Great customer experiences arent defined by the storefront alone. Its time to look beyond transactions - at what really impacts the customers experience today and tomorrow.

The backbone of great, consistent customer experiences are efficient back-end operations. They ensure customers get what they want, when and how they want it. This principle puts the supply chain front and center.

Historically, the supply chain has largely remained in the background, focused on sourcing, manufacturing and distributing in a cost-efficient model. Even today the supply chain, often a legacy system, remains largely segmented and non-digitized. But changes are on the horizon, as supply chain managers everywhere are starting to rethink how to move forward.

Why now? For decades, the customer used to interact with the supply chain only at the store. Now a powerful customer who is always-on, expects instant information from packaging to last mile delivery. Visibility and transparency into your supply chain has become table stakes. Millennials and Gen Z have especially high expectations regarding sustainably produced goods that can only be met by tracing the product from its origin to the hand of the customers. Customers expect to be well-informed and more than that: they want to be part of the process.

All of these expectations connect the supply chain directly to the customer the customers purchasing experience as well as the customers overall experience with the brand. That means the consumer is now emotionally engaged with your supply chain.

How should supply chain managers move forward?

First, put the customers experiencethe customers expectations, wants and needsat the heart of the supply chain, and then work upstream.

Second, embrace new technologies and digitize your entire supply chain. This will pay dividends in reducing excess inventory and costs while improving your speed to market.

But theres more: a supply chain that is digitalized lays the foundation to use innovative technologies that have a number of benefits.

With a fully digital supply chain, structured and unstructured data can be readily available. IBM Watson, an artificial intelligence (AI) engine, can play a critical role in this transformation as a differentiator and game changer. It understands, reasons, learns and interacts. You can use IBM Watson, for example, to improve demand forecasting and order fulfillment.

Other technologies like IBM Metro Pulse combine a diverse set of time-sensitive, hyper-local city data at a neighborhood levelsuch as weather, local events, traffic, or consumer movementwith business data, and then apply AI. With this data, retailers have a completely different set of insights that can help make business decisions.

The blockchain uses digital transactions between parties to create an unalterable record, i.e. a universal, de-centralized truth for all involved parties. Combined with the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable sensors to track the physical movement of goods, IBM Blockchain can fundamentally change the way supply chain managers manage their products throughout the supply chain.

The combination of these powerful technologies can provide full visibility across the entire supply chain from product conception all the way to the customers hands. These solutions help build the foundation for a true supply value ecosystem. By doing so, supply chain managers can be both service-oriented and customer-centric, truly transforming the relationship between the brand and customer.

Click here for more information on the supply value ecosystem.

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Transform your supply chain into a supply value ecosystem - Retail Dive

The University of Chicago is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energys Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to launch an intellectual hub for advancing academic, industrial and governmental efforts in the science and engineering of quantum information.

This hub within the Institute for Molecular Engineering, called the Chicago Quantum Exchange, will facilitate the exploration of quantum information and the development of new applications with the potential to dramatically improve technology for communication, computing and sensing. The collaboration will include scientists and engineers from the two national labs and IME, as well as scholars from UChicagos departments of physics, chemistry, computer science, and astronomy and astrophysics.

Quantum mechanics governs the behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels in exotic and unfamiliar ways compared to the classical physics used to understand the movements of everyday objects. The engineering of quantum phenomena could lead to new classes of devices and computing capabilities, permitting novel approaches to solving problems that cannot be addressed using existing technology.

The combination of the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, working together as the Chicago Quantum Exchange, is unique in the domain of quantum information science, said Matthew Tirrell, dean and founding Pritzker Director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering and Argonnes deputy laboratory director for science. The CQEs capabilities will span the range of quantum informationfrom basic solid-state experimental and theoretical physics, to device design and fabrication, to algorithm and software development. CQE aims to integrate and exploit these capabilities to create a quantum information technology ecosystem.

Serving as director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange will be David Awschalom, UChicagos Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering and an Argonne senior scientist. Discussions about establishing a trailblazing quantum engineering initiative began soon after Awschalom joined the UChicago faculty in 2013 when he proposed this concept, and were subsequently developed through the recruitment of faculty and the creation of state-of-the-art measurement laboratories.

We are at a remarkable moment in science and engineering, where a stream of scientific discoveries are yielding new ways to create, control and communicate between quantum states of matter, Awschalom said. Efforts in Chicago and around the world are leading to the development of fundamentally new technologies, where information is manipulated at the atomic scale and governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Transformative technologies are likely to emerge with far-reaching applicationsranging from ultra-sensitive sensors for biomedical imaging to secure communication networks to new paradigms for computation. In addition, they are making us re-think the meaning of information itself.

The collaboration will benefit from UChicagos Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which supports the creation of innovative businesses connected to UChicago and Chicagos South Side. The CQE will have a strong connection with a major Hyde Park innovation project that was announced recently as the second phase of the Harper Court development on the north side of 53rd Street, and will include an expansion of Polsky Center activities. This project will enable the transition from laboratory discoveries to societal applications through industrial collaborations and startup initiatives.

Companies large and small are positioning themselves to make a far-reaching impact with this new quantum technology. Alumni of IMEs quantum engineering PhD program have been recruited to work for many of these companies. The creation of CQE will allow for new linkages and collaborations with industry, governmental agencies and other academic institutions, as well as support from the Polsky Center for new startup ventures.

This new quantum ecosystem will provide a collaborative environment for researchers to invent technologies in which all the components of information processingsensing, computation, storage and communicationare kept in the quantum world, Awschalom said. This contrasts with todays mainstream computer systems, which frequently transform electronic signals from laptop computers into light for internet transmission via fiber optics, transforming them back into electronic signals when they arrive at their target computers, finally to become stored as magnetic data on hard drives.

IMEs quantum engineering program is already training a new workforce of quantum engineers to meet the need of industry, government laboratories and universities. The program now consists of eight faculty members and more than 100 postdoctoral scientists and doctoral students. Approximately 20 faculty members from UChicagos Physical Sciences Division also pursue quantum research. These include David Schuster, assistant professor in physics, who collaborates with Argonne and Fermilab researchers.

