Airkio, Caldari State - Noted astrophysicist and gravitic phenomenologist Dr. Grant Arataka publicly announced that he was leaving the employment of the Lai Dai Corporation last week. While the movement of premier researchers from one corporation to another within the Caldari scientific community is not unheard of, the tenor of Arataka's break with Lai Dai was unusual in that the outspoken engineer called a press conference to draw attention to what he calls "a failing of the megacorporate model."

"It's simple, really. The megacorporations have grown too large to adequately undertake the kind of research and development that is going to propel the State into the future and keep us at the forefront of technological innovation," Arataka opined at his press conference last week. He added, "In our efforts to combine the functions of business and governance, we have unwittingly sown the seeds of our own demise." And in what has proven to be an extremely divisive and polarizing remark, he also added, "... recent events have served to show that not only has the megacorporate model become incapable of innovation, it has also demonstrably failed at civic governance."

Arataka's detractors point out that the Caldari State has been at the leading edge of technological research and development for over a century. Indeed, many have stated that were the efficiencies of the corporate governance model not allowed to flourish in their current form, the Caldari State would never have risen to its pre-eminent position in the technology world. Several of those who oppose Arataka's viewpoint have stopped just short of labeling the man's views as treason. Most notable among these is Suntumainen Otsadan, Chief Financial Officer for the Lai Dai Corporation. "Governance requires rules. In order to maintain efficiencies and maximize shareholder value, hard decisions need to be made about the allocation of resources. If Dr. Arataka is upset that his favorite pet project didn't get funded and doesn't want to play by the rules, this corporation and all of our shareholders are better off without him."

In the meantime, Dr. Arataka has begun settling into his new position as Chief Scientist at Itsukame Innovations. A relative newcomer to the research and development game, Itsukame is a conglomerate of several small research and development labs formed from pieces of other companies. Indeed, much of Itsukame's holdings come from the remains of InoTech Star Drive Solutions, divested at auction by the Caldari Business Tribunal subsequent to InoTech's disastrous test failures and diplomatic incident last year (with other parts or proceeds going to Ishukone, Argon Microsystems, and the APEX Conglomerate capsuleer alliance).

When asked about which projects he'll be heading up at Itsukame, Dr. Arataka declined to comment.

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  Chief Scientist

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  Suntumainen Otsadan

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  APEX Conglomerate

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  Caldari State

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  Community Beat for 14 March

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