Category Archives: Technology

Its often said that the only constant in the technology industry is change. As businesses and industries evolve and adapt to user demands, the software that powers their internal and external processes must also evolve. Microservices are one of the architectural trends which more and more organizations are adopting. Many enterprise companies like Netflix, Amazon, PayPal, Uber, Airbnb, and essentially every other digital business have moved away from monolithic architectures and migrated over to this microservice approach.

According to Market Research Future, the market is increasing at a CAGR of 17%, putting it on pace to reach $33 billion by 2023. However, in certain industries, continued reliance on legacy technology and outdated systems can obstruct the path to necessary technological innovation. This has emerged as a prevalent theme across the hospitality realm as hotel, and travel brands often struggle to scale and grow in tandem with guest and staff demands due to the limitations of their existing infrastructure. Oftentimes, legacy platforms are unable to seamlessly integrate with other applications or offer system updates that effectively address the full suite of needs that a growing hotel or travel brand has and will continue to have. Fortunately, this is where microservices, and APS (Above Property Services) come in.

Microservice architecture is defined as an architectural style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled services, which implement business capabilities. Beyond the monolithic design of legacy platforms, microservices allow businesses to break up their software into individual components with disparate functionality, which can be connected (loosely coupled) via APIs to form the larger application ecosystem. In the case of hospitality, this approach allows hoteliers to adopt a plug-and-play approach to their hotel technology stack, empowering long-term scalability with cost-effective applications and seamless upgrades, precise functionality, and enhanced processing power. This approach also allows businesses to future-proof themselves to the ever-changing technical landscape of travel.

Benefits of microservices architecture include:

While businesses are often quick to facilitate consumer-facing upgrades, the technology side of the brand is often neglected, and viewed as a cost to doing business rather than a means to continuously enhance revenue and demand. To this effect, when looking at hotel and travel brands specifically, the biggest barrier to the continued growth is often a lack of technological scalability. After all, if a businesses technology cant scale, how can the business expect to scale?

Simply stated, as consumer demand grows and expectations change, businesses must not only invest in the development of their staff, but also invest in the continued development of the technology their staff uses to do their job effectively. Leveraging a microservice architecture empowers autonomous functionality; applications run independently of each other, which means businesses can add, remove, or update each microservice based on that components unique demands. Moreover, by selectively scaling microservice components that require an update, businesses can save money and resources.

Perhaps the most relevant and prolific example of this design can be found in Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments on a metered pay-as-you-go basis. These services offer brands of all sizes and scale various technical, cloud-based applications and fully featured services that can be used as digital building blocks to empower enhanced agility and innovation. This modern approach to the traditional technology stack allows businesses to create, in theory, any application they need with deep functionality and performance potential.

When we compare the legacy systems of the past to the cloud-based, next-generation platforms of today, its easy to identify the limitations of the former. Monolithic systems often adhere to the jack of all trades, master of none framework, in which granular functionality is compromised due to the all-encompassing, generalized nature of the platform.

Moreover, when businesses look to build out their technology stack and add in new platforms, legacy systems often cannot integrate with other applications. Without the cross-application functionality offered by open APIs and microservice infrastructure, businesses can fall victim to data silos that negate the efficacy of their digital ecosystem. When considering platform flexibility, microservices architecture empowers horizontal scalability and allows firms to implement components in different programming languages or other technologies.

In the case of system failure, microservices architecture helps to protect the more extensive application through component isolation. Within this loosely coupled environment, if one microservice fails, its easy to identify and ensures other parts of the application remain unaffected. For industries and businesses that often deal with a high volume of requests or the exchange of sensitive data across various applications, the pro-active mitigation of platform inefficiencies and failure by way of microservice autonomy is increasingly valuable. Moreover, the isolation of independent platform components makes it easier for businesses to monitor, identify, and solve security issues independently of other parts of the platform when they do arise.

Across industries, we recognize a common theme: those brands that frequently win consumer favor and industry praise are those which continuously push the envelope for innovation. In fact, studies reveal that 89% of technology leaders think the failure to adopt microservices will hurt their company's ability to compete. Moreover, three quarters of them expect serious professional ramifications (such as being fired, losing out on a promotion or missing out on a bonus) for failed modernization initiatives. The writing is on the wall we live in an increasingly tech-driven society, and to deny consumers and staff of the digital convenience and enhanced automation offered by a web service-based multi-cloud platform will only serve as a bottleneck to great service and long-term growth. Leaders cannot future-proof their respective businesses without technology that continuously powers evolution and innovation.

Harnessing the power of microservices architecture, businesses can finally tap into deeper functionality from a service-layer perspective, and empower continuous development, integration and refinement of their critical processes in a way that can truly transform and propel their business forward. Microservices arent just a thing of the future they are the future.

