IN THE WORKPLACE

• Tech Jobs are Booming: Here's What Employers are Looking For
• Establishing Worksite Covid Testing: FAQs Answered

OLD & NEW TECH MAKE NEWS

• Your Next New Gadget Could Be Stronger Than Steel & Super Light Too
• Kids Could Learn Gaming at School; Studies Show Most Parents are Already on Board
• Use of COBOL Could Be a Lot Bigger than Previously Estimated: Report
• Amazon Expands Telehealth Program Nationwide

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

• Cybersecurity M&A Volume Reaches $77.5 Billion in 2021
• AI Edge Chip Market is on Fire, Kindled by "Staggering" VC Funding

The ChannelPro Network has named Oli Thordarson, founder and CEO of Alvaka Networks, as the winner of its 2022 Peer of the Year award, which recognizes channel pros who have shared especially powerful peer-to-peer business advice. ChannelPro magazine recently spotlighted Oli and Alvaka, in an article about their approach to identity and branding, as well as advice about what it takes to invest in and build out a 24/7/365 network operations center.
Meanwhile, on March 9, Alvaka will present a webinar - The Current & Future Truth of Cyber Coverage, where a panel will discuss the current state of the cyber breach insurance market and important factors you should consider when it comes to your cyber liability.
Also, read Alvaka's blog post, Ransomware Attack: Should I Contact the FBI and Law Enforcement? (Oli Thordarson, SGV)

Auxora's WDM BOSA Core product has won the 2021 Infostone Hero List Excellent Quality Award. Auxora's product is the industry's first core product of single-fiber bidirectional optical components, using the traditional PON BOSA structure to design a drop-in replacement for single-fiber bidirectional 5G WDM transmission applications and other high-speed WDM single-fiber bidirectional transmission systems. It offers cost performance, high reliability, low loss, high isolation, high directivity, and good temperature stability. The Infostone Heroes list is chosen by 30 experts in the field of optical communication and Infostone Consulting, who evaluate the products on the basis of: technology, cost, market share, customer satisfaction and third-party test performance, as well as company business performance, growth rate, R&D intensity, patent and other factors. (Jinghui Li, SGV)

Eckert & Ziegler (EZ) has executed with Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited a comprehensive global supply agreement for EZ's therapeutic radioisotope Lutetium-177. The radiopharmaceutical will be used to advance Telix's portfolio of Molecularly Targeted Radiation investigational products. Lutetium-177 is used in precision oncology for targeted radionuclide therapy. The radioisotope Lutetium-177, is linked to tumor specific drugs which then incorporates the radiating element of the radioisotope into the tumor cells, while largely sparing healthy tissue. With EZ's production facilities in Europe, Asia, and North America, they are excellently positioned to meet the increasing demand for this isotope and related development and manufacturing services. (Frank Yeager, SGV)

Envision Financial Systems announced the launch of an enhancement to its core recordkeeping system that lets investors take a risk questionnaire on-line, select an investment program based on the questionnaire results, make the initial purchase into the investment program, and establish automatic rebalancing to maintain the program allocations. The feature enables mutual funds and intermediaries to offer investors guidance and managed asset programs without layering on additional software. These features are now in use at Ultimus Fund Solutions - the first user of these new capabilities within Envision's responsive internet portal. (Satnam Gambhir, OC)

GF Piping Systems has introduced HYPRO, the first innovative PP-R product line for the conduction and containment of industrial effluents designed and developed in partnership between GF Piping Systems' teams in Switzerland, Brazil, and the U.S. to meet the Brazilian market requirements. The local production in Brazil also ensures CO2 emissions are kept low versus importation. The HYPRO system is resistant to pressure, corrosion, abrasion, and high temperatures, and can be applied in various conditions for the transport of industrial effluents, chemicals used in water, sewage treatment plants, both municipal and industrial processes, and chemicals used in industrial processes. (Mike Smith, SGV)

