Trends & Predictions. Innovation Cities benchmark. Sharing & publishing ideas. All will be bigger & better in 2009, as we roll-out the final version of 2thinknow, after extensive testing in 2008.

Learn about innovaiton potential in Bucharest in Romania!

TRAVEL, Shanghai — This video shows the marvel of the Shanghai skyline.
A modern international city, there are ‘China issues’, but Shanghai is an amazing international city, a star on the rise. Also shown is the famous ‘the Bund’.
Shanghai is being watched by 2thinknow, as an emerging innovation city.
Another video here shows the great wonder of Shanghai’s skyline, but also greyness of the sky and the cost of that modernity.
China, we watch you with interest and awe.

TRAVEL, Boston — Boston is ranked 2nd in the world as an Innovation City, after Vienna, in the Global Innovation Review 2007.
The contribution of Harvard university and MIT to world knowledge and learning is barely measurable across the broad scope of all professions.
In addition Boston in New England, is one of the few cities in the USA where the food supply is adequate. Most US cities have a food supply that is below world best practice.
In truth, Boston, like San Francisco or New York is one of the American cities …

COMMENT, Paris – Paris is divided into: Old Paris, where all the buildings have consistent height, and often consistent or at least fitting facades.
Standing on level 5 of Georges Pompidou, you can see the whole of Old Paris, laid out before you. I did this last in April 2007, and was mesmerized.

And New Paris: Office district on the other side of Paris; La Défense. This modern office block tower district, is really an additional side to the old Paris not a central part of Paris.
The new 300 metre tower by …

TRAVEL, GERMANY — This April, Christopher Hire from 2thinknow was assessing Düsseldorfas an innovation city, in the 2thinknow World Innovation City rankings for 2008, scheduled to be released in the last quarter of 2008.
A largely industrial city, on the Rhine, Dusseldorf is over 800 years old. The city is known as a fashion and advertising capital, with a major fashion fair annually.
The video contains many of Düsseldorf, ’s more impressive sites, the Rhine and buildings.
Königsallee, is a world-class shopping street, and the city contains various museums and galleries, such as …

VIDEOS, Youtube — For picturesque images of Bulgarian cities, including Sofia, watch this video.
Includes a musical backing soundtrack, in Bulgarian.
Bulgaria, notably, has changed a lot since the 90s.

COMMENT, Global – One of the trends I have noticed amplified whilst updating my book the Global Innovation Review 2007, is a return to the figurative in art and culture.
Why is this important? It shows direction in art. Away from post-modernist ‘I am a painter so why do I bother to paint?‘ thinking that typified the 90s. The 90s were however that kind of decade perhaps…!
Even moreso it shows a return to seeking meaning. It’s tiring looking at noir films, drinking black coffee and talk about meaninglessness.
Remember the artist …

[ratings] TRAVEL COMMENT, PARIS — So here are 4 top Paris Hotels if you like luxury travel. There are many others, especially those of the boutique kind.
These are French people’s Paris hotels, as far as I can tell, and if you like a Marriott or other US chain instead stay there.

COMMENT, Sydney and Global – Global is a word often thrown around like candy at Halloween.
Too often global operations have inbuilt assumptions that people are the same everywhere. We all do it.
The assumption of homogeneity effects Customers. Employees. Suppliers.
Assumptions of homogeneity are exacerbated when people speak the same language, often English.
These assumptions can cause big issues. Issues that surface when expanding into overseas markets or staffing a remote operation or even visiting foreign lands.
Why do we assume?
Too often we see similar western accoutrement’s like McDonalds, CDs, computers, internet, CNN, DVDs, …

COMMENT, Melbourne – In Melbourne broadsheet paper The Age, today there was a neat reminiscence on ‘trains’ from staff writer, Peter Hanlon.
“WE’RE on our way home for Dad’s funeral, his grandson and I. It’s good that we’re going by train; Dad worked 35 years for the railways, back in the days when human beings sold tickets, and machines that accepted only correct change were a dream for the future.”
He goes onto say…
“Whoever wins the next tender to run the state’s public transport would do well to acknowledge that there …

ANALYSIS, Melbourne – With the recent tense stand-off in British relations, intelligent people are underestimating Russian power, when Russia has traditionally (even under the Tsar) been a pole of power in Europe.
The Russian Bear has always viewed the concept of diminished power as rather misleading, hence the recent ‘strong-man’ photos of Putin fishing as well as renewed nuclear force deployment and military investment.
Russian & America: Mein Freund?
US discussions on a missile shield in Poland/Czech republic were ostensibly to protect Europe from ‘rogue’ states.
Of course, no one in the US really …

