Latest news with #Hubs
Technical.ly
2 days ago
- Business
- Technical.ly
Telling rural tech's story: How three ecosystem leaders reshape narratives of innovation
Cities like Boston and San Francisco are the typical places associated with the term tech hubs, but rural communities are doing just as much innovation — without the recognition. At 2025 Builders Conference panel 'Innovation is Everywhere: Storytelling Strategies for Emerging Markets,' three leaders from the National Science Foundation's Regional Innovation Engines and US Economic Development Administration Tech Hubs programs discussed how they tell the stories of their communities to build up their tech ecosystems. Each of the panelists leads a federally backed tech initiative focused on regional strengths: mining in Missouri, agriculture in North Dakota and sensing tech in Montana. These hubs are part of a broader national push to diversify where innovation happens. For regions like North Dakota, the ecosystem simply has a different strategy for innovation, said Hollie Mackey, CEO of the North Dakota iAgriculture Technology Engine. The natural move is to center the communities that have been around for generations, specifically Indigenous communities, and foster cross-cultural understanding. 'Our story has never been polarization. It's never been silos. It's always been cooperation,' Mackey said. 'We can take everything we know about agriculture and the technologies and innovations embedded from time immemorial and apply those to cutting-edge research and technological advances today, to build something much better together.' Montana's story tells itself, said Tim VanReken, who leads the Headwaters Tech Hub in Montana. The nicknames 'Big Sky Country' and 'the Last Best Place' set the scene for what people will find in the state and what the land opportunities are. For innovation, it's a great place to test technologies in a rural setting and to find people who innovate, he said. 'Folks roll up their sleeves and solve problems; they make things work,' VanReken said of his region. 'It's part of that frontier spirit that's been there for generations.' Meanwhile, in southeast Missouri, the challenge isn't just perception — it's historic baggage. Kwame Awuah-Offei, who leads the Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy Tech Hub, said community opinions of the project are often based on the successes and failures of other mining projects. Because it's associated with new jobs, 'mining over here is not a bad word,' Awuah-Offei said, describing what one resident told him. However, some conversations about mining often involve a 'history of broken promises.' You have to engage locally and be honest about the risks, he added. Different communities within a region all contribute perspectives For Mackey, framing the agtech engine in North Dakota as an 'emerging' ecosystem misses the point. 'We have five, six, seven generations of farmers in our communities who have been innovating long before startups and entrepreneurs and founders were concepts that we celebrate as innovation today,' she said. Her approach begins with tribal and rural voices — not with founders or scientists from elite institutions. That is the starting point for innovation, she said. 'We go to the communities first and say, 'How can we solve real, actual problems you have? How can we do that through cutting-edge research and providing the resources necessary to be successful?'' she said. 'Then we capture that story in a number of ways.' VanReken described how 'old Montana versus new Montana' is a bigger tension in the state than the rural-urban divide, especially in fast-growing cities like Bozeman. Navigating that challenge requires consistent conversations with residents. 'It's being present and letting people know they matter to what you're trying to build,' he said. 'Their perspectives, their problems, their livelihoods, their economic mobility matter to what you're trying to build.' Innovation is tied to place in emerging ecosystems As these tech hubs grow, their stories must evolve — not just for national audiences, but internally, as they balance competing voices and build inclusive narratives. Awuah-Offei pointed out that even within his 14-county tech hub, communities worry about resources being concentrated in university towns like Rolla. Despite this conflict, they all have the same goal. 'They all want the same thing. They all want the rest of the world to see the potential and the opportunity we see in our region,' Awuah-Offei said. 'We're all interested in telling that story so that we all benefit.' What all three leaders agreed on: storytelling in emerging ecosystems is about embedding innovation in place and making the case for local relevance. 'We have to build stories that have an argument, to make it worthwhile, show that we bring something to the table that you don't find elsewhere,' VanReken said. 'We connect our place to what we have to offer.'
