Daily Archives: February 27, 2021

On 27 January, 2021, TransPerfect Legal Solutions (TLS) held the second day of the inaugural EU/UK Competition Regulation Virtual Conference. Day one focused on the changing regulatory landscape. Day two turned to the advent of big data and how technology is a vital tool in the arsenal of the modern competition practitioner.

Sasha Toussaint, Director in TLSs London office, was joined by Guillaume Aubron, Counsel at Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier; Greg Bonn, Senior Associate at Latham & Watkins; Bryant Isbell, the Managing Director of Global eDiscovery and Data Advisory at Baker McKenzie and TransPerfects very own Katie Perekslis, Vice President of E-Discovery Project Management.

Whether its for merger control, dawn raids or cartel investigations, competition proceedings require the interrogation of significant amounts of documentation production in short timelines. In the big data era, budgetary concerns as well as compliance itself often turn on the scope of the information available and timelines imposed on its production.

Clients, lawyers and regulators must fight fire with fire.

Across the board, we are seeing both clients and regulators demand the use of technology. For clients, applying technology drives down the cost associated with these proceedings and limits the amount of information required for production. For regulators, it allows them to see key material faster and using fewer resources. Furthermore, there is empiric evidence (in mainstream litigation versus competition work) that technology can be more consistent and accurate than human review.1

In France, legal technology is not used as widely as in the US or UK. However, French lawyers see clear benefits to using technology in merger control and dawn raids. In the latter, technology needs to be deployed early, as the FCA seizes entire mail boxes before extending a fairly short time frame for lawyers to complete a privilege review ahead of their own review. Speed, therefore, is really of the essence. Unlike many other jurisdictions, there are no requirements for internal document production on the filing form itself and that really only comes into play later on in proceedings. However, it is accepted that as data volumes continue to grow, technology will be a necessity to ascertain risk for these matters, regardless of the regulatory burden.

In the UK, the technology-agnostic CMA is increasingly making use of its formal information-gathering powers. Those powers are also being used at varying stages during the process including working to establish evidence for an alternative counterfactual or a theory of harm claim. Parties similarly use technology at the back end regularly to formulate their strategy in response to these growing requests.

The constant across both jurisdictions (and likely others) is the use of technology to speed up the privilege review. Automating the workflow in its entirety is risky, but the technology can significantly accelerate human review.

What is considered responsive plays a large role in the documents produced in these proceedings. These decisions will have an effect on how and what data is collected and shared. Whilst the CMA retains significant control on the determination of responsiveness (described in more detail below), the European Commission takes a more balanced, collaborative approach, often engaging with lawyers and technologists.

TLS has assisted on these negotiations first hand and rather than simply paying lip service, we (together with outside counsel) have materially impacted search and responsiveness parameters. In a recent RFI, we analysed the resulting set of responsive documents based on the Commissions proposed search terms and determined the terms were overly board. When we presented these metrics to the Commission, together with the methodology used, they were amenable to refining the search terms and data pool.

Ultimately, the regulators are amenable to changing the scope of their requests as long as the law firm and vendor work with the regulators to provide transparency and prove their methodology is logical and defensible.

If law firms can continue, as above, to guide regulators with quantitative data and defensible methodology, there will be a shift in the way data is gathered, culled and reviewed. Deploying technology and analytics is beneficial to all parties involved, particularly given its ability to better manage the never-ending increase in data volumes and sources as well as time constraints in competition proceedings.

The CMA, as compared to the DOJ, FTC or the Commission, can and is asking for more extensive information earlier in the process.

As law firms and their clients lean on the benefits of legal technology, so too do the regulators. They are becoming increasingly more engaged in the process, which has procedural and legal implications.

In English proceedings, e-discovery technology has been a common feature for many years but only recently in merger control. The main question focuses less on the if and more the when. The CMA is increasingly looking to gather evidence, which encourages parties to lean on the guidance and the CMA as they gather the information required. This can include internal documents and even emails and instant messaging chats. Similar to train of enquiry investigations, once they have a handle on the data they are able to issue further requests. These can be topic and custodian specific, or wider using search terms. Unsurprisingly, the CMA is actively recruiting legal technology professionals to help analyse the data that comes in to better inform its requests for information.