The collaboration will rely on the distinctive strengths of the University and the two national laboratories, both of which are located in the Chicago suburbs and have longstanding affiliations with the University of Chicago.

At Argonne, approximately 20 researchersconduct quantum-related research through joint appointments at the laboratory and UChicago. Fermilab has about 25 scientists and technicians working on quantum research initiatives related to the development of particle sensors, quantum computing and quantum algorithms.

This is a great time to invest in quantum materials and quantum information systems, said Supratik Guha, director of Argonnes Nanoscience and Technology Division and a professor of molecular engineering at UChicago. We have extensive state-of-the-art capabilities in this area.

Argonne proposed the first recognizable theoretical framework for a quantum computer, work conducted in the early 1980s by Paul Benioff. Today, including joint appointees, Argonnes expertise spans the spectrum of quantum sensing, quantum computing, classical computing and materials science.

Argonne and UChicago already have invested approximately $6 million to build comprehensive materials synthesis facilitiescalled The Quantum Factoryat both locations. Guha, for example, has installed state-of-the-art deposition systems that he uses to layer atoms of materials needed for building quantum structures.

Together we will have comprehensive capabilities to be able to grow and synthesize one-, two- and three-dimensional quantum structures for the future, Guha said. These structures, called quantum bitsqubitsserve as the building blocks for quantum computing and quantum sensing.

Argonne also has theorists who can help identify problems in physics and chemistry that could be solved via quantum computing. Argonnes experts in algorithms, operating systems and systems software, led by Rick Stevens, associate laboratory director and UChicago professor in computer science, will play a critical role as well, because no quantum computer will be able to operate without connecting to a classical computer.

Fermilabs interest in quantum computing stems from the enhanced capabilities that the technology could offer within 15 years, said Joseph Lykken, Fermilab deputy director and senior scientist.

The Large Hadron Collider experiments, ATLAS and CMS, will still be running 15 years from now, Lykken said. Our neutrino experiment, DUNE, will still be running 15 years from now. Computing is integral to particle physics discoveries, so advances that are 15 years away in high-energy physics are developments that we have to start thinking about right now.

Lykken noted that almost any quantum computing technology is, by definition, a device with atomic-level sensitivity that potentially could be applied to sensitive particle physics experiments. An ongoing Fermilab-UChicago collaboration is exploring the use of quantum computing for axion detection. Axions are candidate particles for dark matter, an invisible mass of unknown composition that accounts for 85 percent of the mass of the universe.

Another collaboration with UChicago involves developing quantum computer technology that uses photons in superconducting radio frequency cavities for data storage and error correction. These photons are light particles emitted as microwaves. Scientists expect the control and measurement of microwave photons to become important components of quantum computers.

We build the best superconducting microwave cavities in the world, but we build them for accelerators, Lykken said. Fermilab is collaborating with UChicago to adapt the technology for quantum applications.

Fermilab also has partnered with the California Institute of Technology and AT&T to develop a prototype quantum information network at the lab. Fermilab, Caltech and AT&T have long collaborated to efficiently transmit the Large Hadron Colliders massive data sets. The project, a quantum internet demonstration of sorts, is called INQNET (INtelligent Quantum NEtworks and Technologies).

Fermilab also is working to increase the scale of todays quantum computers. Fermilab can contribute to this effort because quantum computers are complicated, sensitive, cryogenic devices. The laboratory has decades of experience in scaling up such devices for high-energy physics applications.

Its one of the main things that we do, Lykken said.

More here:

Chicago Quantum Exchange to create technologically transformative ecosystem - UChicago News

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council is on a mission to clear illegal structures near the world famous Pangong Lake, after environmentalists raised an alarm that the fragile eco-system surrounding it is on the verge of collapse.

The minister for Ladakh affairs, Chhering Dorjey, along with Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) LAHDC, Sonam Dawa visited many villages near the Pangong Lake in May to oversee the removal of encroachments. Dawa told the media that they would clear all encroachments from the villages of Fobrang Yurgo Maan, Merak and Spangmik along the Pangong Lake, which passes through these hamlets.Government of India recently declared the Pangong Lake as a cold desert sanctuary and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has also asked for the removal of all structures alongside the lake.

Leh and the Pangong Lake are witnessing unprecedented tourist flow this summer, adding to the worries of conservationists. The huge tourist flow is attributed to the Aamir Khan blockbuster Three Idiots, the climax of which was shot in the backdrop of this famous lake. After the release of the film, the inflow of tourists in Ladakh multiplied and the Pangong 125 km long water body came under severe threat. A lot of illegal structures and restaurants have been erected around Pangong Lake and most of them have been named Ranchos Caf. In the peak summer months, thousands of youths from across the country visit Ladakh, bringing the desert region to its breaking point. The government should regulate tourism in the Ladakh region, otherwise all its beauty would be destroyed, said Noor Jahan, an artist from Leh.

Chhering Dorjey told The Sunday Guardian that they are taking all the steps to divert the tourist rush to other new destinations in Ladakh.

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'Ladakh's eco-system is collapsing' - The Sunday Guardian

Minister KT Rama Rao at the inauguration of Medical Devices Park in Sangareddy on Saturday| express photo

HYDERABAD:Pitched as Indias largest, Telanganas Medical Devices Park located on Hyderabads outskirts will not just be limited to manufacturing medical devices but aim at creating an ecosystem where support will be provided for innovation, research & development, and incubation facilities to support entrepreneurship.Inaugurated by Industries minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday, the Medical Devices Park is coming up on 250 acres at Sultanpur village in Patancheru mandal.

On the first day itself, 50 acres of land was allotted to 14 industries. There is a scope for expanding the Park by another 200 acres. Speaking on the occasion, Rama Rao said that Hyderabad is Pharmaceutical capital of India, worlds vaccine production capital and also has the Genome Valley, and is recognised as a prominent medical tourism destination across Africa and other emerging nations.

As part of this life sciences spectrum, it is imperative that we also start looking at more innovation, more manufacturing and more opportunities. When we started interacting with large number of manufacturers, players in the ecosystem, we realised it is important to lay foundation for an ecosystem and not just for manufacturing unit. Medical Devices Park is not just a manufacturing facility. What we have here is an ecosystem, Rama Rao said. He added that over 75 percent of the medical devices in India are imported and rest is manufactured in India.

