Visioning 2026 Blog
New Frontier Is Called Genomics and the New Agricultural Technology Is Called Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS)
This crop revolution may succeed where GM failed
Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Biotech Century Thursday October 26, 2006The Guardian
Very interesting article that was referred from KurzweilAI.net on the new genetic engineering process for crop breading. The dialogue after the original post is very good especially by the author climbpaddlehike. Could this new technology help reduce the amount of chemicals used in the production of food crops? Is this the next step in organic farming to improve our environment and produce healthy raw materials for the food industry?
Mark
Ten Trends that will Rock the Outdoor World -- How do Take Advantage?
Jim Carroll, futurist, trends and innovation expert, presents two pages of trends that will affect our lives in the future and how they relate to outdoor activities.
For example, how can we use the following trends to help our community become a destination and more recreation friendly? What available resources can we use to promote the outdoor experience, e.g., the 2 new Frisbee golf courses, ball fields, etc.?
- Gen-Y takes tech outside. The “Nintendo Generation” redefines their outdoor environment through a wide variety of new hi-tech devices that enhance the outdoor experience.
- Vocation Vacations. Gen-Xers and boomers are making “leisure time” into “active time,” turning vacations into an educational experience.
- Work/life balance fuels more outdoor time. Young people are actively rejecting traditional 9-to-5 jobs, and instead seeking careers that let them blend their need for outside activity with the need to work.
Mark
Learn About Nanotechnology While Playing a 3D Game -- Futures Entertainment and Recreation Theme Park?
Nanotecweb.org posts a request for collaboration on providing funding and content to target 12-18 year olds.
PlayGen, a London-based computer games development studio focused on game-based learning, is looking for partners and sponsors in developing an exciting action adventure game based on nanotechnology. See http://www.playgen.com.
They are looking for sponsors or partnering with us to help develop the content.
What knowledge resouces do we have locally (or know of in the area, state, nation, or world) that could participate in this particular project? How could this concept become part of a "Futures Entertainment and Recreation Theme Park"?
Mark
20 Smart Companies to Start Now -- $100 million in funding to the entrepreneurs
Editors from Business 2.0 Magazine, Michael V. Copeland and Susanna Hamner, asking venture capitalists for great startup ideas.
The result is a list of 20 tantalizing business ideas, ranging from a host of new websites and applications to next-generation power sources and a luxury housing development.
Here are a couple examples that we might consider in our Visioning 2026 Focus Group activities. For example, how could RFID technology become part of a solution to a GPS-guided coupons? Or how could the computer and the multimedia departments at NECC collaborate with local entrapreneurs to develop a solution to Helping Vlogs to Flog project? Another project could envolve partners such as the NECC, drafting, construction and building departments with local builders and the building trades to help create a community of affordable new homes, Luxury Living on a Budget.
GPS-Guided Coupons
The Investor: Jeff Crowe, general partner, Norwest Venture Partners
What he's backed: Jigsaw, Nano-Tex, Telcontar
What he wants now: GPS-enabled ads and coupons piped to your mobile phone at just the right time and place. Location-based marketing is a concept that's been bandied about for years, but only now is the required technology becoming cheap enough to implement. Companies like Yahoo and Google, meanwhile, have proven inept at building quality services for wireless carriers. Though the timing is ideal for a startup to build the technical pieces, persuading customers to sign up for a steady barrage of marketing offers may prove the bigger challenge. "The behavioral piece is the biggest uncertainty, but you've got to make your bets now," Crowe says. A startup needs experience in lightweight applications for cell phones and in location-based services.
What he'll invest: $3 million for a demo application and retail partners ready to test
Send your pitch to: bizplans@nvp.com. -- M.V.C.
Helping Vlogs to Flog
The Investor: Steve Krausz, general partner, U.S. Venture Partners
What he's backed: PodTech Network, Verity, Vontu
What he wants now: A matchmaking site that brings new forms of advertising to one of the Web's fastest-growing new phenomena, the video blog. Popular vlog Rocketboom got the concept off the ground earlier this year by auctioning off 15-second house-produced ads at the end of its Web newscasts; then-host Amanda Congdon also wore T-shirts from startups eager for exposure.