Euronews
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Kyiv not to force Ukrainian refugees to return — but hopes they will
With Russia's all-out war against Ukraine dragging on for the fourth year now, Kyiv is rethinking its strategy on how to keep close ties with the people who were forced to leave Ukraine and relocate abroad and how to motivate them to come back. Some 4.8 million Ukrainians have been granted temporary protection in Europe since Russia went on its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. What was initially planned as a three-year protection mechanism has just been extended for a total of five years, until March 2027. The longer people stay abroad, the harder it is to bring them back home, says Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukraine's vice-prime minister who is now leading a newly-created ministry for national unity. Chernyshov is tasked with maintaining close ties with Ukrainians abroad and motivating them to return home, as they are becoming increasingly settled abroad. "The longer the war continues — the more integrated Ukrainians become in other countries," he told Euronews. 'That is why even during the war we want to keep ties with Ukrainians. We want to address and we want explain that everyone is equally important to Ukraine. We want your contribution, either it's material or even emotional," Chernyshov explained. "You should be integrated into Ukrainian life. You should think of Ukraine. Regardless of the fact that when you are considering your return, or if you are not considering it at all. It's important you're keeping your Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian agenda," he added, addressing his compatriots. Kyiv now hopes to rebuild its strategy with the so-called "Unity Hubs" that have been opened abroad. These multifunctional spaces will provide a variety of services to displaced or temporarily displaced Ukrainians, including legal, psychological, educational, cultural and support services to facilitate their integration into the European Union. However, they will also encourage them to voluntarily return to Ukraine once the peaceful conditions permit this to happen. The European Commission supported the initiative as it announced the extension of the temporary protection scheme. Chernyshov said it gives "more than 20 months of clarity for Ukrainians here in the European Union to plan their life." At the same time, Kyiv hopes the "Unity Hubs" initiative will also help the people plan for their future return to Ukraine. That, Chernyshov admitted, would first and foremost depend on the war. The Ukrainians didn't move looking for a better life, he reiterated: "They were escaping from the war and we should always remember that." Meanwhile, Ukrainians in Europe have been "a very strong asset to a labour market," Ukraine's vice-prime minister said. "They're professional, they're hardworking, they're intelligent, they're educated and obviously the labour markets will compete with each other," Chernyshov explained. There is no official data on how many Ukrainian refugees are working in Europe, and the situation varies from country to country. According to the joint report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Migration Network from May 2024, the beneficiaries of temporary protection (BoTP) integrated into the labour market more quickly than other refugee groups. At the beginning of 2023, the share of working-age BoTP in employment was already over 40% in a number of EU countries, including Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark and the Netherlands. Even higher employment levels were reported in Poland, exceeding 60%. While the number was lower than average in Germany (18%) and Switzerland (14%). After the first massive waves of relocation in 2022, most EU countries reported lower numbers of registrations. However, the number of BoTP employment continued to grow, reflecting an increased transition into employment. Having gained professional experience abroad, Kyiv hopes the Ukrainians will then implement it at home. Chernyshov said that economic development and the implementation of reforms will also pave the way for people to return home after the war is over. 'Once Ukraine rebuilds and develops its economy. European countries will come for the recovery. Who will they bring with them? Obviously, first of all, they will consider Ukrainians who are professionally integrated into Europe, and they will most probably offer them jobs in Ukraine," he pointed out. However, although economic growth and further development are undoubtedly important, stable peace remains the primary precondition for the return of the people, as well as for Ukraine's economic growth and prosperity. Brussels announced that the European Commission will appoint a special envoy for Ukrainians in the EU. This should help provide better information to Ukrainians about transitioning to a different legal status from temporary protection, and also pave the way for a gradual return and reintegration in Ukraine. Chernyshov says many Ukrainians want to return home, and they have already demonstrated this. After the Ukrainian army pushed Russian troops out of the Kyiv region, many rushed home as soon as they could. 