This is likely to cause significant delays at pre-notification resulting in a knock-on effect for the entire timetable, as was the case in Amazons acquisition of 16% in Deliveroo.

Regulators, particularly the CMA, are throwing their weight around when it comes to the issue of responsiveness. They believe they have the power determine what is and is not responsive through various search strategies. However, this poses an issue around personally identifiable information, documents being produced that fall out of the scope of the investigation and the general feeling that this type of information-gathering request is a regulator-sponsored fishing expedition.

In general, document production in competition proceedings has become more of an iterative process and the CMA expects to be involved. As a lawyer or e-discovery professional, you can anticipate engaging with your e-discovery and forensic counterparts at the CMA every step of the way.

Whether leveraging basic technology like search terms and email threading or more complex technology like TAR 1.0 and Continuous Active Learning (CAL), legal teams and technologists must ensure proper processes are followed.

As technology advances, it is easy to see the benefits of using advanced analytics, TAR 1.0 or TAR 2.0 (Continuous Active Learning) in data-heavy matters. Regulators do not dictate what type of technology is used, but they are leaning on technologists and law firms to understand the what, how and why.

TAR 1.0 (Technology-Assisted Review) was one of the first AI-based workflows. It is an iterative process where technologists develop an initial training set of documents and a subject matter expert reviews that data before stopping review to run the algorithm that will predict the relevance of the remainder of the documents. Additional documents may be added to the training set based on the richness of the data set, and a separate control set that is statistically representative of the data set is then reviewed by the same subject matter expert and used to validate the results, producing metrics such as precision, recall, depth of recall and F1 score very much a start-stop-start-stop process.

CAL is a newer iteration of TAR and prioritises the data in real time based on the coding decisions of reviewers. As with linear review, a lawyer begins tagging documents for responsiveness. The difference is the technology is working in the background, in real time, to pull other documents that are likely similar to the previously tagged responsive documents until the reviewers reach a point of diminishing returns.

In TLSs experience with merger control projects where the goal is compliance to produce a large quantity of relevant documents in a short period, there is a tendency to stick with TAR 1.0 because it is not cost or time effective to put human eyes on as many documents as you would with CAL. The key in this process, however, is to make sure the subject matter expert is available to review the training and control sets to ensure consistent and accurate results because we apply their review decisions for a small population to the larger document set. Unlike in a linear or CAL review, a few miscoded or inconsistently coded documents can have detrimental effects on both the quality of the review and the time it takes to reach stabilisation. Due to that limitation and a need to put human eyes on all relevant documents for fact finding, TAR 2.0 still tends to be the more widely used workflow in general litigations and arbitrations given its accessibility. With either of these workflows, law firms must produce a clear methodology on actions taken, including validation process. Some of these methods include:

In TLSs experience, regulators tend to focus on achieving high recall and are less concerned with low precision (AKA overly producing documents). But precision is very important to clients, as they dont want more data to go to the regulators than necessary, particularly if data is sensitive in nature.

All panellists agree that it is critical to produce very clear, step-by-step methodology before work has begun, both in privilege and responsiveness reviews. If the work is completed but the method is not approved, the law firm will be required to start over, which can be problematic given the tight deadlines associated with competition work.

Transparency is key in assuring the regulators that law firms have met their requirements and provided the documents required to make their decisions. As long as law firms and technologists are being defensible and reasonable about the methods, the regulators will typically approve the use of technology to work with them and with their clients.

What does the future hold?

There is a clear appetite from clients and regulators to adopt the use of legal technology in competition proceedings. Law firms and litigation support providers will continue to spearhead this movement and are constantly looking at new tools and workflows to manage big data in a defensible and efficient manner.

Law firms will leverage analytics and investigations tools where time is of the essence the first to apply for leniency or immunity or to assess risk. Getting a handle on what their clients have early will be key.

In time, the FCA, CMA and Commission may collaborate and follow certain DOJ practices given its experience with larger data sets, deal flow and technology. And it will be in parties best interests to work alongside them to design a process that works for everyone.

Data is inescapable. Clients, lawyers and regulators continue to play an ever-changing game of catch-up to leverage technology. The procedural and legal considerations grow and change as data volumes increase and data sources diversify, and it is imperative to lean on these tools to provide the best outcome for all parties involved.

You canwatch the full recording of this panel here.