LookinLA is celebrating its fourth consecutive year as a Google partner, having met all the required criteria due to the hard work of its team members and the success of their clients. LookinLA has maintained an optimization score of over 90%, indicating that they've set up their clients' accounts to perform well. All of LookinLA's strategists have demonstrated proficiency in Google Ads by earning Google Ads certifications. Finally, they have managed over $100k every month in ad spend, which shows their ability to help clients consistently identify new growth opportunities and sustain success on an ongoing basis.
Meanwhile, Ali Payani, LookinLA Co-Founder and CEO, has accepted an invitation to join The Forbes Business Council, in recognition of his depth and diversity of experience spanning leadership, management, public engagement, technology, and growth. (Ali Payani, SGV)

The NASA Spinoff 2022 publication features an article - Lasers Make Waves in Self-Driving Cars, Quantum Devices [the article is on page 31] - which extensively spotlights Lute Maleki, and his company, OEwaves. It discusses Lute's background, his many industry accomplishments, and talks about OEwaves history and future - including current opportunities in the millimeter- and submillimeter-wavelength applications in communications, radar, and other sensors. (Lute Maleki, SGV)

This 1-minute video shows how - using Optimum Info's AMOS Business Management - OEMs and auto dealers alike can leverage KPI data to compare performance over peer entities, run what-if scenario calculators, risk analysis, dealer scorecards, KPI alerts, composite group comparisons, and more.
Also, register on Optimum Info's website for a free Test Drive of IKON, a Field Force Management CRM tailored to OEMs with a franchise network. (Arvind Verma, OC)

AfterNow recently created a series of graphs with a 3D visualization concept to portray the impact of Covid-19, utilizing the company's Viz product. This first demonstration is of the U.S., displaying for each state a column of deaths composed of monthly rings. The size of each ring is proportional to the number of deaths. (Philippe Lewicki, WLA)

ProProfs Knowledge Base is listed as one of the best Document Management Software of 2022 by Digital.com, and ProProfs Training Maker is included in the "Best Learning Management System for 2022" list published by OnlineDegree.com. Plus, ProProfs Chat has been recognized as a High Performer of Winter 2022 in Asia by G2.
Meanwhile, read recent ProProfs blog posts, including: 14 Best Gantt Chart Tools to Grow Your Business, and 10 Best Software Documentation Tools for 2022. (Sameer Bhatia, WLA)

On the evenings of March 8 (click here) and April 7 (click here), John Tanner, Ph.D., of Tanner Research, will present his free Nutrition Science Virtual Workshop, via Zoom, where he will relay to participants the scientific information they need to avoid heart disease and other leading killers with a proper diet. The group will discuss strategies for change and John will field questions, plus give a free book to participants. (John Tanner, Ph.D., SGV)

This 2:38-minute video highlights The Joy Factory's VESA 75/100 HD AMPs Mount, a versatile solution to positioning a device in an emergency vehicle such as a fire truck, ambulance, or police cruiser. The base features a drill-down universal AMPs base that easily attaches to flat surfaces. With VESA 75x75mm, 100x50mm, and 100x100mm configurations it will accommodate most IPCs and a variety of other devices. (Sampson Yang, OC, and Miranda Su, SGV)

Vincit and Bilot are planning to join forces - the companies' combined expertise in digital business and customer experience, as well as human-centric design, data, software development and technology platforms, will give them a new competitive edge. After the merger, they will operate as one under the Vincit name, continuing to offer world-class services in mobile app development, embedded systems, and more.
Also, Vincit is a "Great Place to Work"-certified workplace, both in Finland and the U.S. Great Place to Work studies organizations' employee experience with an anonymous employee survey in 60+ countries. (Rachel Valentine, OC)

Xsolla has teamed with Paytm Payment Gateway, India's leading payments solutions provider, to bring gaming payments solutions to India. Malaysian game developers now have easier access to India's growing gaming marketplace, as Xsolla integrated Paytm's Digital Wallet, Unified Payment Interface, and online banking payment solutions into its Pay Station platform. (Shurick Agapitov, WLA)

