TECH INDUSTRY TRENDS

• Companies Requiring In-Person Work Are Facing Pushback
• Food Tech Introducing Widespread Changes to Global Diet
• New 'Gen Z Shopper' Opportunity in Mobile Gaming
• Support for More Regulation of Tech Companies Has Declined in U.S.

BIG TECH INDUSTRY NEWS

• Samsung & Google Team to Make Sharing Data Easier Between Health/Fitness Apps
• Meta Has Built Massive New Language AI - and is Giving It Away for Free
• Google Using AR to Revamp Search & Map Features
• SpaceX Rolls Out Starlink Internet To 32 Countries
• Microsoft, Apple & Google Double-Down on FIDO Passwordless Standard

On May 24, Oli Thordarson, CEO of Alvaka Networks, will be the keynote presenter at the free Cybersecurity Strategy Lunch & Learn event in Irvine, presented by Alchemy Data Centers.
AND, on June 2, Alvaka will present a webinar - Cyber Defense in the Critical World of Water - which will feature experts from the Department of Homeland Security, Alvaka, and more, discussing protecting our most critical infrastructure. (Oli Thordarson, SGV)

Dave Berkus will be the featured presenter at three upcoming webinars presented by the Kofounderz Team / The Great Unicorn Hunt. On May 26, the session is entitled, "Investor Approaches and Benefits of Early Stage Valuation;" on June 9, "Governance Practices and Advisory Boards that can actually help Startups Succeed;" and on June 16, "This way to the Exit - Preparation for and proactively adding exit value."
MEANWHILE, read Dave's recent blog post, Let's not confuse big data with knowledge!, where he discusses the differences between raw, unstructured data vs. "thick data" - data dense with information that is useful and can be mined with available tools to create actionable strategies. (Dave Berkus, SGV & WLA)

California LightWorks has introduced its new SolarXtreme Series, a range of full-spectrum LED grow lights featuring the company's exclusive Optigrow light spectrum. SolarXtreme applies the latest advances in high efficiency, solid-state lighting, and controls technology. (George Mekhtarian, SGV)

Lisa Perrine, CEO of Cibola Systems, will co-present a "three-day deep dive into design thinking" at InfoComm in Las Vegas on June 4. At the end of this course, you will be able to apply five Design Thinking principles - empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test - and come away with a fresh perspective on how to approach your next AV project. (Lisa Perrine, Ed.D., WLA)

II‐VI Incorporated and Coherent, Inc. announced that they have refiled their Premerger Notification and Report Form with the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice, in connection with the previously-announced pending acquisition of Coherent by II-VI. The parties continue cooperative discussions with the State Administration for Market Regulation of China (SAMR), and the decision to refile the HSR Notification is due to the parties' updated view of the anticipated timing of formal approval from SAMR. Other than the foregoing, there are no other open regulatory closing conditions to the proposed merger, and II-VI and Coherent anticipate that the closing of the merger will occur prior to June 30, 2022. (Randy Heyler, SGV)

Eckert & Ziegler AG (EZ) has entered into a long-term cooperation agreement with the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences to produce the alpha emitter Actinium-225, which is used as an active ingredient in cancer treatment. The agreement envisions EZ to provide the research center with several million euros for investments in equipment and hot cells, as well as radium-226 as a starting material for experiments and irradiations. In return, the EZ group gets exclusive access to the capacities of a pilot unit being built within the next two years close to Prague and joint rights to the process steps developed for a large-scale Ac-225 commercial production. (Frank Yeager, SGV)

Ali Payani, CEO of LookinLA, was interviewed on a recent episode of The Fascinating Entrepreneurs Show, discussing how his company is utilizing AI, what sets them apart from competitors, and how they are expanding their services into the metaverse. (Ali Payani, SGV)

Clovers, where Adam Miller is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, recently announced that its interview intelligence platform, which allows recruiters and hiring teams to deliver more effective and consistent interviews, is now available on the Zoom App Marketplace.
ALSO, Clovers is offering free access to its platform - here. (Adam Miller, JD, WLA)

