Perceptoscope is reviving the nostalgic concept of viewfinders by adding a layer of AR, and AfterNow is working with the company on several key software components. Perceptoscope received a grant from the National Science Foundation and is working with the Los Angeles Natural History Museum to bring viewfinders to the La Brea Tarpits, with a goal to also bring them to more museums and national parks. (Philippe Lewicki, West Los Angeles)

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. has acquired Clustree for $18.5 million, a French technology company that developed an industry-leading, AI-powered skills engine and extensive skills ontology that is being used by leading global brands. Organizations rely on Clustree to analyze their employee skill data to inform critical decisions regarding whom to hire, how to develop their employees, how to structure long-term workforce planning, and ultimately, how to close the pervasive skills gap that companies are experiencing worldwide. Over the next year, Cornerstone plans to integrate the Clustree skills engine and skills ontology into its portfolio of products that make up Cornerstone's holistic People Development solution. (Adam Miller, West Los Angeles)

Delphi Display announced that it has become a corporate sponsor for the University of California Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), where they will work with one of the undergraduate capstone project teams to do some research and development for Delphi in the areas of computer vision and AI. (Ken Neeld, Orange County)

For the fourth consecutive year, Faye Business Systems Group has earned a spot on the list of the Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2019, published by both the Los Angeles and San Fernando Business Journals. This list identifies, recognizes, and honors the 50 companies that exhibited the highest revenue growth (between 2016 and 2018), and are at the forefront of LA's economy. (David Faye, West Los Angeles)

GF Piping Systems has introduced Fuseal Fast-Lock Polypropylene, an innovative mechanical joint system for waste drainage systems that significantly cuts down on installation time and costs. Fuseal PP piping systems have excellent chemical resistance and physical properties which make it ideal for handling corrosive waste mixtures of acids, bases, and solvents present in laboratory, industrial, or food and beverage processing DWV applications. (Mike Smith, Monrovia)

On February 19, Murano Software will present a webinar - Discuss benefits of staff augmentation when hiring software engineers - from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Pacific, which will cover how to build remote teams of IT professionals by utilizing staff augmentation. "Adding remote teams leads to a 40-60% cost reduction, faster time to get products to market, higher quality software, and increased revenue," Murano reports. Plus, "the partner will take care of all the administrative back-office work such as workspace, payroll, taxes, HR, retention and continuing education." (Dimitri Nikouline, West Los Angeles)

Kia Motors Europe has selected Optimum Info's Business Management System, initially launching in 10 countries in 2020 - United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ireland and Sweden. Tailored for the automotive industry, Optimum Info's cloud-based dealer performance analysis software - supported by Optimum Info's team of financial analysts, makes it easy for an automotive OEM to analyze the profitability and productivity of their dealer network. Kia was impressed by Optimum Info's level of engagement and partnership approach during the pilot phase, as well as the system's functionality, flexibility, and user-friendly interface. (Arvind Verma, Orange County)

On January 29, Chris Dyer, CEO of PeopleG2, will co-host a webinar - Workplace Predictions for the Coming Decade - A Panel - from 11 a.m. until 12 p.m. Pacific, which will provide insight into: how the labor market has adjusted to the rapid changes in technology, automation, and AI; adopting a people-centered approach to leadership and change; and what the best companies are doing around mistakes, progress, and staying relevant. Meanwhile, Chris has authored several recent articles, including: Want to Ride the Coming Gig Economy Boom? Map Your Processes First, for Global Trade magazine; How to Tell if a Company's Culture is Right for You, for Career Tool Belt; The Future Is Here, and It's Remote: Why Companies Can't Afford Not to Go Virtual, for Recruiter.com; and The Best of Work's Future: Chris Dyer looks at the world of work in 2020, for Flybe Inflight magazine. (Chris Dyer, Monrovia)

The Joy Factory recently debuted its MagConnect Universal S2 Holder, created to keep your mobile phone close by while also allowing you to remove and reinsert it quickly - perfect for the mobile workforce. The MagConnect Universal S2 Holder is compatible with most popular cell phone devices and pairs perfectly with The Joy Factory's Pole Mount so that it can be attached to the arms of an existing mount, therefore providing the ability for one mount to hold two devices. (Sampson Yang, Orange County, & Miranda Su, Monrovia)