1 Pyrrho Investments Ltd v MWB Property Ltd: [1] [2016] EWHC 25. Paragraph 31

Read more:

Leveraging Technology to Manage Big Data in Antitrust - JD Supra

KULR Technology Group Inc () CEO Michael Mo tells Proactive the developer of lithium-ion battery safety and thermal management technologies is partnering with the CSA Group to develop a new battery safety and testing procedure.

Mo says the collaboration with the CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association) is the most recent of several alliances it has formed, to which it can apply its expertise and help shape the regulatory and industry standards for battery shipments

Add related topics to MyProactive

Create your account: sign up and get ahead on news and events

The Company is a publisher. You understand and agree that no content published on the Site constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is...

In exchange for publishing services rendered by the Company on behalf of KULR Technology Group, Inc. named herein, including the promotion by the Company of KULR Technology Group, Inc. in any Content on the Site, the...

More:

KULR Technology forms partnership with the CSA Group to develop a new battery safety standards - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

The American Museum of Science and Energy is considered one of the top tourist attractions in Oak Ridge, attracting around 65,000 per year, according to officials.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. A museum teaching visitors about science and technology in Oak Ridge signed a new agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to improve their education methods, exhibits and advance the museum's mission.

The American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation announced that it signed the three-year deal with the DOE on Thursday. The foundation will manage the K-25 History Center, fundraising, collections management and develop other partnerships as part of the agreement as well as manage AMSE.

The DOE will stay involved with the AMSE Foundation's public education and outreach efforts, help manage its exhibits and displays and generally help advance the museums' missions.

"This is a huge milestone for AMSE," said Jim Campbell, AMSE Foundation President. "After 73 years of proud service and partnership with the Department of Energy, we are excited to build on our rich history and celebrate a bright future."

Officials said that the museum is a vital part of the Oak Ridge community and that the agreement will help the museums grow.

In the past, the museum's operations were funded by the DOE through subcontracts with corporations and the AMSE Foundation played a supporting role. With the agreement, the foundation will be at the forefront of the museum's mission, according to a release from officials.

The museum is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on March 1, officials said they will release a new series of programs called "Destination AMSE." It will highlight several virtual resources and online offerings, including an AMSEcast podcast.

Officials said there will also be new additions to come at AMSE and the K-25 History Center when they reopen.

Originally posted here:

AMSE and Dept. of Energy partner to teach history of technology and science in Oak Ridge - WBIR.com

Emerge Education, LLC, a leading education solutions provider for colleges and universities looking to rethink their approach to enrollment growth, earlier this week announced a new capital investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern Pennsylvania.

The Camp Hill-based company plans to employ the funds to further develop its technology platforms and improve its services and process for greater conversions of leads to student enrollments for its client institutions, a press release said.

Emerge Education also will leverage the new investment to support its newest partnership with Messiah University in Grantham, Cumberland County, which was launched in early 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While new and continuing student enrollment, both on the ground and online, slowed across most colleges and universities over the past year, student marketing trends are indicating a potential upswing in the coming months as therapies and vaccines for the virus encourage more confidence in the economy and job market.

The company hopes to fuel higher enrollment at Messiah University and its other private and public institutions with the advances in technology and processes achieved through the new investment dollars, the release said.

We are truly privileged and appreciative to now be associated with Ben Franklin Technology Partners, James M. Hunter, CEO of Emerge Education, said. As a leading education services provider, we constantly challenge our existing technology and processes to deliver better outcomes for our client institutions. This new investment will help us continue on our path to set ourselves and our clients apart from our competition by exploring new technology initiatives and allowing Emerge to continue to hire experienced professionals who understand the changing landscape of higher education today.

James M. Hunter, CEO of Emerge Education, said that 'this new investment will help us continue on our path to set ourselves and our clients apart from our competition by exploring new technology initiatives and allowing Emerge to continue to hire experienced professionals who understand the changing landscape of higher education today.'

Emerge Education is part of an online program management (OPM) market that is growing, with an estimated annual growth rate of 13.2 percent from 2020 to 2025, according to some industry analysts. Since its inception with three founding employees in 2014, Emerge has grown to 26 full-time employees, nearly 100 percent of whom are based in Pennsylvania, according to the release, which noted that the firm also works with a number of subcontractors and advertising agencies located within the region.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern PA provides investment capital and business support services to tech-startups and small manufacturers located in a 32-county footprint. The program invests in innovators sharing the risk that is inherent in starting a business while providing a funding opportunity that does not require fees, points, collateral, or personal guarantees.

