Category Archives: Technology

Imagine walking into your bank and telling the cashier you wanted to open a savings account.

Youd expect to be offered a small choice of terms and rates and you probably would not expect any of those rates to be absolutely best in class.

What you would not expect is to be offered an enormous swathe of savings options including many accounts from other financial institutions. A Dutch bank, or a Swedish one? Yes, these lenders want your sterling savings too, it seems, and in the near future you may be able to save with them and get some exceptional rates via accounts operated by your own, existing banks.

Welcome to open banking something that sounds like technology jargon but which, whatever words you use, is real and revolutionary. And about to arrive in Britain.

I confidently predict it will change the way we save cash, and very quickly.

The British love cash. There is an inherent...

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How technology is about to transform the way we save cash forever - Telegraph.co.uk

A group of high-tech business owners joined Montana Sen. Jon Tester on Thursday at the Bozeman Public Library to discuss how the state could continue to attract and retain high-paying jobs for the state.

The forum, Tester said, was to hear from the technology community about issues important to them. The senator sat alongside a panel of four business owners in the Gallatin County area and heard from each of them before taking questions from the audience.

To the folks out there doing, I want to say thank you, he said.

The panel included Stan Abel, chief executive officer of SiteOne Therapeutics; Bill Stoddard, founder of NorthFork Financial; Pat LaPointe, managing director for Frontier Angels; and Ali Knapp, president at Wisetail. The four presented what their companies do and offered their suggestions on improving the business climate to the senator.

Traditional tech-hubs like San Francisco, San Diego and Cambridge, Massachusetts, are getting crowded and extremely expensive, Abel said. The time to try to attract more businesses in Montana is ideal, he said.

All our competitor states are recognizing this opportunity that there are people that want to get out of those major tech-hubs, Abel said. South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, Texas, Nevada I mean, theyre all offering aggressive incentives to leave those states and put their business there.

Knapp said the state should extend STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematic programs across the state to rural areas. Montana is really great at having the programs in Bozeman and Missoula, she said, but in rural areas these programs are lacking or dont exist.

She also said that public lands were a big recruiting tool for companies and should be protected.

This has been a huge advantage for us, and its something that we just need to keep in mind to continue recruiting methods, she said.

Other suggestions included upgrading infrastructure, providing more opportunities to seek start-up funding, mental health services in rural areas and bridging the gap to rural parts of the state.

Lance Trebesch, CEO of Ticket River in Harlowton, said that rural Montana is in decline. The company is the biggest employer in its county and aims to employ people from Harlowton, he said.

But its tough, Trebesch said. And its tough because the education. The schools in these rural places, and you know this very well, are not getting enough funding.

Tester praised Trebesch for establishing a business in a rural area like his hometown. He acknowledge that rural school systems need to have better opportunities for kids.

Its a fundamental building block for economic development, Tester said. If you dont have a good K-12 system, no families are going to move there.

The discussion was centered on improving the business climate in the state, but the senator also took the opportunity to talk about the opioid problem in the state. Tester directed his attention to Abel and the companys pursuit of non-opioid and non-narcotic pain medication.

The drug and opioid problem is a social catastrophe happening right now, Tester said. The senator asked Abel if there was anything at the federal level that can be done to help speed up a eight-to-10-year process in developing the non-opioid pain medication.

Its going to take all of us to combat this problem, but it will take us some time, Abel said.

Continued here:

Tester talks technology with local business leaders - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Time for dinner, Charlie!

No answer.

Dinner, Charlie!

No answer.

Charlie?

Charlie is texting on his phone. Or maybe its one of those computer games again. Either way, hes not paying attention.

Is this just the typical nuisance? Or is it something worse? Is Charlie actually addicted to his cellphone?

Lisa Strohman, a clinical psychologist and technology wellness specialist, says many kids really are addicted to their phones, their tablets, their technology. She spoke about the issue earlier this summer at the annual conference of the National Association of Secondary School Principals in Philadelphia.

Strohman, the author of Unplug: Raising Kids in a Technology-Addicted World, also is the director of the Technology Wellness Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., which she cofounded with Melissa Westendorf. The women met while they were in the Drexel and Villanova joint degree program in law and psychology. Strohman also founded Digital Citizen Academy, which provides programs to educate children, parents, and educators about the safe use of technology.

Here are some of Strohmans thoughts.

I understand that cellphone use in schools was a big topic at the recent conference. Most schools, because of parental pressure, allow students to bring cellphones on campus. A large part of that is due to fear, based on the shootings that have happened and were highly publicized. Parents want to know they can get ahold of their children.

