jeudi 31 janvier 2013

Prévenir les épidémies grâce aux données de géo-localisation de Twitter?


red map of the United States with indicators of diseases


Les GPS, les données des utilisateurs et d'autres facteurs peuvent fournir aux chercheurs médicaux et aux organes officiels un nouveau mode de suivi des épidémies. La localisation peut aider à suivre l'évolution de la maladie ainsi que d'autres problèmes de santé publique.

Twitter s'est avéré un outil utile pour étudier la façon dont une maladie se répand, et les chercheurs compilent actuellement les messages et les données de localisation des utilisateurs afin de déterminer la meilleure façon d'utiliser ce réseau social à cet effet. Le Journal of Medical Research a récemment publié l'article “Right Time, Right Place” relatif à la pertinence de ce contenu dans la gestion de la communication médicale, à savoir qu'il existe « sur Twitter différents indicateurs de géo-localisation et que, pris ensemble, ils offrent un échantillon significatif d'individus dont on peut déduire, avec précision, la position. » Les auteurs estiment que cela pourrait avoir une influence sur la façon dont les organisations médicales étudient et compilent l'information pour communiquer « en temps utile, au bon endroit ».

Twitter presqu'aussi précis que les enquêtes traditionnelles
L'étendue de la population des utilisateurs de Twitter ne fournit peut-être qu'un petit pourcentage de coordonnées GPS fiables (2,7%), mais cet échantillon de données reste valable car il correspond à des centaines de milliers de tweets échangés sur une période de 2 semaines, temps consacré à cette étude. Les informations GPS et les informations de position fournies par l'utilisateur permettent de recueillir des données de géo-localisation fiables sur environ 15 à 17% des utilisateurs. Pour valider l'utilité de la taille leur échantillon, les auteurs ont comparé ces résultats à une enquête de Pew, et ils sont arrivés à des résultats statistiques comparables. Mais en utilisant Twitter, les chercheurs limitent le taux d'informations moins fiables, tout en bénéficiant de la rapidité et d'autres facteurs dont ne dispose pas l'approche traditionnelle.

Apporter un éclairage sur d'autres problèmes et démocratiser l'épidémiologie
Outre le potentiel dans la détection et le suivi des épidémies, d'autres problèmes de santé publique peuvent être mieux cernés. Parmi les problèmes ayant fait l'objet d'études récentes et repris dans l'étude « Right Time, Right Place » figurent les problèmes liés au tabac, à la boisson, aux maux dentaires et à l'allaitement. L'observation d'un contenu de santé généré, en temps réel, par l'utilisateur a entraîné un nouveau volume important de données de santé transmises par texte, images et vidéo. Étant donnée la diversité démographique des utilisateurs de Twitter, les auteurs suggèrent que les disparités dans le domaine de la santé pourraient être réduites en étant plus attentif et en communiquant aux groupes sous-représentés et à la population à faibles revenus.

Source: L'Atelierhttp://www.atelier.net/trends/articles/prevenir-epidemies-grace-aux-donnees-de-geo-localisation-de-twitter?

mercredi 30 janvier 2013

La cartographie crée des emplois et contribue à la croissance économique mondiale

Il y a vingt ans, nous utilisions des cartes en papier et des plans imprimés pour nous guider à travers le monde. Aujourd'hui, les technologies de cartographie numérique les plus sophistiquées (imagerie satellite, GPS, géolocalisation et, bien sûr, Google Maps) sont accessibles au plus grand nombre. Cette évolution majeure facilite notre vie quotidienne et a un impact énorme sur l’amélioration des performances des entreprises.

Derrière ces cartes que nous utilisons chaque jour se cache une industrie en pleine explosion, créatrice d’emplois et moteur de croissance économique dans le monde entier. Pour mieux comprendre l'importance des géoservices, nous avons demandé au Boston Consultig Group (BCG) et au cabinet de conseil Oxera de mener deux études. Ce que nous avons découvert, c’est que la cartographie a effectivement d'énormes retombées économiques à l'échelle planétaire.

Ainsi, l’industrie des géoservices représenterait 270 milliards de dollars par an et distribuerait 90 milliards de dollars en salaires. Aux États-Unis, le secteur emploie plus de 500 000 personnes et pèse 73 milliards de dollars. L’infographie ci-dessous donne quelques exemples de la valeur ajoutée de la cartographie numérique, que ce soit pour mieux gérer les systèmes d’irrigation ou aider les équipes d’intervention à sauver des vies. 


Ces services permettent d’économiser 1,1 milliard d'heures de transport chaque année. Ce qui représente un temps considérable ! Prenons par exemple l’entreprise internationale UPS, qui utilise la cartographie numérique pour optimiser ses itinéraires de livraison : cette société a réussi à économiser 8,5 millions de kilomètres et plus de 2,5 millions de litres de carburant en 2011. Aux Etats-Unis, Zipcar utilise la géolocalisation pour connecter plus de 760 000 clients à un parc automobile en pleine croissance, partout dans le monde. La cartographie numérique permet également de proposer des services innovants aux citoyens : mavillevueduciel par exemple, travaille avec plus de 120 communes pour référencer et géolocaliser sur une même carte l’ensemble des activités de chaque commune, associatives, commerciales, administratives ou autre.

