iMedia

Ben Keeton, Kentucky BioAlliance

In this short iMedia Kentucky clip, Ben Keeton of the Kentucky BioAlliance points out that the commonwealth is a leader in plant-based pharmaceuticals.

For a complete list of iMedia Kentucky videos, see our YouTube channel. His video also kicks off a new "focus on" section of the website, which, over the next couple of weeks, will link to biotech stories.

Bill Bishop on the "Big Sort"

One of the more intriguing ideas I heard last week at the Visioning Kentucky's Future Conference in Covington was offered by panelist Bill Bishop, author of The Big Sort. He identified one deceptively simple reason for the difficulties now facing the country. It's voluntary.

I caught up to him - see below - following the taping of a KET show "What's The Big Idea?" that will televised December 22. You'll want to watch to hear some very provocative suggestions by the assembled panelists - one drew nervous laughter from the live audience - to move Kentucky forward.

High tech, high growth

One of the things heard last week at the Visioning Kentucky's Future conference is the connection between high tech and high growth. It certainly makes this stat relevant. Our southern neighbor North Carolina has just recorded the highest fiver year rate of growth in biotech jobs in the nation.

Google's Eric Schmidt on Innovative Public Policy: Pay for Performance

Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently appeared at the New America Foundation, and according to the foundation, talked about "technology, economic growth and open government." Intangible Economy points out that one of his proposals would incent Detroit's automakers.

Build more fuel efficient cars, get cash. I immediately thought of the auto bailout hearing that just ended and wondered if that proposal was legislatively doable. Schmidt also talked about cash incentives "to get people to study math and science," according to a Twittercast of the event. I can think of one very innovative program in Kentucky that proposes to do just that. 

Big Idea!

The Big Ideas session at the Visioning Kentucky's Future Conference was terrific. These images were snapped with my iPhone just before it kicked off. More later.

Economic Growth in Kentucky - It's "Education, Education, Education"

I attended a session this morning at the Visioning Kentucky's Future conference sponsored by the Long-Term Policy Research Center.

A couple of speakers addressed a mid-morning breakout session - there are eight sessions going concurrently - on economic development in the commonwealth.

Dr. Kenneth Troske, Sturgill endowed Professor of Economics, and Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Kentucky spoke first. Some notes:

Kentucky's economic growth has lagged in history, and more recently, lagged the growth experienced by some of its southern neighbors. Saying he's interested in the long term, he shows some trend lines dating to 1969, which represent his research. Despite boom and bust elsewhere in the country, Kentucky has always remained relatively poor while its neighbors have made economic gains. Why? His thoughts:

TV "Rising above the Gathering Storm"

Dale Fleury, who is a regional director for the National Math and Science Initiative, spoke to iMedia Kentucky recently about the need to raise the level of math and science education in the country.

Prior iMedia Kentucky videos:

• Nassim Nicholas Taleb, financial analyst and "Black Swan" author.
• Test Toob, a social networking site built around science experimentation.

Computerworld: National technology-related innovation in decline

Is the U.S. in "a decade long decline" in technology-related competitiveness?" Computerworld:

By most measures, the U.S. has been in a decade-long decline in global technological competitiveness. The reasons are many and complex, but central among them is the country's retreat from long-term basic research in science and technology, coupled with a surge in R&D in countries such as China.

R&D has two components, of course, and published figures showing a rise in "research and development" hide a troubling trend. Companies still spend billions annually on development, typically aimed at the next product cycle or two. But the kind of pure research that led to the invention of the transistor and the Internet is declining as companies bow to the pressure to improve quarterly and annual financial results.

Fun with Disasters

Most people will agree that the job of any government is to protect the life and property of its citizens. Linking to this Wired piece, Bruce Sterling asks: Can a game put the fun in disaster preparedness?

The Biology of Perspective

What is the biology of problem solving? How do we model and apply perspective to difficult problems in order to better understand them? Ongoing research by Dr. Lee Dugatkin at the University of Louisville hopes to shed light on the "biology of perspective."

See his audio in the right sidebar of the iMedia Kentucky web site.

Wayne