But were at a tipping point. A lot of the schools want to invest in technology but its creating more distractions, more disruptions, more social and emotional issues on campuses. Weve given these kids devices that connect them to the world, so thats what theyre doing. But now theyre not paying attention to the teacher.

Handout

Lisa Strohman, a clinical psychologist and technology wellness specialist.

Now that school is about to begin, how can a parent wean a child off of technology if its been overused during the summer? For a parent, its about setting a clear back-to-school message. We get new pencils, new paper, and we have new rules for technology. It should be as normal as doing those other things. You set the expectations ahead of time.

One of the things parents dont know is that scientific research now shows that when you use technology continuously anything over a four-hour period it starts to rewire the brain and causes the pleasure center to be altered. If you put an image of the brain of a technology-addicted youth next to one of a youth addicted to a substance, such as drugs or alcohol, you cant tell them apart.

We suggest a tech-free Tuesday, where kids learn they can take a day off from technology. Or you can set specific times around dinner and lunch when phones should be off. In the home, modeling is important. Dont be on technology all the time yourself.

How do you know if your child is following the guidelines youve set? Every internet service provider has programs that can help parents monitor; it allows them to read text messages or shut down data when theyre in school. Typically, these are free resources. There also are products that parents can buy. But I always say, start with what youre already paying for.

How do you know if your child is showing signs of a technology addiction? The easiest way to tell is if theres a mood shift. If you see a depressed mood, withdrawal, isolation, irritability. I realize Im pretty much describing every teenager in America. My recommendation is to ask kids to hand over their phones at night. Dont let them sleep with their devices. If theyre unable to part with them or leave them off for a specific amount of time, thats a sign.

The average age that kids in the U.S. are getting their first devices is now about 7 years old. Consider that Steve Jobs didnt let his kids use iPads. Bill Gates didnt give his kids cellphones until they were 14. The guys developing the technology industry understand.

If you have a child with a family genetic disposition for addiction, and you hand them a cellphone that potentially activates this really robust dopamine reward system, then when they get to the age when drugs and alcohol are accessible, theyll be at higher risk.

We have to start teaching our children balance. Theres online life and offline life.

What are other potential dangers of addiction or overuse? When you tap into the addiction center of the brain, theres increased potential for suicide, anxiety, and depression. And theres a loss of academic potential. Technology is causing kids to have what some people call technology-acquired Attention Deficit Disorder.

Theyre sending naked pictures of each other and then getting suspended. How far behind are they when they come back? Its a slippery slope. Were just getting the data on this now. What were seeing is that kids are starting to lose their way, based on one or two bad decisions they make online.

And we all know about the dangers of sexual predators online.As parents, we cant block every site. But we have to understand that the more unrestricted access your child has to the internet, the higher the risks.

What is Digital Citizen Academy and how do you see it combating technology addiction? It provides education and prevention programs for schools K-12, teaching digital citizenship, about things such as cyberbullying and plagiarism. The curriculum weve developed is age appropriate and theres also a segment for educators and parents. Educators working in concert with the parents is the best approach for protecting and preparing kids.

Were finding that in the schools using the programs, were reducing technology infractions significantly. Kids ultimately want to do the right thing. If you start early, theyll make better choices. A lot of parents are overwhelmed, but we know that it works. If we make changes now, it doesnt have to be as overwhelming and scary.

sandybauers10@gmail.com

Published: August 18, 2017 3:01 AM EDT

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5 Questions: Is your child addicted to technology? - Philly.com

New camera and image-processing technology promises to change how smartphones and virtual-reality headsets see the world.

Apples AAPL, -0.40% upcoming iPhone 8 is widely expected to have facial-recognition and iris-detection abilities, raising fears that Android phones would fall behind in a key technological area.

Now Qualcomm QCOM, -1.04% the dominant chipset, processor, and wireless connectivity provider for Android-based devices, has released information about an updated set of Spectra image processors that will enable similar capabilities in Android phones, tablets and VR headsets later this year.

How a smartphone senses the physical world impacts the ability to include security features in the device, add realism to gaming and augmented reality, and open up markets for new uses that dont yet exist. This capability comes from depth sensing, an ability for the device to passively or actively locate itself in the physical world while measuring the spaces and items around it.