Above Property is leading the charge to deliver innovative, scalable, and services-oriented platforms for the global travel industry and other related verticals. We think differently, and we are constantly innovating. Above Property Services (APS) offers the only platform that can evolve seamlessly in response to industry demands, with credit to a microservices architecture that empowers continuous development and refinement.

Built from the ground up, the APS ecosystem empowers continuous development and refinement of your critical business processes via a unique microservice architecture. Designed for performance, flexibility, security, and stability, the future-proof framework is up and running quickly, delivering a scalable, cost-effective solution that can work with or replace your existing tools and investments. APS is a platform that adapts to you not the other way around.

Powering both large and small companies, we understand the industry's challenges in the past, and we have developed a platform that is suited for the future.

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Why Microservices are the Future for Hotel and Travel Technology | By Aaron Shepherd Hospitality Net - Hospitality Net

Paige Venable| Seneca High School

The new Dr. James Still Historic Office Site and Visitor Center set to open in Medford

The new Dr. James Still Historic Office Site and Visitor Center hosts exhibits on Dr. James Still and the Underground Railroad.

Chris LaChall, Burlington County Times

Technology. Its harmless, right?

Wrong.

Ever since Apple released the first official iPhone on June 29, 2007, the abilities of technology, especially smart devices, have become stronger and more powerful than ever before.

The first-generation Apple iPhone was and looked very different from the current iPhone 13. It had 2G connection, no App store, the only background option was black, there was no cut/copy/paste feature, no texting in landscape mode or sending pictures.

The first iPhone was advanced for its time, yetit can do a 10th of what the iPhone 13 is capable of.

The recently released iPhone 13s have countless new features, along with the typical aspects of Apple iPhones. For instance, it comes in four different sizes: iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Each one has its own unique characteristics, but they all share various similarities.

The newest model, like later generations, allows you to send photos, includes the cut/copy/paste feature, the App Store app, numerous wallpaper options, etc. Not only that, but according to Apple, the iPhone 13 models have incredible photography capabilities, along with a longer battery life, ranging from 9-12 hours. Needless to say, they are all 10 times more advanced than the original model.

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However, thats not what this article is about.

Yes, all of these smartphones and devices have impressive features and amazing capabilities. Yet, do we take into account the large impacts these devices have on peoples lives?

As technology develops, it becomes more powerful. Not just in terms of features, but the specific effects these advanced qualities have on people of all ages.

Each generation has been impacted differently, but the main ones affected by this new era of innovation are teens and young adults, particularly Generation Z. This is primarily because it is one of the younger generations and they themselves are very knowledgeable when it comes to technology, specifically smartphones.

You must be thinking, Isnt that a good thing?No, not necessarily.

Technology has the potential to do many different things, both good and bad. It can help us reach out to friends and family, capture memories, and play fun games all in just one smart device.

On the other hand, it has the dangerous power of manipulating us.

Were transported into a different world that isnt real, since everything is on a screen. It's an escape from reality, in the worst possible way.

When trapped in the world of technology, we arent able to take in everything and everyone around us. By constantly scrolling throughTikTok, liking photos onInstagram, etc., we are taking away our ability to enjoy the essence of life itself.

We may not always realize it, but by regularly being on our phones and devices makes us feel more isolated and alone than we seem to think. It prevents us from establishing communication skills and learning how to properly socialize with someone in person.

Yes, it can be easier to just text or FaceTime someone, but it is not the same as real-life human interaction.

Not only does technology take away our ability to properly communicate with others, but certain apps that stem from smartphones themselves are even worse.

As most know by now,InstagramandTiktokare some of the most toxic places on the internet. People are getting hated on, judged for their beliefs, ridiculed, etc. What makes it even worse is how easily you can say something rude or disrespectful to someone, just by typing a few words. All of this negativity can degrade someones mental health and destroy their confidence.

Still, most are oblivious to the fact of how harmful social media can be, especially the appInstagram.

Practically everyInstagramuser glosses over their problems and acts like their life is all sunshine and rainbows, when thats the complete opposite for most. They are so accustomed to hiding behind a screen and covering up their insecurities with filters, showing their audience who they desire to be instead of who they truly are as an individual.

Im not saying that you shouldnt post certain things on your social media. All Im trying to explain is that people tend to see it from a different perspective by focusing on someone elses life and comparing it to their own, which can then lead to other problems.

Technology and smart devices arent always bad. Sometimes, the virtual world can be a nice mental escape from the stress of school, work, sports, etc.

However, that doesnt mean everyones screen time should be as high as 7-15 hours a day.

Every aspect of technology is slowly but surely taking control of our everyday lives and that has to stop. Lets take back control and end this problem.

Paige Venable is a junior at Seneca High School in Tabernacle, New Jersey. She was born in Pembroke Pines, Florida, and has a passion for writing. She is editor-in-chief of Seneca's student newspaper.