In Why, When and How to Use Augmented Reality (AR) Presentations, AfterNow reports that it has created 24+ AR presentations and immersive experiences for large enterprises such as Anthem and Sprint, offering a far higher level of engagement and creative possibility for B2C and B2B communications than established channels. AfterNow then discusses four major purposes for which AR presentations are regularly used: high-stakes meetings, sales enablement, trade show activation, and training. (Philippe Lewicki, West Los Angeles)

In Are You Prepared for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)?, BeSmartee offers a synopsis of how the data privacy bill stacks up: who it applies to, who is required to comply, what exactly it entails, and where to go from here. Officially in effect as of January 1, BeSmartee suggests that we can expect a grace period with enforcement expected to begin in July 2020. BeSmartee adds that it's likely that there will be additional refinements to the law until the AG authorizes enforcement rules, "However, it should be noted that the CCPA is enforceable by the AG for the State of California and by private litigants. Unintentional violations are subject to $2,500 fines, while intentional violations are subject to $7,500 penalties." And, in CCPA: A Mortgage Manual, BeSmartee discusses how the Act impacts mortgage lending. (Veronica Nguyen, Orange County)

In Is Your AV Deployment Secure?, Electrosonic provides some best practices for keeping your audiovisual and communication equipment and technology safe from a data breach. And, in Does 5G Matter for Your AV Deployments?, Electrosonic shares that 5G will help companies continuously deliver the user experience customers or visitors desire, even at a time when content continues to grow exponentially. Other recent blog posts from Electrosonic include: Looking Back at a Decade of Opportunity and Designing Acoustic Friendly Office Workspaces for Better Sensory Experience. (Bryan Hinckley, Monrovia)

Jason Ciment, CEO of Get Visible, has provided the link to a recent Inc. article - Amazon Spent Years Learning What It Takes to Do Great Work. These 4 Steps Contributed Most to Its Success - in which Jeff Bezos delivered a lesson in how to stay ahead of customer expectations: It all comes down to maintaining high standards, which are: teachable, domain specific, recognized, and require realistic expectations. Meanwhile, Jason says that a recent Supreme Court decision is going to affect many companies that own a website: "You are warned now that there were 10,000 ADA lawsuits quickly turning into 100,000 this year. See this article from the Idaho Business Review about ADA website compliance. By passing on this case, the Court is giving lawyers carte blanche to sue websites for noncompliance. If you want a free evaluation of your ADA exposure, email me: [email protected] . If you get sued, you face at least $4,000 in penalties for each time someone with disabilities could not access your site." (Jason Ciment, West Los Angeles)

In How to Implement B2B Account-Based Marketing, LookinLA notes that this strategy delivers a high ROI because you're targeting clients who are willing and able to invest more in their growth. LookinLA then discusses these guidelines: sales and marketing teams must be on the same page; identify and research target accounts; create relevant content; and measure and optimize your account-based marketing. And, in 6 Steps to Develop a Successful Digital Marketing Strategy in 2020, LookinLA elaborates on: research your target audience; analyze the competition and their marketing strategy; devise a content strategy; choose the best marketing channels; develop a strategic marketing funnel; and determine budget allocation. (Ali Payani, Monrovia)

In Industry Experts Give Their Software Testing Predictions for 2020, Parasoft Corporation shares a variety of software testing predictions for 2020, gleaned from its own team as well as other industry experts. Topics include: adopting automation in software testing; security; and artificial intelligence. Re AI, Parasoft predicts the appearance of new AI-based technologies around UI testing, which will perform automated exploratory testing of new functionality without scripting of dedicated test-cases or programming. Solutions will have 'intelligence' to understand UI and predict possible positive and negative responses of the system on executed UI actions. (Elizabeth Kolawa, Ph.D., Monrovia)

In Making Better Business Decisions with AI: Techniques to Analyze Unstructured Data, Pegasus One points out that part of the reason why heterogeneous data has always posed such a problem for so many businesses is that, by its very nature, data is spread out over multiple systems and in numerous formats. Yet today's AI-based learning algorithms have advanced to the point where knowledge mining can capture information from many different kinds of sources, and can also work with multiple formats. The result being today's AI technologies learn through examples and patterns provided by humans, so that they actually become even more effective at their jobs as time goes on. (Tushar Puri, Orange County)