La cartographie joue un rôle si essentiel dans nos modes de vie et de travail que cette liste d'exemples pourrait continuer à l'infini. Il est donc crucial de continuer à investir dans les géoservices pour que ce secteur continue d'être un moteur pour l'économie mondiale. Ces investissements peuvent provenir des secteurs public et privés sous de nombreuses formes : innovation produits, politiques d’open data, programmes d’éducation à la géographie dans les écoles, etc.

Nous sommes fiers de la contribution de nos produits - Google Maps, Google Earth, les API de Google Maps, nos solutions pour les entreprises - au secteur des géoservices et à la démocratisation de la cartographie. Mais il reste encore un long chemin à parcourir !  Pour en savoir plus, consulter les études complètes ici.

Source : Posté par Brian McClendon, Vice-président de Google Geo, 30/01/2013

vendredi 25 janvier 2013

jeudi 24 janvier 2013

La micro-assurance mobile : définition, enjeux, perspectives [Publication Innhotep]

Dans la publication ci-contre, Innhotep livre son analyse de la micro-assurance, et plus particulièrement du rôle crucial que sont amenées à jouer les technologies et services mobiles.



mercredi 23 janvier 2013

Reviewing The Mobile Revenue Of Major Internet Companies

eBay (EBAY) recently reported in its Q4 2012 earnings that mobile revenue GMV was 17% of total GMV for 2012, or $13 billion out of $75 billion. This exceeded Wall Street analysts' expectations of 13% for mobile GMV, which may explain the pop in ebay's stock price. This is similar to when Facebook (FB) reported Q3 results a few months ago showing faster mobile monetization of 12% of revenue, lead to the stock popping 10%-plus that day and running up ever since.
The mobile Internet era is affecting the entire Internet industry landscape. Companies well-positioned within mobile will thrive and survive in this new environment. This article will not only look at mobile traffic for eBay and Facebook, but also for top Internet companies including Google (GOOG), Pandora (P), Zynga (ZNGA), OpenTable (OPEN), Groupon (GRPN), LinkedIn (LNKD), Netflix (NFLX), Priceline (PCLN), Expedia (EXPE), and Amazon (AMZN). By reviewing the current mobile traffic and revenue numbers of major Internet companies, I hope to help investors identify which companies are better positioned and could have an early advantage in the mobile Internet era.

Mobile Industry Data
According to StatCounter, as of November 2012 mobile traffic represented 13.4% of total Internet traffic worldwide (12.4% in the U.S.). As smartphones continue to replace basic feature phones around the world (see details in this article on global handset market statics) and faster wireless networks (LTE) and Wi-Fi hotspots roll out across various countries, mobile traffic should increase by 70% and comprise 20%-plus of total Internet traffic in 2013.
Click to enlarge images.

In 2012, mobile e-commerce in the U.S. and Europe made up 10% of total e-commerce, or $37 billion out of $370 billion. By 2014, mobile commerce is projected to increase to 23% of total e-commerce, or $101 billion out of $439 billion.

Finally, in terms of mobile ad spending, search engine marketers (SEMs) have said that mobile advertising is roughly 18% (average of the three data firms) of total online search ad spend.

Which Companies Are Well-Positioned for Mobile?
Below is a summary of the top Internet companies and the percent of their traffic and revenue coming from mobile. Data has been sourced from the most recent company filings, press releases, and earnings transcripts.


Facebook: As mentioned above, Facebook probably has the most to gain or lose from mobile, given that nearly 60% of its traffic now comes from mobile. In Q3 2012, Facebook reported that mobile revenue was up to 12% of total revenue (14% of ad revenue). Mobile monetization occurred much faster than Wall Street analysts were expecting (Q3 2012 mobile revenue of $150 million vs. Wall Street estimates of $80-$100 million). Note that the $150 million mobile revenue in Q3 2012 is also up from essentially zero in Q1 2012 (Facebook's mobile monetization only started in March 2012). As a result, the stock was up 10%-plus that day and has continued its steady run.
Facebook has gotten around the smaller screen issue (mobile monetizes less than desktop because of smaller screen size for ad placement) by using "Sponsored Stories" on mobile. Sponsored Stories are like Twitter's "Promoted Tweets" and are essentially paid news feeds that show up on your mobile Facebook app news feed (mixed in with your friends' news feed updates). Some users have complained about this, but advertisers seem to like the product and continue to allocate mobile ad dollars to Facebook for it.
I wrote an article recently valuing Facebook (to read it, click here) anywhere from $20-$30 (I would not buy at current levels), but if mobile monetization continues successfully for Facebook I would have to revisit my valuation.

eBay: As disclosed in its Q4 2012 results, eBay's mobile GMV was $13 billion in 2012 (17% of total GMV). In addition, its Paypal business had $14 billion from mobile in 2012 (or 10% of Paypal's volume). ebay has a broad portfolio of mobile apps including eBay, eBay Motors, eBay Fashion, eBay Now, Paypal, Stubhub, rent.com, half.com, where.com, and many others. eBay has invested heavily in mobile in recent years and this strategy could help it take e-commerce market share from Amazon (AMZN has 10% traffic and 8% revenue from mobile, or about half of ebay's mobile results).

