Monthly Archives: August 2022

Just a few years ago, no one would have called the vacant land underneath Miamis elevated Metrorail particularly inviting, let alone transformative. But today, the city is reimagining this 10-mile corridor as a dynamic linear park: the Underline. The park will feature walking trails, biking infrastructure, and local art while also providing approximately 250,000 residents and 9 million transit users with free and contiguous high-speed internet.

While people often associate parks and other outdoor public spaces with escaping technology, the Underline is part of a growing movement to leverage community-centered technology to transform public spaces into more accessible, inclusive, and responsive community assets, as well as provide the vital public service of free high-speed internet and technical innovations for more residents. In a city like Miami, where over 30% of households lack internet access, the potential of utilizing public space to bridge the digital divide is especially ripe.

The Underlines recent Phase 1 opening in the half-mile stretch known as Brickell Backyard offers important lessons on the role technology can play in transforming public spaces and encouraging more residents to take part in civic life.

Public spaces have always served as hubs for gathering, forming bonds with neighbors, and forging attachments to place. At first, these critical functions dont seem to align with the role of technology in todays digitized society, which is often seen as a driving force of social division and loneliness. Increasingly, however, philanthropic and government institutions are recognizing the potential of embedding technology within public spacesnot only to increase residents access to technology, but also to bring more residents into public spaces, and therefore into the civic life of their neighborhoods and cities.

Philanthropic organizations like the Knight Foundation have been champions of using technology to connect people and places and pilot new innovations around civic engagement, climate, art, and more in public spaces. In 2019, the foundation provided the Underline with a $925,000 investment to create a technology master plan and hire a chief innovation officer and a chief operating officer. The public sector has also been a critical partner, with Miami-Dade County, the city of Miami, the state of Florida, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and others providing funding for the Underline for construction, park amenities, and features such as drinking fountains, bike repair stations, column signage, and Wi-Fi facilities.

Public and private sector actors cite the benefits of embedding technology in public space as a way to:

Achieving the citys mission of transforming the Underline into a new kind of civic commons equipped with community-centered technology wasnt easy. The Wi-Fi infrastructure has to withstand harsh weather conditions in the free-standing outdoor space, and our fiberoptics technology partner, Hotwire Communications, had to install multiple different access points across the 10-mile linear terrain. After two years of construction, we were able to configure the first phase of the park with 11 Wi-Fi access points designed to provide coverage for as many as 200 people per point.

The parks first phasea half-mile segment called Brickell Backyardopened in February 2021, and has since hosted over 1 million visitors and more than 120 free community programs. Friends of the Underline has also identified additional ways to embed technology within the park, including a new educational mobile app, Dig & Learn (developed by Miami Dade Colleges Miami Animation and Gaming International Complex), that engages visitors to learn about the areas rich cultural diversity, history, and natural assets. Weve also hired a chief innovation officer for the park to provide additional capacity for advancing our technology master plan, which outlines forward-looking goals for using technology for climate resilience, arts engagement, and other critical functions.

Miamis journey to create a new public and virtual civic commons is just beginning. We anticipate adding more than 75 access points throughout the 10-mile outdoor space to provide ubiquitous high-speed internet access and reach many more residents and transit users. Despite initial hurdles, the Underline is proof that big ideas can be mobilized, funded, and implemented in a way that evokes positive transformation for both underutilized urban spaces and members of the surrounding community.

Photo credit: Sam Orberter 2022

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How Miamis new linear park is using community-centered technology to bridge the digital divide - Brookings Institution

Alan Towart reading I Will Always Be me alongside daugter Sophia.

If ever there was an accessibility-related project to demonstrate the power of user-led design and what can be achieved when major technology giants pool their resources together alongside patient advocacy groups then I Will Always Be Me is surely it.

Launched earlier this year, the collaboration between Intel, Dell, Rolls-Royce and the U.K.-based Motor Neurone Disease Association is an attempt to address one of the most heartbreaking and disabling symptoms of ALS the loss of ones voice.

