Lately, his Lean LaunchPad course at Stanford has been the model for an intriguing pilot programme called Innovation Corps (or I-Corps for short) which seeks to turn the traditional Silicon Valley start-up model on its head, and thereby reduce the woeful failure rate of new ventures.

ECONOMIST: Innovation

Pilot projects on the Edmonton model have already been launched by school boards in Colorado Springs, Oakland and New York City.

ECONOMIST: It's not just the economy that is booming; schools are too

She called on Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to pilot the Social Impact Bond model as a new approach to prison rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.

BBC: Lib Dems: Prisons debate