OEwaves, Inc. has announced a new ultra-low phase noise analyzer system for measuring phase noise and timing jitter of millimeter wave sources and amplifiers from 40 to 110 GHz+. This advanced, yet simple to operate, test system boasts an absolute phase noise floor of better than -150 dBc/Hz via dual channel cross-correlation option, without requiring any external low phase noise reference source or mixer. The exclusive microwave photonic design also provides the ultra-low phase noise system floor independent of operating frequency, potentially extending into the terahertz region. The product provides a cost-effective and user-friendly ultra-low phase noise measurement system exceeding noise performance requirements of emerging military and civilian millimeter wave applications. (Lute Maleki, Ph.D., SGV)

Parasoft recently unveiled its 2022.1 release of the Parasoft Continuous Quality platform of API testing and virtualization tools for enterprise applications, including SOAtest, Virtualize, CTP, and DTP. The latest version focuses on integrations and updates that enhance modern development and DevOps workflows, including authentication, service virtualization, and API security testing.
MEANWHILE, on May 19, Parasoft will present its Software Testing & Compliance Summit - Ensuring Safety and Security in a DevOps World. (Elizabeth Kolawa, Ph.D., SGV)

Alina Trigubenko, CEO of Profi, is spotlighted in a recent podcast episode, A Holistic Approach To Entrepreneurship with Profi Founder & CEO, in which she discusses how tech is an amplifier, the client experience, leading teams through uncertainty, and more.
AND, read Profi's recent article, 2022's Top 6 Training & Development Trends to Watch for Service Teams. (Alina Trigubenko, WLA)

On the evening of June 2 (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)

VCP parent company Covetrus recently launched Ascend, a powerful, cloud-based practice management software built to enable veterinary practices across the United Kingdom, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Ascend offers a highly visual, dynamic interface that brings multiple systems together into one user-friendly platform - enabling stronger and better internal collaboration, as well as the ability to leverage the power of preferred third-party integrations, from scheduling and diagnostics, to billing and insurance, retail sales, and beyond. (Bob Richardson, OC)

Vincit recently won the Silver Stevie Award for Fastest Growing Company of the Year in the Up To 100 Employees category. Judges comments about Vincit included: "The culture of customer and employer happiness is at the core of this custom software development & design agency. With over $10 million U.S. dollars in revenue during 2021, and offering free sessions for ecommerce platforms (worth over $60 million U.S. dollars), the company showed not only a wonderful sense of business culture but also understood the necessities of its clients during a pandemic. Very impressive." (Rachel Valentine, OC)

Shurick Agapitov, CEO of Xsolla, is featured in recent articles: Video Game Junkie Quietly Builds $3 Billion Payments Powerhouse, on Bloomberg, and Xsolla and X.LA - Aleksandr Agapitov is Building for the Gaming and Web3 Spaces, on BTC Peers.
ALSO, Xsolla announced Xsolla Exit Strategies, a new service to connect development studios with financial and transaction advisors, guiding them through the process of selling their game property or studio, from due diligence preparation to exiting. (Shurick Agapitov, WLA)

In You Need Connections to Make the Most of Your Career, Harrison Barnes, CEO of BCG Attorney Search, says you need to get out there and do everything you can to meet people, form alliances, and make connections.
AND, in To-Do Lists, Tactics, Strategies, and Going to the Moon, Harrison stresses the importance of strategic objectives, both for your company and personally.
PLUS, in Four Beliefs That Are Keeping You Immobilized in Your Career and Life, Harrison discusses four immobilizing problems: believing you need to be realistic about everything; seeing problems as permanent; taking problems too personally; and believing problems are pervasive. (Harrison Barnes, JD, WLA)

Jason Ciment, CEO of GetVisible, offers the following tips and resources:
>> Learn how to add your website URL to your LinkedIn profile.
>> Easily add subtitles to your videos with Zubtitle.
>> Create a video automatically from a block of text with Pictory. (Jason Ciment, WLA)

Recent articles from Intellect, which has been identified as a Top Performer in the "Spring 2022 Quality Management Software Customer Success Report" from Featured Customers, include:
>> How to Meet 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance?
>> Saving Time and Money with ISO 9001. (Romeo Elias, WLA)

Chris Dyer, of PeopleG2, is interviewed on recent episodes of The Remote Lab podcast and on the Circle Up & Get Real podcast.
ALSO, watch an on-demand replay of Chris's recent webinar: Why Failing Doesn't Suck: How To Rejoice In Your Face-Palm Moments.