Pandora: As shown above, Pandora is heavily levered to mobile, with 75% of traffic and 55% of revenue coming from mobile. The biggest concern to this risky mobile play is that content costs (for music rights) are the same costs for mobile or desktop users, but mobile monetization is only one-third of desktop monetization (i.e., smaller screen space issue). Pandora is even more levered to mobile than Facebook and one of the highest beta plays on mobile, but you would have to get comfortable with the music subscription/ad supported business model first.

Apple (AAPL): Finally, while not mentioned in my table above given it is not a pure Internet company, Apple is also another mobile play. Apple's iPhone and iPad mobile products comprise of 75% of Apple's sales. In addition, its iTunes/App/iBook segment alone does $11 billion of sales in 2012. Apple has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the mobile revolution, and I believe that it will continue to be (click here and here for my previous Apple articles).

Conclusion
The shift from desktop to mobile Internet usage will present unique opportunities as well as challenges (cannibalizing desktop sales, smaller screens/ad space, etc.) for Internet companies in the coming years. Hopefully this article has helped investors identify which Internet companies have embraced the mobile trend and, as a result, may be better positioned to survive and thrive in the new mobile Internet era.

Source : Seekingalpha.com by Michael Fu

The Europas – Europe’s Tech Startup Oscars – Showcases A Booming European Scene

europaslogo-486a508cc01996e1b806549b3a2c23d9
The Europas – Europe’s tech startup awards – hit Berlin on Tuesday evening with over 1,000 guests gathering to celebrate the best of the continent’s tech entrepreneurship.

ZeptoLab, the Moscow-based makers of the smash hit Cut The Rope game took the ‘winner of winner’s’ Grand Prix award after hitting 300 million downloads, marking it out as potentially the next Rovio/AngryBirds killer combination. Another gaming firm, Wooga, snatched the People’s Choice Award. The Berlin-based social gaming company won after 300,000 votes were cast by Europe’s tech industry. London’s Wonga was named Best “Heavyweight” Startup after a year, which saw the online short-term loans pioneer’s profits surge. The best Startup Founders were named as the team behind science platform Mendeley. And Atomico was named Best VC of the year in Europe by the judges.
As someone who created the awards four years ago – initially just in a bar in London – it’s been fascinating for me to see the scene grow. The Europas were an order of magnitude bigger this year, with over 1,000 entries making it a tremendously difficult task for the 75 judges – drawn from entrepreneurs, investors and the media – to pick out the winners. From recent successes like Sketchfab, to titans of the industry like the Hall of Fame winner Niklas Zennstrom, the awards showed that, despite its fragmented nature and a tough economic climate, Europe’s startup scene now has a real head of steam.

The judges included partners from Kleiner Perkins, Accel, Index, Google Ventures and CrunchFund, entrepreneurs like Jawed Karim (founder of YouTube and Youniversity Ventures) and Michael Birch (founder of Bebo, Monkey Inferno) and Lady Gaga’s manager and angel investor Troy Carter. Journalists from Europe’s tech news scene, including The NextWeb, VentureBeat, Reuters and some of Europe’s leading blogs also took part in the process. It was also great to see some traditional firms, as well as a few Silicon Valley giants, supporting the awards.

Paddy Cosgrave, The Europas’ co-organiser and founder of the Web Summit series of events in Dublin and London, said: “These awards show just how hot European startups are right now. It was fantastic to see so many people from the community together to celebrate the level of innovation and excitement out there.”

You can see a full list of the nominees here.

And here are the winners:
The Europas Tech Startup Awards 2013

Full List of Winners and Highly-Commended (marked “HC”)