Depth sensing isnt new to smartphones and tablets, first seeing significant use in Googles GOOG, +0.51% GOOGL, +0.66% Project Tango and Intels INTC, -0.53% RealSense technology. Tango uses a laser-based implementation but requires a bulky lens on the rear of the device. Intel RealSense used a pair of cameras and calculated depth based on parallax mapping between them, just as the human eye works.

Devices like the iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S8 offer faux depth perception for features like portrait photo modes. In reality, they only emulate the ability to sense depth by use different-range camera lenses and dont provide true depth-mapping capability.

The market for depth-sensing capability will grow significantly with the buzz Apple inevitably creates with its new iPhone, and Qualcomm can ride that wave of interest into Android devices from the numerous phone vendors eager to compete, including Samsung 005930, +2.67% HTC 2498, -0.79% and LG Electronics 066570, +0.41%

For consumers, this means more advanced security and advanced features on mobile devices. Face detection that combines the standard camera input along with infrared (IR) depth sensing will allow for incredibly accurate and secure authentication. Qualcomm claims the accuracy level is enough to prevent photos and even 3-D models of faces from unlocking a device thanks to interactions of human skin and eyes with IR light.

It also will be possible to have 3-D reconstruction of physical objects with active depth sensing, allowing gamers to bring real items into virtual worlds. Designers will be able to accurately measure physical spaces that they can look through in full 3-D. Virtual reality and augmented reality will benefit from the increased accuracy of its localization and mapping algorithms, giving systems like Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream a better sense of where the user is in physical space.

Entry-level phones that today dont have any depth-sensing capability will have integrations that open up new features. Low-cost phones will have the ability to integrate image quality enhancements like blurred bokeh (portrait mode) and basic mixed or augmented reality, previously only available on flagship devices at much higher prices.

The more advanced, and costly, integration for depth sensing uses infrared projects and cameras to more accurately measure spaces. This increased resolution opens up more areas for development and innovation.

Qualcomm is going to accelerate adoption of this higher performance depth sensing technology by offering pre-built and pre-optimized modules that phone vendors can simply chose from a menu of options. This decreases costs and time to market, and should lead to a greater level of adoption than previous next-generation technologies in the Android market.

Though Apple is letting developers build applications and integrations with current hardware, it will likely build its own co-processor to handle the compute workloads that come from active depth sensing to help offset power consumption concerns from using a general-purpose processor.

Early leaks indicate that Apple will focus its face-detection technology on a similar path as Qualcomm: security and convenience. By using depth-based facial recognition for both login and security (as a Touch ID replacement), users will have an alternative to fingerprints. That is good news for a device that is having problems moving to a fingerprint sensor design that uses the entire screen.

Now read: Apple might be a money maker, but its behind the curve on almost all of its products

Ryan Shrout is the founder and lead analyst at Shrout Research, and the owner of PC Perspective. Follow him on Twitter @ryanshrout.

Originally posted here:

Opinion: This technology shift opens up new possibilities for iPhones, Androids and virtual reality - MarketWatch

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff

The Night Shift feature in Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones and iPads filters out the display's blue light during hours the user specifies. The company says this can lead to better sleep.

The Night Shift feature in Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones and iPads filters out the display's blue light during hours the user specifies. The company says this can lead to better sleep.

The glow of technology has a dark side

The reason your smartphone, laptop, flat screen or any manner of electronic gadgetry keeps you up nights may not be what you think.

Obsessive surfing, scrolling and binge watching doesn't help. But the larger culprit is the bright blue glow cutting through the darkness and tricking the brain into thinking it is daytime, scientists have figured out in recent years.

Just how much all this personal technology messes with sleep was a question a team of University of Houston researchers set out two years ago to find out.

"We believed that blocking blue light would improve sleep quality and duration" said Lisa Ostrin, lead researcher and an assistant professor at the UH College of Optometry.

They weren't prepared for the magnitude of their finding.

Just by slapping on a pair of cheap orange sunglasses a few hours before bedtime while still using their regular devices, study participants' melatonin levels shot up by 58 percent. Melatonin is the hormone released by the pineal gland in the brain that signals it's time to sleep.

In addition, by simply shifting the visual hue from blue to orange (think sunset) the group reported drifting off earlier and more easily, plus staying asleep longer. Most added about a half-hour to their sleep total, one volunteer caught an extra hour and a half.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

For a nation where reportedly one in three are sleep deprived, that just might sound like heaven.

The UH project was completed in early 2016 and its findings were published in June in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, the national medical journal of the college of optometrists.

