A rather intriguing new digital incubation unit has been formed by the Economist Group, headed by Mike Seery, the CIO of The Economist Group. The new unit/project is called Project Red Stripe, and is based out of London. The mandate is to bring a new product to market by April 2007, about six months from the planned November start of the project. For now the group is bringing together a bunch of Economist employees to work on this full-time, from the ideation phase through completion and launch.
This unit, as judged by the FAQs on the site, is completely independent, though funded by the parent company. Depending upon the kind of product it comes up with, it could be wind up being spun off by the parent as a new company.