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Technology seems harmless at first. In reality, its the complete opposite. - Burlington County Times

The Alien series is one of the most influential sci-fi horror movie franchises in the history of cinema. Since it started in the 1970s, there have been countless movies, games, and other forms of media set in the Aliens universe movie buffs will definitely want to check out our list of Alien movies ranked, worst to best. Weve been taken from a claustrophobic film set in basically a single spacecraft to a grandiose space/horror epic with characters who dont know how to run diagonally.

Having started over 40 years ago, some of the technology depicted in the original trilogy has ended up with something of a retro-futurist aesthetic in the eyes of many. After all, the original came out in 1979, and they used technology that would have made sense at the time. However, many fans argue that it just doesnt make sense for a spacecraft to be using clunky keyboards and analogue tape storage so far into the future, especially when the ship in 2012s Prometheus was so advanced.

Despite this, there are many reasons why the types of technology used in the Alien series make perfect sense. From those colossal air ducts big enough for people to climb through to computers that look more at home in an old episode of Tomorrows World, its all perfectly explainable. So, if youre ready to fall in love with Gigers most well-known creation all over again, then read on to discover why the outdated technology in the Alien series makes sense.

When it comes to talking about technology in the Alien franchise, the first issue that many people point to is computers. Despite being equipped with an advanced A.I. program called Mother, the crew of the Nostromo converse with their digital helper via the help of a keyboard that might as well have been ripped straight from an Apple II. Considering the movie was released in 1979, it very well could have been.

The apparent reason for the inclusion of such a cumbersome bit of kit was because it was what they had available. However, the big issue comes in when we take a look at Prometheus. Set 30 years before the first Alien movie, the titular ship in said film sports high-tech equipment that looks more in-line with what were used to these days, rather than the clunky microcomputer look that we got in the original film.

Primarily, there are two reasons why we find outdated tech before Prometheus: reliability and affordability. If youve ever worked in a research or industrial setting, you probably know that the machinery being used tends to be a fair few years out of date, as do the computers controlling said machines. This is because older computers are less prone to breaking down and easier to fix. In the earlier days of microcomputers, parts were larger and typically if a component blew, you could just get a new one and solder it in yourself relatively easily.

If you need any proof of this, just take a look at the Commodore USA Facebook fan page. In 2016, they posted a computer still being used to run an auto shop after a quarter of a century. This is despite it being covered in grime and having survived a flood in that time. When youre traveling in the depths of space for an extended period, you need to know that your tech will last out against both time and the dangers of deep-space radiation.

Theres also the argument of affordability. The Nostromo in Alien and Hadleys Hope in Aliens are intended to be profitable ventures for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation who financed them. So, it makes sense that the tech these companies funded would have been as cheap as possible to cut down on overheads. Incidentally, this also explains why the technology in Prometheus is so much more advanced, despite being decades before the first movie. The titular ship is a top-of-the-line research vessel funded entirely by an eccentric billionaire. Its the space equivalent of a yacht, hence the up-to-date tech and the more comfortable appearance of the ship itself.

There are some other elements across the series that also get called out for being either outdated or unrealistic. Namely, air ducts and, to a lesser extent, tape data storage which is seen occasionally throughout the series. Given that there is terraforming in the Alien universe, the presence of such outdated tech does seem odd, but both of these elements actually do fit quite well in-universe when you think about it.

The air vents are seen quite a lot in the original Alien film, as theres an extended sequence of Dallas crawling through them with a flamethrower. The best evidence for why these huge open ducts actually make sense is found in the movie as well. As Dallas crawls down through the sprawling network of huge metal tunnels, he has to repeatedly stop to open gateways. While these gateways could be there to control the flow of air, fans and grills make much more sense for that sort of task, so why are these here?

The most obvious answer is that these arent just air ducts, theyre maintenance tunnels. Clearly, theyre intended for the crew to use in the case that one or more doorways are blocked or disabled. If you need to do essential maintenance while your doors arent working, having a way to get around the ship is of the utmost importance, especially for all those nooks and crannies. No matter how advanced your tech is, those accessways are vital, and hence the huge human-sized tunnels throughout.

The reasons behind the magnetic tape as seen in much of the franchises side media such as games and comics are much more incidental. Magnetic tape is more durable and reliable than many other forms of data storage. Its going to last a long time and is way less prone to failure. Even if tape snaps, you can repair it with minimal data loss. Thats why companies still use magnetic tape for long-term data storage to this day. If youre a worker journeying through space, you need storage media that will last a long time and wont break too easily, not to mention it needs to be cheap. Put these three things together and you have the hat-trick of reasons why analogue tape is still found in the Alien universe.

If you want to come to your own conclusions about the technology featured in the series, youll have to check out all of the movies for yourself. You can find most of the movies available for online streaming these days, even the bad ones that everyone likes to pretend dont exist anymore. Our Alien Streaming Guide will point you in the right direction.