As the paralyzing neurodegenerative condition which gradually deteriorates muscular nerve cells progresses, the vast majority of patients go on to lose their voice with around 80% of patients eventually relying on an electronic communication device and a synthetic voice.

Though voice banking for ALS, the practice of recording ones voice to construct a synthetic digital approximation, has been available for many years, traditional methodologies for doing this are not without limitations.

Key amongst these is the amount of time it can take the patient to read out a sufficient number of phrases to create a large enough database of words, sounds and vocalizations to enable the software to accurately replicate their voice.

This can run into the thousands and given the emotional and physical turmoil most patients experience upon receiving an ALS diagnosis allied to the requirement for specialist recording equipment it isnt uncommon for patients to take up to three months to complete the task.

I Will Always Be Me is an elegant attempt to overcome these barriers by condensing the target phrases into a 1000-word book of the same name enabling ALS patients to bank their voice within minutes from the comfort of their home via an online portal.

What sets I Will Always Be Me apart, however, is not simply the precious time saved for patients who tragically may only have a few years left to live but the power and significance of the words contained therein.

Older voice banking systems necessitated patients reading out meaningless words and phrases like red lorry, yellow lorry in order to create the custom digital version.

Instead, I Will Always Be Me achieves the same via a series of touching and beautifully crafted observations penned by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jill Twiss which patients read aloud to explain some of the changes and challenges they are likely to face on the difficult road ahead to their loved ones.

These challenges aside, the book reminds everyone that a zest for life remains because, when all is said and done I Will Always Be Me.

The spark for the project came from Stuart Moss Head Of IT Innovation at Rolls Royce whose father passed away on Christmas day 2014 following a short battle with ALS or motor neurone disease as it is also referred to.

Witnessing patients struggling with older voice banking systems, Moss wondered whether he could help build a think tank comprised of major technology companies, the contacts of which he possessed through the Rolls Royce supply chain, and the expertise of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, to create something better.

The result of Mosss entreaties was the creation of the MND Association Next Generation Think Tank in 2019 with Intel, Dell Terchnologies, Rolls Royce and the U.K.-based charity as its founder members.

The involvement of the technology heavyweights opened boundless avenues of opportunity. It was, in fact, the creative agency representing Dell and Intel New York-based VMLY&R who came up with the idea of condensing the target phrases to be read aloud into a patient-centered short-read e-book.

The campaign promoting I Will Always Be Me went on to win the prestigious Pharma Grand Prix at this years Cannes Lions festival for the creative industries.

Dell Technologies assisted in building a network of technologists, creatives and speech therapists to assist in the venture as well as donating laptops to the MND Association to be given to patients to record their voices.

For its part, Intel was able to leverage its decades of experience working on the open-source communication system used by the late Professor Stephen Hawking, as well as being instrumental in bringing to the table a third-party assistive technology partner in the shape of U.K.-based SpeakUnique who specialize directly in voice banking systems.

SpeakUniques technology uses a machine learning algorithm to accurately replicate the readers voice in as little as 20 minutes.

At a later date, when synthesized speech becomes necessary, any sentence the user wishes to enunciate can be output to a communication device as a precise digital mirror, or perhaps more appropriately in this context, an echo of the original voice.

The speed of the process is achievable due to SpeakUnique already using a base voice trained from hundreds of hours of recordings of speakers of different ages and with different accents providing a platform to overlay the patient's voice and blend in the personalized variations.

The book, which additionally features illustrations by award-winning artist Nicholas Stevenson, is an emotional rollercoaster, not just for patients and their families but for any reader.

Quite simply, especially when listening to the recording on the website in which several patients read out different phrases it can be hard going with respect to fighting back the tears.

We don't know how fast my body will change. Sometimes our bodies feel very different very quickly. And sometimes, it can feel like nothing has changed at all. No one gets to decide how fast or slow changes happen, or which parts of our bodies will change first, while other parts are staying the same, reads one user.