Krausz wants a startup that can offer a clearinghouse of placement opportunities from major advertisers like Apple (Charts) and Nike (Charts) - from 10-second trailers to insertion of products in the creative. Videos would be subject to screening and approval by the advertiser, but Krausz thinks that's a service that could eventually be outsourced. Payment to vloggers could be negotiated any number of ways: They could receive fees based on impressions, click-throughs, or both. The startup, of course, would take a healthy cut. "It would allow this explosion of user-generated content to get an additional revenue stream," Krausz says. "Nothing like this exists yet."
What he'll invest: $2 million for a proof-of-concept site and sign-on from a handful of top advertisers
Send your pitch to: steve.k@usvp.com. -- S.H.
Luxury Living on a Budget
The Investors: Donn Davis, president, and Steve Case, founder, Revolution
What they've backed: Exclusive Resorts, Flexcar, Miraval
What they want now: A design scheme for a community of affordable new homes, packed with luxury amenities and based on green values. This is yet another baby-boomer play, but AOL co-founder Case and partner Davis - who helped bring fractional ownership to the ultraluxury-home market with Exclusive Resorts - don't think builders like KB Home (Charts) and Pulte Homes (Charts) have all the angles covered.
Sustainable living and "wellness" lifestyles are big draws among retiring boomers. But so is price, Davis says, as more and more people worry about shrinking retirement incomes.
That's why he'd like to see a development based on more modest homes inside a community that offers an eclectic mix of perks--a spa, yoga classes, a community garden, room service, and so on. Revolution is looking for a small team to identify the developable land, map out home architecture and design, and assemble the right mix of services.
"It's about lots of services, lots of amenities, lots of convenience," Davis says. The plan ought to consider not only location options but also different sales models: Homeowners should be able to choose among full or fractional ownership and different levels of property management, perhaps even taking part in selling the community's services to outsiders.
What they'll invest: $5 million for the right plan
Send your pitch to: tigesavage@revolution.com. -- M.V.C.
Patient Safety -- RFID Technology for Primary Care Providers
How could you see this RFID technology and WiFi or WiMax be implemented for people that supports inhome care? Would this be something that a child day care center would consider implementing? Use this type of technology to activate camera systems for high risk facilities?
Mark
RFID Journal Health-Care/Pharmaceutical News
Oct. 18, 2006
EDITOR'S NOTE
The DeBakey Code
The Michael E. DeBakey Veteran Affairs Medical Center serves as the primary health-care provider for more than 112,000 veterans in southeast Texas. Some of those patients are at risk of wandering off or otherwise endangering themselves. To make sure these patients get the special treatment they need, the hospital established its "Code Purple" initiative, which identifies patients likely to fall in harm's way and provides guidelines for their care.
Recently, the hospital took the initiative a step further by implementing a system utilizing active RFID tags embedded in wristbands and sensors.
Under the new system, if a patient at risk of wandering off attempts to move out of a room, RFID antennas installed in the doorway detect the movement via the RFID wristband, causing an LED to flash, alarms to sound throughout the unit and the door to lock automatically. If a patient at risk of falling tries to get out of bed, a pad senses the weight shift and relays that data to an RFID interrogator, triggering an alert so hospital staff can attend to the patient.
Currently, the medical center has 150 purple RFID-enabled patient wristbands available for use in the emergency room, and in the mental-health and transitional-care units. Nurses and other caregivers working in the three units will be given RFID-enabled pendants to wear either around their necks or clipped to belts. Nurses requiring assistance will be able to press the pendants' buttons and communicate with the RFID interrogators to sound an alarm and signal where they are in the hospital.
DeBakey's RFID-enabled Code Purple system goes live this month, hopefully providing one more clue about how radio frequency identification can improve patient safety.
Full Story:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/2732/1/1/
Wireless Infrastructure and Community Development -- What is Possible?
Talk about community development and building capabilities, WOW! (news articles posted below)
The last sentence really hit home for rural communities in Northeast Nebraska, "...... bridge the connection among rural communities in a rollout of the wireless technology."
My hope is that the Focus Groups will pick up on this particular topic and expand on it some more. How can we help people engage in this topic and make connections locally as well as in the state, country and world?