Irrigation minister T Harish Rao, who was also present at the inaugural event, said at times, when they attend inauguration of nursing homes, they are told that devices such as scanning machines have been brought in from Australia, London or the USA.

As the Park has come up in Hyderabad, imports will come down, he said. He urged industrialists pto employ locals for semi-skilled and unskilled jobs. If training is required, government is ready to provide it. Please indicate the number of people you need, the kind of skills you want, he said.Rama Rao said MoUs will be inked with internationally renowned Medical Devices Parks in China and Korea.

Originally posted here:

'Medical Devices Park is not just a manufacturing unit, it's an ecosystem' - The New Indian Express

What do you know about the African tech and startup ecosystem? Read this article to learn more about the tech events and initiatives which support Africas entrepreneurs.

Africa has one of the fastest growing mobile network infrastructures in the world. West Africa alone is the home of 175 million subscribers according to GSMAs report. From an estimated population of 372 million in West Africa, Nigeria has an estimated population of around 191 million in 2017. This has made Nigeria to be considered the stronghold of the region and one of the most important markets in Africa. Because of this, there are many Nigerian tech entrepreneurs whom are helping to organize a tech event named Techplus, to attract the global players of this industry to the country. Techplus is considered as the largest tech event in Africa this year and it is to be held between the 4th and 8th of July 2017 in Nigeria.

Some of Africas tech hubs include ccHub (Lagos, Nigeria), Jozihub (Johannesburg, South Africa), iHub (Nairobi, Kenya), iSpaces (Accra, Ghana) and Outbox (Kampala, Uganda). AfriLabs, a prominent network of tech hubs,has also announced and welcomed 11 new hubs into its pan-African network structure, which are: nHub(Nigeria),inCUBE8(Malawi), iBridge (Nigeria),Lumumba Labs(Democratic Republic of Congo),Wenak Labs(Chad),Sote Hub(Kenya),The Innovation Village Kampala(Uganda),The Tech Village(Zimbabwe),BitHub(Kenya),dLab(Tanzania),Startpreneurs(Nigeria), as TechCrunch reported.The African tech startups raised funding in excess of 129 million US dollars in 2016, according to data compile by Disrupt Africa.

There are many programs which are greatly reforming the tech ecosystem in Africa. Andela is one of these programs which is backed by the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and is now operating in three African countries. The aim of this establishment is to create world class developers in the tech industry. Also, we can mention Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology in Ghana (MEST) which is a non-profit post-graduate training and mentoring school for startups. They have now extended their branches to Nigeria and South Africa.

Regarding the programs which promote tech in Africa, we can mention Microsofts 4Afrika initiative and also Demo Africa which aims to connect African startups to the global ecosystem. Demo Africa is taking place between 16th and 17th of November, 2017 in Johannesburg and is affiliated with LIONS@frica.

Talking about successful African tech companies, we can mention Jumia which is an e-commerce business started in Nigeria and is now operating in Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Uganda. Another success story of Nigeria is Konga which is an e-commerce company founded in 2012.

In view of all these, Africa can proudly stand as one of the fastest growing tech markets in the world, with extraordinary talented youth who have the hunger to build and exploit tech opportunities and innovations.

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A Little Spotlight on Africa's Tech Ecosystem - TechRasa (press release) (blog)

Robust private-sector investment and prudent regulation from policymakers have helped establish Maryland as a cradle of innovation and a leader in the U.S. innovation economy. Few states can match Maryland's highly skilled workforce, market access and technology-centered policy incentives, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked Maryland No. 1 in the country for entrepreneurship and innovation.

But continued leadership of the region and the ability of the region to continue to reap the economic and jobs benefits of innovation is not a given. It requires constant cultivation and smart action from our elected officials.

Maryland is home to more than 800 life sciences companies, 70 federal labs and 16 colleges and universities, including National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, Johns Hopkins University, the University System of Maryland and companies like MedImmune and GlaxoSmithKline. About 6 percent of Maryland's gross domestic product $17.6 billion is generated by the life sciences, and the biotechnology industry in Maryland alone employs about 34,000.

During the most recent legislative session in Maryland, the General Assembly considered a piece of onerous drug pricing legislation that threatened the biopharmaceutical ecosystem in the state while also potentially impeding access to care for Maryland patients.

In the name of "transparency," the legislation which would have been the most hostile to industry in the country imposed complex bureaucratic reporting requirements that disregarded the extraordinary development requirements and complex distribution channels for innovative drugs and therapies.

Had the legislation passed, the impact would have been threefold: obstructing patient access to care by undermining competition, delaying and minimizing drug product availability as a result of onerous and fruitless reporting requirements and halting investment in the Maryland innovation economy.

On top of that, the legislation would have done nothing to address the price consumers actually pay for medicine.

Twenty-first century challenges such as the rising costs of health care need serious, 21st century solutions, and all Marylanders have a stake in the outcome. The life sciences industries in Maryland support policy solutions that put patients first, that promote patient access to treatments, and that look at all drivers of health care costs. These are priorities that impact all Marylanders.

Maryland has taken some steps to accelerate and protect the growth of biotechnology and health industry sectors. The Life Sciences Advisory Board of which I, alongside other leaders in the biohealth community, am a part was created in 2007 by the Maryland legislature to assist in maintaining the state's preeminence in the life sciences industry. The LSAB's BioHealth Acceleration Initiative has a goal of growing the Maryland biohealth industry into a globally recognized top three U.S. innovation hub by 2023.

Maryland's ability to achieve this status, as well as the ability of the life-sciences and other industries to thrive, innovate and contribute to the local economy partly depends on a policy framework and business environment that encourage investment.

As Maryland lawmakers consider their future priorities, they will be making a choice about Maryland's future health, innovation and business environment. The continued good health of Maryland physical and fiscal will require policymakers to make choices that protect the innovation economy and to reject policies that could stymie Maryland's continued growth.

Onerous regulation such as the recent drug price transparency regulation will not only hamper patient access to treatment, but also runs the risk of losing biopharmaceutical investment that could move to states with less hostile business environments.

We urge policymakers to do the right thing for Maryland patients and business and reject such onerous regulation.