The organization is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and is funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority. For more than three decades, Ben Franklin Technology Partners has served as a catalyst for economic growth in Pennsylvania by providing access to capital, business expertise and a network of resources that foster innovation, growth and success for both startup companies and established businesses, the release said.

Our mission is to create synergy among business, industry, and higher education representatives to help stimulate economic development in Pennsylvania, so supporting a locally-grown, education-focused company like Emerge is truly a perfect fit, John Sider, Director of Second Stage Capital, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern Pennsylvania, said in the release. Our investment opportunities are earmarked for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and existing manufacturing-based companies that want to produce a new technology-based product or improve an existing process. Ultimately when they succeed, we all succeed. The region gains expertise in an emerging technology and new, high-paying jobs are created.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA provides early-stage funding and business support services to emerging technology-based companies, as well as small, existing manufacturing businesses within a 32-county footprint.

Emerge Education provides higher education solutions to colleges and universities interested in 21st century relevancy by growing revenues through enrollment. The firm works with its partner institutions by investing its own capital and service resources to support lead generation, marketing and recruiting, allowing its partners to focus on what they do best: educating students. Emerge forges unique partnerships with each client institution, always reaching for more students, higher revenue, less expense, the release said.

For more information visit http://www.emergeedu.com.

Follow this link:

Camp Hill-based company to use partnership to develop technology platforms for client institutions - PennLive

In The News26 Feb 2021

The European Commission released the new EU Climate Adaptation Strategy on 24 February, 2021. During the strategys introduction, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, highlighted the need to make adaptation smarter using data, as well as more systemic by focusing on local communities and ecosystems, and leveraging nature-based solutions (NbS).

According to the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy: Climate change is happening today, so we have to build a more resilient tomorrow. The world has just concluded the hottest decade on record during which the title for the hottest year was beaten eight times. People, planet and prosperity are vulnerable to climate change, so we need to prevent the un-adaptable and adapt to the un-preventable. And we must do it faster, and in a smarter and more systemic way.

One of the ways to approach climate adaptation systemically according to the strategy and to Timmermans is by using NbS: We will promote nature-based solutions as much as possible, he said. They help adaptation and at the same time biodiversity.

According to the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy: Implementing nature-based solutions on a larger scale would increase climate resilience and contribute to multiple Green Deal objectives For example, protecting and restoring wetlands, peatlands, coastal and marine ecosystems; developing urban green spaces and installing green roofs and walls; promoting and sustainably managing forests and farmland will help adapt to climate change in a cost-effective way.

With the urgent, widespread and systemic nature of climate change, technological innovations can be used synergistically with NbS to better adapt to its effects.

As soon as technology allows you to be agile, it can help, said Daniel Zimmer, Director of Sustainable Land Use, EIT Climate-KIC. For instance, agriculture and forestry can benefit from innovative sensors and improved monitoring to develop new pest control strategies. And new precision machinery for tillage can be used to reduce soil carbon loss.

EIT Climate-KIC has developed a suite of initiatives with systemic impact that use NbS and/or technological innovations, such as granular-level urban greening, normalising climate resilience labelling for properties, scaling sustainable food production and reducing emissions through plant-based diets. Learn more about these activities here.

Nature is, at the same time, affected by climate change and an instrument to be used, said Zimmer. To build resilience, you need to either become very strong, by building a dike for example, or by becoming more agile and adaptive.

Supporting biodiversity through NbS, such as conserving old forests and rewilding, is a way to be adaptive because it makes it more likely some species of the ecosystem will be better suited to new climatic conditions or to the threats associated with these conditions. For instance, forests are expected to be subject to increased diseases and pest invasions due to climate change. Having biodiversity represented in groups like pollinators (e.g. insects, bats and birds) and seed-dispersal organisms (e.g. birds and mammals), for example, supports the proliferation of various plant and tree species, thereby enhancing a forests resilience to such threats. A forest attracting and housing more variety of species will be much less vulnerable than a tree plantation.