Susan Risinger on WJAG interviewed Mike McKenzie from the City's IT staff yesterday morning about how the library now has a WiFi access point and the potential across the community, especially for public facilities. The City has a fiber optic backbone that would support a very robust and redundant infrastructure to support the community. For example, plumbers could easily submit a water heater installation permit without ever having to leave the job site, thus making it easier for everyone to get the tasks done more efficiently and with better service.
One of our challenges is figuring out who we can partner with to have a successful implementation across the community including Madison County and other communities in the area. This again could be partial justification for hiring a federal lobbyist. We need to engage the youth to see if this is one small way to rekindle their desire to stay or return to Norfolk.
Just like road infrastructure it will be imperative to have a highly capable communication infrastructure for our community of the future.
Mark
Japanese Cities To Get High-Speed Wireless Mesh Broadband
By W. David Gardner, TechWeb Technology News
More than 100 Japanese cities with a combined population of 50 million will get mesh broadband service in a massive network rollout from NTT West and Strix Systems, according to an announcement Monday by Strix.
The mesh network will operate in the 4.9 to 5.0 GHz frequency and provide broadband service to corporate enterprises and municipalities. Some spectrum will be allocated for use by public safety and emergency services, Strix said.
The deployment will utilize Strix's Access/One Network Outdoor Wireless System (OWS) and its Indoor Wireless System (IWS) to deliver wireless voice, video and data services. The installation will also be supported by design and maintenance services supplied by Network Value Components.
Strix said its antenna technology will enable NTT West to bridge the connection among rural villages in the rollout of the wireless technology
WiMAX universe set to supernova soon
Posted Oct 16th 2006 2:01PM by Brian White
With last week's WiMAX World trade show in Boston, both Motorola and Nortel made large announcements with WiMAX infrastructure equipment, and Nokia even pitched in and said that it would be embracing WiMAX technology as well. In short, the world of WiMAX is about to get incredibly serious if it isn't already -- which it is, by all counts.
Airspan, a pre-WiMAX pioneer with installations in over 120 countries, now sees a huge market in the U.S. where many niche communities exist without any type of wireless broadband network outside of the top-20 markets that the larger carriers seem to always focus on. So - living in a small town may not be such a bad thing after all very soon, if you're a mobile broadband fan.
The question is, will the infrastructure be like freeways or tollways?
Testimonial--Connections, Access Points, Putting it Together
Rick Smyre, I really thank you for your encouragement.
Your are my mentor where my father may have been if he was still alive. I need to tell you a little story on why I say this. My Dad took risks in introducing new sales techniques and technologies in the agricultural industry. He taught his salesmen how to use a four-function calculator in 1972 to create a feed ration for livestock customers without having to go back to the headquarters for the answers. This was instant creditability. He introduced a university simulation tool to advance the least cost feed ration based on available ingredients and their corresponding costs.
The thing that was missing before was the integration of how these ingredients influenced the rate of gain and their associated ingredient costs to the overall cost of production. It so happened that I was writing a part of the computer code as part of my senior project for my undergraduate degree. So at the time I didn't really understand the big picture (1978).
He quickly saw the value of this tool in helping customers make decisions toward the beginning of harvest and before purchasing livestock. For example, do I cut more corn silage or harvest the corn in kernels based on the markets? Given my variable input costs what do I need to receive for my livestock to make a profit. In other words he was able to give his customer a tool that they could go to the banker to show them they could make money given the current and project market conditions. Here was one of the first introductions of information technology and the value of information in the livestock market place.
The whole company adopted the tool across 8 states in the Midwest. This helped the company, customer, and university. Talk about collaboration!!! I Bcc... you on a email to one of our suppliers that is an innovator in many ways. The company president was one of the first to introduce water-based sealants to the wood flooring industry, several years ago he introduced water based field marking paint for synthetic sports fields (that's how we happened to get connected), and is now teaming with another firm to introduce antimicrobial products and processes for the sports industry.