Richard A. Bendis is president and CEO of Rockville-based BioHealth Innovation, a public-private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of the innovation economy in America. Contact him at rbendis@biohealthinnovation.org.

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Richard A. Bendis: Innovation ecosystem vital to state - CapitalGazette.com

Yesterday, Amazon unveiled the second generation of its Dash Wand, an Alexa-enabled home barcode scanner that adds grocery items to an AmazonFresh cart. Yesterday, the Dash was a promotional tool, a way for Prime members in five urban markets (New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Northern and Southern California) to get back-doored into the $15/month AmazonFresh grocery delivery service.

Did we mention that was yesterday?

Today, Amazon announced a $13.7 billion deal to buy the Whole Foods grocery chain, which includes 461 stories across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Today, the Amazon Dash Wand got a lot more interesting.

Most Americans live within an hours drive of a Whole Foods, and many are a half-hour or less from one. Thats good news for a company like Amazon, whos been slowly but surely building out the necessary logistics for on-demand grocery delivery, but has yet to expand outside major metro areas.

AmazonFresh debuted a decade ago, in 2007. The Prime Now one- or two-hour delivery service has been steadily expanding since it launched in New York City in 2014. Whats more, Prime Now got an Alexa-integration upgrade in March of this year. The updated Dash Wand, which takes up the mantle of its defunct and limited predecessor and a cluttered array of Dash Buttons, is a key piece in this on-demand delivery puzzle.

Ask for eggs, and ye shall receive.

From a shoppers standpoint, building a grocery list via voice assistant is a lot more impactful than asking Alexa to buy, say, a pair of sneakers. Interacting with Alexabe it through the Dash Wand, an Echo device, or Amazon appcould become as natural an experience as saying Honey, we need eggs.

The key difference: When you say that to Amazon, the eggs could just arrive. Fresh, organic, and straight off the shelves of the nearest Whole Foods store. Or so we hope.

On the backend, Amazon has been developing an infrastructure to support such an enterprise for years. The Seattle company has deals with many delivery contractors, and also runs a network of independent gig couriers through a program called Amazon Flex. All this is in service of making the last mile of the delivery chain move as quickly and efficiently as possible.

It makes perfect sense that all this infrastructure can support a growing e-commerce grocery business. Though services like Instacart, Fresh Direct, and Google Express make good business delivering sundries, online grocery retail is a mere fraction (1.2 percent, to be precise) of the entire food-shopping market, according to research firm Euromonitor. At the same time, online grocers are projected to grow more than four times as quickly as their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

Order up!

Read more:

Buying Whole Foods could complete an Amazon ecosystem a decade in the making - Popular Science

Amazon isnt just a master at selling stuff. Its also a shrewd buyer as its $13.7 billion agreement this morning to acquire Whole Foods demonstrates.

Usually, in a big deal like this one, investors respond to the news by driving down the acquirers shares. But Amazon ended the day up 3%.

Buyers are optimistic that CEO Jeff Bezos will boost Amazons revenues and reach by establishing a foothold in the nearly $1 trillion a year U.S. grocery business. That could be reason enough to justify the acquisition.

But the deal also raises intriguing possibilities for Amazon to expand scale, and deepen customer loyalty, for its entire sales ecosystem including its media offerings led by the Amazon Prime streaming video service.

The company should find it easy to dream up deals that motivate Whole Foods customers to sign up for Amazon Prime the $99 a year service that includes streaming video and music, as well as two-day delivery of most products Amazon sells.

The e-retailer might also tempt Prime members to pick up an Amazon Echo. The voice driven device answers questions, executes orders to fulfill digital demands including queuing up videos and play lists, and of course makes it easy for users to buy products from Amazon.

That could now include Whole Foods shopping lists. (Would it confuse Echo if Bezos was playful enough to offer meat eaters a cut called Amazon Prime?)

And, of course, the additional data about customers grocery likes would strengthen Amazons ability to charge high prices for targeted ads. Buyers could know, from peoples shopping histories, who might be a promising prospect to buy, say, a particular kind of cereal or dog food and craft sales pitches based on that intimate knowledge.

What may be more important for Bezos, though, are the delivery options open to him with 450 Whole Foods stores spread across 48 states. They will give Amazon outlets across the nations upscale neighborhoods.

Assuming the company doesnt limit Whole Food stores and the distribution network that serves them to groceries, then they can help address a nagging problem: speed. Bezos has long dreamed about adding same day delivery to a system that consumers find easy to use.

Analysts are betting that Amazon will make the deal pay off.

BMO Capital Markets Daniel Salmon says hes highly confident that Amazon will leverage the new store footprint for much more thanjust selling groceries.

Cowen & Cos John Blackledge says that grocery is Amazons biggest potential source of revenue upside over time and represents the continued evolution of Amazons multi-platform approach.

RBC Capital Markets Mark Mahaney warns that Amazon faces substantialexecution risk in the deal. But he isnt worried: For a company of Amazons size this is actually a relatively modest acquisition. As a result, its not an investment thesis changer for Amazon although the competitiveimplications for other grocers could be enormous.

Continue reading here:

Will Amazon's Deal With Whole Foods Boost Its Media & Retail Ecosystem? - Deadline

The Breckenridge Port Authority learned about entrepreneurial ecosystems during their meeting Wednesday.

Justin Neppl, with the Small Business Development Center, Wahpeton, shared information about creating a business incubator in the region.

The board originally wanted to hire a part-time economic development consultant to bring new businesses to the city, and had identified Neppl as the logical choice.

Neppl said he would prefer to help in another way lead the development of an entrepreneurial network for the area.

Traditionally, economic development has been, you hire somebody and expect them to pick up the phone and bring businesses in, retain business and grow local businesses, he said. That expectation is very unrealistic. Having one person managing all that is a failure, plus ultimately entrepreneurs dont really care about economic developers, they care about other entrepreneurs.

He said that was the underlying theme of the book he brought along which was recommended by several people during his research, called Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem inYour City, by Brad Feld.

Its what Fargo has done put up programs that attract other entrepreneurs. Economic development is still there and a necessary government position, but not in same way most think it should be, Neppl said.

He proposed instead of paying him, the board set a budget to create programs to connect entrepreneurs in the Twin Towns and surrounding areas.