Best MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Startup
Winner: Markafoni
HC: Cinemoz
Best CEE (Central And Eastern Europe) Startup
Winner: NextStories
HC: Infogr.am
Best Russian Startup
Winner: AlterGeo
HC: Zeptolab
Best Nordic Startup
Winner: Instabridge
HC: PowerKiss
Best French Startup
Winner: Qunb
HC: WriteThat.name
Best German Startup
Winner: MyTaxi
HC: EyeEm
Best UK Startup
Winner: GoCardless
HC: Skimlinks
Best Irish Startup
Winner: DataHug
HC: CurrencyFair
Best Recruitment and Jobs Startup
Winner: InternAvenue
HC: Adzuna
Best Advertising or Marketing Tech Startup
Winner: Socialbakers
HC: Conversocial
Best Transport, Travel or Environmental Startup
Winner: Shutl
HC: BlaBlaCar
Best Education Startup
Winner: Scolibri
HC: Memrise
Best Service Provider to Startups
Winner: 33Seconds
HC: Ballou PR
Best European Startup Accelerator/Incubator
Winner: Seedcamp
HC: Springboard
Best Startup Founder/ Co-founders
Winner: Mendeley – Jan Reichelt, Paul Foeckler & Victor Henning
HC: SoundCloud – Eric Wahlforss & Alexander Ljung
Best Entertainment, Audio or Video Startup
Winner: Intellitix
HC: Crane.tv
Best Business, Recruitment or Enterprise Startup
Winner: DataHug
HC: Duedil
Best Startup From Outside Europe
Winner: Paymentwall
HC: WalkMe
Best “Lightweight” Startup
Winner: Sketchfab
HC: Infogr.am & Memoto
Best “Heavyweight” Startup
Winner: Wonga
HC: Supercell
Best Exit of 2012
Winner: Face.com
HC: Qype
Best VC of the Year (Company)
Winner: Atomico
HC: Index Ventures
HC: Passion Capital
Best VC of the Year (Individual)
Winner: Neil Rimer (Index Ventures)
Best “Middleweight” Startup
Winner: Transferwise
HC: SwiftKey
Best Commerce, Finance or Payments Startup
Winner: Toshl
HC: Dashlane
Best Culture (Fashion, Art, Music, Media) Startup
Winner: Lyst
HC: Soundrop
Best Gaming or Social Games Startup
Winner: Zeptolab
HC: Playmob
Best Product Startup
Winner: EyeEm
HC: Infogr.am
Best Social, Mobile or Apps Startup
Winner: Zeebox
HC: Everplaces
Best Startup Advisor/Mentor of the Year
Winner: Max Niederhofer
HC: Philipp Moehring
Hall of Fame: Niklas Zennstrom
Tech Journalist of the Year
Ben Rooney (Wall Street Journal)
Best Angel or Seed Investor of the Year
Christophe Maire
Grand Prix
ZeptoLab

Source : Techcrunch, by Mike Butcher

ShareKey permet de prêter ses clés en un SMS


Sharekey

L'application permet à un utilisateur de générer des clés sur mobile via un QR code, et de décider le nombre de personnes qui pourront en bénéficier, mais aussi la durée de ces droits. Le code est partageable en un mail ou message texte.
Déverrouiller à distance une porte, via Wi-Fi ou Bluetooth. Proposer des systèmes de clés d'hôtels embarquées dans son mobile et fonctionnant en NFC. C'est ce que proposent déjà des acteurs comme Apigy, avec son Lockitron, ou, à Stockholm, le Clarion Hotel, avec Assa Abloy. Selon le le département SIT (Secure Information Technology) du Fraunhofer, pour en faciliter la diffusion et en faire un produit peut être aussi utilisé que les clés traditionnelles, il faut en simplifier la diffusion. Comment ? En les enfermant dans un QR Code, qui peut être envoyé via des canaux comme le mail ou le SMS, et de les programmer sur des durées modulables. Leur système, baptisé ShareKey, pourrait ainsi permettre à l'occupant d'un logement d'envoyer pour une mâtinée sa clé à son concierge, pour qu'il puisse entrer dans son appartement. L’utilisateur est tenu, dans un premier temps de s’enregistrer sur le serveur central de Sharekey via une application Android dédiée.

Un utilisateur responsable des droits d'accès

En retour, il reçoit un code d’activation. Le serveur définit les droits d’accès. L’enregistrement effectué, sont générées plusieurs clés électroniques, dites Smart Tokens, attachées à la personne de l’utilisateur. L’attrait des clés réside dans la possibilité pour ce dernier d’allouer à des tierces personnes des clés, aux temps et fréquences d’accès limités. C'est lui qui gère la durée, le nombre de personnes qui peuvent y accéder... Chaque personne qui reçoit la clé sous forme de QR Code n'a plus alors qu'à la passer devant la porte dédiée, afin de l'ouvrir. Ce, dans le temps imparti s'il est limité. Selon Alexandra Dmitrienko, chercheuse pour le SIT, le Fraunhofer garantit la sécurité de son service par la multiplicité des protocoles et supports de sécurité.

Miser sur la sécurité des protocoles

"La communication entre le mobile et le serveur central est protégé par des protocoles de sécurité spéciaux", explique t'elle à L'Atelier. Et d'ajouter : "Mais même si cette communication est piratée, les pirates ne pourront accéder à la clé électronique. L’ouverture de la porte étant conditionnée par à la fois, les informations contenues dans les clés, mais aussi dans l’application même". Les applications sont nombreuses (hôtels, voitures, consignes, et domicile, garages ou accès particulier, électricien, technicien de surface, parents, auquel cas le propriétaire joue le rôle du serveur central et dispense de son application les accès). Le Fraunhofer envisage d’étendre ce système aux smart cards. ShareKey sera présentée à l'occasion du CeBIT, qui se tiendra à Hanovre du 5 au 9 mars.

