The OECD has released a web-based tool for displaying graphically all the data they have on member states. It is brilliant, and hard to explain without it in front of you.  So have a look and have a go here.

You can graphically display data on economic performance, fertility rates set against the percentage of working women for single states or in combination. You can create bar charts, scatter graphs and all sorts of other visual representation of their data. It is a wonderful tool and seems to work flawlessly.This screen grab looks at the gap between imports and exports.

Quote by Sally Preston the founder of frozen babyfood maker: Babylicious.

"Although people say they want innovation in corporations, they don't really. It doesn't fit their procedures and processes."

Innovation is a culture and attitude before it becomes a process.  Sally is right, it sounds good but is hard to deliver.

Quoted by Rene Carayol reviewing his Inspired Leaders seminar on entrepreneurship.

In an excellent case study produced by Kineo about the line managers' portal they developed with and for   Marks and Spencer.  It is available here.

Amongst the gems is a list of the five key questions you need to ask a subject matter expert if you want to take out the knowledge and build the learning environment. They are excellent, straightforward and I could not do better apart from add one!

How will people know they have mastered this?

1. What are the top five things people must know on this topic?
2. What are the key steps/processes people must follow to do this right?
3. What are the top five most common mistakes people make? What are the consequences? How do people avoid them?
4. What are your five case studies, examples or anecdotes that would help people put this topic in context?
5. Where should people go for more help, advice and information on this topic?

The Communications Minsiter, Stephen Carter, launched the much anticipated report last week at the RSA.  It was filmed, and his 20 minute presentation is well worth watching.  You can see it here.

Or you can download a copy from the DCMS website here. The report itself is balanced but ambitious and wants to drive up the quality of the digital infrastructure in the UK. The digital 'minimum wage' will be 2 mgbts which he determines is the minimum connection speed for subsistence survival in the digital age. 

Contestability for the Licence Fee is also in the report for the nations and the regions. He defines the Licence Fee as the funding mechanism for the BBC but one for public media content which happens to go to the BBC.  What he is proposing is that the current 3.5% allocation of the Licence Fee for digital switchover, should be retained and used for local content creation, once the digital switchover is complete. He is consulting on this.

Just a few observations from the seminars I have been delivering in Brazil with the great MindQuest.

1. Innovation only occurs when there is a culture of innovation in an organisaton

2. That is closely allied to having a learning culture:  curiosity is the heart of innovation.

3. Innovation requires process and well as great ideas to make it effective

4. Innovation means a leap forward not a microstep

5. You only get innovation when you fix the 'blame culture'

6.  Innovation comes from below as well as above.  The best innovation is spread throughout the organisation

7. Innovation involves risk and therefore risks have to be managed

8. Innovation involves money:  it needs a budget to test, trail and allow time to be spent however small.

9. Leaders have to be involved and sensitive to the fact that they can kill innovation at its roots

10. A leader's best role might be sometimes to get out the way