International Talent : Innovation + Job News

Adel Ebeid almost thought he was undergoing a form of frat-boy initiation, when during his first week on the job as the City of Philadelphia’s first Chief Innovation Officer, the region was rocked by an earthquake and then Hurricane Irene. As it turned out, the naturally occurring forces served to uncover details about the city’s technology.

“It was an excellent exercise in immediately getting to know who’s who and understand how, in a state of crisis, the city communicates and the flow of vital information,” says Ebeid, 47. “I couldn’t have asked for a better Philly 101.”

Ebeid, who previously served as head of IT for the State of New Jersey since 2006, was hired in mid-August thanks in part to a heavy courtship from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. On Aug. 22, Nutter signed an executive order establishing the Office of Innovation and Technology, which replaces the former Division of Technology headed by Allen Franks.

Ebeid says the goal is to rebrand the office (and IT culture) as an enabler and catalyst for helping city agencies improve their operations so they're better able to provide services to city residents and businesses. That's part of Nutter's vision that motivated Ebeid to come to Philly.

“We are ambassadors for how to take IT to the next level,” says the Egyptian native, who moved to the U.S. when he was 10 years old. “Sometimes you gain power by giving up power.”

For an innovation agenda to thrive, Ebeid says the city needs to understand obstacles to internet and broadband penetration. Ebeid says the latest figures he has seen reveal a whopping 41 percent of the city does not have internet access.

"That's quite high for the fifth-largest urban city in the country,” says Ebeid. "I can't figure if it’s an adoption, access or affordability issue, or a combination of all three."

Fortunately, there are already initiatives in place to help narrow the city's digital divide.

Just last week, Nutter was on hand during a press event introducing Internet Essentials, an ambitious, Comcast-led program for comprehensive broadband adoption that will provide families in Philadelphia with children who are eligible for free school lunches with low-cost Internet service, affordable computers and digital literacy training.

Ebeid is also excited about the city’s Freedom Rings partnership that brings together grassroots organizations, government and universities to establish 77 public computer centers, provide hands-on training to 15,000 residents, distribute 5,000 computers to public housing residents and generate 5,000 new broadband household subscribers and 50 small-business subscribers.

"Andrew Buss from my staff has done an excellent job managing this project and I plan to do everything i can to support him and his staff bring the project to a successful completion," he says.

Last Wednesday it was announced that Philadelphia was again selected as a partner for next year’s Code For America program, which unleashes the power of talented developers, designers and product managers on a city for a year to help create more open, participatory and efficient city government.

Ebeid says that in order for already underway projects, like PhillyStat or 311, to advance to the next level, the city’s IT infrastructure needs to be stabilized and secured. Last week, as reported in Technically Philly, Ebeid called for a 30-45 day moratorium on any new technologies within the city’s IT framework to "allow time to establish the appropriate management processes so that the City’s IT infrastructure can grow in a structured fashion but, more importantly, build the staffing capacity needed to sustain it for the long term."

Says Ebeid: "Very little can be achieved unless we have a stable infrastructure foundation in place. I didn’t count on that being my first priority but it now has my complete undivided attention until my staff can regain their confidence."

Source: Adel Ebeid, City of Philadelphia Office of Innovation and Technology
Writer: Joe Petrucci

Because of its size, location and breadth of activity, it's hard to believe that the Kimmel Center has only been part of Philadelphia's arts and culture landscape for 10 years.

Beyond all the first-class performers and performances featured at the Kimmel, one of its best-kept secrets is its Education Program, which has grown steadily through the last several years. It now serves more than 7,000 local youth of all skill levels and socioeconomic backgrounds, according to the Kimmel's Director of Education Julia Lopez.

"There's so much more we can do," says Lopez.

The Kimmel is hiring a Community Engagement Manager to help grow its Education Program. The successful candidate ill be critical to the development of community engagement strategies to support long-term relationships with a "diverse intersection of Philadelphia-area communities."

Part of that includes aligning the Education Program with select performances at the Kimmel. Experience in community organizing and cross-cultural competency is key.

Send cover letters and resumes to the Kimmel, 260 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, or email [email protected].

Source: Julia Lopez, Kimmel Center
Writer: Joe Petrucci

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Giant koi swimming up 13th Street? Believe it. The Favela Painters are coming to Philadelphia. In mid-September, Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, better known as the team Haas&Hahn, arrive here for a major public art project that spans three Philadelphia neighborhoods, trains countless new artists and brings a bit of Brazil to the city.

