An article by Techreview mentions the fact that MIT MediaLab is going to be "more focused":

venture capitalists no longer readily throw money at "vague" projects, and government funding is drying up. Today, 70 percent of the lab's annual budget of around $35 million comes from corporate sponsors, with whom they must forge ever-closer ties. Since corporate benefactors want practical technologies, the Media Lab has to strike a balance between meeting sponsors' needs and maintaining its traditional philosophy of open-ended research. (...) These challenges now face a new director, Frank Moss (...) Moss says: "What has changed over the past seven or eight years is that simply coming here and rubbing shoulders with very smart, creative people is often not enough for our sponsors. They need us to help them make a connection between all the wonderful creative work we have here and problems they have." (...) "I think we're all entrepreneurs, but I'm coming from a commercial environment. I think the reason MIT went in that direction is that in many ways running an academic research lab in today's world requires a keen understanding of the sponsors and what their needs and wants are" (...) "I think in the next 20 years we're going to see tremendous advancements in using technology to deal with lingering social problems -- delivering health care, dealing with aging, education -- things that go beyond the digital lifestyle we enjoy today. The lab is going to be looking at how we can use existing or new technologies to make a big difference and solve social problems."

Well... he brings out some questions about research/innovation... and some issues...