Twenty-one volunteer participants, ages 18 to 40, pledged they would wear the tinted glasses - safety glasses bought at Walmart for about $10 - for two weeks during the hours leading up to bed. Most importantly they would continue usual routines of reading phones or tablets, watching television or working on computers while wearing the glasses.

They also wore specialized smart watches to bed to monitor sleep duration and patterns. While some similar studies have been conducted in sleep labs, Ostrin said she wanted hers to more closely replicate the way people live. Each night and again in the morning the participants underwent saliva swabs to measure melatonin levels.

"I've had poor sleep quality since I was a teenager," said Krista Beach, a 38-year-old post-doctoral student who signed up for the study. She said by wearing the glasses she was able to fall asleep earlier. Even now if she is worried about getting enough sleep before a big day she will grab the glasses.

"Yes, you look kind of funny," she admitted. The biggest cringe-worthy moment was when she showed up at a night performance at the Houston Shakespeare Festival sporting them. In the end she found herself getting sleepier earlier, which meant she slept more.

While it is now understood in scientific circles that there is a link between blue-wavelength light and sleep disruption, Ostrin said she wanted to objectively quantify it. She also wanted to explore the "how" behind this modern-day sleep-tech conundrum.

One of the answers lies in the recent discovery of a third sensory element in the eyes, beyond the more well-known rods and cones. Cones control the ability to distinguish colors, while rods are used for night vision, motion detection and peripheral vision.

The third sensor, called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, signals light changes. It is those sensors that send a message to the brain to start or stop the pineal gland. They have also been found to be the most sensitive to blue light.

"It is very unnatural to receive any blue light at night," explained Kaleb Abbott, one of the study co-authors.

So it stood to reason that exposure to blue light would disrupt the natural order of things.

The UH researchers pondered how they could reset the body's sleep clock.

"It's not like we're all going to turn off our computers and go to bed at 8 o'clock," Ostrin said.

One of the great ironies of unintended consequences is that just about the time one group of scientists was figuring out the third sensor in the retina that cued sleep, another group was paving the way for the tech explosion.

Although most personal device screens may appear white, they are usually illuminated with blue LED lights, which were found to be more energy efficient and easier to see.

A breakthrough to help people work better and longer also worsened their sleep, Ostrin said.

The tech world has jumped on the phenomenon lately, offering devices with night-time modes that switch to softer hues with longer wavelengths and a reddish tint. It is a shift the UH researchers predict is coming in the next tech wave.

One complaint, though, is some consumers say the nighttime modes make it harder to read so they give up.

That helps with sleep, too.

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The glow of technology has a dark side - Houston Chronicle

Digital transformation is disrupting every industry, and education is no exception. Global investment in edtech companies is increasing rapidly, with some reports predicting a total of $252 billion in investments by 2020. Investors aren't the only people recognizing the importance of technology for education. Educators and students are flocking to solutions that enhance their experience while reducing the high price associated with higher ed.

In fact, research shows that 70% of students want their universities to update their digital options, with 44% of the same group saying they'd be happier with their university experience if they could engage with more digital resources. With an obvious demand from students for better digital solutions, organizations that don't engage with the latest in technology may struggle to engage with new students and grow.

The following are some of the top ways educators and institutions can make quick changes to improve their edtech strategy and better connect with a new generation of highly discerning digital natives.

Reinventing Publishing

While some people thought that eBooks would drive traditional textbooks out of universities, they are still the primary information resource for college classes. One reason digital has failed to overtake print is that early entrants failed to consider the needs of professors and teachers. "We see the educator continuing to be the catalyst or accelerant at the heart of that process. So, technology should focus on helping the instructor, leveraging their knowledge, skill, and dedication, rather than simply seeking to automate them away." shared Alastair Adam, Co-CEO of digital textbook publisher FlatWorld. That's why a number of innovative companies are working to bridge the gap between the publishing world and the classroom.

Despite the fact that textbooks are still prevalent in most classrooms, publishers have been offering fewer titles and regularly increasing the price of new editions. A new approach is necessary to help make textbooks affordable, especially when education costs are rising everywhere else. Adam explains, "Trying to solve the problem of high priced textbooks by focusing only on new technology is the equivalent of trying to solve the problem of expensive airfares by putting all your resources into developing flying cars. We think the better approach is to break down the price barrier to make textbooks accessible to all students." Cheaper and more digitally integrated textbooks will result in an increase in student success.

MOOC's Making Waves

The advent of massive open online courses, commonly known as MOOCs, represents a major shift in thinking for institutions. In the past information regarding technical expertise and industry knowledge was treated as exclusive and proprietary to the institution.

