Latest From Science, Technology, Medicine & Innovation [12.12.14]

Knowledge Based Robotics
Expert Robots

• RoboBrain: The World's First Knowledge Engine For Robots [MIT Technology Review] 
• RoboBrain: Large-Scale Knowledge Engine for Robots [arXiv.org] 

My Post on "Knowledge Based Robotics" / "Expert Robots":

• Personal Notes On Robotics  (Knowledge Based Robotics, Expert Robots, Augmented Robotics)
• Pioneering Work [TahsinVersion2]  (I am doing Pioneering Work in the following Areas ... )

Smart Government
What is "Smart Government" like?

• Schumpeter Blog: Test-tube government [Economist] 

"Governments are borrowing ideas about innovation from the private sector

innovation units are becoming de rigueur in the public sector too: Boston has an Office of New Urban Mechanics; Denmark has a MindLab; and Singapore has the more prosaically named PS21 Office.

Sometimes governments simply copy what private firms are doing.

Sometimes they get money and advice from private sources: the New Orleans Innovation Delivery Team is partly funded by Michael Bloomberg.

The units also provide a connection with academia. Britain’s Behavioural Insights Team, ... applying the insights of behavioural economics to public policy  ... tweak the words of a routine letter to say that most people in the recipient’s local area had already paid their taxes. ... This year Britain’s Behavioural Insights Team transformed itself into an independent social-purpose company, partly owned by the British government, that sells its services to governments around the world and maintains a division in New South Wales.

government innovation labs ... from ... Malaysia to .. Finland, ... offices of mayors ... halls of central government.

a lot of emphasis on harnessing technology. The most popular idea is co-creation .... reporting problems 

Co-creation frequently goes hand in hand with open innovation and the sharing economy [Personal Note: Increasing efficiency of Public Resources / wealth generation from Public resources]." 

Innovation Bureau in Seoul is extending the concept of collectively using expensive resources: “generation sharing” matches elderly people who have a spare room with students who need a place to stay and are willing to help out with housework.

The most striking thing about these institutions is their willingness to experiment. The Centre for Social Innovation in Colombia has developed computer games which are designed to teach pre-teenagers to make sensible choices about everything from nutrition to gang membership.

America’s federal government spends almost $4 trillion a year. Bureaucracies are designed to kill innovation in the name of predictability. And a change in the political wind can reverse sensible changes. Politicians can also sometimes treat the existence of innovation centres as a justification for carrying on with business as usual elsewhere. What is more, such centres spend a lot of time putting sticking plasters on cancers. France’s Experimental Fund for Youth provides young people with driving licences at reduced cost. It would be better if the government changed the rules that make getting a licence in France such a lengthy and expensive nightmare."