'In March 2022 a lot of people returned to Kyiv and other cities, and it actually gives a great example," Chernyshov said, adding that many regularly go to Ukraine to visit their families and friends while temporarily being based abroad. In an unprecedented step, Kyiv established the Ministry of National Unity, trying to motivate them to come back more and one day come back to stay, and is now working on allowing dual and multiple citizenship. But what Kyiv cannot and will not do is force people to return, Chernyshov said. 'We cannot force anybody to come back. This is impossible'. 'The only motivation to go back to Ukraine is a successful Ukraine and your love for your homeland. These are the only two factors that make Ukrainians go back and consider this decision seriously. No forceful actions can be provided or will be provided. This is only peaceful motivation," he explained. Ukraine can do as much as it can to motivate the people with the administrative and economic incentives, but as long as Ukrainian cities are still being bombed and attacked, it is harder to convince people to come back. In this case, the decision to return home to Ukraine for many will depend not on Brussels or Kyiv, but on Moscow choosing whether to continue its war against Ukraine. US President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into his predecessor Joe Biden's actions in office, accusing the former leader's aides of hiding his 'cognitive decline' from the public. In an executive order issued on Wednesday, Trump said the probe would assess whether 'certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the president'. The memo suggested, without providing evidence, that the unnamed officials may have taken advantage of Biden through the use of an autopen, the process by which presidents can give their approval to a document without physically signing it. In 2005, the US Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said the autopen system — which Trump has himself used for routine correspondence — was a legitimate way for a president to validate official documents. The Trump administration's probe, which will be led by US Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington, comes as an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of some of Biden's executive actions and pardons. Responding to Trump's claims, Biden, who recently announced that he is suffering from prostate cancer, said: 'Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false.' The former president added that his successor wanted to use his latest executive order as a 'distraction' tactic. 'This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations,' Biden said. Trump's investigation of the Biden administration marks an escalation in his targeting of political opponents. As part of their claims about Biden's presidency, Trump and his allies have sought to capitalise on a comment made in the book Original Sin by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson. 'Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board,' the pair wrote. Those close to Biden have hit out at the book, with his granddaughter Naomi describing it as 'political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class'. Biden withdrew from last year's presidential race after a disastrous debate with Trump, which led to increased scrutiny about his mental acuity.
NZ Herald
02-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
New iwi-run social supermarket in Kaikohe opens to support the community
She said NISS had been working on the project for the past 12 months, supported by MSD and Foodstuffs. 'The purpose of Whata Kai is to enable whānau who are struggling financially to be able to have easy access to kai. 'At NISS, more recently, we've noticed an increase in the number of whānau who have come in asking for support with kai. As well as that, at the social supermarket we will support whānau if there are other things that they want assistance with.' There were already whānau using the supermarket and Eruera said NISS had a vision to support the community to build their knowledge and information about how to garden and cook healthy, nutritious food. New World Kaikohe has been instrumental in bringing the project to life, serving as the buddy store and providing ongoing training and operational support. Chris Quin, chief executive of Foodstuffs North Island, which operates New World, said supporting initiatives like Whata Kai is part of the co-op's long-standing commitment to community. 'As a 103-year-old co-op of family-owned businesses, our role goes beyond retail - we're here to support people. Whata Kai is a great example of how partnerships can create real impact, offering not just food, but dignity, choice, and practical support for the future.' Whata Kai also includes a whānau space, where whānau can rest, enjoy a cuppa, and engage in kōrero; a mahinga kai, a hub for sharing and distributing locally grown produce, and a kāuta, a learning space for sharing mātauranga about kai preparation and encouraging healthy food habits. 