We just don't know why this happened to me. Every so often, these kinds of changes run in families. But mostly, it's just something that happens and we don't know why. It doesn't feel fair. But that's the way it is, adds another.

The book continues with more observations on what a future with MND looks like:

I might not do all the things I used to do. I might not move exactly the same. I might not sound exactly the same. And we might not get to tell our stories and dream our dreams together as long as we want to.

But, right now, I am here with you which is my favorite place to be.

Yes, everything is changing, but I will always be me and I will always love you.

Beyond simply allowing patients to eloquently convey these complex feelings to their loved ones the emotionally charged nature of the phrases themselves serve a secondary purpose.

Explaining, in the campaign video, how this exquisite blend of art and technology manifests, Alice Smith CEO of SpeakUnique said:

The process of reading the book brings out lots of different emotions in people and having sensitive parts and humor and some questions means that you get more of your natural self coming through in the synthetic voice.

It is a point underscored by Nick Goldup, Director of Care Improvement at the MND Association, who admits in an interview, There was always that danger that we could have got this seriously wrong.

He continues, We could have created something that was too emotional and after all, the end goal was to record a voice. If somebody breaks down halfway through, we werent going to achieve what we wanted. But what we found is that you actually get a better recording by capturing those raw emotions of a person's voice.

Working continuously alongside patients and speech therapists within an iterative process the project is a triumph for user-led design.

Alan Towart (pictured) has been living with Motor Neurone Disease since 2017 and appeared in the campaign film.

He says, This project is important to me because one day I may need it to help me, and the previous technology available was slow and very time-consuming. For people with MND, you want to use the time you have left to do the things that you never got around to before it's too late and not be sat for hundreds of hours recording your voice.

Since its launch earlier this year, over 72% of patients newly diagnosed with MND or ALS have been using I Will Always Be Me to bank their voice but the technological collaboration will not end there.

Now the acoustics and accuracy of the synthetic representation have been fine-tuned and finessed, attention will turn towards input speed with Intel in particular actively engaged in initiatives around touchless computing and language prediction.

Zooming out to view the bigger picture I Will Always Be Me shows what can be achieved when major companies, the third sector, creatives and medical specialists work together to solve a huge problem, albeit one affecting a relatively small number of people.

I Will Always Be Me is a great example of industry collaboration, which I believe is going to be vital for the future of making more inclusive accessible technologies, says Darryl Adams, Intels Director of Accessibility.

This is extremely important.

A major impediment to breakthroughs in assistive technology is that such medical-related issues are technically complex to solve but lack R&D investment due to not having mainstream applications.

Any supply chain, networking and investment heft that can be brought to bear by major technology collectives such as this is most welcome.

Other assistive technologies in dire need of funding and collaboration such as electronic sight enhancement glasses for people with low vision or the development of mechanized exoskeletons for individuals with spinal cord injuries could learn much from this ethos of partnership and co-design.

A future echo of this resonates in the words of Stuart Moss at the climax of the campaign film If we can harness what weve started the world can be different.

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Game-Changing Voice Banking Technology Ensures ALS Patients Maintain Their Individuality - Forbes

18 of the leagues 30 organizations rely on the companys connected camera technology and automated, multi-angle video platform for their practice and training needs

BALTIMORE, Aug. 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Connexa Sports Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CNXA) (www.connexasports.com) is pleased to announce further expansion within the National Basketball Association (NBA). PlaySights connected camera platform has become the standard for multi-angle practice and performance video throughout the league and across professional sports. After several new teams partnered with the company this past off-season, there are now 18 NBA organizations that rely on PlaySight technology for daily practice, scouting and player development video needs.

