Category Archives: Technology

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Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me about yourselves? Where are you from? What was your path to your healing with cannabis? Who were your mentor(s)?

Phiton Nguyen=PN: Growing up in Orange Countys Little Saigon as second-generation immigrants from Vietnam, my sister and I had an ideal environment to explore our mutual interests in nature and health. I was interested in cannabis plants from an early age and even grew 8 plants in our backyard when I was 13. Most recently, I spent several years in the e-cigarette industry pursuing another interest born out of curiosity more than personal use, and learned the mechanics of vaporizer technology. At the time, devices on the market were complicated to use and sometimes downright unsafe, usually designed for self-learned or inexperienced users. I was intrigued by the challenge of engineering a vaporizer that was well designed, safe, high quality, and practical for ex-smokers who wanted to offset health risks. Our parents have been our greatest supporters and mentors. They overcame unimaginal hardship as refugees during the Vietnam War and were able to start a renowned record company, Lang Van once they came to America. Their entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen has guided many of our critical decisions as a young company.

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Mimi Nguyen=MN: We began to explore the medicinal uses of cannabis after my mom and I were both diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, we are both in remission now, but the experience was serious wake up call for our entire familys health. We collectively developed more health-conscious habits and started researching the benefits of cannabis and Eastern medicine. When California legalized recreational cannabis, we began exploring the potential applications of cannabis as a wellness tool. While there were countless options available on the market, we realized that the majority of those products were designed in a way that mitigated the plants nutrient-rich and medical benefits when consumed. When eaten, at least half of the cannabinoids are effectively lost to the digestive process, and while inhalation allows a higher absorption rate of cannabinoids, many arrive dormant or destroyed by the heat used in standard methods of combustion. Phitons expertise in vaporizer technology and our familys penchant for holistic experimentation converged as a family pursuit of smarter cannabis consumption, leading us to create the product that becameQWIN.

WB: Why CBD? Where do you source your products from?Tell me about your company a bit more? What is micro-fusion technology? How do you determine dosages?

PN & MN: We believe that CBD has the potential to help individuals who depend on medications that are either addictive or have adverse side effects to manage chronic physical or mental conditions. We wanted to create a natural source of relief for anyone who is spending numerous hours a day dealing with pain, anxiety, or distress. Our CBD is sourced from an extraction facility in Milwaukee that is also USFDA approved for bottling and is in the process of being CGMP certified.QWINs MicroFusion technology is an ultrasonic emulsion process where we create a more bioavailable formula where the CBD becomes more absorbent particles that your body can process faster and more efficiently. The process also infuses food-grade flavors into each formula and creates an effective product and maintain a lower cost to the user. We designed QWIN to be used frequently throughout the day to give our customers a steady and balanced feeling. Each CBDi cartridge contains 100 mg of full-spectrum CBD and approximately 45 doses. We do not have a recommended dosage amount because each body is different, but users should feel the effects within 5 minutes of inhaling and can decide if they need more from there.

WB: Did you go to B-School (or school of hard knocks)? What is your professional background in this field? What is your six month and twelve month plan?

MN: I went to Chapman University for film production and did not have a formal business education, but being involved in my familys music business at a young age gave me the skills and insight to runQWIN. I manage the legal aspects of every project, design our digital licensing program for our entire catalogue of music and videos, and lead the acquisition of our cannabis facility and licenses. In the next six months, we expect to have a fully licensed cannabis manufacturing and distribution facility, launch a line of high potency CBD and microdose THC capsules, and focus on building our educational and influencer partnership divisions.

PN: I went to UC Santa Cruz for printmaking and mathematics and also learned how to manage a production facility producing artists which taught me the day-to-day business operations and distribution of entertainment from our parents business. My product development background helped me design and launch QWINs innovative technology. During my five years in the industry, Ive developed several product lines in hardware technology and e-liquid brands. In 12 months, we hope that other vape companies will use QWINs technology and platform in their own products.