If you enjoyed this article exploring the science in sci-fi, youll love our 5 most realistic space movies article, too, as well as reading about the science behind Destiny 2s Lorentz Driver weapon or thinking about how realistic is Ant-Mans quantum science?

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Why the outdated technology in the Alien series makes sense - Space.com

By Stacy Drector

In todays tech savvy world, St. Marys students have the unique opportunity to learn in a state of the art STEM building. Using 3D printers, digital microscopes that allow students to capture images on their iPads and project based learning, teachers have the ability to structure the curriculum to meet the needs of our students, said Science and Engineering Department Head Diane Haas. Mike Jalbert, History Department Head, has students use research to share what was learned and work cooperatively with their classmates which is the foundation for a variety of projects such as Google slides, YouTube videos and Tik Tok.

In addition to iPads and technology, reading classics and contemporary literature is just as important. English Department Head, Larry Dohertys motto is Dinosaurs didnt read and look what happened to them, dont be a dinosaur. Reading is encouraged, not just in the classroom, but also at home. Students in grades 6-12 read such classics as: Animal Farm, Catcher in the Rye, Macbeth, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird, along with contemporary novels such as: The Giver, Hatchet, The Kite Runner and The Things They Carried. It is important for students to read books written by diverse novelists, who focus on multicultural communities such as Salvage the Bones, A Long Walk to Water, Fences and The Other Wes Moore. Silent reading at home and school are a new addition to the curriculum and it is a big hit with students.

We want our students to leave our campus and step onto any college campus and feel comfortable with the technology required at that level, said Artie Gribbins, Assistant Principal for Integrated Technology. With a curriculum rich in technology and tradition, we are confident that every one of our students will be successful.

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St. Marys: Where Tradition and Technology Meet the Future - Lynn Journal

LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba America Business Solutions wins The Cannata Report's 2021 Best-in-Class Frank Award for delivering industry-leading support while establishing itself as the "easiest manufacturer to work with."

This is the 20th Frank Award Toshiba has won including eight Best-in-Class honors. This amount doubles the total of any other manufacturer within that category. Toshiba's award total also encompasses seven Best Male Executives of the year. Last year Toshiba received top accolades for Best Technical Service.

"Toshiba is renowned for providing dealers with superior support and facilitating exceptional communication between its corporate headquarters and the independent dealer channel," says CJ Cannata, president and CEO, The Cannata Report. "I believe it is for these reasons dealers recognized Toshiba with the 'Best-in-Class' Frank Award in a year that was the most challenging in the history of the imaging industry."

The Cannata Report, a leading intelligence resource for the imaging, business technology and managed print services industry, facilitates and presents the Frank Awards.

Votes and data analyzed from The Cannata Report's Annual Dealer Survey determine award nominees and winners. A record 385 resellers representing multifunction printer (MFP) vendors across the United States selected this year's award recipients.

Product Innovation & Service Team Drive Stellar Support

Toshiba's highly responsive and credentialed service and support team delivering a consistently high customer experience to clients across the United States and Latin America is a primary reason for the companys 2021 Best-in-Class Award. Toshiba complements its dependable and expert service team with cloud-enabled technology addressing clients 24/7 technical needs.

Toshiba's Elevate Sky platform is one of the specific technology elements driving the company's exceptional reseller and client support. Merging cloud systems, software and services, Elevate Sky enhances productivity and security while reducing costs. The platform further allows seamless connectivity from on-premises hardware to the cloud for easy and secure interactions between physical documents and digital workflows.

"Team Toshiba sincerely thanks the resellers who took the time to vote in TCR's annual dealer survey while acknowledging our commitment to supporting them," says Toshiba America Business Solutions President and Chief Executive Officer Larry White. "I additionally thank and congratulate our service and sales teams for their extraordinary client support."

Click-to-Tweet: Office Technology Industry Recognizes Toshiba as Best-in-Class

About The Cannata Report

Since its launch in 1982, The Cannata Report has been the leading intelligence resource for imaging reseller principals and senior executives within the business technology, managed services, and imaging industry. Forward-thinking analysis and thought leadership complement in-depth coverage of a wide range of topics, including professional services, workflow solutions, I.T. management, office products, production, industrial print, supplies, vendor finance, mergers and acquisitions, breaking news, market trends, and more.

About Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.

Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) is a workplace solutions provider delivering an extensive portfolio of industry-recognized workflow and document management products for businesses of all sizes across the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. TABS supports the diverse needs of todays professionals through award-winning eSTUDIO multifunction printers, label and receipt printers, digital signage, managed print services, and cloud solutions. Toshiba continuously focuses on the clients and communities it serves, is committed to sustainability and is recognized as a Wall Street Journal Top 100 Sustainable Company. To learn more, please visit business.toshiba.com. Follow TABS on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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Office Technology Industry Recognizes Toshiba as Best-in-Class - Business Wire

Thomas McInerneyContributor

Thomas McInerney is executive director of the Rule of Law for Development Program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. A member of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Data working group and its Law and Policy subgroup, he works to develop innovative approaches to improving the effectiveness of international law and governance. Professor McInerney is the author of Strategic Treaty Management: Practice and Implications.