PlaySight has been building for technology since 2016, and the sport was the second market that the company entered after launching first in tennis in 2015. Over the past six seasons, the majority of the leagues teams have added PlaySight cameras, and in some cases installing up to seven cameras per court at their practice facilities. PlaySights platform also enables for seamless integration with other technologies, trackers and software, often working directly with teams for specific requests and needs that their coaching or performance staff may have. Many of the technological innovations driven at the professional level are available to PlaySights basketball clients at the collegiate, high school and academy levels as well.

PlaySight technology has enabled teams to be more efficient with their staff and coaching according to several of the companys partners. Prior to using PlaySight, we needed to dedicate a video coordinator to operate a handheld camera throughout practice, said Matt Reynolds, the Boston Celtics Special Assistant to the Head Coach. Having that extra manpower has allowed our video coordinators to be more active participants in drills on the court.

PlaySight has just made life so much easier. Were literally just pressing a button and its recording from nine different angles and six different baskets. If theres a discrepancy in practice, well go to the iPad and replay the play in real-time or after, said Ike Azotam, an Assistant Video Coordinator with the New York Knicks.

We acquired PlaySight for their proven tech, their reputation throughout sport, and their positioning at the leading-edge of sports tech innovation, said Connexa Sports CEO Mike Ballardie. The fact that so many NBA teams use them and rely on the tech daily is a testament to the technology and the talent on the R&D team.

-XX-

About Connexa Sports Technologies:

Connexa Sports is a leading connected sports company delivering products, technologies, and services across the Watch, Play, Learn commercial and subscription-as-a-service activities in sports. Digital disruption is restructuring how sports are enjoyed, consumed, and monetized, and Connexa Sports is well positioned to capitalize on this with its portfolio of brands: Slinger, PlaySight Interactive, Gameface.AI and Foundation Tennis.

With over one million users across its platform, Connexas mission is to reimagine sports.

Contact Information:

investors@connexasports.com

(443) 407-7564

http://www.connexasports.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on managements beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include statements about our plans to obtain funding for our current and proposed operations and potential acquisition and expansion efforts; the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, or any other health epidemic, on our business, our clientele or the global economy as a whole; debt obligations of the Company; our general history of operating losses; our ability to compete with companies producing products and services; the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our products and technology; the accuracy of our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; our ability to develop and maintain our corporate infrastructure, including our internal controls; our ability to develop innovative new products; and our financial performance. In addition, statements that we believe and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this press release, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Connexa Sports Expands its Technology Footprint in the NBA - GlobeNewswire

Leland, NC (WWAY)The Leland Police Department can now fully process a person in house that has been arrested in the town without having to make a trip to the Brunswick County Sherriffs Office in Bolivia. This is thanks to new technology in the department.

The new technology within the police department of Town Hall includes a video magistrate system, an automated fingerprint identification system, and an intoximeter.

The most significant piece of technology to the department is the video magistrate system. With this, they can securely video calla court magistrate to obtain the necessary processing paperwork, like arrest warrants, magistrates orders, or involuntary commitment paperwork. It also enables them to bring a suspect before an officer of the courtfor the service of a process.

Having this technology and being able to use it without having to make that drive has been a huge benefit to our agency. Its not a service that just benefits our staff singularly, its also something that will assist other agencies here inside of the county.

Chief Humphries says that safety of the town is always a priority, so being able to keep officers inside the city limits is a great way of enhancing that, and also wants other agencies to be aware that these resources are available to utilize when needed.

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Leland Police adds new technology to assist with arrests made in town limits - WWAY NewsChannel 3

VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: ZI), a global leader in modern go-to-market software, data, and intelligence, announced that it now delivers insights into the technology solutions used by more than 30 million companies, allowing customers to more accurately target their sales and marketing campaigns.