WB What kind of stigmas do you face? How do you anticipate removing these obstacles? What do you see as the future of wellness?

PN & MN: The entire vape industry has received a lot of negative press due to the rise in lung illnesses linked to illicit THC cartridges. The media has characterized all vape use as dangerous, which is vastly misguided. Inhaling medicine has been around for decades and is one of the most effective methods for instant relief. The only way to challenge this misperception is through public education. Just like how cannabis use was widely vilified decades ago, people are often scared of what they do not know. We see this current vape crisis as an opportunity to engage with consumers and health officials about the benefits of vaping legal CBD and THC and will diligently work with testing labs to reinforce that our products are safe. The future of wellness lies in taking a preventative approach by having access and education to natural remedies and learning how to be more mindful of our health choices.

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WB: What is your passion?

PN: I love developing products that can enhance peoples life experiences. Some of the most life-changing products ever created resulted in incremental changes that made a significant difference in peoples lives. While we cant solve the underlying problems that cause chronic health issues, what we can do is give individuals a natural tool to make their lives easier as they navigate this challenge.

MN:The Mongo verb temu comes to mind. It roughly translates to, I believe that I am not passionate about one particular thing, but a way of living life. I want to be in a constant state of inspiration, always creating and rushing to create holistic solutions for individuals trying to improve their quality of life.

Link:

Meet The Family Behind QWIN: Revolutionizing CBD Technology - Forbes

Most tech solution stories start with the need to not only figure out but also how to navigate around a specific pain point.

For commercial real estate, an industry that has historically been slow in adopting technology as compared to other industries, instead of simply playing catch up and solving those pain points, it is imperative to stay ahead of the curve.Not only are today's employees increasingly requiring it but tenants are also expecting it. And more than likely, the competition, too, is aiming to be at the top of their tech game.

For the many commercial real estate companies looking to utilize technology, there's a lot of uncertainty when it comes to figuring out which solution might be right for them. Some companies are looking to improve data management or contract management, while others might want a better decision-analysis software or one that can provide improved efficiency. No matter which type of technology is the right starting place for your company, one thing is certain: At a time when large brokerage firms are heavily investing in the space, incorporating something and using it is key and staying at the forefront of CRE technology is essential.

Not only that, but investors in the commercial real estate space are also expecting it. The "2019 Commercial Real Estate Outlook"report by Deloitte says that investors have certain expectations about technology usage from their CRE investee companies. Over 80% of the survey's respondents said that commercial real estate companies "should prioritize the use of predictive analytics and business intelligence."

Those results aren't at all surprising to me, since improved efficiency will become a great advantage during future downturns. We often hear about robotic process automating and other diverse technologies that move across many functions and processes, but if you are at a standstill trying to figure out where to begin incorporating technology, start at the foundation and think about what information you have as a company that you can better use to your advantage.

The foundation of any great analytics and automated solution is data. Companies need to pay attention to how they capture and manage their data, whether it is property data, internal company data or the data hidden in their documents.

The first step should be to collect, standardize and manage data in a more efficient and accurate way. The important qualifier to note is to be sure that the data collected is clean, because without clean data analytics, any technology software is useless.

Once all that is accomplished, that clean data can be used to your advantage to improve many other aspects of the business and make more informed decisions. Better investment decisions result in better ROI and better management decisions resulting in higher efficiency company-wide, improved tenant experience and lower operating costs.

Let's look at Real Capital Analytics, for example. Founder and president Bob White has said that technology has played a huge role in shortening the time it takes to both market and sell a property, and that technology has allowed investors to transact across ever-increasing distances. By taking advantage of these advancements, commercial real estate brokers can become even smarter and more efficient.

It is important to note that being at the forefront of technology does not mean all jobs will be replaced, as some might think. Above all, commercial real estate is still a personal business where relationships matter. What technology can do, however, is give a competitive advantage to those relationships.

Original post:

Why Technology Is Crucial For CRE -- And Why Investors Now Expect it - Forbes

A Canadian project aims to make voice assistants more accessible by having individuals with atypical speech offer recordings of their voices.

