Par Patrick Arnoux. Les micro-investissements d’aujourd’hui en circuit ultra court feront les macro-réussites économiques de demain. Les levées de fonds des start up auprès de particuliers pour amorçer leur décollage – finançer un prototype, un nouveau produit, une recherche appliquée – en période de disette bancaire sont l’une des solutions les plus prometteuses. Cette “vague de fonds” est déjà une déferlante aux Etats-Unis où des millions de projets sont finançés par des millions de dollars versés par des millions de contributeurs. Formidable avance du crowdfunding – prononcez finances participatives – alors que le corset de la réglementation bancaire interdit encore en France la croissance de ce type d’activité. Une loi est en préparation pour, début 2014, lever des obstacles, alléger les contraintes, simplifier les démarches. Mais il en demeure d’autres – l’a-responsabilité des plateformes, leur émiettement – pour que cette alternative encore embryonnaire séduise de façon massive la foule des investisseurs-amateurs. Suite...

Par John Parisella. Depuis son lancement, la mission de Campus Montréal est de soutenir des projets porteurs qui permettront de concevoir et développer des solutions novatrices à des enjeux complexes, de créer des conditions propices à la formation et au transfert des connaissances en plus de rayonner dans la communauté en générant des partenariats créatifs et productifs. Pour réaliser ce vaste projet de société, Campus Montréal s’est donné comme objectif d’amasser 500 millions de dollars.
Les dons philanthropiques ne serviront pas à couvrir les dépenses opérationnelles des établissements. Les dons serviront à apporter une marge de manœuvre aux chercheurs et aux étudiants pour pousser encore plus loin la portée et l’envergure de leurs travaux. Le philanthrope devient ainsi un investisseur dans la société; le donateur, un visionnaire. Chaque dollar deviendra un levier, chaque investissement deviendra un ferment et chaque engagement deviendra un tremplin. Suite...

By Elizabeth Shepherd. The UK needs to continue to embrace the increase of globally mobile students in order to succeed as one of the world’s leading higher education providers.
The estimated value of education exports to the UK in 2011 was recently calculated at over £17 billion in a report published by the UK government Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
The strategy acknowledges that the importance and impact of international education exports, including incoming students and those studying offshore, to the UK economy. More...

By Liao Fangzhou. They are called MOOC (massive online open courses) and they are the latest form of interactive online education. These courses offer free access to some of the world's most exclusive and elite universities and now they are being embraced by Shanghai students, young and old, in a variety of courses.
Distance education is not new - in 1728 a Boston shorthand teacher offered mail order lessons. But radio and television changed the method of communication and approach. By the end of the 1930s when radio had become widespread, many US colleges and universities began broadcasting educational programs for public schools. In 1969, the Open University was founded in the UK, offering course-related radio and television lectures through the BBC. More...

Germany has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in Europe but the standard of its education system is full of contradictions.
Its apprenticeship scheme is praised around the world, but its universities struggle to compete internationally and a sixth of adults have the reading age of a ten-year-old.
German schools divide pupils at an early age. When they are aged ten or 11 children are put into one of three tiers of school.
The brightest head to the Gymnasium, the average to the Realschule, while those who fail to pass exams go to the Hauptschule.

By Yarden Skop. Only in Britain is it more expensive, and loan programs tend to be more available in Europe, according to the Knesset research center. Tuition at Israeli universities is higher than in all European countries except Britain, according to a new report by the Knesset Research and Information Center. More...

Foreign higher education institutions have difficulty entering the Swedish market to establish branch campuses. This should get policy-makers to rethink and concentrate on simplifying the regulatory framework involved, pursuing active marketing, and implementing coordinated efforts for this. Thus argue, Tobias Krantz, Head of Education, Research and Innovation at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, and Maria Rankka CEO of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
World class higher education and research are critical to a Sweden that must remain an attractive country for entrepreneurship, investment, jobs, and welfare – now and in coming years. Demands in the global economy continually sharpen. Opening Swedish higher education to new influences, to change, and to allow new participants in the market is essential for the country to improve quality and strengthen competitiveness. More...