A local Edward Jones investment advisor we've been working with the last two years is a great asset manager and is a leading proponent of the ethanol industry. He gave me an access point that I need to follow-up on, I may have mentioned it in the telecon on Thursday, John Pappajohn from Des Moines, IA. He is the Warren Buffet of Iowa. He has created 5 entrepreneur centers throughout Iowa. I've included a link from one of his centers. There is a video of him under Archives, a presentation in 2002. http://www.bcs.uni.edu/jpec/index.html
My brother is actively involved Junior Achievement in his local school system in Omaha, NE. Have you been involved at all with this organization? I see that we have to start working with the youth while their still in grade school, especially by high school, to understand business practices and learn more about global economy. In my mind this leads into entrepreneur centers which are backed by venture capital funds like what has been done by Pappajohn. There will be no quick fix, rather a transformation over 10-20 years. The local community college could be a primary player or Wayne State College which is only 35 miles away. How do we get our local business community to understand this need for personal knowledge investment along with the financial incentives?
The University of Nebraska Extension Education Department is developing a EntrepreneurShip Investigation (ESI) training syllabus to be used by 4-H clubs and schools systems. This program is designed to be used in parallel with other 4-H projects to help individuals develop entrepreneur skills so they can find ways to stay in their local communities throught businesses development.
A local business owner (JK) is on the edge, I think, of getting the AHAH. He has the personal recruitment process down yet the community is lacking the business recruitment piece (creating the knowledge based and the future microbiology industries of the future), or let me say we have not been as successful, in changing our economic development model.
A local SCORE chapter was started in the last two years with mostly traditional business executive experience. They understand cash flow, business plan, marketing, but not necessarily in the information technology age and how we can better understand these markets using tools that are available on the Internet. Just read a very interesting article on 20 Smart Companies to Start Now, Business 2.0 Magazine editors, asked venture capitalists for great startup ideas (CNNmoney.com). Here's where I may be able to engage JK to expand what Norfolk Area Recruiters (NAR) is doing. His group primarily consists of younger professionals, 35-45 year olds.
For example if a particular sport field related product comes up on my "radar screen" through a trade magazine, eNewletter, email, etc. I typically will check to see whether there are many searches being performed on the Internet. (This is one of our trade secrets that folks can learn easily enough by keeping updated on Internet tools and tricks.) I use the following web site, Key Word Selector, that tells me how many times a key word or phrase was used in the last month on Overture (not sure if this includes Yahoo which purchased Overture over a year ago). How popular is this keyword concerning active searches? Yahoo represents about 20% of the on-line searches. http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Let's use "antimicrobial" in the on-line tool which comes back with numerous combinations. The tool reported that antimicrobial has 1145 searches done in April. This tells me right away that people are interested in this keyword or keyword phrase. Therefore this is a possible market opportunity. I then use the same keyword in the Google search engine to see how many times the keyword has been indexed by the Google, in this case 13.5 million. Here again a very popular keyword however this may mean there is also a lot of competition in the market place depending on the particular industry and product application. I continue to make a table of related keywords and key word phrases using a simple Excel spreadsheet to better understand the "picture" of the market place and our opportunity to market the product on our web site.
One thing we'll check is whether a product is being sold on a web site, do they have pricing. Here again I want to understand the competition. If no one can directly purchase the product using an on-line shopping chart solution then I immediately know we have a niche market to pursue. I will search on eBay to see if any products are being offered through this on-line supermarket. Is the product in a big box stores? We will search out possible manufactures that will drop ship the item directly to the customer without us having to carry inventory. We may find that we can produce the product right here in Norfolk.
For example, our Sandbags are produced by a local tarp and awning company. The owner is a member of our Kiwanis Club and was able to help with the prototyping and establishing a cost of manufacturing. Now they produce these sandbags, normally during their non-rush periods. I can normally do this market research in less than 5 days, sometimes in a couple hours to determine whether to proceed. This is something that couldn't have been done very effectively 7 years ago. This is another of my testimonials on why I believe transformational learning concepts are so critical to our future.
OBTW...I recently attended a Boy Scout adult training class that will prepare individuals to effective adult leaders. They have incorporated a technique called "reflection" (developed in Minnesota) that helps people understand communications techniques and asking open-ended questions so individuals consider an appropriate response versus a yes or no answer. He used a enclosed rope, first asking the group to grab the rope then closing their eyes. He then asked the group to create a triangle. After the group agreed they were done he asked them a couple questions, e.g., who was the leader, was it important who this was. He then repeated the process asking the group to create a square, then asking a question how was the communications different from the previous exercise, was there more teamwork involved and if so how?