'We're very excited to be partnering with Foodstuffs to open a social supermarket for the community. It's going to be more than just a social supermarket - it will be a place that nurtures health, economic stability, and social wellbeing for whanau. By working to integrate key services under one roof, we are laying the foundation for a stronger, more resilient community,' Eruera said. The team at NISS is also exploring ways for Whata Kai to support skill development, training, and employment opportunities for whānau and taitamaariki. The logo for Whata Kai was designed by celebrated artist Pena Makoare, incorporating the traditional concept of 'whata' - a raised storage structure that symbolises generosity, community, and whānau. Whata Kai is the second initiative of its kind in Northland after the Te Hiku Pataka in Kaitāia opened in 2021. The Te Hiku Pataka while not a social supermarket as such, is part of the Food Hubs programme from New Zealand Food Network (NZFN), which collectively feeds more than 500,000 people every month as food security becomes a big issue for many. Whata Kai also recognises the complex factors contributing to financial hardship and kai insecurity and will connect wh`anau to capability building opportunities such as financial literacy, growing and preparing healthy kai. The supermarket will operate on a points system - similar to the Te Hiku Pataka - where people can shop for groceries based on their family size. In partnership with Foodstuffs and New World Kaikohe, the supermarket aims to build up to supporting around 50 families in need each week, enhancing community health and wellbeing. The social supermarket will provide much-needed support to whanau facing economic hardship in and around the greater Kaikohe area. It will provide greater access to food support for the community and will offer affordable kai, fresh produce, and access to wider community support, ensuring whānau experiencing food insecurity can access the essentials they need to live well and thrive. This initiative is a response to rising living costs and the growing need to strengthen Kaikohe's support networks
Associated Press
22-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
V&P Scientific Expands Long-Term Partnership With Bioz, Enhancing Product Visibility
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA / ACCESS Newswire / April 22, 2025 / Bioz, Inc., a trusted leader in AI-driven research citation solutions, is proud to announce the continued partnership with V&P Scientific, now entering its third year. By renewing its collaboration, V&P Scientific is further leveraging Bioz Badges and a Bioz Content Hub to showcase real-world validation of its innovative laboratory Content Hub Bioz Content Hub on the V&P Scientific Website Bioz Prime Badges dynamically display peer-reviewed citations directly on V&P Scientific's product webpages, offering researchers instant access to published studies that cite V&P's tools. These interactive badges serve as a powerful trust signal, helping scientists quickly evaluate product efficacy based on real-world research. With built-in filtering options, researchers can easily sort citations, allowing them to find the most pertinent studies that align with their specific research needs. Additionally, each badge includes clickable elements, enabling users to view full citation details, including article title, journal name, and study excerpt, all within an intuitive interface. Additionally, V&P Scientific has integrated a Bioz Content Hub, a centralized research repository, that aggregates all citations and publications mentioning its products in a single, easy-to-navigate location. This solution enhances product credibility and engagement, ensuring that researchers can efficiently discover the latest scientific literature supporting V&P's laboratory innovations. Each citation within the Content Hub links directly to the corresponding product's webpage, allowing researchers to seamlessly explore both the scientific validation and the product specifications in one place. 'Our continued partnership with Bioz has been instrumental in helping us showcase the scientific impact of our products,' said Lauri Schlopy, CFO of V&P Scientific. 'By leveraging Bioz Prime Badges and a Bioz Content Hub, we are making it easier than ever for researchers to see the validation behind our technologies - ultimately building trust and driving engagement.' Dr. Karin Lachmi, Chief Revenue Officer and co-founder of Bioz, also expressed her enthusiasm for the ongoing collaboration. 'We are thrilled to have a long-term customer like V&P Scientific, a company that truly values the power of scientific citations in driving research and innovation. Their continued trust in Bioz's solutions highlights the real impact of our technology in helping suppliers showcase the importance of their products in published research.' About Bioz Bioz is the world's most advanced AI search engine for scientific research, offering evidence-based product ratings and recommendations to guide scientists toward the most validated products for their discoveries. Bioz's solutions for suppliers include Bioz Badges and Content Hubs, web-based widgets that enhance user engagement and increase sales conversion. About V&P Scientific V&P Scientific is a provider of precision laboratory tools designed to advance research across life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. With a strong focus on liquid handling, magnetic bead separations, and microplate technology, V&P Scientific develops high-performance instruments and consumables that improve experimental accuracy and efficiency. The company's solutions support a wide range of applications, including assay development, high-throughput screening, and molecular biology research. Helpful Links For more information on Bioz solutions for suppliers, please reach out to [email protected]. Contact InformationDaniel Levitt CEO SOURCE: Bioz, Inc. press release