In Do Not Stand in the Way of Your Own Progress, Harrison Barnes, CEO of BCG Attorney Search, urges you to identify the parts of yourself that are limiting your success and then confront those parts, so that you can grow and evolve. "Being a strong person who is effective in the world requires that one understands and accepts his or her true nature and all his or her strengths and limitations," Harrison says, continuing, "The journey for you to become successful begins with an awareness of where you are, and not an obsession with where you should be. To reach your potential, you must be willing to take a chance and to be wrong, and you need to understand the nature of who you are. For example, when we look at the leaders of the world around us, we generally see that they share a couple of common characteristics: First, they have the ability to make a decision. People who have the ability to make decisions are leaders. It is not important what the decision is, it is just important that the leader is able to make a decision. Second, they give themselves the opportunity to be vulnerable. Leaders make themselves vulnerable to the world." (Harrison Barnes, JD, WLA)

In a short video, Dave Berkus shares "four of our most important tech trends in just 90 seconds."
Meanwhile, recent blog posts from Dave include What if you and your investors don't agree on an exit?, in which Dave describes some of the differences between an "evergreen" company versus a company being grown to sell and/or go public.
And, in Don't just raise money. Do it on good news!, Dave shares that he has counseled founders to raise enough to accelerate to a significant milestone that is over a year away, and to scale the business to find breakeven with two early rounds if possible. Once at breakeven, the rush to raise more is over, and there are far more options available. Tech businesses today can do this much more easily than a decade ago, Dave says, with cheaper development costs, SaaS hosting environments avoiding heavy equipment costs, and development platforms with pre-formed routines available. (Dave Berkus, SGV & WLA)

George Mekhtarian, CEO of California Lightworks, wrote a recent article for MMJdaily.com - Improving cannabis grow results while lowering costs and carbon footprint, where he says: "The cannabis industry pollutes more than the coal industry. Technology can help address many of our environmental issues. When I started the company 12 years ago, I knew there had to be a better solution for grow lights. By bringing the latest in lighting and controls technology to the grower, we have been able to make cultivating cannabis simpler, more sustainable and more productive. In essence, we help cannabis cultivators improve their bottom line while improving their carbon footprint through the use of technology." (George Mekhtarian, SGV)

In Eco-Friendly AV Planning: 3 Things to Consider When Designing Sustainable Spaces, Electrosonic discusses how sustainable AV design supports LEED certification; product selection that's energy-efficient; automation features to conserve power; device monitoring and data collection to understand space usage; and more.
And, watch a recent Electrosonic webinar replay on-demand - Elevating the Experience Economy: Technologies to Know in 2022.
Meanwhile, Electrosonic participated in the creation of these recent attractions: Illuminarium Atlanta, a 30,000-square-foot immersive experience combining advanced bleeding-edge projection, spatial audio, and haptic technology, as well as the Canada Pavilion located in Expo 2020 Dubai's Sustainability District, which includes art installations, an interactive light and sound experience, and a 360-degree theatre. (Bryan Hinckley, SGV)

GetVisible's Always Thinking Blog offers a variety of posts to help us better understand specific aspects of SEO. Recent posts include: What is Continuous Scrolling, and How Can it Affect SEO?, and Why User Experience (UX) is Important for Your Website.
Meanwhile, GetVisible CEO Jason Ciment suggests that if you have a company with 50+ employees, email [email protected] for a preview of a service his company just built at www.trackemployeevaccines.com - see how this system tracks and monitors employee vaccines, Covid tests, and other medical tests. (Jason Ciment, WLA)

GIDEON Informatics has published an ebook series - comprehensive and up-to-date books summarizing the historical and current endemic status of infectious diseases in 230+ countries and territories, exploring all individual infectious diseases, drugs, vaccines, outbreaks, surveys, and pathogens, in every country of the world. The ebooks complement the GIDEON web application by expanding easy access to GIDEON's vast content without a subscription or continual internet access.
Also, GIDEON's blog post - Occupational Infectious Diseases - discusses certain working conditions that put us at increased risk of poor health. For example, some occupations involve repeated exposure to respiratory irritants and carcinogens, while others are associated with musculoskeletal injury or hearing loss. (Uri Blackman, WLA)