EIT Climate-KICs Landscapes as Carbon Sinks Deep Demonstration is currently working in Scotland and Chlons-en-Champagne, France, to look at land use systemically and transition ecosystems from sources of carbon into sinks. Its supporting NbS such as forest, peatland and wetland conservation, tree planting, and soil regenerationwhich also foster biodiversity. Learn more about this work in an interview with Zimmer.

Another nature-based solution is soil carbon sequestration (SCS), a process in which atmospheric carbon is strategically stored in soil thereby increasing its organic matter, which in turn leads to more water retention capacity and fertility. These properties enable crops to adjust more easily to drought conditions brought about through climate change. SCS is done through a variety of methods and is often targeted at regenerating agricultural land. Some examples are: Reforestation or grassland restoration, reduced tillage, addition of organic amendments like compost and manure, use of cover crops like clover, the creation of wetlands and ponds, and irrigation of pasture or rangelands.

EIT Climate-KICs Carbon Farming project is using a systemic approach to increase SCS, while also considering the needs of multiple stakeholders and partners, as well as local context. Exemplifying NbS, the project is incentivising farmers to implement cover cropscrops like clover that are grown mainly to benefit the soil. Specifically, cover crops can suppress weeds, reduce soil erosion, enhance soil fertility and quality, discourage diseases and pests, and promote biodiversity. The Carbon Farming project is also integrating NbS and technology in a fascinating way, by using satellites to monitor crop health, which results in greater precision for cost savings and scalability, and ultimatelyclimate change mitigation and adaptation. The Carbon Farming project currently has pilots in France and Switzerland.

Taking a more urban focus on NbS, the winner of the Most advanced idea at the global EIT Climate-KIC Climathon Awards2020, Start Park, aims to redesign parks so they become key elements of the city of Florences adaptation strategy. Specifically, its concept is an urban green area whose infrastructure and services are dedicated to water reuse and drainage, and is supplemented by activities to raise climate awareness in the local community. The team is now developing a toolkit to allow other cities in Europe to replicate the Start Park prototype and measure its impact.

More examples of EIT Climate-KICs work on integrating NbS and technological solutions in an innovative way for climate change mitigation and adaptation may be found in its Innovations in land use case studies booklet.

Related Goal

Read the rest here:

Integrating nature with technology to strengthen climate adaptation - Daily Planet`

On this fifth episode from the Blueprints for American Renewal and Prosperity project, two Brookings experts discuss their blueprints for strengthening governance to meet key international challenges in the technology arena. Senior Fellow Landry Sign is co-author with Stephan Almond of A blueprint for technology governance in the post-pandemic world, and Senior Fellow Joshua Meltzer is co-author with Cameron Kerry of Strengthening international cooperation on artificial intelligence.

Also on this episode, Senior Fellow David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings, looks at the politics and the economics around raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Listen to this segment on Soundcloud.

See below for excerpts from the transcript.

Subscribe to Brookings podcastshereor oniTunes, send feedback email toBCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at@policypodcastson Twitter.

The Brookings Cafeteria is part of theBrookings Podcast Network.

EXCERPTS FROM THE DISCUSSION

MELTZER: So this is the paper coauthored with Cameron Kerry, and it focuses on strengthening international cooperation on artificial intelligence. And the basic approach of the paper is to identify what the existing approaches to AI policy development, both at the domestic level but also whats happening in various international and other multilateral forums to look at some of the challenges that are arising that essentially drive the need for international cooperation on AI, to look at the limitations of the current sort of mechanisms for international cooperation. And then we propose a range of policy recommendations for this administration to take forward to really build a more systemic approach to AI cooperation internationally.

SIGN: The paper, A Blueprint for Technology Governance in the Post Pandemic World, was coauthored with Stephen Almond. As a matter of fact, too often regulations struggle to keep pace with innovation, whether we speak about new ideas, products, or business models, they are hampered while citizens are so often left without options. So as government seeks to build back better in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a more agile, innovative, enabling approach to regulation is needed. So, our paper presents a blueprint for regulatory reforms offices to introduce a more innovative enabling approach to regulation across government and to seize the opportunities of technological change. So, I think we really try to ensure that on the one hand, the fast pace of technological innovation can continue. And on the other hand, the ability of governments to regulate those innovations such so that they serve the greater good is also enabled.