Favela is the term used for the slums of Rio de Janiero, lawless places ruled by criminal syndicates. Over the past five years, Haas&Hahn have transformed the walls and streets of these mountainside neighborhoods that loom over downtown Rio. Outrageous color and imagery, visible from all parts of the city, have transformed trash strewn chaotic areas into internationally renowned public art galleries.

Now the Favela Painters are set to transform Philadelphia, and the location of their work will be in some pretty high profile places: the 13th Street corridor owned by Goldman Properties in Center City; in North Philadelphia at Lehigh and Germantown Avenues, near The Village of Arts and Humanities (where Haas&Hahn will reside during the project); and in Manayunk, on old industrial buildings facing Interstate 76.

Funding, which is budgeted at just under $500,000 for the three-part project, comes from The Knight Foundation, The U.S. Department of Commerce, Goldman Properties and The Manayunk Development Corporation.

The teams that will work on the project will be trained by the Haas&Hahn guild. "People who don't have a lot of opportunities will be able to work with international artists," says Golden, who describes the artists' philosophy as a model for passing knowledge on. "What's the test of a good project? The shifting perspectives of people who made the art and people who live with it."

This will be the first permanent U.S. project for Haas&Hahn, who also created an installation for Art Basel Miami in 2010. Jane Golden, Executive Director of the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia, met the Favela painters through hip hop art consultant Todd Bressi, who brought Haas&Hahn to Miami. Bressi is a lecturer at The University of Pennsylvania and also worked on the Philadelphia Airport Gateway Project.

Golden says Haas&Hahn are on MAP's dream list of artists. "We're philosophically aligned. They're colorists with a background in architecture," says Golden. Kickoff is September 27 with a welcome reception. The entire project is set to last 18 months, including training and pop-up studios throughout the city. At its conclusion, a major exhibition is planned, which will also span Philadelphia and is slated for late 2013 to early 2014.

Source: Jane Golden, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Writer: Sue Spolan

It's a super awesome Startup Weekend 2.0. Tickets are almost sold out for the Oct. 14 event. On the heels of the first wildly successful Startup Weekend held in January, 2011, the second gathering has a new venue, better food and more caffeine, according to organizer Brad Oyler.

"We sold 95 tickets in two weeks," he says. "The business development tickets are already sold out. We  want to balance it out with developers and designers."

This time, Startup Weekend moves west and will be held at Drexel University's Earle Mack School of Law, in a brand new building with a big auditorium and the use of a dozen classrooms, says Oyler, who helped create the first weekend at University of the Arts, which drew national attention for winner Jameson Detweiler and his team's Launchrock.

"This time around, there's a lot more hype," says Oyler. "People have taken notice, and we've got all the biggest venture capital firms supporting Startup Weekend and getting involved."

The biggest change in programming, according to Oyler, is a new collaboration with the newly launched Skillshare, resulting in classes throughout the weekend instead of just speakers all day. Also, the Drexel Law venue provides several private rooms for top secret entrepreneurial exchanges.

Otherwise, says Oyler, the program will follow a similar curriculum to the previous weekend. Friday night pitches will start earlier. Saturday and part of Sunday will be devoted to building in teams comprised of designers, developers and entrepreneurs. The weekend ends with demos, judging, and awarding of prizes, which include 4 to 5 Dell Boomi tablets and computers, plus legal services from Morgan Lewis to each of the top three winning teams.

As far as judges, the well-rounded list keeps getting bigger, says Oyler, and currently includes Gil Beyda, Managing Partner at Genacast Ventures, Basecamp Business founder Mel Baiada, Morgan Lewis attorney Stephen Goodman, Boomi CEO Bob Moul, Tracey Welson-Rossman from Chariot Solutions, and Ellen Weber, executive director of Robin Hood Ventures.

While attendance is currently capped at 120, Oyler says that's a conservative figure and may open up in the coming weeks. Currently, a few limited ticket types are still available and range in price from $40 to $75.

Source: Brad Oyler, Startup Weekend Philadelphia
Writer: Sue Spolan

Massive construction projects need a specialized kind of management to avoid pitfalls, and that's where Talson Solutions steps in. "For most of our clients, construction is not their business. When we work for a hospital, health care is their business, not building a new hospital." Ditto other massive undertakings like Citizens Bank Park, the Comcast building and the Panama Canal, just a few of Philadelphia based Talson Solutions' clients.

