Technology managers, researchers and scientists seeking to deepen their understanding of intellectual property can, from today, sign up for a new program offered by the Worldwide Academy of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Innovation, Technology and Intellectual Property Management. Details of the course, which will be held at WIPO’s Geneva headquarters from April 16 to 19, 2007, are available at: http://www.wipo.int/academy/en/execed/siipm/gva_apr_07

Creativity and innovation are key to commercial survival and profitability in a rapidly evolving, complex and competitive business environment. Technology plays a pivotal role in the development, manufacture and delivery of novel products and services to the market and effective management of innovation and strategic use of intellectual property are key to technology leadership.

The four-day intensive course is designed to promote better understanding of strategic use of the intellectual property system to fuel innovation, and maximize return on investment in research and development (R&D). Thought leaders from top business schools and the corporate world will reveal unique insights and share practical experiences. Intellectual property aspects of innovation and technology management will be covered through lectures, case studies, best practices and group discussions. Participants will have the opportunity to share experiences and apply the principles and practices of innovation, technology and IP management to their own business environment. The program covers the essentials of product design and development, technology assessment and forecasting.

The University of Manchester's Brooks World Poverty Institute announces a series of scholarships for PhD study on poverty analysis starting in academic year 2007/8. This can include study on the relation between ICTs and poverty.

To be considered for these scholarships, candidates will need to apply to
study for a PhD via the normal University process (see details at:
http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/bwpi/postgradchol/). All components of the application must be completed by 31 January 2007.

Application needs to include a PhD proposal written by the candidate. This can relate to any aspect of the relation between ICTs and poverty but must have a strong poverty dimension.

What could teams of high school students invent? This school year the answer to that question includes a memory stimulator for people with Alzheimer's and dementia; a reusable fire-extinguishing grenade for first-responders; and a pocket-sized arsenic filter to purify drinking water. With InvenTeams grants up to $10,000 each from the Lemelson-MIT Program, students and teachers at 20 high schools across the country are inventing practical solutions to a real-world problem of their choosing.

The Open University’s commitment to broadening access to education is being taken to another level with the launch of OpenLearn, its major new open content initiative. The OpenLearn website will make educational resources freely available on the internet, with state of the art learning support and collaboration tools to connect learners and educators.

This £5.65 million project, supported by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will cover a full range of subjects from arts and history to science and nature, at all study levels from access to postgraduate. Available to learners and educators throughout the UK and worldwide, the project will be of particular significance in The Open University’s efforts to open access to hard-to-reach groups and tackle educational disadvantage both within the developed and developing worlds.

OpenLearn will be formally launched in London on 25th October 2006 at 1 Great George Street, Westminster. Keynote speakers include Bill Rammell, MP, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education and Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford University.

When Fiona Murray visited research centers in China recently, scientists greeted her quizzically: “People were baffled about what a business school professor was doing in stem cell and gene sequencing labs,” Murray says.

As it turns out, Murray’s tour was integral to her own MIT Sloan research exploring how science serves as a source of competitive advantage. As China and India and other developing countries produce scientists and engineers at a quickening pace, Murray hopes to find out if their capacity to capitalize on scientific ideas is expanding in a comparable way.

One challenge to this kind of research, says Murray, is that the market for scientific ideas “is poorly functioning.” Traditional markets, say for pork bellies, oil or diamonds have well-defined products, well-established metrics,” but how do you measure the quality of scientific ideas?

Murray’s solution is to visit key scientific and engineering institutes in other countries to observe both scientific infrastructure -- the physical state of laboratories -- and how researchers collaborate and generate useful knowledge. She also scans the scientific literature to see how many papers a particular country publishes, in what subdisciplines, and how many citations scientists receive.

Murray’s work may aid commercial enterprises intent on taking advantage of growing global scientific and engineering expertise. Some initial insights: places like China and India hold tremendous potential for firms, whether through their permissive regulatory climates or unique natural resources. But, she advises, don’t enter one of these countries expecting to hire scientists at bargain basement prices, since “the real costs of scientific labor are hidden.” Also, expect poor lab facilities, enormous bureaucracies and a crazy quilt of intellectual property and licensing rules.

