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Two years ago, Etsy surprised some members of the Maker Movement when it stopped requiring its sellers to produce their own products. Now, Etsy will help Makers find outsourcing partners through a new service called Etsy Manufacturing.

Over the next decade, the Internet of Things (IoT) could make a $4 trillion difference to U.S. manufacturing. By helping manufacturers gain better intelligence about their business operations, IoT can increase revenue and reduce costs. Not all manufacturers are ready to collect and analyze Big Data, however.

Early adopters of new technologies are drivers of economic development. By using their knowledge to build technology-based businesses, these early adopters change their communities. During the Enlightenment, cities with more subscribers to Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedie grew more quickly, presumably because readers learned about what were then called the “mechanical arts”. Today, there’s a relationship between patent applications and household income – and the results’ aren’t promising for future growth.