Full Transcript (pdf)

See the original post here:

Proposals to meet global challenges in artificial intelligence and technology regulation - Brookings Institution

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Technology has been touching almost every industry nowadaysfinancial services, food production, transportation, telecommunication, agriculture, and many more. Real estate is no exception. Its now more convenient for home buyers and sellers to find what they need to secure a property or sell one. Heres how technology has been transforming real estate businesses everywhere.

Its not just printed ads in newspapers and magazines anymore. You can find dedicated websites for properties on sale. If youre looking for a home or a place of business to lease, you can easily find online listings of available properties.

With real estate listings, you dont even have to browse the inventory one-by-one. All you need is to use the filter feature to look for the square footage, the number of floors, rooms, amenities, and your preferred location. The listings will also include landmarks and how close the properties are at specific vital points such as hospitals, schools, police stations, fire stations, supermarkets, and more. Some will also include a virtual map of the propertys location.

With all the information already available online, all thats left to do is contact the seller. Simultaneously, by creating an online listing, the seller can eliminate reiteration of all the property information with a client.

Selling your property sometimes doesnt come easy for lack of interested buyers. You could also have a property facing foreclosure, needing minor and major repairs, code violations, orbankruptcy. When youre under these situations, there is an urgency for money, and thats where home buying companies can help you.

These companies scout properties in specific locations to buy properties. You can also call the company to visit your property, where, after observations, will make you an offer depending on the current state of your home. Its also why it is essential to research the best home buyers in your area to be sure that you can find a legit home buying company. These home buying companies are using the internet to market their services so that sellers can easily find them.

Showcases are standard for buyers who want to see the property first. But for those who cannot make it, sellers, brokers, or agents can use companies that offer real estate virtual tours. It is an innovative way to separate you from other property sellers, still using the old way of showcasing the interior, exterior, and specifications of a home. In some cases, prospective buyers can view the same property at its pre-construction stage.

Virtual reality tours also eliminate the need for agents to be present. The virtual solution allows a 360-degree view of the property. It gives the potential buyer a preview before booking an onsite viewing. That way, the buyer knows what to expect and would be more interested in taking a closer look at the home.

Technology is not solely for the buying and selling of properties. More importantly, it is improving the way construction companies are building structures and add-ons that make a smart and innovative home. This type of development is alternately called green or sustainable construction. It is a technology-based solution that aims to build environmentally-friendly properties using durable, cost-effective, and safer materials for the health of future tenants. The technology includes the following:

Homeowners and commercial property owners can benefit from financial technology. Construction projects and mortgage loans are not possible without alternative financing sources such as what online financial platforms can offer. Compared to banks, the documents they need as not as strict. Fintech solutions are not only a good source of capital, but they also have a quicker processing duration in response to the online applications that borrowers send in. There are fintech platforms that make it easier to start construction projects by providing loans to buy supplies and leasing heavy machinery. Such fintech platforms offer financial help to do a business project a reality.

Various businesses are taking to social media and for a good reason. People are spending more and more time on their profiles. When companies are taking advantage of Facebooks Business Manager, they advertise products and services as users scroll down their newsfeeds. The real estate business is no exception. Any company can create a business or community page where they can showcase what they have to offer. People can join these pages or community groups to read about the latest updates or news. It engages potential customers to provide their opinions or asks questions. Both real estate companies and brokers can utilize the power of social media anytime as it is a cost-effective way to advertise.

Some transactions dont need to be face-to-face. Online solutions such as e-signing can allow users to upload documents and draw their signatures onto the designated spaces. E-signing services let you upload different formats of documents. Some platforms will allow you to sign a document in multiple ways. You can draw your signature, scan or upload your signature to paste onto the documents or type your name using the text feature. A technology-based solution that is secure and legally-binding simplifies administrative tasks and provides convenience to the employee or customer.

Technology covers much of the real estate industry drafting, financing, construction, and marketing. There are many solutions today that offer convenience to both property sellers and buyers. These solutions are cost-effective and offer both parties the chance to connect at a level that was impossible decades ago. Not only is it making it easier to do business, but it also allows you and your brand to build relationships with the masses.

Follow this link:

Is Technology Changing The Real Estate Industry? - BOSS Magazine

Tomas Pribanic has found a way to apply ion thrust to autonomous aerial vehicles in Earths atmosphere, creating a silent propulsion system and paving the way for the greater application of drones in the cargo delivery industry.