In What Are the Differences Between ISO 9001 and 14001?, Intellect CEO Romeo Elias reports that both standards are quite important across the globe and learning their similarities and differences could help grow your organization.
And, in Top 10 Benefits of Digital EH&S Software, Intellect discusses Environmental Health and Safety software, a centralized place for your company's safety program management.
Plus, in 8 Ways to Maintain Your Company Culture During Growth, Intellect acknowledges that rapid expansion can make business owners feel like the spirit and values of the company have been lost, and suggests some steps to take.
Meanwhile, Featured Customers has named Intellect as a Top Performer in its Winter 2022 Business Process Management Software Customer Success Report. (Romeo Elias, WLA)

myKaarma's QA automation team recently published a blog - QA as Code: An API approach - on how to create a QA automation framework microservice using spring boot, selenium, and TestNG. QA Automation has become a common practice in companies where the product is extensive and manual QA for large-scale development is tedious and time-consuming. (Ujj Nath, WLA)

On February 22, Parasoft will present a webinar - Empower Your Hybrid Workforce With Virtual Training Environments, which will address how adopting a virtual training environment will help you simplify the creation and availability of a virtual training center; dramatically reduce fixed costs and risks of onboarding team members; easily manage and scale the training environment dynamically; and more.
Information on other upcoming webinars can be found here, including: "Demo with Live Q&A: Parasoft Continuous Quality Solution;" "5 Imperatives for Delivering Software with Confidence;" and "Demo with Live Q&A: Parasoft C and C++ Software Testing." (Elizabeth Kolawa, Ph.D., SGV)

On the evening of February 16, PeopleG2 CEO Chris Dyer will lead a virtual presentation and discussion on remote work strategies to the MADIA Tech Launch Event - open to all interested participants.
And, on February 23, PeopleG2 and Chris will present a webinar - What Your Employees Really Want, But Won't Tell You.
Meanwhile, read Chris's recent articles:
>> How Remote Teams Can Work Across Time Zones More Easily;
>> 5 Reasons Companies Are Not Making Remote Work Permanent; and
>> How to Communicate Effectively in the World of Remote Work (published by trainingmag.com). (Chris Dyer, SGV)

Alina Trigubenko, CEO of Profi, wrote a recent article in Training magazine - Building an Active Community Around Your Training Organization's Brand - which covers: Training course programming is key; Unified online training platforms provide flexibility and scale; Creating a network for brand success; and Aligning mindsets, values, and culture to build an active community.
Meanwhile, read recent Profi blog posts:
>> The 3 Best Time Management Tools for Professional Service Providers (and Their Teams).
>> Top 6 Wellness Coaching Trends for 2022 (Rejoice! They're Promising). (Alina Trigubenko, WLA)

Noted author Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are making their research report, Restoring the California Dream, available for viewing. (Marshall Toplansky, OC)

Bayer AG and Mammoth Biosciences, which is harnessing the diversity of nature to power the next-generation CRISPR products, have announced a strategic collaboration and option agreement for the use of Mammoth's CRISPR systems to develop in vivo gene-editing therapies. Mammoth Biosciences' gene-editing technology will significantly enhance Bayer's efforts to develop transformative therapies for patients faster and strengthen the company's recently established new cell and gene therapy platform. The two companies will start their collaboration with a focus on liver-targeted diseases.
MEANWHILE, BlueRock Therapeutics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayer AG, recently announced the dose administration for the first patient in Canada in partnership with the University Health Network in a Phase 1, open-label trial of pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. (Rama Penta, ABL-Health SV)

Biospectal is among the 60+ finalists for the 2022 SXSW Innovation Awards, which span 13 categories, including Health, Med & BioTech; AI & Machine Learning; Wearable Tech; and more. Winners, plus additional honors, will be announced at a ceremony on March 14, and these 60+ digital projects will be available for SXSW attendees to interact with at the Finalist Showcase on March 12.
MEANWHILE, at the recent CES 2022, Biospectal won an Omdia Technology Innovation Award, in the Fitness, Health and Wellbeing category, for its Biospectal OptiBP for iOS and Biodisc, an all-in-one blood pressure monitor and a monitoring platform that extends smartphones and other connected mobile devices to clinics, hospitals, work, and home. (Eliott Jones, ABL-Health SV)