Companies can use this technographic data to research whether a prospective buyer uses competing or complementary products and to understand an accounts technical maturity. ZoomInfos expanded technographic dataset now traces more than 300 million pairings between companies and the distinct technologies, platforms, and programming languages they use, arming sales, marketing, and recruiting teams with an incredibly detailed web of prospecting information about their best-fit accounts. ZoomInfo can identify technologies across more than 200 technology categories, including a company's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, and Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

Knowing which technologies your prospects use before you even pick up the phone gives sellers a tremendous head start, said Kirti Patel, Senior Director of Engineering at ZoomInfo. With todays economic headwinds, sales teams are looking for every opportunity to increase efficiency, and having access to a prospects tech stack can transform your go-to-market engine.

ZoomInfos technographics pipeline accurately profiles a companys technology stack by analyzing data from more than 20 types of sources, including first-party websites, job postings, and customer testimonials. This newly enhanced pipeline now tracks the use of more than 30,000 technologies. Customers also gain visibility into where companies are using each technology in their business, such as when a company is using a specific ecommerce solution on its checkout page or operating a chatbot solution on its home page.

Additionally, tech companies can leverage ZoomInfos technographics data to identify their competitors customers, allowing sales teams to make their case for displacement and win back business. Companies that partner or integrate with other companies can also analyze technographics data to guide their partnership strategies.

After identifying best-fit targets, users can improve sales productivity and win rates through personalized messaging, all within RevOS, ZoomInfos modern revenue operating system.

Customers who use ZoomInfos SalesOS and MarketingOS products can search for prospects based on the technologies they use and receive alerts when companies of interest add or drop specific technologies from their tech stack. ZoomInfos automated sales and marketing tools also allow users to immediately take action on those insights for example, launching an email outreach sequence or an account-based marketing campaign tailored to those prospects specific needs. When looking to fill roles, TalentOS users can filter and identify candidates based on their experience with specific technologies the hiring company already uses.

Additionally, OperationsOS users can leverage ZoomInfos technographic data brick to build lookalike models, allowing sales operations teams to uncover their most likely buyers, based on the prospect's level of business complexity as indicated by the other tech solutions they currently use.

Through significant enhancements to its machine learning algorithms and processes, ZoomInfo now constantly looks for and refreshes data about the technologies being used by individual companies, often on a daily basis. Nearly 90 percent of the active tech-to-company pairings in ZoomInfos platform have been updated within the past three months.

The breadth of ZoomInfos data puts us in a position to be able to track prospects that we can actually work with, because they usually have specific technologies that they work with that we need to be able to tap into, said Mike Perrone, Chief Revenue Officer at Prodoscore, an employee productivity software company.

For more information on ZoomInfos enhanced technographic data, please visit zoominfo.com/data.

About ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: ZI) is a leader in modern go-to-market software, data, and intelligence for more than 30,000 companies worldwide. ZoomInfos revenue operating system, RevOS, empowers business-to-business sales, marketing, operations, and recruiting professionals to hit their number by pairing best-in-class technology with unrivaled data coverage, accuracy, and depth of company and contact information. With integrations embedded into workflows and technology stacks, including the leading CRM, Sales Engagement, Marketing Automation, and Talent Management applications, ZoomInfo drives more predictable, accelerated, and sustainable growth for its customers. ZoomInfo emphasizes GDPR and CCPA compliance. In addition to creating the industrys first proactive notice program, the company is a registered data broker with the states of California and Vermont. Read about ZoomInfos commitment to compliance, privacy, and security. For more information about ZoomInfos leading go-to-market software, data, and intelligence, and how they help sales, marketing, operations, and recruiting professionals, please visit http://www.zoominfo.com.

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ZoomInfo Provides Technology Usage Insights for More Than 30 Million Companies - Business Wire

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadview Group Holdings, LLC ("Broadview"), a leader in direct middle-market investing, is excited to announce the addition of Andrew Hedrick to the team as the Director of Technology to lead technology strategy and operations at Broadview.

