Walmart Incubates Buzzword Solutions

Giving it more direct access to rapidly emerging technologies.

Walmart is opening its own tech incubator in Silicon Valley
The retail giant wants to get a foothold in emerging technologies.  by Andrew Dalton ... 


" ... According to Jet.com founder Marc Lore -- now CEO of Walmart's e-commerce division -- the group will be called "Store No. 8" and will focus on investing in companies that cover all the buzzwords from virtual and augmented reality, to machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence. .... " 

Coke Closes Startup Incubator

With some interesting insights on how a big company can deal with startups or pre-startups. In TechCrunch.  Followed Coke's innovations for some time.   See previous tabs on Coke.

 Coca-Cola closes Founders startup incubator
  by Ron Miller (@ron_miller)

After opening to much fanfare three years ago, Coca-Cola is shutting down The Founders program, according to a published report in Innovation Leader. Under this program, the company nurtured young startups, hoping to siphon some of that entrepreneurial energy and pass it along to the big lumbering corporation.

Over the last several years, companies have recognized the need to innovate, and the larger the company, the more difficult it is. David Butler, who, according to the report, has left the company, ran the program as VP of innovation. The company launched the program with the idea of giving startups with cool ideas some seed money — a million or less — along with access to the vast resources only a company the size of Coca-Cola could provide. ..... " 

Questions to Ask Your Data Scientists

(And questions they should ask you)  Crucially this is not about recruiting, but to make sure you are managing them to get value from proposed solutions.   Management and data scientists should know the process, data, and value expectations.   Too often they don't

Better Questions to Ask Your Data Scientists
by Michael Li, Madina Kassengaliyeva and Raymond Perkins

The intersection of big data and business is growing daily. Although enterprises have been studying analytics for decades, data science is a relatively new capability. And interacting in a new data-driven culture can be difficult, particularly for those who aren’t data experts.

One particular challenge that many of these individuals face is how to request new data or analytics from data scientists. They don’t know the right questions to ask, the correct terms to use, or the range of factors to consider to get the information they need. In the end, analysts are left uncertain about how to proceed, and managers are frustrated when the information they get isn’t what they intended.

At The Data Incubator, we work with hundreds of companies looking to hire data scientists and data engineers or enroll their employees in our corporate training programs. We often field questions from our hiring and training clients about how to interact with their data experts. While it’s impossible to give an exhaustive account, here are some important factors to think about when communicating with data scientists, particularly as you begin a data search. .... " 

Acellerators and Incubators for Corporate Transformation.

Stefan Lindegaard  ... Author, speaker, advisor on corporate transformation, (open) innovation management and the people side of innovation ...

Accelerators and Incubators for Corporate Transformation: Coca-Cola, Cisco and MetLife
Corporate accelerators and incubators are popping up all around.

Their purposes are often multifold so in this post, I have pulled together some information on 3 programs that not only aim to grow new business opportunities and thus revenues and profits, but also aim to make an impact on the organization itself and thus help with its transformation efforts. ... " 

Augmented Pixels Update

I am following a number of Augmented Reality companies.  Here are the latest updates from Augmented Pixels. in Odessa.

 " ... First of all, Large Silicon Valley Plug and Play Incubator invested in Augmented Pixels selected it to participate in Plug&Play Retail accelerator program. Full press release .... 

 ... Modus Matrix, a game changing application for real estate sales based on our platform AR House. The app was created for Harkus, strategic design agency, as a part of their strategic marketing for a Canadian builder Jayman Modus. More information, ... 

The app is currently available on iOS devices, but in a few days Android version will be released.
Thirdly, we are expending our global reach by partnering with a big Brazilian online retailer HomeIt. HomeIt will become our client and will be listed in our sales platform for furniture retailers ShowInRoom. .... 

 ... Further articles:  Augmented reality and football.  And Home Electronics Demonstration using Augmented reality.