I would go forth and have those same conversations with the Wahpeton EDC and CDC, (asking) that they would match the budget thats set, he explained.

He wouldnt try to duplicate existing efforts, such as Fargos One Million Cups, which meets weekly.

Its a fantastic place that a lot of entrepreneurs get to meet others, and hear pitches on business ideas and get feedback from the community. They also ran Startup Drinks for a long time, which was an after-hours thing.

He envisions the group meeting regularly to discuss a particular business topic or see a presentation and allow networking.

Working with the SBDC for the past three years has shown him how businesses get going, he said.

When a business wants to come to town or someone wants to start a business, theyre going to local entrepreneurs. Theyre getting together and solving problems, he said. If you had this group established, they would go to the entrepreneuers, now they have a mentor, and they would then be kicked back to the economic development office who can pair them with the right programs or answer questions they may have from a government standpoint.

Asked if the area would be at a disadvantage, competing with a larger communities like Fargo-Moorhead or Fergus Falls, Neppl said people and businesses dont care about boundaries, which are created by government.

Thats one of the things the book states and I agree 100 percent, he said. The more we can collaborate, the better off we are. We should be contacting Fergus (Falls) all the time and networking with their entrepreneurs over there and seeing how we can improve.

He also pointed to Battle Lake as an example of a community with a tight-knit group of business owners.

Its something we lack here, he said.

Board member Dennis Larson, also a Wilkin County commissioner, said the county board is interested in working with the city regarding economic development in some form, but was unsure how to explain the idea to them. He invited Neppl to a commissioners meeting for a presentation.

You have to get entrepreneurs excited first, and everyone else will come along. Thats where the money will be, so all of a sudden bankers will be interested, insurance agents, investors, and government. Once you excite the entrepreneurs, youre good to go, Neppl said. The Jay Schulers of the world would love something like this here. We need a platform that theyll attend and find value in and network.

Statistics show an average of 10 percent of a communitys population are entrepreneurs, Neppl said That would mean about 300 people in Breckenridge are potentially entrepreneurs or are interested in starting a business, and about about 1,100 people between the two towns.

Maybe our entire entrepreneurship percentage isnt as high as Fargo, but we could attract them. Theres an ability to add, he said. When you start sharing an idea with an entrepreneur, thats always a good thing. They can start networking for you to get the idea executed into a business.

See the article here:

Interest in creating entrepreneur ecosystem - Wahpeton Daily News

Losing yourself in music is something that everyone should do at least once a day. The freedoms that it affords ones mind cannot be understated. In my eclectic (and eternal) playlist, there is one song that has likely been played at least twice as much as any other (and to be fair, it likely has the same global play counts); Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, an epic song that helped define the band to generations. But it was this past week when listening to the song when my mind was turning over thoughts on banking, and a line jumped out at me with new meaning; Theres a feeling I get, when I look to the west While Jimmy and Robert were musing over much larger questions about life and death, my current journey had me subconsciously thinking about banking.

We have all talked, and many with animated excitement, about where we are in our industry and the state of disruption and transformation of what ACI terms the New Payments Ecosystem. Many of us have agreed that change is upon us, and almost as many agree that no one knows for sure what that new landscape will look like. The immediate impact of Open API technology on banking is evident in the use and business cases that seem to emerge on a daily basis. This is partly because banks are forced to be more open by regulation such as PSD2, but also partly due to a need to be more open in order to form partnerships that deliver the new services our customers expect. We see the effects of these wider trends in the application of (not yet fully open) API technology to open up the payments schemes, and the move away from proprietary protocols and networks. Its not just the more established tech we have to get our heads around. Often over-hyped, but likely to have lasting-impact, are distributed ledger technology and blockchain, which will both thrive in this new open market. New technologies will drive drastic change in the industry. To quote a later line from the now firmly-planted earworm; And a new day will dawn, For those who stand long, And the forests will echo with laughter.

Financial institutions, retailers, technology providers, new entrants and incumbents have all arrived at this interesting crossroads in their respective journeys. The New Payments Ecosystem that is emergingand the opportunities it affordslook, feel and are different from the existing world. The roles that each participant played and fine-tuned over a generation are suddenly being challenged, augmented, adjusted or replaced, which is both scary and exciting. This disruption has everyone in the ecosystem looking closely at their approach to the market, realigning to the new opportunities that this ecosystem presents, and adjusting their business models to meet the new demands of this space.

Jimmy gives us all hope though; Yes, there are two paths you can go by, But in the long run, There's still time to change the road you're on. We are all on the early part of this journey, and we do have choices on the routes we are going to take, part of that is embracing the start-up mentality of agile development and fast-fail models. Its time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and start playing with new ideas, new technologies and embrace the journeyAnd who knows, maybe it will lead us to the magical staircaseto the promised land of banking that Led Zeppelin were clearly singing about!

If you want to talk 70s classic rock, or indeed Open APIs and digital banking, catch me at EBA Day 2017 on Stand 30.

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Are Open APIs the Stairway to the New Payments Ecosystem? - Finextra (blog)

In this video from the MSST 2017 Mass Storage Conference, Andy Rudoff from Intel presents: Persistent Memory Programming: The Current State of the Ecosystem.

In this presentation, Andy will report on the latest developments around persistent memory programming. Hell describing current discussions in the SNIA NVM Programming Technical Work Group, the current state of operating system support, recent tool and library development, and finally hell describe some of the upcoming challenges for high performance persistent memory use.

Andy Rudoff is a Senior Principal Engineer at Intel Corporation, focusing on Non-Volatile Memory programming. He is a contributor to the SNIA NVM Programming Technical Work Group. His more than 30 years industry experience includes design and development work in operating systems, file systems, networking, and fault management at companies large and small, including Sun Microsystems and VMware. Andy has taught various Operating Systems classes over the years and is a co-author of the popular UNIX Network Programming text book.

See more talks in the MSST 2017 Video Gallery

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Persistent Memory Programming: The Current State of the Ecosystem - insideHPC

June 15, 2017 by Ian Bryce

Flooding and extreme heat are projected to increase over the next few decades and will be extremely costly for cities to manage. But a new study from Simon Fraser University shows how cities working together to restore and maintain ecosystems can be cheaper than building hard infrastructure to respond to climate change, and provides additional benefits such as buoyant property values and community health.

