Shoshin Works

Many thanks to David Glazer for joining our Ecosystemic Futures session this afternoon with an exceptional talk on the Future of AI and Life Sciences. The Ecosystemic Futures program is provided by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Project in collaboration with Shoshin Works. #AI #lifesciences #biotech #syntheticbiology #strategicforesight

The AFWERX & SpaceWERX Manufacturing Challenge is here! The U.S. defense industrial base is at a pivotal moment — we need scalable, resilient, and secure manufacturing capabilities to maintain our competitive edge. AFWERX and SpaceWERX are tackling this head-on with the Manufacturing Challenge, seeking innovative solutions to strengthen our defense ecosystem. This is an incredible opportunity for industry, startups, and academia to bring forward groundbreaking manufacturing advancements that can impact the Air Force and Space Force. If you're working on cutting-edge manufacturing solutions, now is the time to get involved! Let’s drive innovation together. 💡⚙️ #AFWERX #SpaceWERX #Innovation #DefenseTech #Manufacturing #Challenge #Collaboration

The Office of Space Commerce is soliciting white papers that could lead to proposals and funded research to enhance and advance #TraCSS technologies. Due date for submission is May 30, 2025. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eg3-AV8x

What a beautiful moment! Congrats to all!

Orchestrating Ecosystems: Creating Harmonious Innovation In this eye-opening episode of Ecosystemic Futures, hosts Marco Annunziata and Vikram Shyam welcome Dr. Giulia Ajmone Marsan, Head of Startups and Inclusion, at the ERIA: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. Dr. Marsan challenges conventional wisdom about innovation with complex data. In just 20 years, the global share of patenting activity from OECD countries has dropped dramatically by 20 percentage points, signaling a significant shift in the geography of innovation. The conversation highlights how emerging markets are becoming powerful engines of innovation. Dr. Marsan provides fascinating examples of innovation born from necessity, including Southeast Asian fintech "super apps" that have brought banking to millions of unbanked individuals, Estonia's digital government revolution built from scratch after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Brazil's central bank-led open banking policy that has sparked a fintech transformation. Dr. Marsan explains how the absence of legacy infrastructure often becomes an advantage, allowing emerging economies to leapfrog directly to cutting-edge solutions. She discusses the phenomenon of "Silicon Bali," where digital nomads are transforming tourism-dependent economies into knowledge hubs. She examines how talent mobility, diaspora connections, and targeted visa programs are reshaping global innovation ecosystems. The conversation also addresses the critical balance between opportunity and inequality, exploring how innovation can advance sustainable development goals while requiring thoughtful policy to ensure benefits are widely shared.   🎧 https://lnkd.in/eWbXqA-G   Highlights 📌 Shifting Innovation Geography: Patent activity from OECD countries dropped 20 percentage points in just two decades, with innovation hotspots emerging across Southeast Asia, India, Brazil, and Africa 📌 Financial Inclusion Revolution: How Southeast Asian super apps evolved from retail platforms to provide e-wallets, microloans, and microinsurance to previously unbanked populations 📌 The Leapfrog Advantage: Countries without legacy infrastructure (like Estonia after the Soviet collapse) can build more innovative systems from scratch 📌 Talent Mobility as Catalyst: The rise of "Silicon Bali" and how entrepreneurship visas and digital nomad programs are reshaping local economies 📌 Digital Public Infrastructure: India's and Brazil's government-led innovation initiatives that created open platforms for entrepreneurial growth   Guest: Dr. Giulia Ajmone Marsan, Head of Startups and Inclusion of the ERIA: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia Hosts:   Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Marco Annunziata, Co-Founder, Annunziata Desai Partners Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works

#ICYMI: SpaceWERX announced eight companies selected for the Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contracts, with a combined funding of $440 million! The awardees—Albedo, Beast Code, CesiumAstro, Gravitics, LeoLabs, Rise8, Umbra, and Xona—are leading the charge with technologies that have already demonstrated significant progress. 🔑 Learn more about these innovative companies and the STRATFI program’s impact in the full article: https://ow.ly/KAPj50VgO5s #SpaceWERX #SpaceVentures #USSF #AFWERX #Ventures #USAF #DAF #DoD #STRATFI #CapitalFactoryHouse #CommercializetheForce #funding #space #innovation

Exciting news! 📣 AFWERX and SpaceWERX are launching the Manufacturing Challenge to spark innovation and close critical gaps in the defense industrial base. By partnering with small businesses, this initiative aims to create scalable, efficient solutions that strengthen national security and keep up with evolving operational needs.  Read the article below to learn more and find out how you can get involved! 👇