Counsels Murray, “Start by collaborating on R&D with research institutes and labs. That allows you to understand their expertise, social rules of engagement and to potentially shape the rules.”

mitworld.mit.edu

LEDs AND LASERS have been proposed as light sources for displays for many years. The low performance of LEDs and the high cost of lasers prevented any massmarket for systems based on these technologies, but LED performance and laser costs are improving rapidly. In this Webcast Matthew Brennesholtz, Sr. Analyst for Insight Media (www.insightmedia.info) and co-author of the text "Projection Displays," will discuss the technology of red, green and blue solid-state light sources suitable for direct view LCD and projection applications. The design of HDTV displays using these solid-state light sources will also be covered. Finally, forecasts for LED and laser display sales through 2010 will be discussed.

Speaker:
Matthew Brennesholtz, Senior Analyst - Insight Media

For more information: http://lfw.pennnet.com/webcast/display_webcast.cfm?id=231
To register: http://www.iian.ibeam.com/events/penn001/20048
For questions or problems, email: webcasts@pennwell.com

*** NEW AT UNEP FI: ON-LINE TRAINING ***

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Is your financial institution doing business in Latin America?
Register now for UNEP FI's regional course on environmental & social
risk assessment.
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The latest feature in UNEP FI's Latin American Task Force training
programme, this new series of courses on environmental and social risk assessment (ESRA) aims to train analysts throughout Latin America, whether local, regional or international.

Designed and coordinated collaboratively with the INCAE Business School and supported by InWent and Bank of America, the course will provide in-depth and personalised training over a three-week period.

Tutors will be attending participants online on a daily basis, providing hands-on case studies and facilitating debates for maximum information-sharing.

The first course will be running in September following its successful
pilot run last month; registrations are open now. Places available are
limited; applicants are kindly requested to send their CVs by 31
August.

Dates: 4-22 September
Time Commitment: 2 hours on average per day from Monday to Friday
Schedule: flexible - participants establish their own login times
Cost: $200
Language: Spanish

For full details, please visit:
http://www.unepfi.org/regional_activities/latin_america/index.html
Contact & Registrations: latf-online@unepfi.org

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¿Su institución financiera tiene operaciones en América Latina?
Inscríbase ya al nuevo curso regional de UNEP FI sobre análisis de
riesgos ambientales y sociales.
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Este nuevo curso en línea sobre análisis de riesgos ambientales y
sociales (ARAS), es el más reciente programa de capacitación del Grupo Regional para América Latina de UNEP FI; su objetivo es capacitar analistas de instituciones financieras locales, regionales y/o internacionales en toda la región.

Diseñado y coordinado de forma conjunta con el INCAE Business School, y auspiciado por InWent y Bank of America, el curso brindará una capacitación especializada y personalizada en un periodo de tres
semanas.

Los Tutores del curso mantendrán comunicación constante con los
participantes, facilitándoles estudios de caso, ejercicios prácticos y
foros de debate que permitirán maximizar el intercambio de información y experiencias

El primer curso del programa se realizará en septiembre, habiéndose
celebrado con éxito una edición piloto el mes pasado; la convocatoria
se encuentra abierta. Las plazas disponibles son limitadas; a las personas interesadas se les ruega mandar sus expresiones de interés, antes del 31 de agosto.

Fechas: 4-22 septiembre
Nivel de compromiso: promedio de 2 horas por día de lunes a viernes
Horario: flexible – los participantes manejarán sus propios horarios de
acuerdo con su disponibilidad.
Costo: $200
Idioma: español

Para mayor información:
http://www.unepfi.org/regional_activities/latin_america/index.html
Contacto & Inscripciones: latf-online@unepfi.org

Green Cleaning University, a professional development tool and extensive resource of information about Green Cleaning and healthy building maintenance, has been launched by The Ashkin Group, LLC at www.greencleaninguniversity.org.

GCU is modeled after a traditional Ivy League campus, but with online programming designed for today's busy cleaning industry professionals. The faculty includes some of the nation's leading experts in green buildings, Green Cleaning and healthy building maintenance. Students have access to a wide variety of data and learning tools accessible via interactive classes, online discussion groups, special conferences, an extensive library and bookstore.

GCU was created by Stephen Ashkin and David Holly of The Ashkin Group, LLC headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana. Ashkin and Holly each have over 25 years of experience in the cleaning industry, managing product development, sales and marketing.