Source : L'Atelier

A startup emerges to use wireless mesh and the cloud to fight energy theft

SUMMARY:
Awesense, a startup using wireless mesh tech and software, has launched to sell utilities energy theft-prevention. Didn’t know it was such a problem? A Canadian utility has said it’s losing $100 million a year to theft; in India about 30 percent of power is used illegally.
Power grid Old Delhi



Awesense
Utilities call energy theft — like when an indoor marijuana farm taps directly into a high voltage line for its super bright lights — a “non-technical loss” or a “commercial loss.” It’s a bizarrely mundane term to describe thefts which cost utilities billions of dollars in losses a year around the world. For example, Canadian utility BC Hydro has estimated that it’s losing a shocking $100 million each year from power theft.
That security problem is what a young Canadian startup called Awesense has emerged to tackle. The company, founded back in late 2009, has developed a product that uses power line sensors connected through a wireless mesh network combined with a cloud-based application. Utility workers can use the combo to remotely monitor and learn details about how much power their companies are actually distributing, versus how much power is being measured by their billing systems. In other words, “how much revenue they’re losing,” as Awesense founder and CEO Mischa Steiner-Jovic explains it.
Awesense’s technology is a mobile solution — utility workers clamp on the power line sensors wherever they suspect theft is happening, and if no theft is being detected they can simply move the network to another part of the grid. The sensor nodes create the ad-hoc mesh network amongst themselves (via the 915 band in North America, for all you wireless spectrum geeks out there).
Awesense
The capital expense of the networks are low enough that Awesense has now decided to start selling theft detection as a service. Awesense will install the technology for utilities for no upfront cost, and then take a cut of the revenue saved. Steiner-Jovic says over the past few years they’ve realized that there’s been a lot of interest from utilities for the theft-detection product, but that utility budgets are often times small and rigid.
In addition to growing its theft detection-as-a-service this year, Awesense is hoping to grow its list of international customers, where energy theft is a massive issue. Currently it has customers (it’s not disclosing the names other than Fortis BC) in Canada, the U.S., and Latin America, and it’s looking to Awesenseexpand more into Latin America as well as Asia Pacific and Europe. India has some of the highest theft losses in the world, with close to 30 percent of the power in the country lost to theft (check out some photos of the crazy jerry-rigged power grids of Old Delhi). The former Soviet Union has almost 50 percent. Brazil is at 15 percent.
To date, Awesense has been mostly bootstrapped, and just raised a “seven figure” round from angels last Summer. Steiner-Jovic says the company could be interested in raising a venture round in the future to grow its business. Applying IT tech to the power grid and clean energy is still an area where startups have been able to get funding from some venture capitalists, despite the difficult funding environment for most cleantech.
Source : GigaOM

mardi 22 janvier 2013

Sécurité routière: quand l’autoroute devient phosphorescente


(vidéo) Une série d’innovations vont être inaugurées dans la province néerlandaise du Brabant, améliorant la sécurité et économisant l’énergie sur autoroute.
Prenez une minute pour regarder la vidéo ci-dessous, qui vous emmène sur une autoroute conçue pour renforcer la sécurité et économiser l’énergie grâce à différents moyens:
- des marquages au sol phosphorescents qui absorbent les rayons du soleil la journée et restituent de la lumière la nuit;
- une peinture routière sensible à la température qui révèle des motifs de cristaux de glace uniquement lorsque le mercure atteint des températures négatives, avertissant le conducteur des risques de dérapage;
- des éclairages sensibles au mouvement placés en bordure de route qui s’allument et s’éteignent au passage des voitures;
- des éclairages intégrés à des moulins à vent qui fonctionnent grâce au vent produit par le déplacement des véhicules;
- des voies spéciales qui rechargent les voitures électriques à la volée grâce à la technologie d’induction.
Il doit sûrement s’agir d’un pays où la voiture est reine? Les États-Unis? Ou peut-être l’Allemagne?
En réalité, il s’agit des Pays-Bas, un pays surtout connu pour ses deux-roues (on y compte 18 millions de vélos pour 16,7 millions d’habitants), mais qui n’a pas oublié pour autant l’automobile.
Ces technologies inédites, dont certaines ont été évoquées dans les récents articles de Tyler Falk sur la « route intelligente du futur » et de Charlie Osborne sur la « peinture intelligente », devraient être utilisées dans la province du Brabant cet été.
Source : SmartPlanet

lundi 21 janvier 2013

Tracking trees: How M2M is being used to prevent deforestation in Brazil

ForestSUMMARY:
The Brazilian government is working with the private sector to shut down illegal logging operations in the Amazon by connecting trees. If a monitored tree is chopped down, environmental authorities can track it all the way to the sawmill.


