by Tom Still | Jun 23, 2017 | Commentary, Economy |
As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Republican proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the possibility looms that Wisconsin could lose billions of dollars over time for the very reason the GOP hated Obamacare in the first place.
That reason was the required expansion of Medicaid to more people and services, which Wisconsin rejected after the ACA was passed in 2010 based on calculations it would cost the state more than the federal aid was worth.
by Healthcare IT News | Jun 23, 2017 | Commentary, Health Technology, Security |
The overarching cybersecurity theme of summer 2017 is shaping up to be a widespread infosec talent shortage against the backdrop of fear that arose after the WannaCry ransomware threats happened. Adding to the chaos are predictions that more attacks are not only coming, but will be far worse when they hit.
That scenario is opening doors for managed security services providers, managed detection and response firms and virtual CISOs contracting with hospitals to keep them safe.
by Kay Plantes | Jun 8, 2017 | Commentary, Entrepreneurs, Marketing, Uncategorized |
The breakthrough financial success of the new Wonder Woman film contains an important lesson. For years, women super-heroes were outside the scope of movie producers’ considerations. Why? A 2004 film, Catwoman, also starring a female superhero, had failed to achieve its commercial aims. An assumption – female superheroes do not fill seats – became a belief that shaped future investment decisions.
by Tom Koulopoulos | May 29, 2017 | Commentary, Legal, Security, Uncategorized |
The large scale WannaCry (WannaCrypt) ransomware attack that has crippled over 100,000 computer systems, primarily in health care, is a reminder of just how vulnerable the world’s computing infrastructure really is. But what’s most amazing about the attack is not its scale or the speed with which it spread, but how easily it could have been avoided.
by Steven S. Clark | May 25, 2017 | Biotech, Commentary, Uncategorized |
A mathematical savant, virtual reality experts, renowned nature nature film-maker, well known author, “remote viewer” and assorted new-age folks were part of Promega’s BioPharmaceutical Technology Center’s annual forum on consciousness, Awakening Through Our Senses, that took place May 18-19. It was a mixed bag of amazing science and technology, unmatched beauty, the preposterous, odd and forgettable. There was something for everyone across the intellectual spectrum.
by Tom Still | May 25, 2017 | Commentary, Internet, IT, Manufacturing, Security, Venture Capital |
Technology often marches ahead of the ability of government regulators to keep up. A prime example is the internet, which surged ahead in its formative days in part because there was an absence of red tape to hold back its pioneers.
Autonomous vehicles are another example. Researchers and industry are racing to develop, test and eventually market self-driving vehicles, from cars to trucks to small sidewalk delivery robots. The trick for government is how to monitor public safety without forcing unnecessary detours to innovation.
by Steven S. Clark | May 19, 2017 | Commentary, IT, Legal, Security, Uncategorized |
This isn’t my usual biotech beat, but compromising my computer can certainly affect the beat and I don’t like that. Over the last week, a nasty ransom-ware program infiltrated hundreds of thousands computer in 150 countries. It affected 20% of hospitals in the UK and much more.
I don’t understand these misfits who do this; their effects can range from severe inconvenience to mass casualties. I know of a few professors who had their life’s academic work lost due to ransomware. And what about the patients in the UK hospitals whose telemetry suddenly stopped working while they were in intensive care?
by Tom Koulopoulos | May 16, 2017 | Careers, Commentary, Entrepreneurs, Internet |
You’ve paid dearly to start and grow your business; the steep tuition of success that only an entrepreneur will ever understand. So, you would never do anything to sabotage your businesses, right? Well, not intentionally. But in my own personal experience and in working with hundreds of startups it’s clear to me that there are at least seven critical areas where entrepreneurs make mistakes that may cost them their business or severely limit its value and chances for growth.
by Kay Plantes | May 2, 2017 | Commentary, Entrepreneurs, Health Technology, Marketing |
The Xconomy San Diego Forum on the Human Impact of Innovation offered a window into how information technology and science, marching hand-in-hand, will shape healthcare. “IBM’s Watson is not the only breakthrough game in healthcare,” was the best summary of the afternoon.
Today’s unpredictable markets demand that as you maximize performance from your current business model, you must in parallel be designing and developing new business models to disrupt the current cash generators. Otherwise, start-ups will turn your company into a dinosaur.
by Tom Koulopoulos | May 1, 2017 | Careers, Commentary, Education, Marketing, Social Media |
Among our greatest enemies, as individuals, as organizations, and as a society are the false biases that justify an attitude of “us and them” –in a word, discrimination. Fortunately it’s one of the areas where we’ve made the most progress over the past 100 years.
Yet, there is one area where even the most tolerant among us feels it’s totally justified to discriminate with utter abandon; millennials and Gen Z.