MEANWHILE, read recent articles from Chris and PeopleG2:
>> The Complete Guide to Creating A Culture of Risk-Taking.
>> A Step By Step Guide To Identity Checks.
>> Understanding Civil Court Background Check: Why Conduct Them Before Hiring.
>> How to Run a Remote Company, With Chris Dyer, published by The Professional Hobo. (Chris Dyer, SGV)

In 10 Employee Training Expectations and How to Meet Them, ProProfs shares that today's employees have expectations from the trainings they attend, such as access on mobile devices, personalized learning experiences, and the ability to collaborate with their peers.
AND, in How to Track Employee Training Progress, ProProfs covers reasons to track this, how to do it, metrics you can use, and some of the best software to do so.
Read other recent ProProfs' articles, including: 10+ Cybersecurity Training Tips for Employees; Guide to Pre-Employment Personality Tests; 10+ Best Practices for Employee Onboarding; and Chatbot Marketing: What it is & How to Implement it. (Sameer Bhatia, WLA)

Barry is Founder, President and CEO of WestFax, which operates the largest TDM fax platform on earth with multiple data centers. WestFax is a Secure Cloud Fax and Document Workflow company, which offers HIPAA-compliant Cloud Fax services through the WestFax online portal, the company's API, and mobile apps. WestFax continues to innovate though Direct Message Protocol ready document capture, OCR, and managed document workflow. Customers come from nearly every major healthcare company in the Fortune 100 to a single-line mobile app user. In 1999, countless people told WestFax that FAX as a medium was going away. But WestFax is living proof of the power of secure document transport. Today they've moved well beyond the traditional fax machine into new and creative ways to securely send and receive documents and the company is prepared for whatever tomorrow brings. WestFax is headquartered in Denver, CO, with additional offices in California, Florida, and Washington State. Barry has experience in fax, telecom, medical document transport, OCR and AI Extraction, MFP integration, mobile app development, M&A, B2B sales, offshore manufacturing, import, and non-profit board leadership. Barry has joined the ABL-Health Orange County Round Table.

Nick is CEO of FOMAT Medical Research, which he has led through its expansion to being a top Integrated Research Organization in the U.S. With 10+ years of participating in Phase 1-4 clinical trials in a variety of therapeutic areas, FOMAT relies on a highly experienced clinical research team with the expertise necessary to assist Sponsors and Contract Research Organizations in reaching their project goals quickly and effectively. Nick is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of Febo Health, a Health ToolBox used globally by chronic condition patients to help make life a little bit easier. Febo is the first mobile application to offer several condition-management tools as well as the most current news and findings surrounding a patient's condition(s). Also, Nick sits on the board of hyperCORE International, a super network of highly experienced and awarded clinical trial sites working together to accelerate and advance clinical research, in which FOMAT is a partner. Earlier in his career, Nick was recruited by the Medtronic MiniMed Diabetes division to operate pre-pivotal trials and, shortly after, became the Managing Director of Diverse Research Solutions tasked with expanding clinical research operations in the U.S. Nick has joined the ABL-Health Los Angeles Round Table.

Jack is President and Chief Medical Officer of GTN, which he founded in 2015. A nonprofit that recruits physician volunteers to evaluate and treat patients located in medically underserved areas using a web-based video communication system, GTN enables physicians to use computers in their offices or homes to treat patients virtually anywhere. GTN partners with other NGOs working in underserved areas, and can also help in disaster areas, war-torn regions, and more. Jack is also currently President of RotaCare Bay Area since 2020, and has served on its Board of Directors since 2000. RotaCare is a nonprofit that operates 10 free clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, where volunteer MDs and nurses provide free medical care for people who have no insurance and cannot afford to pay. Previously, Jack was CMO at Avantis Medical Systems, a medical device company based in Silicon Valley. He also trained physicians in the U.S., Europe, and Japan to use the devices and supported investigators in five countries as they conducted clinical research studies involving them. Still earlier, Jack practiced Family Medicine in Chico, CA area for 20 years. Jack has joined the ABL-Health Silicon Valley Round Table.