More and more universities, however, are recognizing that access to information is no longer their main value proposition. Instead, they give away information freely and emphasize the importance of their expertise. The guidance they can provide in the learning process remains their main competitive advantage. That's why the biggest and most popular MOOC's originate at traditional universities like Harvard and MIT. It is an indication that they are unlikely to replace these institutions, but rather become a part of their overall service offerings.

Learning Analytics

A study conducted by Hanover Research found that 87% of surveyed college students said analytics on their performance had a positive influence on their learning. Giving students access to real performance data that goes deeper than a grade can help them self-diagnose gaps in knowledge and seek out the right resources and support to close them.

Similarly, educators can recognize problems sooner, and partner students with learning tools that can help them avoid falling behind. Analytics like this are dependent on integrated systems that can compile data from varied sources like homework and tests. 'Online grading' solutions, while helpful for automating, fall short of providing helpful data insights for students. Institutions will need to take partners with organizations that offer full-service analytics to increase student performance.

Driving Change for Education

It should be noted that no education technology has demonstrated the ability to completely change the market. Though the industry has undergone a significant amount of change due to technology, it remains largely the same as it has been for decades. Companies wanting to drive real change in the industry should consider how to partner with educators to providing sensible solutions rather than attempting to reinvent existing norms.

When it comes to assessing return on investment, it's important to look at student outcomes and benefits to the institution. For example, 45% of students who have access to good digital tools said they'd be more willing to recommend their university to others. Engaging with digital tools can help universities stay competitive, and they can also upgrade the performance of each student, which should be the ultimate goal of any edtech solution.

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How Technology is Now Empowering Educators - Inc.com

Humanity has a method for trying to prevent new technologies from getting out of hand: explore the possible negative consequences, involving all parties affected, and come to some agreement on ways to mitigate them. New research, though, suggests that the accelerating pace of change could soon render this approach ineffective.

People use laws, social norms and international agreements to reap the benefits of technology while minimizing undesirable things like environmental damage. In aiming to find such rules of behavior, we often take inspiration from what game theorists call a Nash equilibrium, named after the mathematician and economist John Nash. In game theory, a Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies that, once discovered by a set of players, provides a stable fixed point at which no one has an incentive to depart from their current strategy.

To reach such an equilibrium, the players need to understand the consequences of their own and others' potential actions. During the Cold War, for example, peace among nuclear powers depended on the understanding the any attack would ensure everyone's destruction. Similarly, from local regulations to international law, negotiations can be seen as a gradual exploration of all possible moves to find a stable framework of rules acceptable to everyone, and giving no one an incentive to cheat because doing so would leave them worse off.

But what if technology becomes so complex and starts evolving so rapidly that humans cant imagine the consequences of some new action? This is the question that a pair of scientists -- Dimitri Kusnezov of the National Nuclear Security Administration and Wendell Jones, recently retired from Sandia National Labs -- explore in a recent paper. Their unsettling conclusion: The concept of strategic equilibrium as an organizing principle may be nearly obsolete.

Kusnezov and Jones derive insight from recent mathematical studies of games with many players and many possible choices of action. One basic finding is a sharp division into two types, stable and unstable. Below a certain level of complexity, the Nash equilibrium is useful in describing the likely outcomes. Beyond that lies a chaotic zone where players never manage to find stable and reliable strategies, but cope only by perpetually shifting their behaviors in a highly irregular way. What happens is essentially random and unpredictable.

The authors argue that emerging technologies -- especially computing, software and biotechnology such as gene editing -- are much more likely to fall into the unstable category. In these areas, disruptions are becoming bigger and more frequent as costs fall and sharing platforms enable open innovation. Hence, such technologies will evolve faster than regulatory frameworks -- at least as traditionally conceived -- can respond.

Clear thinking from leading voices in business, economics, politics, foreign affairs, culture, and more.

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What can we do? Kusnezov and Jones don't have an easy answer. One clear implication is that it's probably a mistake to copy techniques used for the more slowly evolving and less widely available technologies of the past. This is often the default approach, as illustrated by proposals to regulate gene editing techniques. Such efforts are probably doomed in a world where technologies develop thanks to the parallel efforts of a global population with diverse aims and interests. Perhaps future regulation will itself have to rely on emerging technologies, as some are already exploring for finance.