At the recent InnovatorMD Global Summit 2022, Elemeno Health won first place in the Startup Showcase.
ALSO, Elemeno recently won the American College of Emergency Physicians 2021 Emergency Medicine Innovator of the Year award, PLUS it closed a $1.5 million Series Seed 2 round in Q4, AND signed five new hospitals, including its first in the Midwest. (Arup Roy-Burman, MD, ABL-Health OAK)

Graphite Health, a digital healthcare company, has announced that Kaiser Permanente is now an organizing member, joining SSM Health, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, and Intermountain Healthcare. Modeled on Civica Rx, a health utility company, Graphite Health is creating a standardized, interoperable data platform that enables a secure and open marketplace to streamline the distribution of digital health solutions for both health systems and entrepreneurs. Fundamental to Graphite Health's vision is the Digital Hippocratic Oath, which serves as the ethical compass that guides all operations, including their approach to data sharing, integration, and technical processes. (Marcos Vasconcelos, ABL-Health OAK)

Frost & Sullivan recently analyzed the North American Laboratory Information Systems Industry and recognized LigoLab as the "2022 Competitive Strategy Leadership Award" winner for improving the efficiency of diagnostic labs and transforming them into thriving businesses. According to Amartya Bose, an industry analyst, "LigoLab's truly integrated LIS & RCM platform allows for the seamless integration, transparency, and situational awareness of all laboratory operations and RCM processes through its real-time, queue-facilitated workflow. This RCM module ensures billing cycle management starts at the order initiation, providing a single source of truth that's supported by automated coding and regulatory claim compliance verification, thus reducing the risk of denials at a later stage by up to 98% and improving the net collections for laboratories." (Suren Avunjian, ABL-Health LA)

Dave Philistin, CEO of Candor, recently interviewed MedWand CEO Bob Rose, in Health Tech: Robert Rose On How MedWand Solutions' Technology Can Make An Important Impact On Our Overall Wellness - published in Authority Magazine, and part of an interview series about "Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact." Among other things, the article covers Bob's three character traits he thinks were most instrumental to his success; particular problems MedWand is aiming to solve; how MedWand's technology can address these, and "five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact." (Bob Rose, ABL-Health OC)

PRODEO is excited to introduce LusioMATE to the U.S. market, a product of Lusio Technologies, based in Sydney, Australia. LusioMATE's wearable rehabilitation device and physical therapy ecosystem to motivate the achievement of movement goals, and drive adherence to PT programs, in general, via a suite of fun and engaging games suitable for all ages and capabilities. LusioMATE can be used remotely by both patients and clinicians in the emerging areas of telehealth and virtual care. PRODEO sees this breakthrough technology as the missing lever to drive desired outcomes while boosting both patient and clinician satisfaction. (Mark Heinemeyer, ABL-Health OC)

Providence Digital Innovation Group (DIG) has published COVID-19 Digital Insight Series: Industry Consolidation - 2021 in Review, as well as 2022 Digital Predictions.
MEANWHILE, DexCare, Inc., a data-driven intelligence company focused on healthcare access, which was incubated by Providence DIG, recently announced a $50M Series B funding led by Transformation Capital, with participation from all existing investors, Kaiser Permanente, Providence Ventures, Mass General Brigham, Define Ventures, Frist Cressey Ventures, and SpringRock Ventures. In less than one year, DexCare has closed two oversubscribed funding rounds totaling $71M to-date. (Marcee Chmait, ABL-Health LA)

In The Future of Predictive Analytics in Healthcare, Savi Group shares that predictive analytics has the potential to help healthcare providers make better decisions about patient care and other important medical concerns.
AND, in Artificial Intelligence Trends in Healthcare 2022, Savi concludes that AI has the ability to streamline administrative processes; AI data analyses hold the potential to uncover many new trends and insights from mountains of unorganized data that currently exist within medical organizations across the world; and AI algorithms hold the power to provide more accurate medical diagnoses to patients. (Sumit Mahendru, ABL-Health OC)