Biology as Technology: Advanced Biosystems for Space Exploration In this data-driven episode of Ecosystemic Futures, host Marco Annunziata interviews Dr. Tiffany Vora, a molecular biologist, Singularity Fellow in Biotechnology, and Vice President for Innovation Partnerships at ExploreMars. Drawing from her background in pharmaceutical research, teaching at Stanford University, and extensive work in space innovation, Dr. Vora examines how synthetic biology advances the development of specialized biosystems for space exploration. The discussion explores her recent publication "Space Synthetic Biology: A Paradigm for Sustainability on Earth and Beyond," detailing how technological convergence enables us to read, write, and engineer the source code of life with unprecedented precision. Dr. Vora presents research on how advanced biosystems can solve critical space exploration challenges through on-demand manufacturing of medicines, materials, and food. The episode offers actionable insights for leveraging genetic chassis organisms, flight-tested hardware for biological manufacturing, and shelf-stable reagents that deliver value for space missions and remote Earth locations. Dr. Vora outlines how these advanced biosystems can form the foundation of circular economies in space habitats where waste becomes valuable feedstock for new biological production cycles. 🎧 https://lnkd.in/eMJtE_er Highlights 📌 DNA as Programming Language: Life on Earth stores information as A, C, T, and G—a biological code we can now read, write, and edit with precision for space applications. 📌 Advanced Genetic Chassis: Researchers are developing customizable biological platforms that can be optimized for Mars's unique conditions, including radiation, salinity, and reduced light. 📌 Space Bioeconomy: "Making it" versus "taking it"—creating on-demand medicines, materials, and food in space solves critical up-mass constraints for long-duration missions. 📌 Extremophile Inspiration: Organisms that thrive in nuclear waste, salt flats, and other extreme Earth environments provide genetic blueprints for space-hardy biological systems. 📌 Flight-Tested Biomanufacturing: Developing hardware that enables small-batch, reproducible biological manufacturing in space environments has applications for both Mars missions and remote Earth locations. 📌 Circular Biosystems: Engineering biological processes where waste becomes feedstock for new materials and creates sustainable closed-loop systems essential for long-duration space habitation. Join us for this exceptional discussion.   Guest: Dr. Tiffany Vora, Singularity University Fellow in Biotechnology, and Vice President for Innovation Partnerships at ExploreMars Host:  Marco Annunziata, Co-Founder, Annunziata Desai Partners Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works #AdvancedBiosystems

The Wisdom Bridge: Ancient Practices for Digital Ecosystems In this fascinating episode of Ecosystemic Futures, host Marco Annunziata interviews Himanshu Bharadwaj, MDes, MFA, a design strategist who applies cognitive science principles from Eastern traditions to modern digital ecosystems. Trained at the National Institute of Design and Syracuse University, Bharadwaj presents empirical observations on how his Joyful Design methodology measurably improves innovation outcomes and team performance. The discussion examines the quantifiable limitations of current AI systems in replicating human consciousness, contrasting computational pattern recognition with the neurological cross-connections that drive human creativity. Bharadwaj references research on widespread workplace burnout (25% of Americans now take antidepressants) and presents case studies of ancient mind-training techniques that have transformed organizational systems. The episode offers actionable frameworks for ecosystem architects to integrate these evidence-based approaches into their design processes. It specifically emphasizes how changing brain physiology through targeted interventions can enhance divergent thinking, problem-solving capacity, and ecosystem resilience. 🎧 https://lnkd.in/e62g6vfc Highlights 📌 Science-Philosophy Convergence: Quantum physics discoveries are bridging the historical gap between scientific and philosophical understanding of reality. 📌 Neurological Enhancement: Targeted meditation and reflection techniques demonstrably alter brain physiology to improve creativity and leadership. 📌 Evolutionary Limitations: Workplace innovation suffers from primitive threat-detection circuits; specific interventions help activate higher cortical functions. 📌 Information vs. Intelligence: Bharadwaj distinguishes between information (data collection), knowledge (processing), and intelligence (creative application with intuition). 📌 AI's Creative Gap: Current AI lacks neural cross-connections between disparate ideas and subjective awareness ("the AI in AI"). 📌 The Incompleteness Principle: External systems remain perpetually incomplete, while inner development provides the completeness that enhances external effectiveness. Join us for this exceptional discussion.   Guest: Himanshu Bharadwaj, MDes, MFA, experienced design and strategy leader with a unique blend of Design Thinking, business strategy, and cognitive science. Host:  Marco Annunziata, Co-Founder, Annunziata + Desai Partners Series Hosts: Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works #DigitalEcosystems #ConsciousDesign #EasternWisdom #InnovationMindset #AILimitations #HumanCentricDesign #EcosystemicThinking #AncientPractices #ModernTechnology 

📢 CLOSING NEXT WEEK 📢