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Week of June 2 - 8, 2008 |
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Beyond Borders with Biotechnology
Ernst & Young’s latest assessment of the
global biotechnology industry was released last month. 2007 was a very
good year for the industry. In Europe and the Americas, financing
levels—with more than $29.9 billion raised---were the second highest
annual totals on record. Venture financing also reached an all time, and
global biotechnology firm revenues topped $80 billion for the first time
ever. Firms in Australia and Europe had especially strong years. In the
US, the overall biotechnology has not yet been profitable. However,
trends are moving in the right direction. 2007’s overall industry
revenue loss was under $300 million; this figure represents less than
0.5% of total industry revenue. While 2007’s performance was strong, the
report expects a slowdown in 2008. In addition to facing an overall
global downturn, biotechnology firms face several other
industry-specific obstacles, including pressures from globalization and
continued restructuring among Big Pharma companies. |
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Entrepreneurship Development in Appalachia
A new study sponsored by the
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) assesses the impact of the ARC’s
Entrepreneurship Initiative. This effort, which operated between 1997
and 2004, was the first Federal program that explicitly sought to invest
in and support local entrepreneurship development efforts. Overall, the
program invested $47 million into various projects, and these
investments had a positive impact in terms of creating new jobs,
attracting other new investments, and stimulating new business creation.
While the report details these results, it also provides a number of
suggestions and guidelines for how policy makers should measure these
programs in the future. Briefly, traditional economic development
measures, such as new job creation, do a poor job of depicting the
effects of entrepreneurship programs. Instead, a more nuanced and
diverse set of measures is needed. These new metrics would capture
traditional impacts, but also assess the impact of entrepreneurship
investments on community attitudes, business operations, and overall
regional economic prosperity. |
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Top 100 Government (IT) Contractors
The annual Washington Technology listing of
the nation’s top government information technology (IT) contractors has
been released. As in the past, the listing is heavy with household names
like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, this year’s top
three firms. The latest listing includes an interesting retrospective
comparing this year’s list to the first in 1994. At that time, the top
three players were AT&T, EDS/Hughes, and Unisys. Many of 1994’s top
performers opted to leave the business, or were swallowed in various
merger deals over the past decade. Not surprisingly, few small
businesses make the rankings. Only six small firms make the top 100,
with Alaska’s Arctic Slope Regional Corporation coming in at the 35th
spot with 2007 contracts valued at nearly $610 million. Like the
brethren in biotech, government IT contractors also face an uncertain
near-term future, with expected cuts in defense budgets and the
prospects of a new President and Congress in 2009. |
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Collaborative Innovation in Government Government agencies need to embrace new models of innovation, according to a new report sponsored by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. The study presents a review of new innovation models—dubbed network-based collaborative innovation---that have been pioneered by leading firms such as Procter & Gamble, 3M, and others. This approach links organizations to outside networks (such as customers or other partners) with the purpose of generating a broader and more diverse set of ideas and possible solutions. In the process, the speed of innovation is increased. Many thorny public policy issues, including areas like environmental conservation and disaster response, could benefit from this model. Yet, government agencies are presently not well suited to this approach, which places a high premium on openness and a commitment to close collaboration. The report provides a series of detailed recommendations for internal reforms that will help create the appropriate organizational culture and structures within government agencies. Download the 2008 IBM Center for the Business of Government-sponsored report, Transforming Government through Collaborative Innovation, by Satish Nambisan. |
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It’s been a tough year for the suburbs.
First, the housing bubble burst, and now, gas prices are shooting
through the roof. A new white paper from CEOs for Cities predicts that
things aren’t likely to get much better. The study, by Joe Cortright,
suggests that the “new calculus of higher gas prices may have
permanently reshaped urban housing markets.” Because of high
transportation costs, Americans may have to abandon sprawling
developments and move into housing closer to their jobs and major urban
areas. This shift will help further promote the revitalization of urban
areas, and also create new economic opportunities for regions with
strong urban cores and desirable urban amenities. |
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The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving entrepreneurship around the world. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. |
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National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
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stories © 2008 The Public Forum Institute
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