The TechCrunch Global Affairs Project examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.

The word treaties doesnt exactly conjure images of modernity so much as a dusty history book. But as with other aspects of business and society, technology is rapidly changing how treaties are monitored and enforced with profound implications for global governance and international law.

Treaties are legally binding international agreements between countries. Pick any major issue affecting the planet or people and there is probably a treaty regulating the matter. Climate change, biodiversity, human rights, refugees, labor, shipping, transnational crime and fisheries are among the fields governed by global treaties, which count most countries the U.S.-included among their members. Treaties are central to global governance, underpinning most U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, for instance.

But for treaties to work we need to be able to quickly and accurately discern compliance and results. This has been historically challenging violators by nature are inclined to subterfuge. And even in areas of cooperation, like scientific measurement and assessments, imprecise, infrequent and inaccurate data can prevent signatories from understanding how a problem is evolving or if their solutions are helping.

To meet this challenge, across dozens of treaties, research communities are marshalling new technologies to produce fertile ecosystems delivering untold levels of data and knowledge on underlying conditions and results measurement.

Technology is generating orders of magnitude increases in data quantities. Vast ecosystems of instrumentation and computing hardware are being deployed. Increasingly today scientific communities and governments combine remote sensing and Earth observation (EO) satellites, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and modeling and visualization tools. As we get better at processing and analyzing these data, we are getting closer to delivering near real-time, global and more precise knowledge than ever before.

While individual technologies have made important contributions, the real power behind these developments is their use in combination. Together these technologies enable what I call intelligent treaty systems.

Consider the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which protects biodiversity of flora and fauna, promotes its sustainable use, and ensures fair and equitable access to benefits from its use. To determine species ranges and populations, biodiversity researchers deploy camera traps and microphones in remote locations that transmit data on animal movements via cellular connections to the cloud. With a single camera generating up to 50 TB of data per year, deep learning techniques are used to analyze the massive data and create maps of species habitats and numbers. Similarly, drones with video cameras survey sea turtle migration lanes in Costa Rica, with footage analyzed through deep learning algorithms trained to identify individual turtles. Meanwhile thousands of smartphone-wielding citizen scientists record and upload animal sightings to mobile web platforms such as Merlin.

Data from all of these sources are shared with the Global Biodiversity Informatics Facility in Copenhagen, an intergovernmental global biodiversity data repository. Its records have increased tenfold since 2007, now exceeding two billion records. Together this data and research informs the work of the International Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the dedicated scientific platform for the CBD.

Meanwhile conservationists have harnessed Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders used for ship safety to combat illegal fishing AIS signals to provide comprehensive global data on vessel activity. Groups such as Global Fishing Watch analyze AIS satellite data captured by private firms like ORBCOMM with deep learning to pinpoint and map illegal fishing worldwide. Researchers even use AI and ML to identify vessels that illegally turn off their AIS systems to evade detection.

Its not just the environment. Satellites are helping fulfill the promise of the Anti-Personnel Landmine Ban Convention. At the outset of the process, Earth observation data are fed into a dedicated geospatial database and mapping platform operated by ESRI, the Information Management System for Mine Action to create maps of mine-contaminated lands. Web platforms also enable individuals to upload information on mine-affected areas. Mine remediation experts on the ground upload more detailed data obtained through diverse sources including drones equipped with ground penetrating radar (GPR) and even trained rats with RFID collars to build precise maps of landmine-contaminated areas. Technicians then use machinery combining GPR and robotics to identify (often using AI and ML) and destroy individual mines.

Recent government attacks on vulnerable Rohingya communities in Myanmar show how technology is also increasingly exposing and documenting otherwise hidden violations of human rights and refugee treaties. Human rights researchers have used Earth observation data to track troop movements, evidence of expulsions, razing of villages and mass killings. Meanwhile photos and video that individuals supplied through mobile phones were channeled through secure cloud platforms such as the Eyewitness to Atrocities portal. ML and AI were used to automate EO data and video imagery analysis. Groups like Amnesty International and SITU Research aggregated the data to generate virtual reality visualizations of settings where violations occurred. EO data was cited in the Gambia v. Myanmar case before the International Court of Justice. Voluminous records of hate speech on Facebook that fueled attacks on Rohingya are being collected and analyzed using ML for the case as well.