We may be approaching a profound moment in history, when the guiding idea of strategic equilibrium on which we've relied for 75 years will run up against its limits. If so, regulation will become an entirely different game.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Mark Buchanan at buchanan.mark@gmail.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Whitehouse at mwhitehouse1@bloomberg.net

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How Technology Might Get Out of Control - Bloomberg

President Trump signed a memorandum ordering an investigation into China's alleged theft of U.S. technology and intellectual property on Aug. 14. (The Washington Post)

President Trump signed an executive memorandum Monday afternoon that will likely triggeran investigation into Chinas alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property, a measure that could eventually result in a wide range of penalties as the administration seeks a new wayto deal with what it calls Chinese violations of the rules of international trade.

The theft of intellectual property by foreign countries costs our nation millions of jobs and billions and billions of dollars each and every year, Trump said, as he signed the memo surrounded by trade advisers and company executives. For too long, this wealth has been drained from our country while Washington has done nothing... But Washington will turn a blind eye no longer.

Officials said the memorandum would direct their top trade negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer, to determine whether to launch an investigation. The inquiry would givethe president broad authority to retaliate if it finds that China is compromising U.S. intellectual property.

But senior White House officials said in a call with reporters Saturday that the investigation could take up to a year to conclude and that it was premature to say whether it would result in tariffs against China, a negotiated settlement or another outcome.

Despite the uncertainties, company executives and politicians widely greeted the investigation as an effort to address a problem that has bedeviled U.S. companies for decades: how to access the Chinese market without ceding their intellectual property to Chinese companies that might use it against them in the future.

Its an issue that has persistently troubled U.S. high technology industries of all kinds --with companies disputing treatment in fieldsrangingfrom nuclear powerto automobilesto telecom.

U.S. businesses have been hesitant to speak out about the issue for fear of drawing reprisal from the Chinese, negative press coverage or cyber security attacks. But privately, many American business leaders express frustration with a Chinese system that coercesthem intotransferring valuable U.S. intellectual property to Chinese companies, or allows it to be stolen outright.

China's Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday morning voiced "grave concern" over Trump's move to initiate an investigation into allegations that China has been "practicing intellectual infringement."The ministry stated that China will not sit on its hands "if the U.S.'s action inflicts damages on the bilateral trading relationships."

China has long required U.S. firms in many industries to form joint ventures with Chinese partners and manufacture some goods inside the country. Although the system forces U.S. companies to transfer some of their valuable know-how to Chinese partners that could become competitors in the future, U.S. companies including Microsoft and General Motors have made such deals to gain access to Chinas valuable market of nearly 1.4 billion people and a booming middle class.

Under a new Chinese cybersecurity law, technology firms including Amazon.com and Apple are required to store users data within Chinese borders and turn over source code and encryption software to the government, potentially giving the Chinese government a back door into private data and proprietary technologies. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

U.S. companies also complain that Chinas enforcement of intellectual property violations remains lax and that theft of trade secrets through malware, phishing and cybermercenaries is rampant. Roughly 70 percent of software in use in China is pirated, though this figure is down from recent years, according to the Software Alliance, a trade group.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies have been pouring billions of dollars of investments into cutting-edge defense and technology firms around the world, including in Silicon Valley. The country has launched an initiative, called Made in China 2025, which seeks to propel its companies to dominate high-tech industries including robotics, aerospace equipment, new energy vehicles and biopharmaceuticals in the next eight years.

WhileU.S. industry remains the most technologically advanced in the world, China is rapidly catching up. Some, such as Randolph Kahn, a consultant and adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law, say this could be detrimental for the U.S. economy. A 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that intellectual property accounted for nearly 40 percent of the U.S. economy in 2014.

To the extent that were not able to protect that, youre sacrificing millions or tens of millions of U.S. jobs, and U.S. companies should care a great deal about that, Kahn said.

In an emailed response early Sunday morning, the Chinese government denied the allegations and implied it might challenge a U.S. action in the World Trade Organization. We want to emphasize that the Chinese government has always set great store by [intellectual property] protection and made achievements that are for all to see. Any trade measures to be taken by WTO members must conform to WTO rules, a press office spokesman wrote.

The administration's investigation, which is being carried out under a legal statute known as Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, is likely to have broad support across political parties. On Aug. 2, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent a letter to Lighthizer urging the U.S. trade representative to investigative forced technology transfer policies and take action to stop them.

But some Democrats criticized the measure for not going far enough. President Trumps pattern continues: Tough talk on China, but weaker action than anyone could ever imagine. To make an announcement that theyre going to decide whether to have an investigation on Chinas well-documented theft of our intellectual property is another signal to China that it is O.K. to keep stealing, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D.-N.Y.) said in a statement Saturday.