ANALYSIS, Melbourne – Where you work is important to how you are inspired to create & then implement innovation.
Do some of these describe your workplace?
Concrete, gray, drab, cubicle, boxed-in, noisy, mobile phone ringtones from hell, low barriers, bombarded with email, ‘no door’ policy, jokes, noise, prison-like gulag?
Or is it more interesting?
Post-modernist refugee camp for cultural relativists?
Weekend-after recovery center?
Creative desert?
Angst-ridden pit of teenage romance?
So what works for innovation?
One of the perks of having worked at so  many corporations (more than 350) is you get to see what works and what doesn’t …

ANALYSIS, Sydney –The tendency to think cities are homogenous across a country is an untruth.
Melbourne CBD is vastly different to Sydney CBD. (Yes I’m in Sydney once again. City yesterday and Parramatta today.)
Sydney CBD is vastly different to Parramatta.
The culture in the northern & Eastern Suburbs of Sydney are different. Both are affluent eras generally, but the culture is different.
This goes further than cities. Any form of grouping, cities, generational, academic, social, demographic is by nature a generalization.
Grouping theories
To generalise is human nature.
And many times in writing or describing …

2THINKNOW COMMENT, Melbourne – “Left turn at Albuquerque.”
Unless you have watched Bugs Bunny you wouldn’t know that. But chances are you have. No matter where you live.
And you might know:
“Quoi de neuf, docteur ?” (Francais)

” Che succede, amico?” (Italiano)
“Hej šefe koji ti je vrag?” (Yugoslav)
“Eh, What’s Up Doc?” (English)
… or in any other language you care to name.
Bugs Bunny is a cartoon that has almost universal understanding across multiple languages all throughout the world.
Animation lends itself to universal communication.
Animation can be dubbed easily into any language. The lips moving don’t …

ANALYSIS, Melbourne, Australia — My recent visit to the Guggenheim show at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne was most informative. But not about art.
The Guggenheim was informative about positive social change (innovation) and our society.
Art of recent years allows us to view the world through artists eyes. And great artists often have eyes and insight ahead of their time.
The most enlightening Guggenheim pieces were from the last 40-odd years. The well-curated Guggenheim exhibit of modernist & post-modernist art; informed visitors like me about inspiration & innovation.
Understanding Modern …

OPINION, Melbourne — We all keep hearing how difficult Generation X & Y are to work with. (Mainly Gen Y).
Well I’d say it has something to do with those “oh so demanding baby boomers” who were their parents.
Truth is:
if you dose a bunch of kids up on sugar, …
chauffeur them around to every single hobby that might interest them, …
tell them that all viewpoints are culturally equivalent, …
teach them to question all authority figures, …
give them what they want with no discipline,…
smoke dope yourself but lecture them on it/tell them …

ANALYSIS, Melbourne –I loved rail as a kid. That trip from the small town I lived in to the ‘big smoke’ always took a 5 hour bus and a train trip.
And there was something inspiring about the rattle of that train.
Nostalgia aside, railways now are once again are on their way to leading the innovation zeitgeist in transport.
Railways – Back-to-the-Future Innovation
In cold hard fiscal terms railways have a bright future with some caveats.
Most importantly, trains have a very long-term future mainly due to the fact that trains carry more passengers …

OPINION, Melbourne, Australia — The ‘do-nothing’ leader of Victoria Steve Bracks has resigned from State Parliament, in a surprise announcement.
The Premier of Australia’s second most populous state, and home to Melbourne and Australia’s leading agricultural regions, today resigned. Good riddance.
Remember it’s not personal, it’s outcomes. We don’t vote our best mates, we vote in the best leader. That’s the theory, more observed in the breach ….
True innovation vs. Do-nothing
Since his surprise win over the true innovator Jeff Kennett, Bracks has single-handedly done nothing for the future of the state.
In the …

COMMENT, San Francisco, USA — Coffee is important. To world trade, yes. But it’s not all money, coffee is also (more importantly) critical to culture.
How many good ideas have been conceived over a cup of coffee?
How many intellectual battles have been fought in a coffee house until the wee hours?
Voltaire, Franklin and Napoleon all frequented the same Parisian coffee house (at different times)… there must be something in that brew.
Napoleon once left his hat for security whilst he fetched money to pay for the check!
The whole of WordCamp over the …