Despite evident progress, intelligent treaty systems are still emerging and experimental. Yet indications are that the value of technology is gaining recognition and will prove transformative. Certainly, numerous challenges must be overcome to realize technologys full potential. At a basic level, all the scientific knowledge in the world wont matter if governments dont act on it and live up to their treaty obligations.

One drawback is the regulatory risk around data protection and privacy, especially when it concerns human rights and already vulnerable populations. Protections must be implemented to ensure data are used discreetly and anonymously where possible. AI is a further concern. The EU draft regulation on AI seeks to outlaw the use of certain technologies such as biometric identification systems in public settings, and similar to its General Data Protection Regulation would affect activities outside of Europe. Likewise, although the public sector geospatial community has made open data a global norm, efforts must be made to integrate the expansion of private sector geospatial data into global governance efforts.

Although treaties are creatures of diplomacy and typically considered rigid in nature, the story of technologys application shows a dynamic process of bottom-up self-organization by diverse communities across public, private, nonprofit and academic sectors. These activities are likely to make major contributions that offer hope for our ability to overcome many significant planetary challenges.

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Technology is transforming global treaties - TechCrunch

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As the current global health crisis continues to wreak havoc on the worlds supply chain, with constraints impacting everything from semiconductors to plastic, companies need to accelerate a move towards supply chain digitization need to consider how to leverage new technologies to allow for a faster flow of data from retail sales floors to component manufacturers. According to a 2020 report by Foley and Lardner, 42% of manufacturers plan to strengthen these relationships and increase transparency across their supply chains.

But how to get started?

The first step needed to bring more smarts to a supply chain is to bring together current available industry systems under one roof. For many businesses, this isnt a simple task, but an incredibly important one. Brands like Henkel, a consumer goods company based in Germany, did this when it connected its 33 factories across the globe to one cloud platform, which allowed them to easily track everything from product supply to truck logistics and consumer demand.

Its important to note that, in addition to developing one digital ecosystem to host the digitized version of the supply chain, its critical for every part of an organization to share necessary data to prevent data silos. When planning, purchasing and production departments work in such silos, information gets delayed or goes uncommunicated, slowing down the process and resulting in partly or completely uninformed decision making. But synchronizing systems from the start opens an array of opportunities for transparency and collaboration; the more departments know each others updates, the more check points there can be throughout. This leads to faster response times and a more efficient process overall. An added benefit is that it allows businesses to better understand market demand and have the ability to create an industry-wide master production system (MPS).

Related: Why Un-Silo-ing Your Data Will Boost Your Company's Efficiency and Productivity

Another important goal is to match enterprise resource planning (ERP) inventory, storage resource management (SRM) data and suppliers data, so that departments can have more frequent and real-time access to information across all channels, allowing for better evaluations and informed decision making. Such data synchronization reduces redundancies, improves communication and offers clearer insight into channels. It also gives companies the advantage of better predicting demand and identifying risks, making forecasting and risk assessments more accurate and helping to meet demand without the need to produce excess inventory. According to McKinsey, high-performing organizations are three times more likely than others to say their data and analytics initiatives have contributed at least 20 percent to earnings before interest and taxes. Its clear that businesses hoping to remain competitive must prioritize data synchronization and investments in technologies that help automate the end-to-end workflow.

Related: Why Digitizing the First Mile Is the Next Evolution for a Connected Supply Chain

The next wave of this global technology movement will inevitably include artificial intelligence and machine learning that can make ongoing improvements over time. These digitization efforts will enable incremental adjustments that happen instantly, breaking the current industry practice of waiting to make changes all at once through a major overhaul. These small changes add up to a major shift in improving a systems performance.

Organizations can start taking advantage of these tools by seeking out areas in the supply chain they can begin automating, such as logistics and distribution, marketing and sales, as well as production planning and scheduling. These newer tools will allow companies to analyze large volumes of data far more efficiently, so team members can manage tasks more effectively and quickly respond to shifting consumer demand. This will allow companies to easily scale as needed and adroitly shift with the consumer landscape.

Brands are investing more than ever in IT and digitization, but relationships remain significant and critical to success. Digitization isnt a be-all-end-all solution, because ultimately it is people who are making the decisions, and so good communication is vital, especially in a time of crisis (such as the one were just now hopefully cresting).While technology will help improve systems overall, organizations leaders should leverage the time saved via these tools to continuously seek out new industry partners and otherwise collaborate with those that will further business initiatives.

Related: How Networking and Relationships Propel Entrepreneurs to Succeed

By leveraging new technologies and investing in IT and digitization, brands at the forefront of this emerging technology movement will discover new suppliers, have better means to evaluate systems, set themselves up for stronger relationships and ultimately reduce costs. Ultimately, a more efficient supply chain will not only offer opportunities for better relationships within the chain itself, but also between companies and consumers as a whole, and make the world more flexible in response to future crises.