The internet of things already connects appliances like refrigerators and ice machines and every manner of wearable quantified-self gadget. But even this use-case caught us by surprise: the internet of things now includes trees.
Brazilian location-services company Cargo Tracck is working with the Brazilian environmental protection authorities and carriers to stop deforestation in the Amazon through the tracking of individual trees. By embedding Gemalto machine-to-machine (M2M) radio modules into specially designed logging monitors, Cargo Tracck is able to detect if trees are being chopped down and moved.
It’s a unique approach to M2M because it requires monitoring devices in areas where cellular networks usually don’t reach — the depths of the rainforest. The genius of Cargo Tracck’s system though is that in an ideal situation the monitoring devices will never have to transmit.
If the protected trees remain undisturbed, the modules would just hang unmolested in the forest canopy. But if the tree were cut down and trucked to an illegal sawmill, the monitor would notify the authorities as soon as it got within range of a cellular network. Gemalto’s newest low-power M2M modules use radiation exchange data tracking technologies that can extend its range 20 miles, so they can transmit their coordinates even if illegal loggers are skirting cities and highways.
Source : GigaOM

2013 could be a make or break year for algae fuel

PHOTOS: Exxon, Synthetic Genomics Open Algae Test Facility

The allure of using algae to power the world’s vehicles has been at the heart of many business plans over the years — some that have failed spectacularly, and some that are still chugging along down the long road to commercialization. But 2013 could represent a pivotal year for some of the algae fuel leaders that have spent years raising funding, building pilot projects, and selling their algae into niche markets like as an ingredient in high-end face lotions.

The players

One of the companies that’s the farthest along is Solazyme, a South San Francisco-based company that went public in the spring of 2011. Solazyme was one of the first firms to focus on the alternative chemicals and personal care markets, developing a small but steady revenue stream as it braced itself for the difficulty of churning out its algae oil at a scale and cost that can compete with oil for transportation.
Propel and Solazyme
But Solazyme is now at the brink of ramping up its algae oil for fuel, too. This week the company said that its Brazilian joint venture with food processing giant Bunge — called Solazyme Bunge Produtos Renováveis — has received approval for a $120 million loan from the Brazilian Development Bank to build out its first commercial-scale algae fuel factory in Brazil. The factory is already under construction (it started in the summer of 2012) next to Bunge’s sugarcane mill in São Paulo (it uses sugar for a feedstock). Solazyme hopes it will be ready to go by the fourth quarter of 2013. Initially it will produce 100,000 metric tons per year, but eventually by 2016 it’s supposed to make 300,000 metric tons annually.
Solazyme also plans to reach commercial scale of its algae fuel in the U.S. soon, using a factory in Clinton, Iowa owned by agriculture giant ADM. That plant is supposed to make 20,000 metric tons of algae oil per year in early 2014, and eventually 100,000 metric tons per year. It also has its own smaller scale development factory in Peoria, Illinois.
Sapphire Energy is another company that is looking to cross through the so-called Valley of Death from low volume production to commercial scale that can one day compete with oil. The company has a 2,200-acre algae growing farm in Columbus, New Mexico, which has 70 ponds, each the size of a football field, as well as a refinery on site. The New Mexico refinery reportedly started producing oil in low volumes last summer and by 2014 is supposed to be able to make 1.5 million gallons of algae crude per year, and 10,000 barrels a day by 2018.
Sapphire Energy New Mexico
Sapphire and Solazyme are attacking the algae oil industry with different approaches. Solazyme grows its algae in closed fermentation tanks, while Sapphire is growing it in the open air on large plots of land. Open air ponds could theoretically be cheaper, but they face the problem of making sure they don’t get contaminated and disturbed by outside elements.
Another company working on algae fuel is Synthetic Genomics, which is the brainchild of genomics guru Craig Venter. Venter beat the U.S. government at being the first to sequence the human genome, and also led his team in recent years to be the first to make the world’s first synthetic bacterial cell, called the first artificial life form by many. The researchers built a synthetic chromosome and inserted it into a living bacterial cell, where it took over the cell and became an entirely new life form.
Synthetic Genomics was able to score a massive, potentially $600 million, development deal with Exxon. Last spring, Synthetic Genomics bought a 81 acre site in the Imperial Valley, near the Salton Sea, and it plans to scale up and test its algae strains there with 42 open ponds.

The costs

Scaling up all these new factories and farms take a colossal amount of money. But they’re needed because the algae oil needs to be produced at a huge scale to get it cheap enough to compete with oil.
The costs no doubt take a toll on these pioneers. Solazyme’s net losses are growing, and the company lost $58.52 million for the nine months ended September 2012, up from a $38.32 million net loss for the same time the year prior. The company will not likely be profitable for years, and it’s helping fund its production deal with ADM with equity. This week Solazyme said that it intends to sell $100 million worth of notes to help it build its projects.
sapphireenergy1
Sapphire Energy raised at least $300 million from venture capitalists and investors like Cascade Investment, which is owned by Bill Gates. Good thing Sapphire got that money in the bank, because few venture capitalists these days are willing to put in hundreds of millions of dollars into such infrastructure for clean power projects. Sapphire also got $50 million in stimulus funding and a $54.4 million federal loan guarantee.
Synthetic Genomics has its potentially $600 million development deal with Exxon, though I’m not sure the status of that currently. Venter has said that biofuels made from algae that will be able to scale, and compete with oil, will have to be synthesized and will not come from nature. The Exxon deal was originally to research naturally occurring algae cells only (not synthetic ones), but Venter hopes Exxon will come around to funding the research based on synthetic algae cells.
Who knows if algae fuel will ever get there — if Venter is right, it’ll have to be a completey new type of synthetic super microbe that delivers algae oil as efficiently as possible. But 2013 is a year in which these three algae fuel players look to scale, and will spend a lot of money to get there.
Source : GigaOM