The Canadian Down Syndrome Society recently announced its latest program, Project Understood, which helps Google voice technology better understand individuals with Down syndrome.

"People with down syndrome have atypical speech, their facial structures are different. Their tongues are larger, thicker, and it means that they speak in a way that is not typical," said Shelley Brown, chief strategy officer at FCB Toronto and leader of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society's project. "As a result they find voice technology really hard to use."

SEE: Amazon Alexa: An insider's guide (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Digital voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri have become staples in daily life, infiltrating smartphones and smart home devices. Juniper Research found that the popularity of voice assistants will increase worldwide, with eight billion projected to be in use by 2023.

However, these voice assistants may not be able to help those with disabilities, a population that could be helped most from the tech, Brown said.

"Voice technology could be so useful and important for people living with Down syndrome. It could be a technology that could make the difference for somebody to be able to live independently or not," Brown said. "It is a very intuitive, easy way to get access to everything that a computer can do, from giving you a reminder for an appointment, directions on how to get somewhere, or how to do something."

Once the Canadian Down Syndrome Society decided to pursue this mission of making voice assistants more accessible, officials realized they needed the support of a big name company, Brown said.

"We did a lot of research and started calling a whole bunch of different places," Brown said. "When we called Google, they were so open, excited, and receptive to the whole idea."

The first step Google and the society made involved a test. "One of the questions that we didn't have the exact answer to was, are speech patterns of people with Down syndrome similar enough [to those without] that the voice technology can learn from them?" Brown asked.

To find the answer, Project Understood recruited nine people living with Down syndrome and asked them to record 1,700 words and phrases. The recordings would be played back through a Google voice platform and researchers would discover whether or not the technology could learn from repeated input of the voices, Brown said.The group received an exciting answer from the test: Yes. "On the basis of that initial test with nine people, it became very clear that the technology could learn from them and it just needed more data," Brown said.

Project Understood is still at the very early stages of development. Right now, Google gets approximately one out of three words incorrect for someone living with Down syndrome. However, the system is extremely dynamic, meaning it will be able to better understand if it is given more data, Brown said.

"What we're really looking for is to collect about a thousand voices of people with Down syndrome. The more data we can give the system, the smarter the system will be," Brown said, "Right now, we have almost 300 participants already in the program and we will just continue to bring on more people living with Down syndrome so that they can teach Google how to understand them."

"By teaching Google to understand people who are living with Down syndrome, it will have an impact for other people with different disabilities or different forms of atypical speech," Brown said. "While the initial group of people who will benefit from [the project] are people with Down syndrome, their participation is actually going to make voice technology work better for many other people."

Individuals with Down syndrome can help the cause through this link. By recording their own voices saying certain words and phrases, those with Down syndrome can directly help improve the accuracy of Google's voice recognition models, Brown said.

The press release offered some example phrases users may be asked to record:

"We've always tried to reframe how people think about those living with Down syndrome. These people are not victims, they're not ill. These are engaged individuals and they have a point of view on the world," Brown said. "Google is one of the biggest and smartest companies on the planet, and somebody living with Down syndrome is an expert in living with Down syndrome. This is a case where they can share their expertise and actually teach Google to be more helpful, not only for people with Down syndrome, but also people with any form of basic difficulties."

For more, check out How to make your sites accessible for all users: 3 tips for business owners on TechRepublic.

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Project Understood makes Google voice technology more inclusive to those with Down syndrome - TechRepublic

BOSTON, Nov. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardiovascular disease(CVD) is currently the leading cause of death globally. The World Health Organisation reported that CVD, which encompasses all conditions linked to the heart and blood vessels, is responsible for 17 million deaths every year. This translates to a staggering 31% of all deaths globally. The WHO expects this figure to rise to over 23 million by 2030. In addition, CVD also represents a major economic burden. According to the American Heart Association, the annual cost of CVD to the economy is estimated to be over $500 billion in the USA. The prevalence and cost of CVD mean that there is an urgent need for solutions to raise standards of care and improve patient outcomes.