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Why Digitizing the Supply Chain Will Be the Next Global Technology Movement - Entrepreneur

TEL AVIV, Israel,Nov. 11, 2021 Quantum Machines, creator of the Quantum Orchestration Platform, announced today thatMax Schiresonhas joined the companys Board of Directors.

Max is most well known as the former CEO of open-source database company MongoDB, where grew the companys sales from$1Mto$50Mand positioned it as the most popular NoSQL database in terms of users. Moreover, Max served on the board of supercomputer manufacturer Cray until it was acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2019. Today Max serves as Executive in Residence at Battery Ventures where he advises Battery and its cloud and big-data portfolio companies, and will be joining Quantum Machines board on the companys behalf.

We are very fortunate to add Max to our Board of Directors, said Dr.Itamar Sivan, CEO of Quantum Machines. With the rapid advances being made in the quantum computing industry, Max experience as both a business leader, building MongoDB into an industry leader in databases, coupled with his deep knowledge and experience in the high-performance computing industry will be an invaluable resource to Quantum Machines as we build towards the future of quantum computers.

As the quantum computing industry emerges, one of its most pressing challenges is to develop a viable and sustainable value-chain and technology stack. With different companies focused on different layers of the computer, from the qubits to the applications, there is a lot of strategizing for the leading companies to be made, beyond the deep and complex technology to be developed. Max is joining Quantum Machines to help craft the companys strategy and offerings for it to continue leading the quantum race.

Quantum computing has the potential to fundamentally change all aspects of our technology, saidMax Schireson, Executive in Residence at Battery Ventures. Im excited to work with Quantum Machines to continue to advance its business and its products and help realize the potential of quantum computers.

Quantum Machines Quantum Orchestration Platform (QOP) is the leading scalable cloud-ready solution for the control and operation of quantum computers. The combined software and hardware solution enables R&D teams to execute the highly complex algorithms necessary for tackling the most advanced challenges facing quantum computing.

About Quantum Machines

QMs full-stack Quantum Orchestration Platform enables an entirely new approach to controlling and operating quantum processors. Capable of running even the most complex algorithms from near-term applications of quantum computers to challenges of quantum-error-correction the Quantum Orchestration Platform allows users to realize the potential of all quantum processors right out of the box via its powerful, yet intuitive, programming language QUA.

Source: Quantum Machines

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Leading Technology Executive Max Schireson Joins Quantum Machines' Board of Directors - HPCwire

Dynamically-Adaptive Compact Valve is Key Component in the Company's Highly Anticipated and Proprietary UST Platform; UST Expected to Help Deliver Strong Sales Growth and Profitability in 2022

SOUTH EASTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 11, 2021 / Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB:PBIO) ("PBI" or the "Company"), a leader in the development and sale of broadly enabling, pressure-based instruments, consumables, and specialized services to the worldwide life sciences, agriculture, cosmetics, food & beverage, and other industries, today announced the award of its second U.S. patent for its revolutionary Ultra Shear Technology (UST) platform. Entitled "Ultrahigh Pressure Compact Valve with Throttling Capability", this new patent (US 11,156,295) brings the Company's intellectual property ("IP") estate to a total of seven UST patents (two in the U.S.) and 30 pressure-based patents worldwide.

The Company's UST platform was created to revolutionize the processing of immiscible liquids (typically oils and water) - usually processed into macro/micro emulsions - into high quality, highly valuable, long-term stable nanoemulsions. Emulsions are mixtures of two or more liquids that are normally not soluble in each other without the addition of chemicals called emulsifiers (e.g., surfactants). Emulsions are used in thousands of products in everyday use, such as in dairy products, lotions and creams, drugs and vaccines, and nutraceuticals. Scientific data indicate that higher bioavailability and improved absorption in humans, animals and plants, plus greater stability, lower surfactant levels, and other advantages (such as more reliable dosing control) are vastly improved by high quality nanoemulsions versus micro or macroemulsions.

Dr. Edmund Y. Ting, Sr. Vice President of Engineering and an inventor on this patent, said: "The conversion of a coarser emulsion into a high-quality nanoemulsion with ultra-low droplet size is made possible by intense fluid shear forces created from pressure driven fluid velocity. By using pressures up to 60,000 psi to drive fluid flow, we believe that UST achieves a disruptive shear capability greater than any homogenizer on the market today. UST also achieves higher flow rates and lower processing costs than current high-pressure homogenizers by leveraging the use of field proven pumps, patented pressure transfer isolators, and our now patented, self-throttling Nanogap valve. The unique design of this compact, self-throttling valve is dynamically-adaptive, delivering clog and erosion resistance, with extraordinary precision and control in producing fine nanoemulsion dispersion size."