A White House official said the measure had the support of Silicon Valley and areas damaged by trade under past administrations, such asthe Rust Belt. A lot gets said about the internal divisions in the White House on trade and economic policy, but this is an issue that has total unanimity inside the White House, in terms of this being something we want to address,said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the White House's internal affairs.

Jamil Jaffer, the founder of the National Security Institute at George Mason University Law School and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, said the announcement was an important step toward fighting the serious economic threat of cyber theft and forced technology transfer.

The reality is that U.S. government has long known about these aggressive Chinese efforts but until today has been reticent to consider serious trade measures, Jaffer said.

While the Obama administration also worked to combat Chinese cybercrime, the Trump administration appears to be trying to take a markedly different tack.

On his first Monday in office, Trump pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade deal thatthe Obama administration saw as its key method of pressuring China on trade. The deal, which did not include China, had strict rules for intellectual propertyand it would have required Beijing to change certain laws and practices to join the pact.

The Trump administration, in contrast, has shown a preference for using unilateral measures, like the Section 301 investigation, which allow the United States to act without other countries or the World Trade Organization.Trump, Lighthizer and others in the administration have said that existing international trade rules under the WTOhavent been sufficient in policing these actions from China.

Section 301 was often used during the Reagan administration, when Lighthizer served as deputy U.S. trade representative, said Chad Bown, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute. But other countries criticizedsuch measures for makingthe United States the police, prosecutor, judge and jury, he said.

Measures such as Section 301 have been used sparingly since 1995, when the United States joined the WTO and promised to settle its trade disputes through the international organization, Bown said.

In a call Saturday, senior White House officials did not specify whetherthe administration's actions would be taken under WTO rules or potentially violate them.

The officials also said that the trade action had no connection with the rising security threat from North Korea, which last weekthreatened a strike on the U.S. territory of Guam.

Yet analysts said the threat of trade action could potentially be a source of leverage over China, North Koreas only major ally. Trump has repeatedly said that the United States would consider extending better trade terms to China in return for help on North Korea.

The Chinese say their ability to influence Pyongyang's erratic government is limited. But while some in the Chinese government view North Korea as a dangerous distraction from Beijing's bigger role of seeking global leadership, many also see the country as an important geostrategic buffer between China and the U.S.-allied South Korea.

Ashley Parker in Washington and Simon Denyer in Beijing contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified North Korea as being allied with the United States.

See also:

Even Trump supporters say trade is good for the U.S., new survey shows

The rise of populism shouldnt have surprised anyone

Amid resistance, Trump backs away from controversial trade plan

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Trump administration goes after China over intellectual property, advanced technology - Washington Post

Steve Montgomery, CEO of Digital 6 Laboratories, started messing around with electronics in the third grade when transistors were common, highly integrated circuits were not, and people were still using tubes in radios.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were his technical heroes. In high school, a friend's father, who worked with some of the earliest computers, further whetted Montgomery's love of technology.

As a teen intern, he did some work on bar code applications for the U.S. Postal Service's ZIP+4. After five years in the Navy at nuclear power school one of the toughest regimes of its kind in the U.S. all Montgomery could think about was how much he wanted to start his own business.

He and his wife bought a little house, hung out a virtual shingle, and he became a technical writer, which led to contract development projects. As battery life and range improved and wireless networks exploded with voice and data applications, Montgomery kept having ideas.

When the Internet of Things began kicking in, Montgomery explains, we discovered a new radio technology that is like having ears so good it can pick out whispers when everyone else is yelling. From that, we have created wireless battery-powered sensors with years of battery life that you can peel and stick wherever something needs to be monitored.

The technology seemed a natural fit for unsolved applications in oil fields, but in 2015, the oil and gas industry tanked. We had a great cash cow market, Montgomery said, that didn't exist.

Then Digital 6 got a phone call. What about embedding the device in soap dispensers? Soap pumps are an important part of hygiene in the hospitality industry. They can't be allowed to sit empty, plus by monitoring soap usage in kitchens and employee restrooms and the like, management can assess if employees are washing their hands.

Today Digital 6 is shipping smart hand soap dispensers with five years of battery life all over the world. The company is scaling up to provide an Internet of Things platform to strategic partners who make all kinds of things that need to receive and transmit information.

Biotech is successful in Oklahoma, Montgomery said. We want to be that story in the tech space. We are a bricks-and-mortar company building product in Oklahoma, putting it in boxes, and shipping it all over the world.