Although CVD has been a major health concern for decades, researchers are still struggling to address it or even understand it. Much effort is being put into tackling the disease at every stage of progression. Technology is helping to improve the way CVD can be detected, monitored and treated.

Diagnosing CVD is the first step in patients' road to recovery. It is imperative to detect the disease early in order to administer treatment while it is still treatable. In addition, preventing the disease altogether is becoming more important in healthcare. The main approaches for detecting CVD are currently in vitro diagnostics (IVD) at point-of-care (POC) and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in cardiovascular imaging. AI in imaging is of particular interest beyond imaging in general, because it is the integration of AI into these systems that is truly innovative. The four main types of POC diagnostics technologies are lab-on-a-chip (LOAC), electrochemical test strips, lateral flow assays (LFAs) and molecular diagnostics (MDx).

The protocols for monitoring patients are rapidly evolving. Historically, patients who fall ill are required to travel in order to visit a general practitioner or hospital. This procedure may soon become a thing of the past. The biggest trends in patient monitoring currently revolve around remote patient monitoring (RPM), which enables the patients' health to be examined from a distance. This means that healthcare professionals do not necessarily need to examine their patients in person. Instead, consultations can be conducted over video call and patient readings and information can be accessed through a digital platform. Cardiovascular RPM involves a number of connected medical devices for use in the home. Wearables such as skin patches, accessories and smart clothing are particularly relevant as most innovations are made in this field.

Many forms of CVD are chronic in nature, meaning that they worsen over time. Thus, once the disease has been diagnosed it is important to initiate treatment as soon as possible in order to provide positive patient outcomes. Current trends in the treatment of CVD revolve around cardiac rhythm management and cardiovascular tissue generation. The technologies are in various stages of development - some have been commercially available for decades and others are still in the proof-of-concept phase. The differences in levels of development reflect the depth of researchers' understanding of the diseases in question. For instance, pacemakers have been in use for over fifty years as cardiac rhythm was one of the first areas of cardiovascular health to be investigated. On the other hand, cardiac tissue engineering and bioprinting technologies are still in their infancy due to a lack of understanding of the complexities of re-creating human tissue.

In their latest report "Cardiovascular Disease 2020-2030: Trends, Technologies & Outlook" IDTechEx Research reports that the CVD technology market will exceed $40 billion by 2030. As developers' understanding of this disease grows, so will the range of devices at their disposal to address it. They have only scratched the surface of how technology can improve CVD patients' lives and, as they dig deeper, they will continue to unlock the potential of this growing market.

To find out more about Life Sciences research available from IDTechEx visit http://www.IDTechEx.com/LifeScior to connect with others on this topic, IDTechEx Events is hosting: Healthcare Sensor Innovations 2020 Conference on 17 - 18 March 2020 in San Jose, USA. Please visit http://www.HealthcareSensorInnovations.com/USA

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy contact research@IDTechEx.comor visit http://www.IDTechEx.com.

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Jessica AbineriMarketing Coordinatorpress@IDTechEx.com+44(0)1223 812300

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IDTechEx Research Reports: The Cardiovascular Disease Technology Market Will Exceed $40 Billion by 2030 - PRNewswire

Audio visual classroom solutions, IVCi, explains how AV technology is continuing to shape the future of higher education.

The AV industry has already drastically changed the way our society teaches and learns. Audio Visual (AV) technology is the latest advancement to shape the future of education. Some people believe that the use of AV technology will lead to the downfall of physical classrooms, while some believe it will only enhance the current way information is delivered. Whatever unfolds, one thing is for sure AV is continuing to shape the future of higher education. Heres how.

Connected devices. In our ever-connected world, we can expect to see students using their own devices to directly access their schools content and resources. Scalability of AV resources will be essential in keeping up with demand. Students expect to be able to easily connect and share their work on screens and with fellow classmates, both in classrooms and study rooms.