Les 20 villes les plus intelligentes d’Amérique du Nord et d’Europe


Boston et Copenhague arrivent cette année en tête de la liste des villes les plus intelligentes en termes de leadership, d’économie et d’habitants. Paris est jugé « deuxième ville d’Europe la plus propice aux start-ups », derrière Londres.
Nous tenons ce classement de Boyd Cohen, qui vient de publier ses listes des 10 villes « les plus intelligentes » d’Amérique du Nord et des 10 villes les plus intelligentes d’Europedans Fast Company Co.Exist.
Qu’est-ce qui fait qu’une ville est « intelligente »? Ce n’est pas seulement le niveau d’éducation de ses habitants, même s’il s’agit d’une des variables clés que Boyd Cohen utilise pour établir son classement. « L’intelligence » d’une ville passe également par une combinaison d’initiatives, notamment des infrastructures de haute technologie, son potentiel économique, sa culture entrepreneuriale, sa qualité de vie et ses plans de développement durable.
Bien entendu, toute cette intelligence a un prix. Dans la plupart des villes répertoriées par Boyd Cohen, le coût de la vie est parmi les plus élevés au monde. Certains diront qu’il n’y a rien d’intelligent à vivre avec des coûts élevés, d’où l’attrait croissant de nombreuses villes du Midwest ou de villes dites secondaires (telles que Richmond, en Virginie, ou Darmstadt, en Allemagne), où il est possible de vivre et de faire des affaires de manière beaucoup plus rentable.
Toujours est-il que voici les principales villes qui réunissent de nombreux autres facteurs d’intelligence favorables.
1. Boston. Écosystème entrepreneurial d’envergure mondiale, soutenu par de grandes universités.
2. San Francisco. Grande qualité de vie, civisme et premier environnement technologique au monde.
3. Seattle. Gouvernance intelligente, gouvernance électronique, performances économiques élevées.
4. Vancouver. Ville très écologique, avec la meilleure qualité de vie d’Amérique du Nord.
5. New York. Leadership visionnaire, gouvernance intelligente, propice à la marche et accessible.
6. Washington, D.C. Gouvernance électronique, ville pionnière dans l’adoption des nouvelles technologies.
7. Toronto. Grande qualité de vie, population avec un niveau d’éducation élevé.
8. Chicago. Initiatives écologiques, engagement vis-à-vis des données ouvertes et de l’accès numérique.
9. Los Angeles. Écosystème entrepreneurial émergent dédié à la technologie, incluant des « dizaines d’incubateurs et d’accélérateurs technologiques ».
10. Montréal. Grande qualité de vie, très accessible.
1. Copenhague. Ville la plus écologique de la planète, population avec un niveau d’éducation élevé.
2. Stockholm. Ville écologique, économie performante.
3. Amsterdam. Très accessible, population avec un niveau d’éducation élevé.
4. Vienne. Mobilité intelligente, gouvernance intelligente, gouvernance électronique.
5. Paris. « La deuxième ville d’Europe la plus propice aux start-ups. »
6. Berlin. « Berlin est synonyme de faibles loyers, de coûts d’hébergement bas, de salaires moins élevés, d’une main-d’œuvre très qualifiée, de formidables ingénieurs, sans compter que c’est une ville vivante et créative. »
7. Londres. « Première capitale d’Europe pour les start-ups… les conditions pour les entrepreneurs sont similaires à celles qui existent dans des pôles de développement américains tels que la Silicon Valley ou New York. »
8. Barcelone. Leadership visionnaire, gouvernance électronique.
9. Munich. Grande qualité de vie, présence de nombreux sièges d’entreprise.
10. Francfort. Grande qualité de vie, initiatives écologiques.

jeudi 17 janvier 2013

INFOGRAPHIC - LIGHTING THE CLEAN REVOLUTION: THE RISE OF LEDS AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR CITIES