Call it his Kitty Hawk moment. His Spirit of St. Louis special.

If all goes well at a makeshift airfield in Hialeah early next month, Tomas Pribanic will write a new chapter in aviationand, perhaps, entrepreneurial history.

Thats when the University of Miami College of Engineering Ph.D. student will test his invention of a new pilotless aircraft powered by ion propulsion.

In the Star Trek episode Spocks Brain, chief engineer Montgomery Scott gazed in awe at an ion-powered alien spacecraft on an intercept course with the Enterprise, describing the ship as a beauty and saying he had never seen anything like it.

But in reality, ion propulsion isnt solely the stuff of science fiction. An advanced form of power that uses electricity to accelerate ions and produce small but long-lasting thrust, it is the preferred method of power for engineers who use it to keep satellites in their proper orientation and to propel deep-space probes farther and faster than any other form of thrust.

The technologys one glaring disadvantage, however, is that it works best only in the vacuum of space, free from Earths powerful gravitational pull.

Pribanic, who started building and flying model airplanes when he was 12, says he has found a way to overcome that obstacle. After months of extensive research, he has applied ionic thrust to drones on Earth, allowing the autonomous vehicles to operate in the atmosphere just as efficientlyand silentlyas they would if they flew in outer space.

The Ph.D. student will test his five-square-foot, ion-powered prototype at Amelia Earhart Park in March, putting the vehicle through its paces in outdoor conditions after months of indoor vertical takeoffs and landings at the Doral-based Undefined Technologies lab he founded and now leads.

An electric propulsion expert who has worked for some of the largest aerospace companies in the nation, Pribanic said his Air Tantrum technology could transform the field of transportation. The prototype is light weight, produces zero carbon emissions, and the technology is adaptable, he said. But the biggest gamechanger is that it generates silent propulsion.

And that, he said, should help spur increased usage of drones, which are notorious for producing loud, high-pitched noiseas high as 96 decibels, according to Pribanic. He noted a recent NASA study that found that the buzzing sound produced by drones is more annoying to humans than noises generated by cars and trucks, even when the noises are at the same volume.

His technology is projected to generate noise below 70 decibels, which would fall under the threshold established by a number of municipal noise ordinances.

Certain corporations are already looking at ways to use unmanned vehicles to improve their operations. Major retailers like Walmart and Amazon and package carriers such as FedEx and UPS have begun experimenting with drones, said Harihara Prasad Natarajan, an associate professor of management at the Miami Herbert Business School. They are exploring the possibility of using drones for a variety of supplychain activities including counting physical inventory, moving packages within the warehouse, and even for last-mile deliveries, especially in remote, inaccessible areas.

With a new start-up, Pribanic plans to commercialize his technology and incorporate it into the existing drone market focusing on urban cargo, delivering everything from online shopping packages and groceries to vital medicines and COVID-19 test kits.He enters a thriving industry, as the global drone market will grow from

$22.5 billion in 2020 to more than $42 billion in 2025, according to the Drone Market Report 2020.

Pribanic has been mentored by College of Engineering materials scientist Xiangyang Zhou, and has worked with Bob Williamson, entrepreneur in residence at the Universitys Office of Technology Transfer, to patent and market his new technology.

Tomas took a known technology and modified it to become a practical, yet quiet way to provide lift. We shouldnt be surprised if he fundamentally changes the drone industry, Williamson said.

The aerospace engineering students venture into ion propulsion almost didnt happen. I was experimenting with other forms of thrust before and hadnt really done much research in ionic thrust because it wasnt viable for atmospheric conditions on Earth, Pribanic said. But I realized that achieving ion propulsion in our atmospheric was a big challenge. I saw the tremendous potential it offered. Now, were in the final stages of achieving a lofty goal.

Go here to see the original:

Engineering student's technology could revolutionize the use of drones - University of Miami - University of Miami

Younger entrepreneurs have a lot in common, the experts say.

They dont fear technology. They have fewer obligations, so they can take risks. And, like all entrepreneurs, they are driven by an idea.

Karen Bowling, the inaugural director of the University of North Florida Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said startup founders under the age of 30 can offset their lack of life experience and a professional network with a solid business plan and fire in the gut.

Many of them know no fear, and theyre at a point in their life where they can take risks, Bowling said.