Idean and Bayer iHub have debuted Welly, a digital coach in an app that analyzes a user's health metrics from all their wearables, smart sensors, and smartphones to offer timely, actionable health insights, and recommendations. It allows the user to view their health metrics like sleep, calm, and activity in one place, without switching across various apps. Welly offers two engaging AI personas: a friendly "Coach" who is available 24/7 to answer questions, give advice, and provide timely encouragement; and a "Challenger" who playfully pushes the user to be a healthier version of their current self. (Dirk Schapeler, Silicon Valley Healthcare)

CareAcademy has partnered and integrated with home care software provider AlayaCare, in order to provide its clients more options for care provider training. Also, CareAcademy's online continuing education for home care aides and CNAs is now approved by Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. (Helen Adeosun, Los Angeles Healthcare)

Through a collaboration with MDLIVE, Cigna's 14 million customers enrolled in employer-sponsored plans can now schedule appointments online to see behavioral health counselors or psychiatrists when/where they want, securely, by video or phone. This new service is in addition to Cigna's Behavioral Health network of 18,000+ virtual behavioral health providers. Meanwhile, New York Life will acquire Cigna's group life and disability insurance business for $6.3 billion, the corporations have announced, expected to close in the third quarter of 2020. (Chris De Rosa, Orange County Healthcare)

Bob Rose, MedWand's President, wrote: "Just back from CES where we absolutely KILLED IT! We won two Innovation Awards, one for 'Tech for a Better World' and the other for 'Health & Wellness'. We won the J&J Pitch Award, and most important, we won Last Gadget Standing, which pretty much crowns the best gadget at CES overall." Former winners include Roomba, Ring, and OnStar. Bob continues: "The press response has been overwhelming, including bits on GMA, CNN, NBC, Canadian Broadcast Network, USA Today, [plus] the front page above the fold in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Interest is pouring in from all over the world and major potential partners like CVS, Amazon, Walgreens and more." The MedWand's "computer mouse-sized" device incorporates 10 of the most commonly used medical diagnostic devices, and according to Bob's MedWand partner, Samir Qamar, MD, "can be used to diagnose thousands of medical conditions; and your doctor can examine you anywhere on the planet over the internet" with the device. (Bob Rose, Orange County Healthcare)

CareAcademy's webinars, available here, include: "What You Need to Know About Buying and Selling Home Care Agencies;" "The Home Care Agency Owner's Guide to Dealing with Grief;" "Home Health Aide Training Program;" and "MA Panel with Home Health Care News & Anne Tumlinson Innovations." (Helen Adeosun, Los Angeles Healthcare)

Upcoming complimentary webinars from Saferide Health include Stand out from the Medicare Advantage crowd with a technology-forward NEMT benefit, on January 22 at 10 a.m. Pacific, and Stop the Grievances! How to put your NEMT broker for Medicaid to the test, on February 12, at 10 a.m. Pacific. The latter will discuss common problems health plans experience with traditional non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) brokers - from a lack of flexible ride scheduling, to high grievance rates, to areas where fraud, waste and abuse can exist. Saferide will review how you can run a pilot program to see how a technology-forward NEMT broker can relieve such headaches. (Robbins Schrader, Los Angeles Healthcare)

In Great Ways to Cut Down On Your Practice's Billing Expenses, SAVI Group laments that medical practices spend billions of dollars every year in billing and insurance-related costs, much of it unnecessary. SAVI then offers some tips on how practices can avoid these costs while boosting patient satisfaction and collections. And, in Taking Steps to Satisfy Patients and Grow Your Practice, SAVI Group discusses patient-focused service, practical performance and communication, and customizing care to your patient population. (Chris De Rosa, Orange County Healthcare)

In Looking to upgrade your EHR? An implementation partner can be the key to success, Wipfli acknowledges that when a healthcare organization makes the decision to implement or upgrade an EHR, doubt starts creeping in. Will the EHR work in the ways they need it to? Will staff actually use it? Does the organization even have the resources to launch a project of this scale? Wipfli reports that many organizations have found success by partnering with a firm that specializes in EHR implementation and adoption. The firm acts as the client advocate liaison, the project manager and the problem solver, helping to maintain the relationship between the healthcare organization and the EHR vendor throughout the implementation. Wipfli provides this e-book, which focuses on this role and what it helps achieve, as well as what a successful EHR implementation involves. (Jeff Johnson & Steve Rousso, Bay Area Healthcare; Larry Blitz, Silicon Valley Healthcare; & Tony Taddey, L.A. Healthcare)

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