Prior to Broadview Group, Andrew was Director of Technology at Dot Family Holdings, where he developed and executed technology strategies and initiatives for all platform investments. Prior to Dot Family Holdings, Andrew spent more than a decade in Washington, DC, where he worked with the United States Cyber Command and other Intelligence Community partners to provide strategy for telecommunications and computer network operations. Among his many projects, Andrew created systems for rapidly ingesting and cataloging datasets to answer analytic questions, implemented strategies to discover high-value targets of interest, and fused remote sensing technologies together to support the military and foreign policy of the United States.

"We are extremely pleased to have Andrew join Broadview at a pivotal point in the firm's technology evolution. Andrew's track record and experience will be invaluable in leading technology initiatives across our existing and future portfolio companies," said Clay Hunter, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Broadview. "With the addition of Andrew, management teams at our portfolio companies can now leverage sophisticated technology resources unique to our level of the market, gleaning insights and assistance with technology initiatives as wide ranging as cyber security to data management strategy with the aim of creating outsized competitive advantages in their markets and maximizing growth."

ABOUT BROADVIEW GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC

Broadview Group Holdings, LLC invests in and partners with successful business owners and growth-oriented leadership teams to help scale and create significant and sustainable value in commercial and industrial products, specialty distribution, commercial and industrial services, and food and agriculture businesses.Broadview's permanent capital base and long-term perspective ensure true alignment with its partners and portfolio companies.Broadview Group's principals have decades of experience leading and scaling businesses and providing strategic insight and other expertise as executives, lead investors and board members in a variety of businesses and industries. For more information, please visit http://www.broadviewgroup.com.

Contact: [emailprotected]

SOURCE Broadview Group Holdings

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Broadview Group Adds Andrew Hedrick as Director of Technology - PR Newswire

While ILTACON isnt the only legal technology show around, it is the one that seems to best deliver the mood of the industry. Its the show where I first noticed the AI hype wave break and roll back. It also provided an eerie snapshot of an industry grappling with the pandemic. Something about this once-a-year conference and its generalist portfolio this isnt an eDiscovery show or a CLM show always slowly reveals some key truths about the state of legal technology.

Coming off a pandemic stress test, legal technology came into ILTACON22 a little wiser and more mature than its been before.

Not that legal tech wasnt always serious business my presence at these events notwithstanding but variations on the word mature kept coming up throughout the week to the point that it started to make ears perk up. The context was never exactly the same, but it generally tied to a playing field more settled into feeling confidence in what they provide clients. And equal confidence in what they dont.

Which is a natural evolution. Startups are likely to run around like their funding is on fire trying to satisfy anyone who can bring in revenue. It takes time and experience to realize exactly what the product can deliver and be in the position to sell the client on what you are. Over the course of the show, I noticed fewer vendors selling me on how they can nimbly change the product to meet a new demand than past years and more willing to tell me about all the customization available in the product already.

If one term challenged maturity as the buzzword of the show, it was API. Though it seemed as though the latter only fed the former. Vendors seemed at ease explaining that some functions were outside their wheelhouse but that they could easily plug someone elses solution in. Partnerships and spreading the wealth came up a lot thats not the language of a sector doggedly fighting over every last inch of share.

Welcome to the era of playing nice! The closing keynote presentation hinted that Microsoft, Zoom, and Citrix were even working on some limited interoperability.

Is this a function of the pandemic teaching us all what really matters? Redgrave Datas Dave Lewis suggested I shouldnt count it out entirely. Though the availability of expertise like Redgraves is pretty important too someone who can bring consulting services to clients to coordinate technologies or create process automation. Where out of the box vendors cant work together the necessary skills are out there to bridge that gap.

Sectors based on innovation will never truly reach an end state, but theres something to be said about the landscape settling down with defined lanes. And that could be what brings out the most revolutionary developments. Art through adversity, as they say some of the best stuff comes from inventing within a defined space. Lets see where we go from here.

Joe Patriceis a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free toemail any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him onTwitterif youre interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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ILTACON Reveals The Maturity Of Legal Technology - Above the LawAbove the Law - Above the Law