Infographic: LEDs Lighting the Clean Revolution

Source : http://thecleanrevolution.org/

13 battery startups to watch in 2013


Here’s 13 rare battery startups working on next-generation manufacturing, chemistry and printing technologies. These battery companies could create innovation that could revolutionize electric cars, the power grid and how we charge up our gadgets and cell phones.
1). AmbriAmbri is one of the most well known battery startups out there. Formerly called Liquid Metal Battery, the company was founded by MIT Professor Don Sadoway, who is probably the only battery startup founder ever to score an interview on The Colbert Report. It’s also got investors Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla, and oil giant Total. Ambri is developing a battery for the power grid using molten salt sandwiched between two layers of liquid metal. The battery is still at least a year and a half from commercialization.
Don Sadoway
2). Imprint Energy: Using zinc, instead of lithium, and screen printing technology, Imprint Energy has developed a battery that is ultra-thin, energy-dense, flexible, and low cost. Because the battery can be made thin and pliable, the company hopes to target companies making wearables. Imprint Energy is already making small volumes of its batteries for pilot customers, and plans to ramp up to commercial scale manufacturing in a couple years.
Imprint Energy
3). Alveo Energy: Half-year-old startup Alveo Energy is looking to develop and commercialize a battery made out of water, Prussian blue dye — which is used to color things like blue jeans, crayons and paint — iron and copper. The battery is meant to be ultra low cost and long lasting, and if successful, could help deliver breakthrough energy storage technology for the power grid. The research behind the battery was done by Stanford PhD student turned entrepreneur Colin Wessells, and Stanford Professor Professor Robert Huggins, and the company managed to snag a $4 million grant from the Department of Energy’s high risk early stage program called ARPA-E.
Alveo Energy
4). PellionPellion went about finding the perfect battery chemistry in a totally disruptive way: the researchers created advanced algorithms and computer models that enabled them to test out 10,000 potential cathode materials to fit with its magnesium anode for its battery. Pellion co-founder, MIT Professor Gerbrand Ceder, also helped develop The Materials Genome Project at MIT, which is a program based on using computer modelling and virtual simulations to deliver innovation in materials. Pellion says its magnesium batteries could have very high energy density — higher than current lithium ion batteries. The startup is backed by the ARPA-E program as well as Khosla Ventures.
Pellion
5). QuantumScape: QuantumScape is an early stage stealth battery startup that is truly a product of Silicon Valley. The company is commercializing technology from Stanford University, it was founded by Infinera co-founder and CEO Jagdeep Singh, and it’s backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Khosla Ventures. The company is trying to create a battery — called the all-electron battery — that has the density of fossil fuels. The technology being used is a new method for stacking trace amounts of materials together.
Jagdeep Singh
6). Envia: A year ago battery startup Envia unveiled that its lithium ion battery technology could deliver an electric car with a 300-mile range for a cost of around $25,000 to $30,000. Founded in 2007, Envia developed a low-cost cathode and then paired that with a silicon carbon anode, and a high-voltage electroloyte. The company is backed by General Motors, Japanese giant Asahi Kasei, Pangaea Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and the DOE’s ARPA-E program.
400Whkg Battery pic #2_IMG_1028
7). GELI: Startup GELI isn’t making new types of batteries, but it’s developing an operating system and software for grid batteries. Companies, building owners and utilities can buy GELI-enabled batteries and use the batteries for services like providing energy storage for solar systems, or for storing and discharging energy when the demand for energy becomes out of balance with supply.
HalfGEM_5421_552_Oi_
8). Sila NanotechnologiesSila Nanotechnologies was founded in 2011 by Valley entrepreneurs working with the Georgia Institute of Technology. The company is building a lighter lithium ion battery that has double the capacity of current lithium ion batteries. The company received a $1.73 million grant from the DOE.
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9). Boulder IonicsBoulder Ionics is working on breakthroughs for the electrolyte part of the battery, which is the guts of the battery, where the ions flow across between the anode and the cathode. The company is developing an electrolyte made of ionic liquids that can function at high temperatures and voltages and is lower cost to make than the more standard way to make ionic liquids.
Boulder Ionics
10). Prieto Battery: The brainchild of Colorado State chemistry professor Amy Prieto, Prieto Battery is making a lithium ion battery that it says can charge in five minutes and last for five times longer than the standard lithium ion batteries. The company is leveraging nanotechnology to develop tiny copper nanowires that make up the anode of the battery, and the electrolyte is made of a solid polymer.
Prieto Battery
11). Sakti3Sakti3 is a startup in Michigan that is building a lithium ion battery that is entirely solid state, and has a high energy density. Making it from solid polymers means it won’t have those flammable liquids and could be a lot safer for electric cars. The company is backed by Khosla Ventures,GM Ventures and Itochu.
Sakti3.2
12). Xilectric: Xilectric is re-making the “Edison Battery,” which traditionally has been a rechargeable nickel iron battery. But Xilectric is making it out of aluminum and magnesium, which it says will make it more low cost and with higher performance. The company was awarded a $1.73 million grant from the DOE.
Volt charging at mall
13). Amprius: Based on research from Stanford’s Yi Cui, Amprius is working on lithium ion batteries that use a nanostructured silicon material for the anode. The nanostructured material could shrink the anode fourfold and allow a fourfold increase in energy density. The company has raised at least $25 million from Trident Capital, VantagePoint Venture Partners, IPV Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Eric Schmidt.
Amprius cell
Source : GigaOM