Biospectal announced the signing of a new partner - ConnectedLife Health - to provide OptiBP optical fingertip smartphone blood pressure monitoring to the ConnectedLife vital signs digital health services platform.
ALSO, Biospectal is one of three Finalists for the Swiss Medtech Award 2022. The Winner will be announced June 14. (Eliott Jones, ABL-Health SV)

Change Healthcare has released InterQual 2022, the latest edition of the company's flagship clinical decision support solution for the delivery of the latest, evidence-based appropriate care. It includes new criteria for emergent trends, restructured and interactive criteria to streamline workflows, and artificial intelligence to drive proactive insights and efficiency. (Marcia Augsburger, JD, ABL-Health Bay Area)

Elemeno Health is among the eight digital health companies invited to participate in the 2022 KidsX Accelerator, chosen from 150+ applicants. Since its first pediatric-focused accelerator program ended in June 2021, KidsX startups have launched 20+ pilots, research studies, and enterprise-wide rollouts at KidsX member organizations - 30+ hospitals across the US and internationally. (Arup Roy-Burman, MD, ABL-Health Bay)

LigoLab is on the Capterra 2022 Shortlist as an "Emerging Favorite" in the medical billing software category. To create the list, Capterra analyzed hundreds of software products and eliminated those that didn't meet requirements for functionality and reviews. LigoLab particularly excelled in customer satisfaction. (Suren Avunjian, ABL-Health LA)

Bob Rose, CEO of MedWand, was recently interviewed in Authority Magazine, in an article entitled, Health Tech: Robert Rose On How MedWand Solutions' Technology Can Make An Important Impact On Our Overall Wellness. The article highlights Bob's background, character traits instrumental to his success, particular problems MedWand is aiming to solve, five things one needs to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact, and more.
MEANWHILE, on May 2, at the American Telemedicine Association Conference and Expo in Boston, MedWand presented a special live exam on the show floor's mainstage, in which Co-Founder & CMO Samir Qamar, MD, conducted a real-time MedWand telemedicine exam and consult with a patient located on the West Coast. (Bob Rose, ABL-Health OC)

In Healthcare Technologies That Can Change the Medical Industry, Savi Group reports that wearable devices will continue to help patients and providers track individual health data and build habits that improve their well-being. Virtual/augmented reality will help physicians and surgeons better prepare for taking care of their patients and continue to find new applications for positive health outcomes. And 3D printing could change countless lives by improving operations and providing anatomically correct tools shaped for patients' needs.
AND, in The Importance of Reducing Medical Coding Errors, Savi discusses how proper coding helps ensure strong cash flow within the organization while helping make sure fines and penalties are not incurred.
MEANWHILE, Athelas, where Sumit Mahendru is Head of RCM, raised $132MM million in January and has now announced that its flagship device, the Athelas Home, has been cleared by the FDA for home-use indication. From a small volume of blood, the Athelas Home measures White Blood Cells and Neutrophil percentages remotely within a patient's home or other near-patient setting. The system also can flag the presence of Blast Cells, Immature Cells, and other Abnormal Cell types often found in liquid tumors. (Sumit Mahendru, ABL-Health OC)

Select Data has published a 5-minute on-demand video presentation: April Showers Bring Coding Updates. (Ed Buckley, ABL-Health OC)

After months of return-to-work starts and stops, many tech companies, including Alphabet's Google, Apple Inc., and Microsoft, are telling remote workers it's finally time to come back for good, or at least show up part of the week. Employees who fled the Bay Area and other high-cost tech hubs earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic - or who just prefer to work from home - now face hard choices: move back, try the super commute, or hold out for a concession or new job elsewhere. How the emerging power struggles play out will be a telling indicator of how much leverage remote-work converts in other sectors have as more employers call staff back to offices. A competitive job market, plus the relative ease with which businesses adjusted to work-from-home over the past two years, has emboldened many professionals to try to say goodbye to offices permanently. If highly skilled tech workers have trouble flexing their market value, though, it's likely many other remote workers wanting to stay put will, too. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/remote-workers-dont-want-to-go-back-to-the-office-11652500810)

By any measure, "food" is a big - and vital - business. Now, thanks to the convergence of technology, science and financial incentives, the millennia-old process of growing and distributing "our daily bread" (and other nutrients) is undergoing its most widespread changes since the creation of mechanical harvesting and packaging devices. From plant-based protein to production and delivery robots to smart kitchens, food tech is quickly introducing widespread changes to the global diet. (https://cta.tech/Resources/i3-Magazine/i3-Issues/2022/March-April/Future-of-Food)