Upending the Pharmacy Model

In Wired:   Design thinking it says.  More like back to the economics of labor costs.   Drug companies may like it because will increase compliance in taking the prescription.    " ... A startup pharmacy called PillPack hopes to change this archaic process. For $20 a month, PillPack will deliver prescription drugs to patients with the efficiency of Amazon Prime. Pillpack came to life thanks to a new incubator program at the famed design consultancy IDEO and the core of their service is a small blue box that organizes all of your med into “dose packets,” little plastic baggies marked with the date and time they’re to be taken. A jumble of amber bottles are replaced by an efficient to-do list made of drugs. .... " 

Pentagon as Silicon Value Incubator

In the NYT:  Work by DARPA like the Darpanet and related activities have been happening for a long time.  Part of my graduate education was funded by DOD scholarships.  " ...  For years, the Pentagon has knocked on Silicon Valley’s door in search of programmers to work on its spying technologies. But these days, it’s the Pentagon that is being scouted for expertise. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are finding it valuable to have an insider’s perspective on the national security apparatus when trying to find or prevent computer vulnerabilities or mine large troves of data. ... " 

Pepsico Search for Tech in Brazil

In CGT:   " ... PepsiCo is bringing PepsiCo10, its three-year-old technology incubator program, to Brazil. "Along with the search for new ideas, PepsiCo10 supports our strategy of attracting and retaining top talent by giving us a chance to communicate with some of the brightest and most creative young Brazilian minds,” said Cristiana Gomes, director of human resources at PepsiCo Brazil. ... "

Kraft and Fly Garage in Latin America

In Adage: Kraft doing innovation via Fly Garage for Latin America,  with some similar goals to other innovation centers that I have worked with.  " ... Making the Trident brand fun was the mission when Kraft Latin America's Maria Mujica led the company's first Project Fly last November, launching an ambitious innovation incubator for digital projects in the region. Now Kraft is opening the Fly Garage, a permanent home in trendy Buenos Aires neighborhood Palermo Soho for the two-week immersion sessions that will bring together Kraft marketers, agencies and other collaborators like Hyper Island to focus on a single brand and its challenges.

PepsiCo Expands Digital Incubator

Continued progress in how companies interact with digital innovation.  Something we started in 2000 via innovation center and related technology efforts:

" ... During this year's SXSW, PepsiCo will announce the expansion of incubator program PepsiCo10, which matches digital startups with Pepsi brands, to India and Brazil. The company also is sponsoring a "What If? Unconference" at SXSW, which asks participants to brainstorm innovative uses for digital solutions.... "

Pepsico Makes a Call for Innovation

In Consumer Goods Technology:
" ... A new program welcomes outside innovation into the organization to push its marketing and communications expertise to new levels PepsiCo launched an innovation incubator program called PepsiCo10, an open call for promising start-ups in media, communications and technology. In this unprecedented initiative, PepsiCo will select up to 10 aspiring entrepreneurial groups, match them with industry mentors, and join with them to activate pilot programs with PepsiCo brands. Entrepreneurs can find out more information about the PepsiCo10 and apply online now through June 24, 2010 ... '

Addressing Innovation and Productivity

I have mentioned KYield a number of times here. Here an overview of what they are about. I am on their advisory board.

Semantic Solution for Challenges Facing Modern Organizations

Kyield is a semantic enterprise system designed to substantially improve innovation and productivity throughout the organization while reducing human-caused crises. The system is based on a solid systems approach that emerged from over a decade of applied R&D in a pioneering incubator and lab.

The Kyield system accommodates all common file types, including email, documents, and multi-media presentations. By employing descriptor 'wrappers' with embedded intelligence, the system enables improvements throughout the digital work environment, representing a revolutionary leap over incremental innovation offered by previous generations of enterprise software.... '

IFTF on Future Knowledge Ecosystems

I worked with Institute for the Future for years, and blogged for them as well. A new interesting report from them: Future Knowledge Ecosystems: The Next Twenty Years of Technology-Led Economic Development . These are always full of useful information. Examples like research, science parks and incubators.

Growing Your Own Indoor Air

" ... A presentation delivered this week at the TED 2009 conference demonstrates how you can “grow” fresh air indoors with just three varieties of plants. The discovery was the result of 15 years of testing at Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park (PBC™ - STIP) in New Delhi, India, an eco- friendly oasis ... "