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Dr. Alexander V. Lazarev, Chief Science Officer, commented: "We are proud to see our work recognized with yet another strong patent. Amongst the exciting applications of our UST platform are enormous opportunities in the efficient and affordable production of stable nanoemulsions. Nanoemulsions are promising revolutionary advances in food/beverage, nutraceutical, personal care, pharmaceutical, agriculture, as well as many other industries. The UST process features exquisite control of high shear energy, resulting in a very reproducible product with a narrow distribution of droplet sizes as small as 40 to 100 nanometers. Such tiny, nano-sized oil droplets lead to greater stability and higher bioavailability of the active ingredients contained in the oil phase, resulting in more nutritional and better tasting liquid foods and beverages, as well as significantly higher quality drugs and vaccines in dosing and delivery."

Mr. John B. Hollister , Director of Marketing and Sales, stated, "The daily market interest we are receiving in UST-produced nanoemulsions prior to significant active promotion activities is very exciting. The potential benefits of nanoemulsified products are now recognized by important market leaders globally. The 2021 worldwide market size for a number of industries that could benefit from UST are each in the tens and even hundreds of billions of dollars. Over the past year, we have been working with major players in several of these markets to create unique formulations, the results of which have been embraced by these prospective partners. These companies are exerting tremendous pressure on us to release the commercial-scale, UST systems as quickly as possible. We believe the amount of nanoemulsified product required to meet these customers' needs will clearly help us achieve our goals of strong sales growth and profitability in 2022."

For more information on PBI's innovative UST, BaroFold, and PCT Platforms, and on the Company's new PBI Agrochem Division, please use the link to follow Mr. Schumacher's interview on Benzinga's ALL ACCESS Investor Event on Thursday, November 4, 2021. Schumacher Interview ALL ACCESS 11.4.21

About Pressure BioSciences, Inc.

Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) is a leader in the development and sale of innovative, broadly enabling, pressure based solutions for the worldwide life sciences and other industries. Our products are based on the unique properties of both constant (i.e., static) and alternating (i.e., pressure cycling technology, or PCT) hydrostatic pressure. PCT is a patented enabling technology platform that uses alternating cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels to control biomolecular interactions safely and reproducibly (e.g., cell lysis, biomolecule extraction). Our primary focus is in the development of PCT- based products for biomarker and target discovery, drug design and development, biotherapeutics characterization and quality control, soil & plant biology, forensics, and counter-bioterror applications. Additionally, major new market opportunities have emerged in the use of our pressure-based technologies in the following areas: (1) the use of our recently acquired, patented technology from BaroFold, Inc. (the "BaroFold" technology) to allow entry into the bio-pharma contract services sector, and (2) the use of our recently-patented, scalable, high-efficiency, pressure-based Ultra Shear Technology ("UST") platform to (i) create stable nanoemulsions of otherwise immiscible fluids (e.g.,oils and water) and to (ii) prepare higher quality, homogenized, extended shelf-life or room temperature stable low-acid liquid foods that cannot be effectively preserved using existing non-thermal technologies.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed, implied or inferred by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," estimates," "predicts," "projects," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider various factors. Actual events or results may differ materially. These and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and other reports filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the information included in this release, except as otherwise required by law.

Investor Contacts:

Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO(508) 230-1828 (T)

Alexander V. Lazarev, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer(508) 230-1829 (F)

Edmund Y. Ting, Sc.D., Sr. VP Engineering

For more information about PBI and this press release, please click on the following website link:http:/www.pressurebiosciences.com Please visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

SOURCE: Pressure BioSciences Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/672314/Pressure-BioSciences-Awarded-Second-US-Patent-for-Its-Revolutionary-Ultra-Shear-Technology-Platform-for-Its-Innovative-NanoGap-Valve

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Pressure BioSciences Awarded Second U.S. Patent for Its Revolutionary Ultra Shear Technology Platform, for Its Innovative NanoGap Valve - Yahoo...

LOS ANGELES BrandJump, an e-commerce sales and marketing company specializing in home furnishings and dcor, has named Pieter Hutahayan as its new director of technology.

In this newly created role, Hutahayan will lead BrandJumps technology strategy including system architecture, platform management and integrations. He will partner with BrandJumps merchandising, sales and marketing teams to keep a focus on technology while solving for business needs.

Pieter brings deep experience and an understanding of the e-commerce landscape and the challenges and opportunities in our industry today, said CEO Josh Walter. His role will help BrandJump maintain its forward-thinking approach and ensure we, and the brands we work with, are always ready for whats next.

Hutahayan joins the team with a depth of e-commerce experience, having served in roles across product management, development and implementation, including his most recent role as director of e-commerce operations at Mad Dogg Athletics.

Ive always said that BrandJump is a people business, Walter added. We have an incredible team of e-commerce experts and specialists that are core to what we do. And continuing to innovate on the technology side will allow our people to do what they do best including bringing great service, well-informed strategy and profitable growth to BrandJumps clients.

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BrandJump adds new director of technology - Furniture Today