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The rise of AR and VR. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are two AV tools that are making their way into higher education. For example, students can now design objects with a 3D modeling tool and see them come to life with a 3D printer. In higher education for healthcare related fields, this can help students understand complex health systems in a realistic way.

New and engaging learning experiences. AV technology opens the door for students to learn in new and engaging ways that would otherwise be impossible. For example, medical, nursing, or healthcare students can witness emergency situations, complex surgeries, and bedside care through video, so they can get hands-on experience from anywhere.

Marketing Technology News: Apple and Salesforce Ignite Productivity and Learning on the Best Devices for Business

Distance learning. While online and hybrid classes are already available in many higher education institutes, AV allows the distance learning experience to be more immersive and inclusive. If AV technologies advance enough, there is a possibility that all higher education lectures can be delivered remotely.

How rapidly the higher education system transforms through AV depends greatly on the institutions willingness to adopt it. If more educators get on board with the shift, we could see AV technology completely overhaul higher education with endless learning potential.

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Excerpt from:

Audio Visual Classroom Solutions, IVCi, Explains How AV Technology is Continuing to Shape the Future of Higher Education - MarTech Series

American Express is celebrating 10 years of Small Business Saturday by giving small business owners the information and tools they need to succeed in a changing world. And its bringing those insights to life through The Big Future of Shopping Small, an interactive retail space in New York City that introduces shoppers and small business owners to the future of retail, showcasing how technology and innovation are making shopping easier, more personalized, and sustainably conscious.

Between the presence of big retailers and a crowded online world, small businesses must rethink how theyll stand out in the future, the entrance to the experience declares. To explore this, weve reimagined Main Street to showcase the ways in which stores will use technology and innovation to change the landscape.

The Big Future of Shopping Small features technology such as augmented reality, which powers a virtual boutique that allows multiple small businesses to share shelf space, and enhances product labels to link to additional text, videos, or online stores to tell a complete brand story; artificial intelligence that uses biometrics to predict consumer preferences; and payment technologies that make frictionless shopping a realityno more waiting in line to check out.

The shopping experience, open to the public this weekend, coincides with a decade of supporting local businesses. Im especially delighted that youre all here to help us celebrate a really important milestone, said Walter Frye, vice president of global brand engagement for American Express, at the Toast to 10 Years of Small Business Saturday event.

But the pop-up shop is just one of the ways American Express is marking the anniversary. Its also partnering with Main Street America to give $10,000 grants to 10 small businesses to help their businesses innovate in this evolving retail landscape. The application will be available starting Nov. 30th.

According to new research, a majority of Americans (77%) are interested in spending money at a small business on Small Business Saturday this year, for the following reasons:

Over the last nine years, Americans have spent more than $100 billion at small businesses on Small Business Saturday, with two-thirds of those dollars estimated to stay in the local communities.

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American Express Unveils The Shopping Technology of the Future as it Celebrates 10 Years of Small Business Sat - Black Enterprise

The Transportation Security Administration is bracing for a record number of people at airport security checkpoints around the country this Thanksgiving. Nearly 27 million passengers are expected to be screened during the holiday period, meaning travelers could face long security lines. But new technology being tested by the TSA could speed up screenings and address passenger complaints over electronics, liquids and taking off their shoes.

In a field outside Providence, University of Rhode Island researchers are working on new ways to detect and stop explosives popular with terrorists. They're partnering with the Department of Homeland Security on a sensor called a "digital dog nose" that will soon be the size of cell phone. Able to be mounted on a drone, it could can detect homemade explosives as well or better than a bomb-sniffing dog.

They've also created a gel called "Schmoo" that can surround an explosive or chemical agent and flash-freeze it so it can be safely removed from a transit hub.

"We think about how to detect and mitigate the threats for today, while we're still realizing that if we get really good about today's threats, there's going to be a different threat tomorrow," said professor Jimmie Oxley, of the university's Center for Excellence for Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response. "What would that look like, and how would we attack it?"