I thought you might enjoy this last story. Thanks again for your time. Regards, Mark Hall
Energy -- Fuel Cells and Portable Power Solutions
Fuel Cells and Portable Power Solutions -- Battery Development -- Importance of Cobalt
Watched a very informative video pod cast on the MITWorld web site (1:15 hrs).
A MIT professor makes the argument for increasing resources on battery technology as acost effective alternative (over hydrogen) to carbon based transportation solutions.
Fuel Cells and Portable Power Solutions http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/361/
Donald R. Sadoway, John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry
Department of Materials Science Engineering Mr. Elliott states that more resources should be spent on battery research. He explains why the hydrogen economy will be very difficult to implement unless transportations costs become extremely expensive in order to justify the massive infrastructure investment and that a non-metallic catalyst (not platinum as used today) be found for cost effective hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Mr. Elliott mentions the following problems with the hydrogen fuel cells:
1) non-metallic catalyst must be found. The cost of platinum is already expensive which is being used in fuel cells.
2) cost of producing hydrogen (many solutions still use carbon fuels to produce the hydrogen fuel)
3) storage of hydrogen (on the car or at the station) and implementing crash worthy cars?
4) shipping costs must be overcome (distributions methods)
He proposes that we need to invest in low cost carbon and electrical mechanical transportation solutions.
Europeans have been on the forefront of the diesel electric hybrid vehicles for years.
How could Northeast Nebraska become the leaders in implementing ethanol electrical hybrid vehicles along with diesel hybrid vehicles? How could we be recognized as the prototype hybrid car center of the world? Is it realist to establish a goal that in 10 years we have 50% of passenger vehicles on the road using hybrid technology and 75% in 15 years? According to Mr. Elliott, just about every commuter working in Norfolk could be using a hybrid vehicle without "running out of energy" for the daily commute based on current technology. How could we at a local level provide an incentive for purchasing these type vehicles, e.g., by eliminating the county and city sales taxes (2.5% on $30K vehicle would save the purchaser $750.00)? Right now there is a federal tax credit when purchasing hybrid cars (up to about $3,500) that covers the additional cost of a hybrid over a conventional vehicle. How would we transform the engine mechanics (and electrical motor) courses at NECC to become the center for hybrid car maintenance? Norfolk Iron & Metal use to be the battery recycler in Northeast Nebraska 35 years ago. How could we help with battery recycling in Nebraska?
Battery production currently requires significant amount of cobalt according to Mr. Elliot. I can remember 15 years ago the United States Air Force was very concerned about uninterrupted access to cobalt due to instability in Africa and the former Soviet Union. They had budgeted millions of dollars to stockpile cobalt for manufacture of jet engine parts (turbine fans and compressors).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt
Cobalt is not found as a free metal and is generally found in the form of ores. Cobalt is usually not mined alone, and tends to be produced as a by-product of nickel and copper mining activities. The main ores of cobalt are cobaltite, erythrite, glaucodot, and skutterudite. The world's major producers of cobalt are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Zambia, Russia and Australia. It is also found in Finland, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. It is also produced in the town of Cobalt, Ontario as a byproduct of the silver mining.
Does it make sense why one of the other reasons we are in Afghanistan is due to its cobalt reserves?
Mark
Drawing Connections Between Various Factors
I copied Rick Smyre on this already, but... I am nearly finished listening to a very good audio book (8 CDs) from the Norfolk Public Library entitled, "Collapse - How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond, c2004. It is very pertinent to our community work. The book accents the importance of drawing connections between various factors, causes, and effects in society, many of which seem unconnected and go unnoticed by those in failed societies. A good read.
Larry
Welcome to Visioning 2026
The goal of Visioning 2026 is to start an exchange of ideas about the future of Norfolk, Madison County and surrounding areas. With that in mind we are providing this blog as a way to do that available to anyone at anytime. If you have specific questions that you want answered you can contact us at info@visioning2026.com. Hope you get involved with the process.
Visioning 2026 Committee