LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman spoke this past May at the Tech Alliance luncheon in Seattle, and something he said got me thinking about Silicon Valley – and all innovation hubs — in a different way.
Category: Technology
UW student teams create pilot solutions for future road usage charge
The gas tax is the state’s principal source of revenue for its road, bridges, and ferries. Industry forecasts predict that fuel efficiency will rise from its current 20.5 mpg to 35 mpg by 2035. As that happens, state gas tax revenue will decline by as much as 50 percent. In partnership with the state, UW students have created smartphone apps that track road usage, while giving the user privacy control.
Innovation Fund Spring 2017 winners
The CoMotion Innovation Fund is a partnership between CoMotion and the Washington Research Foundation to support innovations that have a high chance of creating impact but are unlikely to get there without additional funding.
How to stamp out fake news? Innovate the attention economy
Sareeta Amrute, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UW
Vikram Jandhyala, UW VP of Innovation Strategy and Executive Director of CoMotion
The topic of “fakenews” is of course in the news (real or fake!). Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department, Sareeta Amrute, is interested in understanding the fake news problem from a sociological viewpoint. It appears that the top technology companies are, in their own image, looking for primarily technology solutions to a social and societal challenge.
We teamed up to write this article as an example of a challenge that can be best addressed by inclusive innovation which crosses multiple disciplines, organizations, and boundaries. One important question is the incentives for change in a market system and whether a fear of regulation is sufficient. Read the article published recently in BigThink here.
Driverless Seattle: How the city can plan for automated vehicles
A new report from the University of Washington’s Tech Policy Lab and the Mobility Innovation Center touts the need for readiness and tackles the costs and benefits of automated vehicles.
Is technology crucial for innovation?
Technology is crucial for innovation — and innovation in technology is critical to innovation in just about every other arena. Why? Ed Lazowska, the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering, believes the forward march of technology allows us to do more with less, improving our lives in the process.
Is the startup model best for innovation?
Chris DeVore, partner at Founders’ Co-op, writes that the “clockspeed” of the the global economy, a pace of business that governs how quickly companies can grow and adapt to the changes around them, has changed only slowly since the industrial revolution. But since the introduction of the microprocessor in the late 1960’s, the clockspeed of business has shifted from a linear growth pattern to an exponential one.
Can the public sector outpace the private sector when it comes to innovation?
Kevin Merritt, founder and CEO of Socrata, says governments around the world are facing significant political turmoil and enormous economic stress as they struggle with an alarming and unprecedented array of public-policy crises.