#innovation

#innovation

"When I interview people, I ask them to give me an example of something they've invented,"

Negotiation is one of the most consequential yet misunderstood leadership skills. It shapes deals, partnerships, and careers, yet even seasoned professionals still debate what truly defines a good negotiator. Remigiusz Smolinski is a professor at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. He is the founder of The Negotiation Challenge and cofounder of Discurso.AI. His research explores negotiation, leadership, and innovation.

In November, The Boston Globe's fifth annual Globe Summit will bring together researchers, entrepreneurs, executives, politicians, and change-makers from New England and beyond in conversations led by Globe journalists focused on this year's theme, "Revolutionary Ideas." The Globe Summit takes place Tuesday, Nov. 18, and Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the House of Blues in Boston, with the first day's programming focused on health care and leadership, followed on day 2 by discussions on innovation, community, and commerce.

The global challenges of today, from climate-fuelled floods, droughts and heatwaves to food insecurity and health disparities, are felt intensely in Africa. To tackle those, universities on the continent must strengthen their research and innovation capacity. On average, African countries spend around 0.5% of their gross domestic product on research and development. That's less than one-quarter of the global average of 2.7%.

Patent applications are a key indicator of a country's innovative capacity. A high volume of filings indicates effective research and development (R&D) activity, economic competitiveness, and a forward-looking approach to growth and productivity. Patent application filings don't actually record nationality or immigration background. But using a unique methodology, which assigns inventors' first names to one of 24 language areas, the IW patent database claims to be able to track "the region of origin" of inventors with a high degree of accuracy.

The 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize for Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to three researchers who have shown how technological and scientific innovation, coupled to market competition, drive economic growth. One half of the prize goes to economic-historian Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and the other half is split between the economic theorists Philippe Aghion of the Collège de France and the London School of Economics and Peter Howitt of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. "I can't find the words to express what I feel," Aghion said. He says he will use the money for research in his laboratory at the Collège de France.

If you're building the future in frontier technologies like AI, you could base yourself anywhere. So the real question is where. The answer today points north-to Stockholm. The European Commission recently declared Stockholm as Europe's most innovative region. Ahead of Copenhagen, London, and Zurich, the Swedish capital took the top spot. Not just overall, but on a range of individual indicators, from lifelong learning and share of tech specialists employed to cross-border scientific publications, collaboration between SMEs, patent filings, and trademarks.

We address critical topics such as the recent shake-ups at the USPTO, the controversial "patent tax" proposal, how despite the fact that the USPTO is user-fee funded it is being swept up in broader Trump Administration efforts to downsize the federal government, what the word "innovation" really means, how businesses use intellectual property assets, the importance of predictable IP assets, the challenges of effective patent valuation, international collaboration and education to support small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and much more.

The runner who lost by a fraction of a second. The inventor who had the right idea at the wrong time. The poet whose words only mattered long after they were gone. These people rarely make the highlight reel, yet their efforts often bend the world in directions we don't notice until much later. The truth is, the almosts aren't failures. They're the ones testing the edges, reaching further than most dare.

Consumer behavior has undoubtedly shifted. Research shows that 70% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for ethically sourced products, and 66% expect brands to understand their needs and preferences. Nearly half of all consumers now buy products after seeing them endorsed by people they trust. These statistics clearly show that people want businesses to do better. But here's what the data doesn't capture: consumer expectations alone cannot drive the fundamental changes our world needs.

Businesses are rightly obsessed with productivity. This is the primary parameter of their profitability. And productivity, basically, is the product of three human-related factors: Individual abilities Motivation Knowledge Organizational and methodological factors could be mentioned, but they actually come down to knowledge. The methodology is only a factor of productivity insofar as it is known and controlled. To be complete, we should add a nonhuman factor: the work tool, whether robots or software.

Creativity has never been in higher demand, yet agency margins are collapsing. An industry built on the promise of differentiation risks drifting into a sea of sameness, squeezed by automation, technology, and efficiencies. The paradox is clear: As creative agencies are becoming commodities, they are falling victim to the very market forces clients pay them to escape. From my vantage point, the only way out is innovation.

We are told from childhood to "play nice," to keep the peace, to smooth things over. But what if this instinct toward harmony is actually holding us back? The real danger to our relationships, workplaces, and communities isn't conflict-it's indifference. Conflict, when engaged constructively, is the spark that ignites growth. It is the friction that polishes rough ideas into breakthroughs, the heat that forges raw ore into something enduring.

Kyte shut down after financial strain and contraction, ceasing operations after laying off staff and focusing on only two core markets last fall.

The CX concept takes everything we know about Corvette design and cranks it up to science fiction levels. Its proportions look like they were designed by someone who grew up playing Gran Turismo rather than studying traditional automotive history.

Google Cloud is enhancing security with AI by creating a new integrated security operations center (SOC) that automates workflows for alert triage, investigation, and response.

Ford plans to invest $2 billion to transform its Louisville Assembly Plant into a facility for producing affordable EVs, beginning with a midsize pickup truck in 2027.

The reversible process keeps the iron-made crystal that breathes oxygen intact throughout the cycles and processes, marking a significant breakthrough for material longevity.

In the past few decades, China has rapidly transitioned from one of the poorest nations on Earth to the global kingpin in robotics production.

Electra has built a network of more than 500 fast-charging stations across Western Europe, strategically designed to be visible and user-friendly, with innovative features.

Empowerment is the key to accelerating innovation in any team, influencing thought processes and foundational changes towards developing tools and experiences.

The launch of a satellite by Deloitte signifies its effort to innovate and diversify beyond traditional consulting and accounting services, embracing technology and creativity.

As the creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI recently attracted 78% of daily unique visitors to core model websites, with six competitors splitting up the rest.