At the beginning of 2020, who could’ve predicted the number and scale of changes we’d be experiencing with how and where we work? The pandemic and the IT decisions made in response to it sent many people away from the office and required them to adjust to work processes that include virtual experiences and multiple devices.

If you have been following the financial news, you may have seen that the value of one bitcoin skyrocketed from around $11,000 in October 2020 to over $62,000 in April 2021, before plummeting to under $32,000 two months later.

Image: Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. Blockchain technology could contribute to the SDGs in various ways, such as providing food vouchers in refugee camps. © UNHCR/I.Prickett  

When I was growing up, my dad loved coaching baseball and hockey. So, of course, I played baseball and hockey. He coached most of my teams from the time I was old enough to stand up on skates. His dream for me was to play professional baseball. After an injury on the field in college, things didn’t work out the way we’d planned, but if my dad was disappointed about that, he didn’t show it. I think he knows I got what he wanted me to get out of sports. I think he knows that even though I’m an entrepreneur instead of a major league baseball player, I still am playing by the rules he taught me, and that’s what’s important to him.

FREMONT, Calif., July 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DeepRoute.ai announced today its robotaxi program is now available to the public, making it the first company to provide this type of service in Shenzhen. The vehicles have driven 1 million miles safely in four different cities around the world and will be covering approximately 124 miles of public roads in Shenzhen.

“We have tested our self-driving vehicles in Shenzhen for more than two years now,” said Xuan Liu, Partner and Vice President at DeepRoute.ai. “We are excited to launch this program and look forward to gradually increasing the number of vehicles available and operation zones covered.”

Our nation was innovative from its founding, the concept of “government of the people, by the people, for the people” a revolution in a largely colonial world.

Innovation drives this nation. Individuals like Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, Orville and Wilbur Wright and Steve Jobs have designed and implemented innovations that have helped propel the United States as global economic and technology leaders.

Image: Earl Brooks PhD - https://www.kpcnews.com

Swimming is a fantastic form of exercise that provides an all-round body workout. Swimming works every muscle in the body and is one of the most versatile and effective workouts around. It offers a safe, high-aerobic, low-impact workout, allowing you to swim as much as you like without worrying about injuries. If you do have injuries, swimming is an excellent form of rehabilitation.

How mental health and work are changing for the better.

It’s no secret that employee-employer tensions about heading back to the workplace are growing. As more employers push to get employees back in-house, the workers themselves are taking a harder stand. An April 2021 survey by FlexJobs found that 60% of women and 52% of men would quit if they weren’t allowed to continue working remotely at least part of the time. Sixty-nine percent of men and 80% of women said that remote work options are among their top considerations when looking for a new job.

The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, a comprehensive list of startups valued at $1 billion or more in private financing deals, now hosts more than 900 companies with a collective value of $3 trillion — up by a trillion dollars from our June 2020 report.

Since July 2020, more than 100 unicorns have exited the board while 400 have joined.

As of July 15, there have been 291 new unicorns this year, already far surpassing any previous year’s peak.

Image: https://news.crunchbase.com

To build a startup, entrepreneurs need a laser focus on providing an innovative solution to a real problem. Once they achieve that initial traction, the focus needs to change for quicker growth. Most entrepreneurs dream of achieving the exponential expansion of a Google or Amazon, but few investor pitches I see outline any strategy beyond simple marketing to make this happen.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

If you’re a fan of the HBO show Succession, or if you’re aware of the conflicts playing out publicly and perennially among some of the most visible family businesses in the world — think the Murdochs or Sumner Redstone’s family— you might assume that family businesses are more fragile than other forms of enterprise. Indeed, that’s the conventional wisdom: Many articles or speeches about family businesses today include a reference to the “three-generation rule,” which says that most don’t survive beyond three generations.

Innovation has always been a way for a company to differentiate its offerings from the competition by seeing and doing things differently.

It used to be good enough to innovate once in a while and every so often, a company would come up with something new.

But now it’s essential.

Responding to quickly changing consumer behaviors and market conditions requires fostering a culture of innovation. It’s easy to say; after all, realizing that you must innovate is only the first step – the hard part is actually delivering it.

Since Google launched its self-driving car project in 2009, the biggest challenge has been one of technology: can it be safe enough to deploy at scale?

That dispute is over. Google’s project, now branded Waymo, has experienced only minor incidents — about once every 210,000 miles — since 2019 when it began operating a driverless service in Phoenix, Arizona. Cruise, its GM-backed rival, received a permit last month to begin commercial operations in its home city, San Francisco. Both groups are valued at more than $30bn by the most reputable names in venture capital and tech.

Image: https://www.ft.com

FOR the second year running, Singapore has clinched the top spot in KPMG's global ranking of leading technology innovation hubs outside of Silicon Valley/San Francisco.

Pulling ahead of other cities like New York, Tel Aviv and Beijing, the city-state's image as a top innovation hub is "part of the country's vision", according to Ling Su Min, partner, head of clients, markets and innovation at KPMG.

Hospitals in Australia are starting to utilise virtual reality technology in practising life-saving procedures, cutting down the training time from months to days.

In an interview with Healthcare IT News, Australian VR startup Vantari VR said four tertiary hospitals have been using its VR training platform in critical care, including Fiona Stanley Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Westmead Hospital and Nepean Hospital.

Using flight-simulator technology, Vantari VR provides medical training using a VR headset and laptop. Its modules cover 90% of medical procedures as part of doctors' core training and deliver steps that are recommended by college guidelines. 

Image: Credit: Vantari VR

The past year-and-a-half has shown how the health care industry needs impactful innovations. The new Pinkert Healthcare Accelerator at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business aims to support that innovation by helping students develop and launch their creative ideas for addressing major challenges in health care.

For any emerging technology, the concentration of activity and investment around it says a lot about its maturity and what lies ahead. The vast majority of investment in quantum computing to date—more than 80 percent—is going into hardware or its components, which are needed to unlock the opportunity. The next phase will focus more on software and applications. This area is currently receiving interest from start-ups but not on the same level of broad support as hardware.

If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. That’s productivity.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Earlier this week, I bought a month of Starz for a fraction of its typical asking price.

Instead of paying $9 per month, I paid $3.24. Then I added a subscription to Spotify for $3.49, and a Disney Plus subscription for just $3. All told, my bill comes to about $10 per month for $28 worth of services.

Doylestown, Pa. – The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology have teamed to offer graduate-level biotechnology certificates to prepare working professionals with workforce and leadership skills within the biotechnology industry.

Beginning Fall 2021 semester, the Biotechnology Certificate Program will be offered in partnership with The Blumberg Institute. The Blumberg Institute is the nation’s leading translational research organization dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and liver cancer.