MyPlaceMatters: A One-Stop Resource for Place-Based Economic Development I am thrilled to announce the launch of a new website. MyPlaceMatters is a resource for anyone working in local and regional areas to develop the economy, create jobs and improve the quality of life. Where we live, work, invest, and grow affects who we are. It…
Supporting city and local government innovation
City and local government authorities can be more innovative in the way they work, share data and stimulate local innovation. Characteristics of innovative local governments While there is no single pathway to success, there are characteristics that high-performing city and local governments share: First, innovative city and local government authorities make sure that very different…
Making places for innovation; lessons from Mexico City
How local governments can support social and innovation through collaboration. While the national buzz around innovation in Australia appears to have somewhat subsided, there is growing evidence of the role local actors can play in stimulating innovation. Local innovation ecosystems nurture private and public innovation. National policy frameworks are important, but state and local initiatives…
Growing WA through Innovation – A Response
Growing WA through Innovation is a report of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly. Released on 30 June 2016, it presents the Committee’s findings of its inquiry into the ways technological and service innovation can be fostered to expand and diversify the Western Australian economy. The report provides an extensive review of…
Australian government scraps Repeal Day: Is business reform a political stunt?
The Australian Government’s decision to its scrap Repeal Day (I’ve written about this before: here, here and here) initiative after two years raises some interesting questions: Does red-tape reduction and improvement in regulatory quality require a specific day or event? How can government manage a continuous regulatory reform process connected to broader ambitions such as…
What Innovation Looks Like
Innovation certainly is the thing these days. Seems like everyone’s talking about it, we all want it and we all think it’s a good thing for our economy to do and our government to support. Last week I attended an engaging session on innovation run by Deloitte. It was a very upbeat event and…
The Value of the Micro-Business Sector
Small business is often touted as the engine of growth. But what of the smaller segment of this sector, the micro-business sector? A recent publication of the RSA caught my eye. Entitled ‘The Second Age of Small’ this report by Benedict Dellot (June 2015) considers the economic impact of micro businesses in the UK. There…
Two centres for social innovation
Creating physical and virtual centres for the promotion of social innovation appears to be an emerging trend. Here are two examples. In Toronto, Canada, the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) is a Toronto-based social enterprise with a mission to catalyze social innovation. CSI’s shared workspace model offers office amenities to initiatives that are typically under-resourced, increasing social capital and connecting…
The enabling city: places of social innovation
“Social innovation thrives on the ideas and efforts of social entrepreneurs and creative individuals whose socially conscious work contributes to environmentalism in a variety of ways”, writes Chiara Camponeschi in her 2010 e-book, The Enabling City; Place-Based Creative Problem-Solving and the Power of the Everyday. Here, the sources of innovation are found in “the most unlikely (according to some)…
Recipes for growth, democracy (entrepreneurship and innovation) in an increasingly integrated world economy
BOOKS REVIEWED Dani Rodrik (2007) One economics, many recipes; globalization, institutions and economic growth, Princeton University Press, Princeton Dani Rodrik (2011) The globalization paradox; why markets, states and democracies can’t coexist, Oxford University Press, Oxford Dani Rodrik is the Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard…
Drucker: Innovation and entrepreneurship — advice for the "purposeful entrepreneur"
BOOK REVIEW: Peter F. Drucker (1985) Innovation and entrepreneurship; practice and principles, William Heinmann, London Peter Drucker was born in Vienna in 1909 and educated in Austria and England. He was a renowned business management advisor and a prolific writer. In 2009, four years after his death and 100 years since his birth, Drucker was celebrated…
AMEX pledges US$100-million for digital start-ups — in the US
This article by Roger Cheng (CNET News, November 8, 2011) reports on American Express’s announcement that it will invest $100 million in startups that are designed to address mobile and online payments, security, reward and loyalty programs, and other forms of digital commerce. Rather than launch its own major initiatives in the way Visa and Google has, AMEX will support…
MindLab –– a platform for co-creating better ideas.
Here’s a Danish initiative designed to promote innovation within government while breaking down government silos. MindLab is a cross-ministerial innovation unit which involves citizens and businesses in creating new solutions for society – “a neutral zone for inspiring creativity, innovation and collaboration”. MindLab works with civil servants of three Danish ministries: Ministry of Business and Growth Ministry…
ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development
This October, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) its annual Information Economy report, which focused on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in enabling private sector development: Information Economy Report 2011; ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development (PSD). The report shows that the potential of leveraging ICTs to develop…
Promoting competitive industries in a high-growth country
This interesting post from the World Bank’s blog on private sector development cites Ricardo Hausmann, Professor of Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Director of Harvard’s Center of International Development and Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy at the Kennedy School and their observations on India and its high levels…
Namibian PM highlights the role of innovation in Africa's development
The Namibian newspaper on 30 August 2011 carried an article by the Namibian Prime Minister, Dr. Nahas Angula, on how to transform the African economy: Innovation, he says, “is the missing link in African development. African economic take-off can be enhanced if Africa can pay serious attention to innovation and technology. A national innovation system is a…