SFU's Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT), a think tank based at the Pacific Water Research Centre in SFU's Faculty of Environment, is releasing the results of Low Carbon Resilience and Transboundary Municipal Ecosystem Governance: A Case Study of Still Creek. The study analyzes the benefits gained from the restoration of Still Creek from 1949 to 2014 through collaborations between the City of Vancouver and City of Burnaby.

"Urban ecosystems play a crucial role in the fight against climate change, helping us adapt to climate change impacts such as flooding and heatwaves, while reducing emissions," says Deborah Harford, ACT Executive Director.

The study found that the presence of ecosystems has been shown to help absorb floodwaters, reduce extreme heat impacts, and absorb and store carbon, while benefitting property values, contributing to physical and mental health, and helping species survive both climate change and the impacts of human development.

But many ecosystems cross municipal boundaries, and cities often lack the capacity for collaboration essential to restoring and maintaining ecosystem healthresulting in fragmentation and loss of value and benefits.

The case study credits partnerships, creative governance, community engagement, and innovative funding approaches between the two Metro Vancouver cities, leading to many mutual benefits including the return of spawning salmon to the creek after decades of pollution and neglect.

"It's crucial that we resource our cities now to increase their capacity to adapt to climate change while reducing emissions, and ecosystem restoration can form an important component of this approach," says Harford.

Explore further: EU body: Climate change poses increasingly severe risks

More information: Report: act-adapt.org/still-creek-a-case-study-of-transboundary-municipal-ecosystem-governance/

Infographic: act-adapt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Still-Creek-Infographic-June-13.pdf

Story board: http://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=81e488a76d704a79997c306a92d49deb

The European Environment Agency says the continent is facing rising sea levels and more extreme weather, such as more frequent and more intense heat waves, flooding, droughts and storms because of climate change.

Overheated cities face climate change costs at least twice as big as the rest of the world because of the 'urban heat island' effect, new research shows.

An international team of scientists has concluded that "highly protected" marine reserves can help mitigate the effects of climate change and suggests that these areas be expanded and better managed throughout the world.

Beavers, high elevation streams, and oyster reefs are just three of the weapons in the fight against climate change discussed in 14 Solutions to Problems Climate Change Poses for Conservation, a new report released today ...

Australia endured a summer of record-breaking extremes, scientists said on Wednesday, with climate change tipped to increase the frequency and severity of such phenomena.

Disadvantaged groups need to be helped to cope with the cost pressures caused by climate change, according to a new report compiled by the University of Dundee for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a landbound mass of ice larger than Mexico, experienced substantial surface melt through the austral summer of 2015-2016 during one of the largest El Nio events of the past 50 years, according ...

Volcanologists are gaining a new understanding of what's going on inside the magma reservoir that lies below an active volcano and they're finding a colder, more solid place than previously thought, according to new research ...

Understanding "slow-slip" earthquakes on the seafloorseismic events that occur over a period of days or weeksis giving researchers new insights into undersea earthquakes and the subsequent creation of tsunamis. Through ...

People who live and work along coasts and coastlines everywhere may be more likely to experience a super-charged lightning strike, according to new research from Florida Institute of Technology that shows lightning can be ...

Gaps of uprooted or broken trees in Amazonia have cascading consequences, from local farm productivity to global carbon storage. Severe rain or thunderstorms with descending winds, expected to become more frequent with climate ...

Hundreds of built and proposed hydroelectric dams may significantly harm life in and around the Amazon by trapping the flow of rich nutrients and modifying the climate from Central America to the Gulf of Mexico. These findings, ...

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Cities fight climate change through ecosystem restoration - Phys.Org

Following an overwhelming response in the first week of its Pre ICO, XinFin XDC reaffirms its mission to provide real world connectivity to the bitcoin ecosystem.

XinFin XDC, a distributed and decentralized permissioned blockchain platform meant for global trade and financing ecosystem meant to bridge the $5 trillion infrastructure deficit has moved into its second week of Pre ICO.

Xinfin.org Head of Marketing, Alex Mathbeck says :

We have received amazing response by the community and early investors and our mission to bridge the global infrastructure deficit has been highly appreciated.

Market capitalisation of Bitcoin and blockchain built alt coins has reached over $110 billion as of today. It is growing too fast. There is no wonder that we all as a community believe in the blockchain technology and its potential. However, the question that needs to be answered today is what problem are we really solving? Peer to peer digital cash and global payments are the primary use cases of the bitcoin ecosystem but as the market capitalisation of the economy grows many fold, the world will start questioning real use of the bitcoin ecosystem. XinFin XDC has an answer for that.

XinFin XDC network is built to connect the bitcoin ecosystem to a very common real world person who is looking for simplicity and solution.

XinFin XDC network :does not use proof of work mining that is highly computing resource intensive. It uses a combination of Proof of Importance/proof of Reputation that has reduced the latency time to few secondsChecks a wallet address for its existence. Does not initiate a transfer to a non-existent XinFin XDC address Provides greater security due to its permissioned distributed network.Provides instant global payments and settlements.

XinFin is currently building an application layer over its blockchain layer that:

Locks XDC rate to a Fiat Currency rate for 2-5 days. This feature is especially required for real world instant global remittancesIncentivizes financiers to finance public infrastructure projects of critical importance and voted by the community backed by the regulators/institution Allows Trade & financing between buyers and sellers with non-existent ratings.Allows Institutions to trade rapidly depreciating and idle inventories

Commenting on its Pre ICO Model

We have received tremendous response even before our Pre ICO round. Our upcoming marketplace is the most anticipated by the community and will demonstrate first real world trades and peer to peer financing between global institutions. XinFin does not want to raise too much capital before its real world trade transactions and framework is launched. Hence it is applying a phase wise ICO model and listing on some of the Crypto-coin exchanges. Some ICOs have raised millions of dollars even before demonstrating a real product. XinFin wants to stick to business basics of delivering value and real product as it raises more capital and lists across exchanges.

Speculation may be the short term way of appreciation but delivering real product is a long term model and XinFin will stick to it.