About 2,700 miles away, at a new airport checkpoint in Las Vegas, the TSA's newest technology, in an area of Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport, is being tested together for first time with real passengers. They call it their "Innovation Checkpoint."

"This is a glimpse into the future of what aviation security is going to look like," Jose Bonilla, the director of TSA's Innovation Task Force, told correspondent Kris Van Cleave. "What we're trying to do is, how do we make that a more seamless process for the traveling public, but not giving up on security capability? What you see here may not be here in a year. We may bring in new pieces of technology."

As passengers approach the innovation checkpoint, they'll see dynamic message boards. Next, new ID readers scan your license to quickly validate your identity and confirm you're flying that day, without needing to show officers your boarding pass

From there, carry-on bags go to a CT scanner. Electronics can stay in, and eventually the goal is liquids will, too.

The new scanners can more easily see through all the clutter in bags.

While it's not quite the scanner from "Total Recall," science fiction is coming alive with new walk-by body scanners. They display a generic male or female form and flag an area of the body where there may be a concern. The technology is also better at spotting non-metallic threats that a metal detector might miss.

"The improvement they really need to make for everybody is, don't take your shoes off!" said passenger Patrick Hinke.

"If they can speed it up a bit more, yeah. The ID thing was a little slow," said Keith Ross.

Deanna Sack said, "It's quicker. It definitely pushes people through a lot faster."

TSA hopes it can turn lessons learned at this Vegas checkpoint into reality around the country by 2022. Some of the technology, like the CT scanners, is already being rolled out at some airports.

TSA may also look to expand its use of facial recognition technology in the next few years.

Continued here:

TSA testing new technology like "Innovation Checkpoint" and "digital dog nose" to speed up screenings - CBS News

Recent advances in deepfake video technology have led to a rapid increase of such videos in the public domain in the past year. Face-swapping apps such as Zao, for example, allow users to swap their faces with a celebrity, creating a deepfake video in seconds.

These advances are the result of deep generative modelling, a new technology which allows us to generate duplicates of real faces and create new, and impressively true-to-life images, of people who do not exist.

This new technology has quite rightly raised concerns about privacy and identity. If our faces can be created by an algorithm, would it be possible to replicate even more details of our personal digital identity or attributes like our voice or even create a true body double?

Indeed, the technology has advanced rapidly from duplicating just faces to entire bodies. Technology companies are concerned and are taking action: Google released 3,000 deepfake videos in the hope of allowing researchers to develop methods of combating malicious content and identifying these more easily.

While questions are rightly being asked about the consequences of deepfake technology, it is important that we do not lose sight of the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used for good, as well as ill. World leaders are concerned with how to develop and apply technologies that genuinely benefit people and planet, and how to engage the whole of society in their development. Creating algorithms in isolation does not allow for the consideration of broader societal concerns to be incorporated into their practical applications.

For example, the development of deep generative models raises new possibilities in healthcare, where we are rightly concerned about protecting the privacy of patients in treatment and ongoing research. With large amounts of real, digital patient data, a single hospital with adequate computational power could create an entirely imaginary population of virtual patients, removing the need to share the data of real patients.

We would also like to see advances in AI lead to new and more efficient ways of diagnosing and treating illness in individuals and populations. The technology could enable researchers to generate true-to-life data to develop and test new ways of diagnosing or monitoring disease without risking breaches in real patient privacy.

These examples in healthcare highlight that AI is an enabling technology that is neither intrinsically good nor evil. Technology like this depends on the context in which we create and use it.

Universities have a critical role to play here. In the UK, universities are leading the world in research and innovation and are focused on making an impact on real-world challenges. At UCL, we recently launched a dedicated UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence that will be at the forefront of global research into AI. Our academics are working with a broad range of experts and organizations to create new algorithms to support science, innovation and society.