Robert Bright, President of Talson, sees these multimillion dollar efforts as jigsaw puzzles. With nearly 20 years experience in construction litigation and management prior to founding Talson, Bright found an opportunity to build a business overseeing projects at risk. Talson has grown 371 percent in the past five years, according to Bright, and doubled its staff, now employing 12 people at its Old City headquarters.

Leading up to Talson, Bright spent seven years as an expert witness in construction litigation for Price Waterhouse and a dozen years working for Exxon, building large capital projects around the world. "Exxon does it well. They might spend 15 to 20 billion dollars on a capital project. I enjoy that. One might say I have an owner's perspective. It's a different mentality than a contractor. With these types of construction projects, there's a way of doing it right, to identify and anticipate risk." Bright says his strength is letting people know where concerns may lie, whether it is in the design, the quality of materials, or leadership. "We identify the missing pieces, support that effort, and drill down from there."

Talson's largest project right now is auditing the $7 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, but Bright stresses that every project, no matter what the cost, represents risk. Because of Talson's involvement in the Canal project, Bright is likely going to open a satellite office in Panama, and is also considering expansion to New York as well.

Talson just celebrated its 10th anniversary this June. Bright reflects on the past decade, during which his two children, for whom the company is named, grew proud of their father's legacy. Bright's daughter, Taylor, is a rising star in her own right, a promising singer/songwriter who recently toured the US as the star of the musical Annie.

Source: Robert Bright, Talson Solutions
Writer: Sue Spolan

Sensual marketing. Two words you probably haven't heard together, unless you've been speaking to Eligio Sgaramella, the president, CEO and founder of Iperdesign. The interactive agency has just moved to Philadelphia, and maintains offices in Rome, Italy.

While Iperdesign has always had a U.S. presence, first in New York and then in South Jersey, the move to 16th and Spruce is a big one and a signal that the company continues to grow. "A lot of our clients are in the Philadelphia area. There's more opportunity in terms of networking and exposure," says Sgaramella.

Taking up residence in a former ad agency office, in fact the home of the first minority owned agency in the country, Iperdesign (pronounced "EE-per-design") defines itself as a branding web and mobile agency, divided into brand communications, identity and interaction. Originally bringing about $60,000 in billing, Iperdesign has grown into a company with a half million dollars in annual gross, with seven employees in Philadelphia and the same number in the Rome office.

Iperdesign believes in sense-appeal branding, engaging all five senses in the sales experience. For example, Iperdesign filled a spa with the scent of Sorrento lemons. "As soon as you enter the spa, you smell that, and it's very nice," says Sgaramella. "People remember that experience."

The fastest growing area of Iperdesign's business continues to be mobile apps, and it's what kept the agency profitable during the past few years while other big firms were shrinking. One of Iperdesign's biggest clients is Dale Carnegie Training. Just a month after the iPhone came out, Iperdesign developed the company's first mobile app. Hard to believe now, but eight years ago, says Sgaramella, it was a risky thing to do. "They were going through a period of rejuvenating their brand, so we suggested translating their content to a digital product." Two weeks after launch, the Carnegie mobile app held the number one position in the business category, and brought more clients to the agency.

Iperdesign also counts International House Philadelphia as well as Ernst & Young as clients, among a dozen others. Sgaramella credits the distinctive European look and design of his firm's products, which are treated to "across the pond brainstorming."

Source: Eligio Sgaramella, Iperdesign
Writer: Sue Spolan

Riding a bike to national recognition, a team of University of Pennsylvania mechanical engineering students created a revolutionary cycle design that propels far more than the rider. Geoff Johnson, Evan Dvorak, Lucas Hartman, Katie Savarise, and Katie Rohacz teamed up on the design and fabrication of The Alpha Bike, which is now getting coast-to-coast attention.

"Bikes have not changed much in the last 150 years," says Dvorak, who explains that Alpha allows the rider to literally flip a switch between freewheel and fixie style, which he compares to driving an automatic versus manual transmission car.

Alpha Bike is elegant. There are no external cables, brakes or hardware. Smooth surfaces were either milled or printed, and it is mindbending technology that allows stainless steel parts and plastic handlebars to emerge from a 3D printer. The seamless result came from thousands of hours of work. Dvorak estimates that the team spent, at minimum, 700 hours each over the course of their senior year, all while pulling full courseloads of up to six classes.

The 28 pound bike incorporates an electronic system similar to that of a hybrid car, with a dynamo, capacitors, an internal drive train, and the option to add even more bells and whistles such as an accelerometer. "We got our inspiration from Apple's design philosophy," says Dvorak, who describes the computer maker's products as almost magical. "The technology is completely hidden." Alpha's elegant and simple profile belies the complexity of the design.

