Fresh Takes on Innovation

After our very interesting project in Kuala Lumpur in December where we generated ideas on how to make this world a planet of entrepreneurs, we are now in Africa with the UNECA (UN Economic Commission for Africa) and the African Union.

The Conference lasts for three days and looks for ways how R&D in Africa can be boosted and collaboration North-South and South-South can be increased.

BrainStores task is to develop 15 - 20 ideas with the conference participants, who are members of Parliament of African States, Scientists, delegates of UNECA and other UN Organisations as well as representatives of other organisations and associations.

To read more, visit www.uneca.org/sciencewithafrica

We are having a great time here and are impressed with the diversity, hospitality and positive spirit of this wonderful continent.

Lift08 is a three day event to explore the social impact of new technologies. Entrepreneurs, investors, and private sector professionals gather in Geneva to talk about tomorrow’s most important trends.

A small delegation of our brains is at Lift08. Their workshop this afternoon, will provide an insight into Industrial IdeaProduction, highlighting the different steps «manufacturing - proto-industralization - industrialization - digitalization – virtualization» along the model of the world’s first IdeaFactory BrainStore.

We are looking forward to an interesting discussion with the participants.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Switzerland the world’s second most competitive economy after the United States.

According to WEF Chief Economist Margareta Drzeniek:
“Switzerland is still a good place to do business. In terms of public institutions, red tape etc. it is very well managed. It is also a very good environment for innovation, where it has even improved since last year.”

The top ten in 2007 remain the same as in last year, just in a different order. Europe is strongly represented by Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Finland from third to sixth place. Singapore and Japan are seventh and eight places while Britain and the Netherlands were ranked ninth and tenth.The main change from 2007 is that the USA have moved up from sixth to first place. The economies of China and India were placed 34th and 48th respectively this year.

The report also says that Switzerland is characterised by an excellent capacity for innovation and a very sophisticated business culture.

Read the whole article

Teaching economics to high school students can be tedious for both teacher and student. But these days are over: The Swiss National Bank, responsible for the money policy in Switzerland, has recently launched a website called www.iconomix.ch that offers a wide range of interactive, fun and exciting materials for teachers and students.

The National Bank has created a fabulous interactive teaching site here with tons of interesting materials that are not only available for teachers and students, but for anyone who wants to know how markets operate, how risks can be minimised, how prices are established, or, even more basic, why societies use money to pay for goods. Some materials are worksheets, but there are also very detailed simulations, games and group tasks to keep you going for ages. Enjoy!

BrainStore has been involved in naming the website. The winner name, “iconomix” is the German way you would write the word “economics” phonetically. It also reminds young people of characters from the very popular “Asterix” cartoons.

December’s issue of the NY Times Magazine looks at the ideas that helped make 2007 what it was. The editors present 70 ideas “that are fresh enough for our particular cut of intellectual sushi”.

The list includes posthumous email, wireless energy, suing god, the braille tattoo and a lot of other ideas, either ingenious or strange, or both at the same time - some of them subversive or illegal.

There is also a nice cartoon illustrating the buzzword of 2007: alternative energy.

We’re having a very exciting pre-Christmas season this year. After celebrating our first branch office in Frankfurt only 2 weeks ago, a delegation of BrainStore staff is - as I am writing - constructing a mobile idea factory in the Kuala Lumpur Conference Center.

This morning, as the 3rd Global Knowledge Conference - better known as GK3 - will open its gates, our idea machine will start operating. Together with 120 Young Social Entrepreneurs from all over the world - and with the assistance of some 2′000 conference participants - we will produce ideas on how to make this planet a world of entrepreneurs by 2020.

We’re here since Saturday for last minute preparations - by now we know our way around the KL shopping malls (they’re huge!) and IKEA. But our favourite view are the Petronas Towers - simply stunning.

Conference participants have started arriving in the last 24 hours - the place is filling up and there’s a definite buzz. We’re slightly jetlagged and exhausted, but definitely excited about tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted!

Eight years ago, an elderly lady walked into our IdeaFactory with a serious order for us: She wanted to create and advent calendar for her dog and needed an idea how she could actually put it into action. I mean: How does the dog know which door to open? Anyway. Back then we thought it was just plain crazy, but of course we helped the nice lady and she implemented the first advent calendar for dogs.

Today, everything can be found for the canine friend or for kitty cat. Really, believe me, everything. The pet industry is one of the seriously growing industries everywhere.

You can get, for instance, dog costumes

Christmas stockings for dogs

Pet insurance

but also apparel, houses, carrying crates, accessories, communication gadgets, toys, and many other things. There are numerous sites dedicated to pets on the internet, where you can order everything right to your doorstep.

Whether you think this is completely ok because you love your own pet like your own child or whether you think this is seriously deranged does not matter that much, because it’s a fact: Pets are and will continue to be an important industry. At BrainStore we have learned not to laugh at a private clients “strange” request but to anticipate that more, much more of the same will come in the future.

So this is the second list of 2007 innovations. The Popular Science magazine titles it best of what’s new. Their innovation of the year is a nanosolar powersheet, letting you bake your toast with solar energy from the rooftop. The other categories feature a sunscreen-soap (personal health), a beautiful tower to be built in Chicago by architect Santiago Calatrava (engineering) and a stylish flat phone with a fatfingered screen (gadgets). Forgot it’s name, sorry.

It’s only November, but TIME and CNN are already featuring the best innovations of the year 2007. The winner is: the iPhone. Take a look at the 14 categories and find some cool new devices, vehicles and technologies.

We’ll keep you updated, when other media publish their best-of-lists. We’ll ignore rip-offs, though.

The effect of brain games is not as clear as one might think. Canadian tech site Digital Home recently questioned if they really work, stating that there is more “anecdotal evidence” than scientific proof, up to now.

Providers of brain fitness software like Luminosity or Nintendo with their bestselling ‘Brain Age’ game, insist on the effect of their “scientifically designed” products.

I played Brain Age myself and found it pretty entertaining and motivating. Still I think, that brain fitness is mainly about using your grey matter in every day life. Try not to use a calculator every time bigger figures come your way. Don’t write everything down, memorize dates, names and figures that surround you. Keep your body in shape, then your brain will be fit, too. Eat healthy, get enough sleep and socialize.

Need more tips? There are tons of brain improvement lists on the net: Try e.g. these 70 tips or these 22 ways to overclock your brain.