The French government's strategy unit has just published 500 propositions, innovations et curiosités sociales venues de l'étranger.
Inspired by Pedro Medina's discussion of serendipity*, Nesta's Randomised Coffee Trials (RCT) initiative responds to Pedro's dual challenge of appreciating the benefits of serendipity and the need to 'build new fishing systems**.
It's been National Schumpeter Week on the British High Street. Gales of creative destruction have swept away three well-known chains of stores whose business models had been made obsolete by the last decade of technological progress*.
Many thanks to everyone who took part in our roadshow in Cardiff, which had a full house.
It's against the law to download a pirated £0.99 MP3. But (technology permitting) it seems that printing your own £249.00 iPod is fine.
Like most parents with young children, I get a lot of joy from imagining what type of boy my young son will turn out to be (here's my best guess: sporty, intrigued by the world, cheeky, and a giggler).
The Economist has put a toilet on the front page of its innovation issue. I get it - toilets are useful. They're ubiquitous. Sanitation has saved millions of lives.
Globally we waste two billion tonnes of food a year, according to Waste Not Want Not, a report out today from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Last week Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, called for the UK to adopt a US initiative 'Small Business Saturday', which once a year urges consumers to shop at local independent stores. And in a poll taken by the Guardian last week, an overwhelming majority of respondents (83%) thought it was a good idea.
This time last year we explained why the DCMS's creative industry classifications have to be updated and placed on a more rigorous footing. We start 2013 with a new research report that does just that.
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