The team estimates cost of the materials at between $15,000-$20,000, with much donated or purchased at a greatly reduced cost. Johnson, who calls this a concept bike, is not interested in selling the Alpha, but estimates the final tab for parts and labor at somewhere around $50,000.

The Alpha team received an initial budget of $1,500 from the School of Applied Engineering and Science; the team was able to fund the rest thanks to several dozen sponsors and suppliers.

The technology that the team developed is ripe for licensing, and after a recent demonstration, Drexel School of Law Dean Roger Dennis offered to handle the patent work. Johnson has been in talks with Specialized, an international cycle manufacturer out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Source: Geoff Johnson, Evan Dvorak, Alpha Bike
Writer: Sue Spolan

Weathervane Music is not a record label. It's an ecosystem, according to founder and executive director Brian McTear. The recording industry as we knew it a decade ago is gone, and that's probably a good thing, because artists rarely benefited from a top heavy system which rewarded executives while creating a kind of indentured servitude for musicians.

Weathervane's non-profit Shaking Through project sprouted from the idea of growing a musician's career from the ground up. Now in its second year and funded by a two-year, $50,000 grant from WXPN, Shaking Through takes the budding musician out of the garage and into a high end studio, complete with a seasoned producer who is redefined as a curator. In 2010, Shaking Through created 10 song and video packages; so far in 2011, six episodes have been released.

While plenty of things were wrong about the old system, some aspects were pretty great. A sharp editorial ear. State of the art recording studios. High production value music videos. "Everyone can make recordings in their bedrooms," says McTear. "We were trying to come up with a way to provide holistic grass roots support." McTear recasts the Kensington-based Shaking Through as a new music incubator.

Reserving the best qualities of the old industry while adding a millennial spin, "Shaking Through shows the birth of a song by an emerging artist," explains McTear, providing a transformational, collaborative production experience. Bands are selected by guest curators, who are respected members of the music community. Recent curators include WXPN's Bruce Warren; Ben Swanson, co-founder of the indie label Secretly Canadian; the Pelly Twins, sisters who DJ and blog about music; and Peter Silberman of the band The Antlers. Some curators participate in the 2-3 day sessions, which have an estimated value of about $10,000, far beyond the reach of emerging artists.

McTear, who also runs the for-profit Miner Street Studios, says the project is totally unique from all other music and video series on the web because Shaking Through sessions produce brand new material. Each month, Shaking Through creates a song and accompanying music video shot during production. The audience has a chance to go behind the scenes, get to know each artist, and lift the curtain on a previously invisible process.

McTear points to the success of Shaking Through artist Sharon Van Etten, who was recently signed to the Jagjaguwar label. Other emerging artists who've been shaken through include Strapping Field Hands, Reading Rainbow and Hezekiah Jones.

The future of Shaking Through depends on funding and other revenue streams. While McTear is in renewal talks now with WXPN, he is seeking additional sponsorship. He adds that music and video licensing could prove profitable over time.

Source: Brian McTear, Shaking Through
Writer: Sue Spolan

Concerns about money are raising the legislative roof at the federal level. Meanwhile, jobs and innovation are flowing out of the US and into China, India and the EU. The US biopharmaceutical industry is undergoing major changes. Hundreds of small and medium sized firms require intensive capital to conduct research. Major players in the industry, including Sanofi-Aventis,Merck, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have cut more than 43,000 jobs nationwide as of September 2010. Health care reform adds more uncertainty to the industry at large.

Rather than attempt to allocate nonexistent federal money for life sciences research and development, Representatives Chakah Fattah, Allyson Schwartz, and Pat Meehan, along with Senator Robert Casey Jr., have a plan to provide money on a national level for the life sciences industry though tax incentives. On July 25, the bipartisan group introduced The Life Sciences Jobs and Investment Act of 2011 at the University City Science Center, a locus of life science research.

"This legislation is about inventing the future," says Casey. "In Pennsylvania, we don't wait for events to overtake us."

Southeastern Pennsylvania's political leaders have a vested interest in life sciences, according to Schwartz, who pointed to the concentration of teaching hospitals, medical research and life science entrepreneurs here.

"It's one of the aspects of the American economy where we are still leading, but we won't continue if we can't compete," said Meehan, who stressed that the bipartisan effort will have a much better chance of passing. Schwartz added, "It's not an easy time to get anything done in Washington."