XinFin Pre ICO is open to its early backers on.

How to get XDC

Disclaimer: This is a paid press release, the product / service mentioned is not endorsedby The Merkle, always do your own independentresearch. If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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XinFin.org aims real world integrations of Bitcoin Ecosystem, moves into second week of Pre ICO - The Merkle

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - June 15, 2017) - Solar Alliance Energy Inc. ('Solar Alliance') or (the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: SAN)(OTC: SAENF) is pleased to announce it has added a new financing product provided by Dividend Solar that will provide additional flexibility to California homeowners hoping to save up to 40% on their electricity bill. Solar Alliance has also added Direct Electric Company to its ecosystem of installers, providing greater flexibility in the Company's strategy to maintain high profit margins in the residential solar market.

Dividend Solar (www.dividendsolar.com) is a lending platform that partners with leading installers to provide convenient loan financing to homeowners looking for a smart solution to go solar. With a Dividend EmpowerLoan, customers realize the full economic benefit of solar ownership and the 'peace-of-mind' of a system warranty and maintenance guarantee. Dividend Solar offers a better way for homeowners to install solar panels and maximize their savings. With the $0-down EmpowerLoan, homeowners realize the maximum economic benefits of solar ownership as well as a full-service offering, including performance and maintenance guarantees, product warranties, system monitoring and a simple, all-electronic loan process.

Solar Alliance is pleased to welcome Direct Electric Company (www.directelectricco.com) to the Company's ecosystem of installers. Direct Electric Company is an experienced, professional solar system installer that serves the California areas of Temecula, Murrieta, the Inland Empire, Orange County, San Diego and San Bernardino Counties. The addition of Direct Electric Company follows a qualification process that Solar Alliance employs with all new service providers to ensure the cost effective, quality installation of solar systems for Solar Alliance.

The Solar Alliance business model is focused on the sales and marketing of residential and commercial solar systems, the highest margin link in the solar sales and installation chain. The Company maintains an ecosystem of installers that are accredited by Solar Alliance and provide cost effective, quality installation services. This lean approach lowers overhead costs for Solar Alliance and increases profit margins. The Company also offers several financing options for homeowners in order to provide the most appropriate solution for each customer.

Jason Bak, Chairman and CEO

About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (www.solaralliance.com)Solar Alliance is a sales, marketing and development company focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. Since we were founded in 2003, we have developed wind and solar projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Solar Alliance is committed to an exceptional customer experience, effective marketing campaigns and superior lead generation in order to drive sales and generate value for shareholders. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. We make solar simple and our goal is to install solar on every available rooftop in America.

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute forward-looking statements. The words "would", "will", "expected" and "estimated" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

"Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

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Solar Alliance Adds to Ecosystem of Installers and Financial Partners - Markets Insider

A lot of people are actively looking for good Ethereum wallets right now. Unfortunately, one thing that is obviously lacking is a way for people to create a proper paper wallet for Ethereum. That is quite surprising, considering such a service would be of great interest to a lot of people. It is evident the first company to create a convenient Ethereum paper wallet solution would gain a lot of market traction.

In the world of Bitcoin, creating a paper wallet is quite easy these days. In fact, there are quite a few websites where people can generate a paper wallet right away without too much friction. BitAddress is one of those convenient services a lot of Bitcoin users enjoy to use these days. However, such a project does not exist in the world ofEthereum, for some unknown reason.

To put this into perspective, there is a way to generate a paper wallet for Ethereum right now. MyEtherWallet, one of the most popular Ethereum wallet solutions among cryptocurrency ICO investors, offers a way to create a paper wallet. It is a bit of a complicated process for most people, though, considering users need to generate a wallet first and there does not appear to be a clear paper wallet option while doing so.

Once the wallet is created, users are presented with a download button. However, on the download page, there is always a button mentioning I understand, continue. After clicking this button, users will have an option to print their paper wallet from the website directly. This is a bit of a backward way of generating paper wallets, although it does the job just fine once people get the hang of it.

There is an alternative way to use the download file and turn it into a paper wallet, though. By visiting the MyEtherWallet website and viewing the wallet info through the UTC/JSON file, users will see all of the wallet information which can be printed out as well. This is an even more complicated solution to achieve something that should be very simple, though. Then again, there is no click-and-print solution for Ethereum paper wallets right now.

One thing to take into account when using MyEtherWallet is how there is a difference between using the website or running the source code on your computer. It is possible to generate a paper wallet completely offline by downloaded MyEtherWallet to your computer and going through the process of setting it up. Everyone looking to create an Ethereum paper wallet using MyEtherWallet should download the source code and run it on your computer, to ensure there is no private key taint.

It is evident there is a demand for Ethereum paper wallet solutions right now. However, it is difficult to find a convenient solution right now. The Ethereum community can only hope someone comes up with a more convenient solution to create a paper wallet. Then again, there are quite a few hardware wallet solutions available right now, which are more secure than paper wallets will ever be. Paper wallets can be used to create convenient ETH gifts for friends and family, though.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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The Ethereum Ecosystem Could Use More Paper Wallet Solutions - The Merkle

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) has made a smart oracle available in the blockchain ecosystem for lean experimentation purposes. This means thatorganizations are now able to represent real market conditions in their proof of concepts by using the smart oracle, BlockOne IQ, to include current and historical market data within their applications, with cryptographic proof that Thomson Reuters is the source.

The London Summit 2017 is coming, get involved!

After speaking with our customers, it became clear that there isnt currently a participant in the blockchain ecosystem that is acting as a trusted source of external data for many of the financial services use cases, said Sam Chadwick, Director of Strategy in Innovation and Blockchain, Thomson Reuters. At our core, Thomson Reuters provides access to aggregated, high quality data and analytics two characteristics that play well in an oracle and smart contract system so its a natural transition for us, and another mechanism to deliver our content to industry participants.

Bringing trusted and secure external data to the blockchain ecosystem will be hugely beneficial, said John Dwyer, Senior Research Analyst Celent. This move is coinciding with rapid expansion of new alternative data sets in capital markets and an extraordinary level of innovation across both public and private blockchains.

