BitCoin Argentina, exploring alternatives to a broken monetary system
Bitcoin and the crisis In Argentina, there seems to be a correlation between innovation and economic crisis. Although the country is used to face severe economic breakdowns, it has been the innovation hub of the whole continent for a decade, before countries such as Chile or Colombia became interested in becoming one as well. Companies […]
Coworking visa: helping digital nomads and teams to cross borders
As we attended Asia’s first Coworking Unconference in Bali in January, a recurring topic among the speakers and attendees from Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and the US was the idea of a coworking visa. Demographic foundations of the coworking phenomenon A few key demographic and work trends explain why so many people are discussing the […]
Places of Innovation – How tech giants, hackerspaces and corporates shape new places to foster innovation
The first Coworking Unconference of Asia was the opportunity for us to showcase part of the work we’ve done over the last 18 months around the world. One topic we have been exploring during our trips is the design of what we’ve called “Places of Innovation”. How do corporates create new places where their teams […]
SaaS Business Asia: Birth of yet another startup ecosystem
South-East Asia is a booming market for pretty much everything thanks to its huge economic and demographics growth. The Philippines were last year the 2nd Asian growth after China (CNBC), and Indonesia remains a 250 million population juggernaut with about 10 million more people entering the middle-class every year (BCG). As more companies serve these […]
Meet the 24 FrenchPitch startups who pitched at CES in Las Vegas
Here’s a quick wrap-up of several French (and non-French) startups who pitched at the FrenchPitch event, organized by EPC Digital, and part of the broader #FrenchTech umbrella. It’s like the appetizer of a longer program which will take us in a tour of the Downtown Project, an initiative powered by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and […]
Target Accelerator Program: re-inventing retail in the digital age
Let’s continue to explore corporate innovation, with the Target Accelerator Program case study. We’ve met “both sides of the table” when visiting Bangalore’s top tech conference NASSCOM Product Conclave a few weeks ago, talking both with the teams of Target, and with Kyron, which operates their accelerator. For a quick introduction, Target is an American […]
Make in India: meet 5 promising Internet of things startups from Bangalore
Internet of Things in India is becoming quite trendy, as a lot of the conversations happening at Bangalore’s top tech event Nasscom Product Conclave showed. Make in India vs. Innovate with China: two economic policies for Asia’s giants This trend also benefits from a broader support from the government. Back in September, India’s new Prime […]
The best of ConDatos, the top Open Data event of Latin America
Last week, a most important serie of Open Data events took place in Mexico City. The biggest megacity of the whole American continent was chosen to hold the second edition regional conference for Open Data: ConDatos, after the success of the 2013 edition in Uruguay. The main exhibition was enhanced by many parallel conferences, meetings, […]
Bitcoins explained at Afrikoin, Nairobi
While the hype around Bitcoin grows stronger everyday, the conference on mobile money at Afrikoin in Nairobi and a discussion with a few startups in the crypto-currency business has helped to debunk what Bitcoin is, and isn’t. In our exploration we’ve listened to and chatted with: Pelle Braendgaard, who has worked in cryptography related businesses for 9 years and is now heading Kipochi, an […]
Somali diaspora and mobile money: a research on hawala presented at Afrikoin
After a few panels and talks on mobile money at Afrikoin, we had the opportunity to listen to Gianluca Iazzolino, a researcher from the University of Edinburgh. Gianluca studies the way Somali people deal with mobile money, particular as a people who are constantly moving – whether as refugees or traders of gold and other goods that can be exchanged […]