The legislation, introduced on July 25, doubles the credit from 20 to 40 percent for the first $150 million of life sciences research and development. Also, to encourage domestic productivity, companies that bring foreign profits back to the United States will enjoy a reduced tax rate, as long as those funds that are used to hire domestic scientists and researchers and make new investments in American research and development.

Source: Robert Casey Jr., Allyson Schwartz, Pat Meehan, US Congress
Writer: Sue Spolan

As America races to maintain standing in the global economy, industry clusters have been touted as a key strategy for technological innovation. While Silicon Valley and North Carolina's Research Triangle are held as bright spots where higher education meets high tech, few innovation clusters are successful. A recent column in the Washington Post dubbed government funded industry clusters "the modern day snake oil," doomed to fail.

At the third annual Regional Affinity Incubation Network (RAIN) meeting, held last week at the University City Science Center, David Finegold, Dean of Rutgers' School of Management and Labor Relations, responded. "A lot of efforts haven't panned out, but industry clusters are not without hope." He explained that early efforts were "real estate plays." What sets the tri-state region apart is the ability to build from that which is distinctive about this area, said Finegold, rather than starting from scratch and hoping that if it's built, innovation will come.

New Jersey, in particular, has nowhere to go but up, having ranked last in 2010 in U.S. job creation. While traditionally the state was a leader in biopharma and telecommunications, these industries made up a large-firm culture, and it's now time to build diverse networks, according to Finegold.

The University City District in Philadelphia is a 2.5 square mile powerhouse of commercial and institutional vitality, employing 70,000 people, according to UCD president Matthew Bergheiser. Forty percent of NIH funding in Pennsylvania is granted to projects within the boundaries of University City, and the Science Center has long been a fertile startup breeding ground that encourages organic growth, rather than superimposing ideas of innovation on an otherwise bereft area.

In Delaware, by contrast, plans are underway to convert Newark's former Chrysler assembly plant into an 250 acre innovation hub complete with living and working space, with an existing rail station to encourage commuters, and the potential to create collaboration across state lines, according to David Weir, PhD, Director of the Office of the Economic Innovation & Partnerships at the University of Delaware.

With a continued soft real estate market, Finegold offers that the way out of the recession is through leveraging human capabilities and university facilities. "We already have a great talent base here," said Finegold of efforts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, which he terms one of the most diverse regions on the planet.

RAIN is a regional network of over 40 research parks, incubators and support organizations located in the tri-state area.

Source: David Finegold, Matthew Bergheiser, David Weir, RAIN
Writer: Sue Spolan

PHOTO:

Former Chrysler Assembly Plant in Newark DE

Lollapalooza meets SXSW meets Burning Man, with a side order of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the first of many brainstorming sessions to shape the identity of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, creative ideas were flying.

Celebrating the passage of time since 1776 is a big project, so Sam Katz is starting with plenty of lead time. Fifteen years, to be exact. The three-time mayoral hopeful has turned his ambitions toward creating a national extravaganza branded as USA250, based in Philadelphia but celebrating the whole country, with the world as an audience. The idea merges with Katz's work as a documentarian. His new 30-minute film Philadelphia: the Great Experiment, is the first installment in what Katz hopes will become a series about the 400 year history of the city. Part one covers 1865-76.

In short order, the idea sprung to life from three highly involved Philadelphians -- Greg Heller, Job Itzkowitz, and Andrew Hohns. Now with a 501c3 non-profit group dedicated to USA250, the group is holding a series of idea gathering sessions with folks who will likely be around in 15 years to see the idea to fruition.

At a conference room in a Center City high rise, about a dozen of the city's brightest and most outspoken gathered to explore Katz's concept. While it will not be possible to recreate the 1876 Centennial celebration that attracted an international audience to Philadelphia, the group hopes to capture some of the spectacle and pomp of that event. "We want to promote, advocate, conceptualize and collaborate in the lead up to July 4, 2026," says CEO Katz, asking those gathered to use social media and email for outreach and spreading the word.

Katz plans on asking hundreds of people for their opinions on the nature of the USA250 celebration, which will have its own website and Facebook page, and is already making an appearance as the hashtag #USA250 on twitter.

What would you suggest if you could design USA250? Would you concentrate on diversity, the arts, democracy, history, technology or a caravan that travels across the United States gathering stories? The field is wide open to suggestions, and it could be your idea that makes millions in tourism dollars. By the way, Katz says he isn't planning on running for office again. Anytime soon.

Source: Sam Katz, USA250
Writer: Sue Spolan