The Jacksonville Daily Record and the Jacksonville Record & Observer profiled four area entrepreneurs under the age of 30 who started and run their companies.

They all say they started their ventures by identifying a need and setting out to fill it.

Karen Bowling, the inaugural director of the University of North Florida Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Bowling has worked with a handful of 20-somethings since the UNF center launched its program in 2019.

She said startup founders under 30 have a strength less aversion to taking chances.

They may not have as many obligations yet, so there are some advantages.

The UNF center is a business incubator for early-stage startups and provides business counseling, mentoring and professional services with subject matter experts.

Jim Stallings, CEO at investment and entrepreneurial resource firm PS27 Ventures LLC, says young entrepreneurs have an advantage with innovation because theyre not intimidated by using technology and data.

Bowling said the UNF center doesnt keep data on the age of its entrepreneurs and is open to startup founders across the age spectrum.

We made a decision from the very beginning not to even ask what somebodys age is because were looking for the best ideas, Bowling said.

Theres no age discrimination when it comes to that.

There are numbers that show entrepreneurs age 30 and under are below the typical age of business founders.

A 2018 joint study from MIT, Northwestern University, the National Bureau of Economic Research and the U.S. Census Bureau on age and high-growth entrepreneurship found that overall U.S. startup founders from 2007-14 were 39 to 40 years old.

The median age for the fastest growing new ventures in the U.S. is 45 years old.

Younger entrepreneurs also face challenges.

U.S. Census Bureau-backed research found that 53.2% of high-growth startups with founders under the age of 30 failed compared with 45.6% with founders older than 30.

Bowling said regardless of age, barriers for most entrepreneurs are the same.

Its a process, right? Whats your idea? Who are your customers? How are you going to get that first customer? How are you going to price that service or product? And those ideas dont care if youre 12 or 50, really.

Jim Stallings, CEO of investment and entrepreneurial resource firm PS27 Ventures, says the biggest barrier for entrepreneurs is understanding the market for their product or solution.

Stallings said access to capital and investment should not be considered the biggest barrier for young founders, but challenges come when their company is ready to grow.

He tells entrepreneurs working with PS27 their biggest barrier is understanding the market for their product or solution.

They have a good product (or) solution, he said. But they need to figure out who is the customer and how do I sell it?

Stallings, a former general manager of global markets at IBM, founded PS27 in 2012. The firm is an early-stage investor in startup companies with a fully formed product or service.

In 2020, PS27 invested $2 million in cash and services in five companies after analyzing 600 deals and proposals.

The five startups were split between Tampa, Orlando and one in Northeast Florida, according to the firm.

Stalling said PS27 is expecting its biggest investment year to date in 2021 and expects to analyze 940 deals. He said PS27 likely will invest in 2% of those proposals.

Stallings said the generation of people age 30 and younger has a different outlook on employment, which he thinks is leading to more entrepreneurship.

Most of my generation grew up thinking were going to work in a corporation or the company for 30 years, retire and get a watch, he said.

This generation thats coming along, their starting point is some form of self-employment. They may start out on a big company, but I think (entrepreneurship) is a thought in the back of their mind.

Follow this link:

Ideas, technology and a fire in the gut fuel young entrepreneurs - Jacksonville Daily Record

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Chevron Corp is seen in its booth at Gastech, the world's biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

(Reuters) - Chevron Corp on Thursday said it had launched a $300 million fund focused on low-carbon technology, as traditional global oil and gas firms attempt to invest more in green energy and tackle climate change.

Major energy firms have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or are exploring investments in renewable energy and green technology amid rising pressure from investors and activists.

Earlier this month, top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil Corp unveiled a carbon-removal technology venture that would directly compete with Occidental Petroleum Corps efforts to develop the largest ever facility to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Chevron Technology Ventures, the venture capital division of the company, launched the first Future Energy Fund in 2018 and has invested in more than 10 companies in the field that focus on carbon capture and energy storage.

Last month, Chevron invested in Blue Planet Systems Corp, a startup commercializing a technology that makes a substitute for limestone in concrete and building materials from carbon dioxide.

The oil major in October also formed a joint venture to market dairy biomethane, a renewable natural gas made of methane emissions from cattle burps as part of its push to reduce emissions.

Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.

Visit link:

Chevron launches $300 million fund to focus on low-carbon technology - Reuters