Tech companies in the US added 24,300 workers in January, marking the 14th consecutive month of job growth in a hot IT hiring market. According to job market statistics by CompTIA, IT occupations throughout the economy increased by 178,000 last month, with tech-related hiring contributing to the national growth of 467,000 jobs. Unemployment rates within tech occupations dropped to 1.7%, down from 2% in December 2021. More than half of January's job gains within the tech sector were in the IT services and custom software development category, where 14,800 roles were added. Tech firms also added 7,500 employees in data processing, hosting and related services, 3,100 employees in information services, such as search engines, and 2,000 new hires in computer and electronic products manufacturing. (https://www.zdnet.com/article/tech-jobs-are-booming-heres-what-employers-are-looking-for/)

Law firm Nelson Hardiman has published Priority Guidelines FAQs: Establishing Worksite Covid Testing, which discusses questions such as: How do we get started with implementing testing protocols? How should employee Covid-19 records, regarding vaccinations or infections, be stored? Does my business need laboratory CLIA Certification for OTC rapid tests? Can a group health plan cover testing costs? Must employees be compensated for time devoted to testing? How often should employees be tested? and more. (https://www.nelsonhardiman.com/client-alert-priority-guidelines-faqs-establishing-worksite-covid-testing/)

MIT researchers have created a new material as light as plastic and as strong as steel. The material, called 2DPA-1, is a type of polyaramide that can be manufactured at an industrial scale. It's the latest in a wave of innovative materials that could transform personal electronics. The researchers found that the new material's elastic modulus - a measure of how much force it takes to deform a material - is between four and six times greater than that of bulletproof glass. They also found that its yield strength, or how much force it takes to break the material, is twice that of steel, even though the material has only about one-sixth the density of steel. (https://www.lifewire.com/your-next-new-gadget-could-be-stronger-than-steel-5218589)

A UK study from Dell Technologies found that 48% of parents believe esports should be added to the school/college curriculum, while 69% think esports could allow their child to develop skills that they might not get through traditional education methods. Alongside the 1,500 parents polled in the study, an additional 500 financial decision-makers such as headteachers and department heads, also expressed a positive view of the subject, with a whopping 79% believing it should be taught in schools. (https://www.techradar.com/news/your-kids-could-learn-gaming-at-school-and-you-should-be-happy-about-it)

New research on the global scale of the COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) programming language suggests that there are upwards of 800 billion lines of COBOL code being used by organizations and institutes worldwide, some three times larger than previously estimated. A global study with 1,104 respondents from 49 countries found that more than nine in 10 organizations continue to view COBOL as a strategic priority. It also found that 83% of organizations believe their COBOL-based applications will see out another 10 or more years. (https://www.zdnet.com/article/programming-languages-how-much-cobol-code-is-out-there-the-answer-might-surprise-you/)

Amazon's virtual healthcare program, Amazon Care, is now available nationwide, the company has announced. The hybrid service, which pairs virtual care with the option for an in-home nurse's visit, will be available in 20 additional cities in 2022, according to a blog post. That in-person component is already up and running in eight cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle. (https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/8/22923381/amazon-care-telehealth-nurse-locations)

Mergers and acquisitions in cybersecurity grew to $77.5 billion in 2021, according to research from cybersecurity consultancy Momentum. The numbers far surpassed 2020, which saw $19.7 billion in M&A activity. (https://www.zdnet.com/article/cybersecurity-m-a-volume-reaches-77-5-billion-in-2021/)

Chips to perform AI inference on edge devices such as smartphones is a red-hot market, even years into the field's emergence, attracting more and more startups and more and more venture funding, according to a prominent chip analyst firm covering the field. Edge AI has become a blanket term that refers mostly to everything that is not in a data center, though it may include servers on the fringes of data centers. It ranges from smartphones to embedded devices that suck micro-watts of power using the TinyML framework for mobile AI from Google. (https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-ai-edge-inference-chip-market-is-raging/)

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