how innovation and entrepreneurial activity are at work across America or apps that will help the members of the Innovation Movement advance policy goals that support innovation. Contestants may choose any application platform such as client applications, web-based applications, Java applications, applications for Facebook, the Apple iPhone, the Android phone, etc. Lastly, membership of the Innovation Movement, which is free to join, is required for all contestants. Developers may submit more than one application, but can win only once.

CEA's press release further explains that "in addition to the grand prize winner, judges will award a second place of $5,000 and a third place of $3,500. The best apps will be included in the 'Apps for Innovation' library, where apps will be available for free to the public as a way to help them learn about the innovation economy." The following is the list of judges:

• Leslie Harris, president and CEO, the Center for Democracy and Technology;
• John Zogby, president and CEO, Zogby International;
• Michael Masnick, founder & CEO, Floor64, and editor, Techdirt blog;
• Jonah Seiger, co-founder and managing partner, Connections Media; and
• Michael Petricone, senior vice president of Government Affairs, CEA

Judging criteria will include:

• Potential for furthering the mission of the Innovation Movement;
• Potential usability of the app for participatory democracy;
• Originality of the app; and
• Usefulness to constituents for advocating positive economic, scientific and technological change with their members of Congress.

Submissions must be received before midnight Pacific Standard Time on November 6, 2009 and winners will be announced on November 10, 2009 at a CES Press Event in New York City. For those of you who will be submitting an application for the contest, I invite you to describe your application in the comment section below.

Unlimited Potential: Making Technology Affordable, Relevant and Accessible

On October 18, 2008, I attended the 10th Annual African Day Business Forum and Celebration Dinner & Auction sponsored by the Seattle-based African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest (ACCPNW). There were several good speakers, but I found James Utzschneider's presentation particularly interesting and relevant regarding the problems presented by the digital divide (i.e., the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without) to hundreds of millions of people in the developing world and how Microsoft is providing the tools necessary to overcome these problems through fostering innovation and education. (Picture is taken during one of my trips to St. Theresa Girls Secondary School Bwanda, a private school located in Masaka, Uganda for girls 14-20 years of age. My friend, Sister Noelina Namusoke, a graduate of Seattle University who was born and raised in Uganda, is the school's headmistress.)

Mr. Utzschneider is the general manager of marketing and communications for the Unlimited Potential Group at Microsoft Corp. According to the company's website, "Microsoft, through its Unlimited Potential vision, is committed to making technology more affordable, relevant and accessible for the 5 billion people around the world who do not yet enjoy its benefits. The company aims to do so by helping to transform education and foster a culture of innovation, and through these means enable better jobs and opportunities. By working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations and industry partners, Microsoft hopes to reach its first major milestone — to reach the next 1 billion people who are not yet realizing the benefits of technology — by 2015."

Speaking about the digital divide and how the Unlimited Potential vision is providing the tools necessary for people to cultivate innovative skills and enhance educational strategies aimed to eradicate poverty, Mr. Utzschneider said that it is necessary to combine to efforts of governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to promote the benefits of technology to the world's underserved population. Unlimited Potential is an ideal vehicle to overcoming these challenges through three core areas: Transforming Education, Fostering Local Innovation, and Enabling Jobs and Opportunities.

Mr. Utzschneider explained that an example of these core areas is through Microsoft's Partners in Learning initiative, which is "designed to increase technology access for schools, foster innovative approaches to teaching, and provide education leaders with tools to better engage students and improve learning outcomes." He further said that the Local Language Program was allowing people worldwide to benefit from technology while preserving local languages and cultural identities by making software available in as many languages as possible.

Speaking at the second annual Information and Communication Technologies Best Practices Forum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso last April, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer said, "Technology alone will not turn these goals into achievements...Technology is just a tool to empower people to make progress. It is an enabler." (see "Ballmer: African Business Needs to Be More Transparent"). With the right implementation strategy, Microsoft's Unlimited Potential vision can empower the world's most underserved population with the tools to break the generational cycles of poverty.

For your reference, I am providing two additional resources about Microsoft's Unlimited Potential vision:

1. Unlimited Potential World Updates
2. Inside UP - James Utzschneider's blog to help tell the story of how his group works with partners and governments around the world to develop and deploy technology that helps improve people's lives in a sustainable way.