There is huge interest around the world in new tools for speeding up the generation and development of ideas. Many of them are in use in and around Nesta, including crowdsourcing, design methods and collaboration platforms of all kinds.
I see the work of Watershed in Bristol as a beacon - always pushing the leading edge of creativity in the arts – and seeking to capture the learnings from which others can benefit.
Many mature economies suffer from seriously antiquated infrastructures, in which they need to invest, acting more collaboratively with business and civil society. But many of the capabilities and skills needed are engrained in those mature economies, and may serve them well in the drive for growth that besets developing and mature economies alike.
Nesta hosted a great event last month on Collaborative Consumption, kicked off by the marvellous Rachel Botsman.
The Business Leadership Network’s Making It Mobile event: what a great showcase for Britain’s entrepreneurial talent. There were 5 minute pitches from twelve companies competing for the MiM award 2012 interspersed with the other presentations throughout the day. I was one of many judges in the room asked to award a mark out of ten for their “potential to make businesses mobile”.
I recently wrote a piece on the use of design methods in public services. Here it is ...
Nesta has just announced four projects that we will be funding through our Make it Local Scotland programme, helping councils open their data and work with a software developer in order to develop entirely new, web-based public services. We will be working with five local authorities in Scotland, spanning Scotland’s largest cities as well as rural areas - including an island at (nearly) the most northerly tip of the UK.
Where accelerators (intensive hothouses designed to generate rapid development) focus on innovation-to-market, do they have anything to offer in those sectors of the economy whose innovation times are inherently longer?
Mentoring is fashionable but elusive: for every outstanding example there are probably many faltering relationships.
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