Japan is the most innovative country on the planet, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist.  “

[Japan] gets the top score in an index, ranging from 1 to 10, which is based on patents per person. The report casts light on the factors behind innovation.  Based on a survey of 485 senior executives around the world, it indicates that the top determinants are the technical skills of a country’s workforce and the quality of its telecoms and information-technology infrastructure.”

The Economist also has an interesting article on the reasons for “Europe’s productivity malaise”, which claims that one reason that the United States are more productive than Europe is that “[t]he Americans not only use much more IT per worker, but they also exploit it more effectively.”

According to the Register, “[p]ublic scepticism over the reliability of broadband and the internet could sink IPTV – unless European service providers can develop hybrid or blended services that deliver more than ‘just TV’, and unless they wean themselves off competing solely on price and speed.”

In a different article, the Register reports that “DirectTV CEO Chase Carey said at a conference this week that the largest US direct to home satellite provider will try out broadband over power lines in a few cities later this year.”  The publications adds: “[I]n that simple statement he may have delivered the biggest body blow to WiMAX in the US that he could have, and in particular to Craig McCaw’s Clearwire and any of its suppliers.”

Finally, the San Francisco Chronicle writes that, according to a Project on Emerging Nanotechnology survey, “[t]he Bay Area is the nation’s leading nanotechnology center, […] setting the stage for the region to lead the way in developing yet another crucial technology sector with a potentially huge upside.”