Hindustan Times
21-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Urban development must shed masterplan system
After Independence, urbanisation was dovetailed with industrialisation. As a result, cities continued to remain isolated centres of economic activity, with weak linkages to the hinterlands, and failed to optimally utilise the natural and human resources of the region they were located in. Cities were unable to expand and assume economic functions, transcending regional boundaries. In contrast, nations where urbanisation drove growth by expanding the economic base and productivity of cities saw rapid industry-led growth. In the Indian context, there has been some change after the liberalisation of the 1990s. Cities have spurred growth in surrounding settlements, creating urban agglomerations or city-regions. This has involved diffusion of market, jobs, production, technology, and investments into the larger space, with two effects: The city becomes a 'growth pole' for the region, and there is an emergence of a network of smaller cities in the surrounding space. Thus, the rise of metro city-regions as Growth Hubs (GHs). The metro cities had relatively better physical infrastructure, which could be upgraded at a lower cost for use by the entire region, as compared to developing new infrastructure elsewhere. Also, increased employment opportunities created by service-led economic growth attract unskilled, skilled and knowledge workers into the region. Direct access to such a large pool of workers created a 'thick labour market' and businesses easily found the workers they needed locally, thereby reducing costly delays in staffing. The concentration of workers in the city-region, therefore, had a major productivity-enhancing effect for firms and income-raising effects for workers. Enhanced economic activity also led to a large number of suppliers of intermediate goods and services. Availability of specialised input goods and service suppliers within the region minimised transaction and transportation costs. Businesses were able to carry minimum inventories, which freed up funds for innovation and product development. In turn, intermediate goods suppliers were able to achieve scale economies, by supplying to a large number of firms in the region. Complementary product manufacturers developed within the region. Nearly all metro cities had the initial advantage of having PSUs, public universities and research organisations. Finally, the presence of several firms selling near-similar products to the global market led to improved quality and innovation. Operating under similar conditions spurred competition and drove the focus on quality. Importantly, the city-as-a-growth-hub concept that was announced in the 2024 Union budget received support through a challenge fund in the current financial year. The country had 474 urban agglomerations (UAs) in 2011, accounting for about 92% of the urban population within a radius of 50 km. These UAs, some of which have emerged organically, while others are planned and still others remain to be developed, could be developed as GHs, albeit in a graded manner, even as some get subsumed under even larger GHs as satellite cities. The challenge is, however, to plan for a mix of land use, lack of complete transport networks, fragmented water supply, sewerage and solid waste management and, most important, generate revenues to do all this. To ensure that GHs are able to meet their economic and employment generation potential, the following advance actions would be essential. First, more dynamic, iterative and adaptive planning is required, drawing on the experiences of Japanese land-use planning, Gujarat and Maharashtra's land pooling mechanisms and rethinking building rules to cater for the needs of IT companies as well as multi-storeyed housing for the increasing number of workers, managers and knowledge workers, among others. This needs to replace the current planning systems consisting of preparation of master plans (also known as development plans) that lay down rigid land-use, zoning and development controls for relatively long time periods, even though they are largely disconnected from rapidly changing socio-economic conditions and investment planning. Second, planning for road networks and transport provision are needed along with plans for water supply, sewerage, recycling water, and so on in a way that traffic congestion is avoided, adequate drinking water is available, sewerage lines are laid, and water is conserved and recycled. The increase in associated land values need to fund these developments by value capture. Some potential tools are: Impact fee due to road development, betterment charges due to infrastructure provision, tax-increment financing where localities are developed, allowing floor space index of 1 for land and selling rights to build beyond that and parking fee with money ploughed in to redevelop local areas in the growth hub. Sameer Sharma is former chief secretary, government of Andhra Pradesh, and Debolina Kundu is director, NIUA. The views expressed are personal