AI must complement and augment human endeavour, not replace it. We need to combine checks and balances that inhibit or prevent inappropriate use of technology while creating the right infrastructure and connections between different experts to ensure we develop technology that helps society thrive.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with our Terms of Use.

Written by

Geraint Rees, Professor of cognitive neurology, University College London

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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How the technology behind deepfakes can benefit all of society - World Economic Forum

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Max. Price100 /m150 /m200 /m250 /m300 /m350 /m400 /m450 /m500 /m550 /m600 /m650 /m700 /m750 /m800 /m850 /m900 /m950 /m1,000 /m 1,050 /m1,100 /m1,150 /m1,200 /m1,250 /m1,300 /m1,350 /m1,400 /m1,450 /m1,500 /m1,550 /m1,600 /m1,650 /m1,700 /m1,750 /m1,800 /m1,850 /m1,900 /m1,950 /m 2,000 /m2,050 /m2,100 /m2,150 /m2,200 /m2,250 /m2,300 /m2,350 /m2,400 /m2,450 /m2,500 /m2,600 /m2,700 /m2,800 /m2,900 /m3,000 /m3,500 /m4,000 /m4,500 /m 5,000 /m5,500 /m6,000 /m6,500 /m7,000 /m7,500 /m8,000 /m8,500 /m9,000 /m9,500 /m10,000 /m

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Gator Technology opens operations in Midland - Midland Reporter-Telegram

As urban populations continue to grow, some cities are struggling to cope. Many are turning to new technologies for cost-effective solutions to clean up waste.

Cities that address waste problems immediately have the best chance to avoid severe long-term consequences, says Ricardo Cepeda-Mrquez, solid waste director for C40 Cities, a global network of cities committed to tackling climate change.

Waste that goes uncollected can lead to blocked drains, flooding and the spread of waterborne diseases. Organic matter dumped in landfills where it lacks the air to decompose quickly generates methane gas, accelerating climate change.

Generating energy from waste

The plant, which burns waste instead of fossil fuels, is capable of converting 450,000 tons of trash into energy annually, delivering electricity to 30,000 households and heating to 72,000.

Though it still produces CO2 emissions from burning, the city plans to install a system to capture the carbon released by the incineration process, and then store the carbon or find a commercial use for it. By tapping an otherwise unused resource, it will also help the city move away from its dependence on fossil fuels.

"Instead of placing waste outside in a big landfill, we use the waste to produce energy for heating and electricity in the most efficient way currently available," the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen told CNN Business in an email.

"Efficient waste incineration supplies district heating for 99% of the buildings in Copenhagen, so we will eliminate the pollution from coal, oil and petroleum," he adds, helping the capital meet its goal to become the world's first carbon-neutral city by 2025.

But Cepeda-Mrquez warns that this technology has its limits. A city needs solid infrastructure and a strong waste collection system already in place before it can reap the benefits of one of these plants.

"Many global south cities, with badly managed waste management systems, expect that with the ideal incinerator or waste-to-energy facility all of their problems will go away," he says. "But if you have a broken system, there is no technology that is going to fix it."

Smarter systems

Other cities are starting on a street level, using artificial intelligence and automation to sort recyclables, or sensors to reduce the amount thrown away.

For instance, Singapore and Seoul, South Korea, have installed smart, solar-powered trash cans on their streets. Each is equipped with a compactor, enabling it to hold more trash. Once the bin is full, its sensors alert the waste collectors.

Typically, cities send out different trucks to collect different types of waste - one truck collecting plastic for recycling, another collecting food waste, for example. But that requires a lot of trucks, which means added costs and more traffic.

"In many cities in Europe, the streets are very narrow, and there isn't a lot of open space for multiple waste collection trucks to be doing the rounds," says Cepeda-Mrquez.

Norway's capital Oslo has designed a clever model to avoid this. Since 2012, city residents have been required to use different colored bags for different types of waste, and instead of collecting them separately, trucks gather all the bags at once and take them to an optical sorting plant.

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How cities are using technology to solve their trash problems - CNN