From the Big Pasture Elementary School in Randlett to the computer lab at the Oklahoma School of Science and Math and scattered over the rest of Oklahoma's nearly 70,000 square miles, there are hundreds of boys and girls who, like Steve Montgomery, have the curiosity and aptitude to go into technical fields, with the flair and drive to start their own companies.

We don't know who they all are yet, but, just like Steve Montgomery, they are out there. We would be well served as a state to find better ways to encourage and invest in all of them.

Scott Meacham is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state's technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state support from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and is an integral part of Oklahoma's Innovation Model. Contact Meacham at i2E_Comments@i2E.org.

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Ericsson predicts that in 2018, there will be more Internet of Things gadgets than mobile devices.

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Building technology in Oklahoma, shipping all over the world - NewsOK.com

By Jim Stafford For The Oklahoman Published: August 15, 2017 5:00 AM CDT Updated: August 15, 2017 5:00 AM CDT

Let's say that you roll into the local gas station, insert the nozzle of the gas pump into your vehicle and begin filling the fuel tank. Just as the tank is topped off and you are about to take the nozzle out of the car, your phone rings with an important call.

Distracted, you take the call, wander back to the driver's seat, start your car up and drive off with the nozzle still inserted.

Embarrassing, sure. But it's not a total disaster because fuel pumps at the nation's gas stations are equipped with breakaway valves that seal off on both ends. That ensures that a huge fuel spill doesn't happen and guards against a possible fire.

A similar scenario occurs every day in hospital rooms across the nation, says Dr. Ryan Dennis. Dennis works at an Oklahoma City hospital as a hospitalist, a physician who specializes in caring for patients ill enough to be admitted.

Dennis is founder and CEO of Linear Health Sciences, which created patented breakaway technology called the Orchid Valve to prevent accidental disconnects of IV tubing from patients in the hospital.

The concept was conceived after Dennis witnessed repeated disconnections among his hospital patients. Statistics show that one in four IV lines is accidentally disconnected from patients, he said. It can be painful, messy, and time consuming to replace and costly.

As Dennis recently demonstrated the Orchid Valve, he described a scenario with one of his patients that the technology could have prevented.

One night a patient had a chest tube for a collapsed lung, he said. She got up to go to the bathroom. But when she did, the chest tube got caught in the bed rail and ripped the chest tube out, causing her lung to collapse again.

The patient suffered a long, painful night with a partially collapsed lung before the situation was remedied the next morning.

I thought it was ridiculous that we are relying on sutures or tape or other adhesives to hold in the very things that are connecting patients to life-sustaining treatment, Dennis said. Ultimately, I was able to put together an all-star team and think outside of the box for a solution.

The brainstorming resulted in the Orchid Valve, composed entirely of silicon and plastic so that it can be used even when the patient has an MRI. Co-founder with Dennis in Linear Health Sciences is Dan Clark.

We are trying to completely transform the way that patients are connected to their treatments, Dennis said. It's costing the hospital about $50 every time one of these IVs is pulled out.

A native of Macomb and graduate of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Dennis earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago before returning to Oklahoma to earn his M.D. at the University of Oklahoma. Dennis is an MBA candidate at the University of Oklahoma.

The company has accomplished several critical milestones along the way. It has created a working prototype of its device. It has closed a $1.25 million investment round led by i2E Inc. that Dennis anticipates will support development of the Orchid Valve through the FDA approval process.

And in 2016, Linear Health Sciences was named one of 20 ventures chosen out of 430 candidates worldwide to become a Medtech Innovator company in Palo Alto, California.

However, Oklahoma's startup ecosystem has also benefited the company, from the local investment to i2E's Venture Assessment Program to support from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST), Dennis said.

Oklahoma is a viable place for startups to set their roots, he said. We have organizations like i2E and OCAST that provide support from the bottom up. And we have the talent pool for excellence locally.

It should all come to fruition by next year for Linear Health Sciences when the Orchid Valve is expected to be FDA-approved and becomes an essential part of the hospital experience for patients.

If we can provide a $2 solution, and patients are pulling out 25 percent of their IVs, hospitals will be making a significant dent in the problem and actually saving money, he said. The Orchid Valve will add patient savings, satisfaction and convenience for the nurses.

Jim Stafford writes about Oklahoma innovation and research and development topics on behalf of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science & Technology.

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OKC startup pioneers technology that prevents accidental IV disconnects for hospital patients - NewsOK.com