The ethical use of technology engenders trust through transparent practices and the protection of privacy, according to Microsoft’s Toni Townes-Whitley, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector and Industry. She gives examples of how leaders in the digital age should act responsibly, such as by ensuring that automation maximizes efficiencies without destroying people’s dignity.

What makes a company brilliant? There’s no single answer, so we started with a question: “What in the past year made us say, ‘That’s brilliant!’?”

To compile this, the 2018 edition of our 100 Brilliant Company list, we explored boundary-pushing entrepreneurship -- from Kevin Hart challenging comedy’s pecking order to big risks, fresh employee perks and meaningful social missions.

This year we broke down our 100 Brilliant Companies into various categories, including marketing, leaders, services and more.

Image: Image credit: Burn & Broad

When you think “Michigan,” what comes to mind? Cars are certainly near the top of that list, but the Wolverine State can no longer be defined merely by its leadership in the auto industry. Featuring one of the most diverse economies in America, Michigan is becoming an increasingly popular place to launch high-tech, high-growth companies — in the life sciences, agriculture and advanced applied materials.

Checking into a hotel for a conference several years ago, I asked the receptionist where I could get some dinner. There was no restaurant in the hotel, I was told; my only options were ordering delivery from a fast-casual chain or a pizza joint. I went with the pizza, but my lack of choices was annoying — so much so that, when I got home, I started looking into the data on health and travel for work.

My experience is far from unique. According to the Global Business Travel Association and American Express, Americans took more than 500 million domestic business trips in 2016.

With risks mounting, drugmakers can take a page from other highly regulated, capital-intensive businesses.

Risk management has become a top-of-mind issue for C-suites and boards around the world—nowhere more than in pharmaceutical companies. In a politically and economically turbulent environment, the risks pharma companies face, especially in clinical-trial design and execution, drug approval, product quality, and global commercial practices, are increasing in both frequency and magnitude (see sidebar, “Growing risks in pharmaceuticals”).

Skim the headlines, and you might get the impression that the biotech startup world revolves around an insider’s club of Midas-listed venture capitalists.

Not true.

Clever entrepreneurs who know where to look can find other sources who bring a lot to the table – family offices, venture philanthropies, crossover funds, and corporate investors. Billions of dollars are available from non-traditional sources that don’t exactly advertise that fact. Some of them start investing as early as Series A and have the deep pockets to go much further.

Mary Meeker, leading technology analyst and partner at venture firm KIeiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), released her annual internet trends report on Wednesday. As usual, the lengthy compilation of Internet prognostications offers a comprehensive look at the current digital technology landscape and what tech trends to expect next. Here are a few highlights.

On 7 June, the European Commission will lay out detailed plans for one of the biggest single research programs on the planet. Called Horizon Europe, the program could be worth €97.6 billion between 2021 and 2027, up from about €77 billion for the current 7-year program, Horizon 2020. Its influence, however, will go beyond size.

Image: PHOTO: HELIOVIS AG

CHICAGO – Healthcare focused startups and government agencies got together in the same room here for HHS Startup Day and each group brought some hard-earned advice for the other.

Health and Human Services Deputy Chief Technology Officer Ed Simcox explained that startups typically avoid government for four main reasons: lengthy decision-making processes, ambiguous priorities, byzantine processes, and the difficulty of finding the right contact.

Image: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/

The list of products, foods, and materials that cause cancer seems to always be growing longer. Our lifestyle and dietary habits can directly affect the risk of cancer, but it isn't something that's always on our minds.

The World Cancer Research Fund wants to bring it to the forefront, and has teamed up with Arthur London and photographer and director Rankin to create a series of films to advertise a new Cancer Health Check. It's a five-minute test to make people aware of the links between diet and cancer, which is based on questions about diet, alcohol intake, and exercise habits.

It’s easy to see the appeal of going into business for yourself. You’re tired of answering to a boss, having your financial future in someone else’s hands, working hard to build someone else’s dreams, not having total control over your day to day – the list goes on. So why do we continue to see so many aspiring entrepreneurs sitting on the sidelines and playing it safe in their corporate comfort zone?

There’s no question that exercise is good for the body, and there is growing evidence that staying physically active can help slow the normal declines in brain function that come with age. Health groups recommend that adults try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-intense activity a week to keep their hearts healthy — but is that the same amount that’s needed to keep the brain sharp?

"I think leadership is broken around the world," Stanford University President John Hennessy says in response to concerns raised about the global state of affairs. "Partly, it's broken because people don't like to tell the truth when the truth is difficult." In conversation with Stanford's Tina Seelig, Hennessy adds that leaders must clearly communicate what they're willing to do and not do.

SendGrid’s Sameer Dholakia describes the concept of “servant leadership,” where the traditional organizational chart is inverted so that the CEO is at the bottom of the pyramid supporting all the hard work being done by everyone else. “It is the ‘golden rule’ applied to leadership,” Dholakia says. “Try to be the kind of leader that you would want to work for.”

Many people dream of quitting their day job and joining the ranks of the self-employed; but according to a 2016 Kauffman Foundation Study, only 6 percent of Americans actuallly own their own business.

Related: 8 Differences Between 'Entrepreneurs' and 'Employees'

Of those who aren’t business owners, some have tried and failed, while others are employees who have never ventured further than the boundaries of their job description. Taking the leap into the world of entrepreneurship takes guts, but success lies in understanding the key differences between being an employee vs. being an entrepreneur.

lan M. Nathan, an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a major-league scientist. A page on the university’s website details some of his work “in the field of intermediate energy nuclear physics, particularly the study of the quark structure of the nucleon.”

Image: Courtesy of Alan Nathan - Alan Nathan

ImpactAlpha, May 29 – A study of 52 accelerator programs compares the overall “flow of funds” for ventures that participated in programs and those that were rejected. Those funds include not only equity but revenues, debt financing and philanthropic support.

From a recipe book featuring 15-second meals like cold buttered bread and cereal for lunch, to a coconut shampoo specially designed for coconuts, crowdfunding site Flopstarter is the place to go for truly terrible ideas.

As the “people’s university” the UW is strengthening economies statewide, says new essay published by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

MADISON, Wis. – Approximately 300 companies have spun off the UW–Madison campus and most have taken root within a 30-mile radius. The same “innovation mindset” flourishes across the state, say Chancellor Dean Van Galen of UW-River Falls and Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

Melinda Gates needs no introduction.

She has been the co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for 18 years. Now, she has quietly entered the venture capital world by investing in female-led or minority-focused venture firms like Aspect Ventures, Female Founders Fund, and Defy Partners.