The rapid growth of the mobile gaming industry has had a tremendous impact on consumer behavior. Thanks to the changing habits of consuming and engaging with ads, a new type of consumer has emerged: The G-Shopper. Today's players spend nearly three hours per week playing mobile games - more time playing than browsing on popular social media apps where the average time spent in the U.S. is two hours per week. (https://www.adweek.com/commerce/the-new-gen-z-shopper-opportunity-in-mobile-gaming/)

A declining share of Americans favor more government regulation of major technology companies, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Still, a plurality of U.S. adults favor greater regulation of these companies, and a large majority believe it is at least somewhat likely that social media sites censor political viewpoints they find objectionable. Overall, 44% of Americans think major technology companies should be regulated more than they are now, down from 56% in April 2021. Conversely, the share of Americans who say they want less government regulation of major technology companies has roughly doubled, from about one-in-ten (9%) in previous years to one-in-five today. (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/05/13/support-for-more-regulation-of-tech-companies-has-declined-in-u-s-especially-among-republicans/)

Google and Samsung announced Health Connect, a new initiative that will simplify the connectivity between health and fitness apps to allow users to share their data across apps. Essentially, Health Connect will function as the on-device clearinghouse for health and fitness data. Indeed, all of the data is on the device and encrypted to ensure privacy. The beta of Health Connect is now available to developers on Google Play so they can start building on top of it and testing their apps. (https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/11/google-and-samsung-team-up-to-make-sharing-data-between-health-and-fitness-apps-easier/)

Meta's AI lab has created a massive new language model that shares both the remarkable abilities and the harmful flaws of OpenAI's pioneering neural network GPT-3. And in an unprecedented move for Big Tech, it is giving it away to researchers - together with details about how it was built and trained. Meta's move is the first time that a fully trained large language model will be made available to any researcher who wants to study it. Meta is making its model, called Open Pretrained Transformer (OPT), available for non-commercial use. It is also releasing its code and a logbook that documents the training process. The logbook contains daily updates from members of the team about the training data: how it was added to the model and when, what worked and what didn't. In more than 100 pages of notes, the researchers logged every bug, crash, and reboot in a three-month training process that ran nonstop from October 2021 to January 2022. (https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/05/03/1051691/meta-ai-large-language-model-gpt3-ethics-huggingface-transparency/)

Google is updating its Maps and search features as it seeks to broaden its appeal to a younger generation more familiar with image and video-heavy content found on TikTok and Instagram. The tech behemoth plans on rolling out a "multisearch" function which will allow people to combine images and text to make searches, it announced at its annual I/O conference. It also promised a more immersive experience for it Maps feature - an update which uses new computer vision - a type of AI technology that gets information from video and images - to offer a more experiential view of neighborhoods, landmarks, restaurants and other venues. The updated feature will also allow users to assess traffic, crowd size or weather conditions at places to make it "feel like you're right there before you ever set foot inside." (https://www.businessinsider.com/google-revamps-search-maps-features-younger-tik-tok-savvy-users-2022-5)

SpaceX has expanded availability of its Starlink satellite-based internet service to a total of 32 countries, the company said last week, including Australia, Chile, US, Canada, Europe, Brazil, and elsewhere, an expansion from 25 countries supported in February. SpaceX started rolling out international support last September. (https://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0082498.html)

Microsoft, Apple and Google have agreed to expand support for a passwordless standard developed by the FIDO Alliance and World Wide Web Consortium. Passwordless adoption is designed to bolster digital security across multiple platforms and devices. The enhanced support will allow users to access FIDO sign-in credentials, aka passkeys, without the need to reenroll on multiple devices. The enhanced support will allow users to use FIDO authentication on a mobile device to sign in on a nearby device, regardless of the operating system or browser. The primary use case for the expanded support is for consumer service providers, according to FIDO officials, but small- and medium-sized businesses and enterprises may want to use the enhanced standard to boost multi-factor authentication adoption, since current Microsoft data shows only 22% of corporate workers use MFA FIDO, according to FIDO officials. (https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/microsoft-apple-google-fido-passwordless/623273/)

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