There is nothing ordinary about the future of agriculture and food in Canada.

From technology and automation to upcycling and reducing food waste, 11 ag tech companies at the recent AgShowcase sponsored by Bioenterprise and FCC highlighted how they are building businesses that will benefit the industry and consumers through unique, solution-focused innovation.

Image: A recent on-line AgShowcase highlighted projects supported by FCC and Bioenterprise. Photo submitted

HERE ARE THE TOP 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. THE HEALTH COLLABORATIVE (THC) HAS LAUNCHED A NEW TOOL TO HELP GROW AND SUPPORT THE REGIONAL HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE.

The launch of workforce.healthcollab.org provides our members and the community with the most accurate, up-to-date information on everything healthcare workforce – acting as a hub for everyone from Students to Educators to Employers to Job Seekers.

Digital technology is changing the way people live, do business and travel. Transformative digital technologies and innovation have opened up new opportunities for tourism businesses to compete in global markets.

With this development, we now have the term “digital tourism”, which refers to how we use digital tools to organise, manage and even enjoy the travel experience. In this regard, digital tourism deploys tools of digital transformation to change how we travel and how the sector itself operates.

Image: https://www.premiumtimesng.com

ADAM SHAPIRO: All right, we've got just a little more than 15 minutes to the closing bell. I want to draw your attention to what's going on with Bitcoin. It's up about 670 bucks right now, $34,629 and change. But there's other cryptocurrencies out there. In fact, Goldman Sachs says pay attention to Ethereum.

Although I’ve been an investor for over two decades, I wasn’t always a venture capitalist. In fact, I started my career in technology on the other side of the table — as one of the first engineering hires at an ambitious startup looking to grow. I’ll never forget the moment our fledgling company received our first substantial investment. When our CEO gathered our small team to share the good news in the form of the VC’s freshly-cut check, I was inspired by what it meant beyond mere funding: Someone believed in our vision so much that they were willing to help us keep building what we were creating.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is stepping down from his job as CEO today after leading the company for 27 years.

The date is "sentimental," he explained during his last earnings call before Andy Jassy took over. It was the date Bezos incorporated Amazon in 1994.

In that time, he helped bring the idea ecommerce from a whiteboard concept to an everyday reality for millions of customers around the world.

The biggest obstacle for students aspiring to wow college admissions officers with a slam-dunk application isn’t acquiring impressive skills; it’s finding a way to “show” rather than “tell” those strengths. While test scores, GPA and a challenging course load can offer measurable statistics and paint a partial picture of a student’s strong suits and aptitude, they fall short of presenting an applicant’s robust contributions outside the classroom. 

Image: Student entrepreneurs can find a way to stand out to college admission officers by starting their own business. PHOTO BY ANDREA PIACQUADIO FROM PEXELS

The latest FTE Innovation & Startup Hub members-only virtual event brought together innovators from across the global air transport industry on 30 June 2021 to share their cutting-edge insights, visions and experiences. The FTE Hub is the industry’s only network designed for the organisations and individuals who are at the forefront of innovation in the air transport sector. Attendees included some first-time participants – including airlines and airports who have recently signed up as Corporate Partners – as well as long-time members who have been actively engaged in the global innovation network since its launch by Future Travel Experience (FTE) in 2018.

Image: Tom Grundy, CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles, revealed that the company has entered into an agreement with Air Nostrum for the technical and operational development of the Airlander 10 aircraft.mage: https://www.futuretravelexperience.com 

Success in the digital age is predicated on the ability to deliver new  experiences to customers quickly. That’s why companies are rethinking not just the front-end of their company, but every layer beneath as well. They are streamlining their supply chains, optimizing customer feedback loops, maintaining less inventory, and applying metrics and AI/ML to generate operational insight. All in an effort to accelerate.

The President of the Republic of Estonia on Monday (July 5) was the first passenger on what is believed to be the world’s first hydrogen-powered autonomous vehicle, developed by Auve Tech and the University of Tartu.

Granted legal road status in Estonia just last month (June 2021), the hydrogen shuttle can carry up to six passengers and is primarily aimed at enhancing last-mile transportation.

Image: https://www.h2-view.com

The vision of safe, reliable autonomous vehicle transportation at scale is closer than ever to being realized, says James Peng, CEO at Pony.ai. Since the company’s founding in Fremont, California in late 2016, the company’s been making strides in autonomous mobility deployment in both the U.S. and China. The company was the first to launch and offer a public-facing Robotaxi service in both countries.

Image: https://venturebeat.com

Are you a researcher with an advanced computing technology idea you would like to license to a company or turn into a startup?

The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) Innovation Hub for Advanced Computing Technologies based at Wayne State encourages translational research teams to apply for funding of up to $100,000 to help commercialize advanced computing technologies.

For anyone in venture capital in 2021, this is a common narrative. Nate Williams, co-founder and General Partner of seed fund Union Labs described the market as, “SPEED! In 2020, most diligence cycles were definitely compressing into weeks but recently we are seeing some fundraises coming together in days often before their official ’starts.’” A fast-moving and competitive funding environment, combined with a booming stock market and the accelerating rise of valuations at every stage, has left many wondering, “Is this a bubble? How long will it last?” 

It is time to admit an honest truth: professionals deserve to be paid for speaking engagements. You may wonder, “When should I start the transition from speaking for free to speaking for a fee?” The answer is now. But we are not telling you to decline to speak if they decline to pay. We want to help you redefine what it means to get compensation. Here we introduce the idea of negotiating for a fee alternative.

As I have said many times, the cost of entry for an aspiring entrepreneur has never been lower, and the total wealth of opportunities has never been larger. Today you can start a new web site business for as little as $100, produce cheap smart phone apps, or lead the effort to tap the multitude of opportunities brought by capitalizing on our concern for dwindling natural resources.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Leonard, the chairman of a global consumer goods company, was wondering what to do with the two co-CEOs running the firm. While it had seemed a great idea to have two individuals at the helm, this arrangement had led to conflicts, stalled initiatives and an overall lack of direction. Some of the company’s most valued executives had left.

If there’s one thing that sets a successful organization apart, it’s the ability to stay on the cusp of innovation and technology. 

Creating an innovation-friendly work environment was one of the top priorities on my entrepreneurial journey. With that realization came the understanding that I would need to face the challenges, as well as the chance that I might make some mistakes along the way. Failure is, after all, an important part of the process. 

In a country such as India that has a low doctor-patient ratio, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enable greater access to expert care from anywhere, with telehealth and robotics applied across inpatient and outpatient environments. Experts says AI will bolster the role of healthcare by assisting in screening, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases thereby improving quality of life and reducing the cost burden for patients.

By the end of this week, the world should cross two small but significant milestones on the road to overcoming COVID-19—getting at least 5% of the global population fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, with at least 10% receiving one dose of vaccines that require two.

According to Our World in Data, a collaboration of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford and the nonprofit Global Change Data Lab, 376,173,766 people were fully vaccinated as of May 20 (4.8% of global population), while 739,208,299 people had received one dose (9.5%).

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com