Oracles are adapter-like mechanisms that bridge the gap between web-based APIs and the blockchain. BlockOne IQ is the Thomson Reuters Oracle that allows blockchain-based applications to include Thomson Reuters data in their automated processes. Currently, BlockOne IQ is only compatible with Corda and Ethereum, however Hyperledger and other technologies are said to be in the pipeline. The service will be released to R3 and Enterprise Ethereum Alliance members and will also be available to developers via the Thomson Reuters Developer Community.

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Thomson Reuters to Act as Trusted Data Source for the Blockchain Ecosystem - Finance Magnates

Community members across Rochester have been nominated for the 2017 Ecosystem Awards, Upstate Venture Connect said.

Upstate Venture Connect is a non-profit that aims to create a startup ecosystem for Upstate New York led by entrepreneurs. The organization received 120 submissions across the five awards categories this year.

Were ready for another year of connecting entrepreneurs to investors and community builders. Well showcase the top CEOs creating the future today, and celebrate those for their efforts in making Upstate NY the go-to destination for entrepreneurs, said Martin Babinec, UVC founder.

An independent panel of judges will review the nominations and select the winners for each category.

The nominees in the Finger Lakes region include:

Campus Connector: The award is given to individuals affiliated with an educational institution who are leveraging on and off-campus resources and connections to spin out research startups and/or create opportunities to retain entrepreneurial students.

Magical Mentor: The award is given to individuals who have had a transformative impact on the trajectory of one or more startup companies.

Community Catalyst: The award is given to individuals who organize programs to bring together diverse startup ecosystem players in a local community and/or increase the amount of capital and number of active early stage investors in that community.

Ecosystem Champion: This award is given to individuals who are catalyzing and supporting startup activity across multiple Upstate communities, according to UVC.

The award luncheon is slated for Sep. 19 at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown.

Additional information is available at: 2017-Upstate-Venture-Conference-Awards.Eventbrite.com.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/upstate-unleashed-conference-2017-venture-ecosystem-awards-tickets-32232965668

Follow Kerry Feltner on Twitter: @KerryFeltner

(c) 2017 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-363-7269 or email madams@bridgetowermedia.com.

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Nominees announced for 2017 Ecosystem Awards - Rochester Business Journal

Indonesia is one of Southeast Asias most promising startup market. Today, its ecosystem gained a new investor with the launch of Intudo Ventures debut fund, which has more than $10 million to invest into about 12 to 16 early-stage startups, as well as joint ventures with overseas companies that want to break into the Indonesian market.

Intudo was founded by Eddy Chan and Patrick Yip (pictured above), who are working with founding advisor Timothy Chen. Collectively, the three have invested in a notable roster of companies including PayPal, SpaceX, Palantir, Netscreen, and Fortinet. Intudo (a combination of the Bahasa Indonesian words for integrity, sincerity, and serendipity) will look for companies in e-commerce, finance, healthcare, education, and media.

While Indonesias startup industry and venture capital ecosystem are still young, Chan told TechCrunch that Intudos team sees strikingly similar trends to what we observed in China in the early 2000s.

Indonesia is the worlds fourth-largest country by population, with about 260 million people, and it is also one of the fastest-growing Internet markets by penetration, with Internet users (most mobile-first) expected to jump from a current 92 million to 215 million in 2020.

Furthermore, Indonesias population is relatively young and increasingly affluent, and this gives consumer startups a lot of opportunities.

For example, Indonesian-based marketplace Tokopedia has raised about $248 million from investors including SoftBank, while Alibaba poured $1 billion into Lazada last year to gain a stronger foothold in Southeast Asia e-commerce. A few other examples of tech companies and investors paying close attention to Southeast Asiaand Indonesia in particularinclude Tencent (which recently led a $1.2 billion round in on-demand transportation startup Go-Jek), Amazon, and JD.com.

Another parallel between Indonesia and Chinas startup industries is the high-profile of founders who have worked or studied abroad. Called sea turtles in China, Chan refers to their Southeast Asian counterparts as S.E.A. Turtles and he says they will have an important influence on Indonesias tech sector by bringing knowledge and networks acquired while overseas.

Some S.E.A. Turtles returned to Indonesia specifically to launch startups, while others were recruited by the local offices of tech leaders like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba, or Tencent before leaving to found their own companies.

Either way, Intudos goal is to help promising returnees nail down the right time to have a major impact on Indonesias ecosystem. In China, Chan says, sea turtles had significant influence in the 2000s, but as the tech sector matured, their advantages became less unique.

Nowadays, with the clear establishment of best practices, talent, and infrastructure in place in China, sea turtle talent still fits a niche, but is no longer as much of a game changing factor, says Chan.

We feel the Indonesian startup industry/venture capital ecosystem is still emerging, making it ripe for S.E.A. Turtles to return to help build out best practices and infrastructure, which will allow them to capitalize the growth of the venture capital ecosystem. If they do not return in the next few years, the window may have closed and they may be left on the outside looking in.

Intudo will focus on leading seed and Series A rounds, with initial investments ranging from $200,000 to $1.25 million, and the total amount invested from the fund into a startup ranging from about $1 million to $2.5 million. (Chan says that while Silicon Valley-based startups usually raise about $1 million to $5 million for seed funding, and $5 million and $15 million for Series A rounds, in Indonesia that figure is usually divided by five because of differences in cost structure. In other words, Indonesia-based startups usually raised about $200,000 to $1 million for seed rounds, and $1 million to $3 million in Series A financing, though recently he has seen funding amounts and valuations for some startups increase dramatically by their Series B and Series C rounds, so that they are comparable to similar companies in Silicon Valley).

For joint ventures, Intudo will look at companies that have already raised their Series B or C and want to expand into Indonesia.

Chan says Intudo is very bullish on the consumer sector and the opportunity to build some world-class direct-to-consumer brands, as well as financial tech because credit card penetration in Indonesia is still very low. He adds that inefficiencies in the countrys healthcare system also creates opportunities in the health sector if the right distribution partners are found.

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Intudo Ventures launches $10M fund for Indonesia's fast-growing startup ecosystem - TechCrunch

Paleontologists investigating the sea bed off the coast of southern California have discovered a lost ecosystem that for thousands of years had nurtured communities of scallops and shelled marine organisms called brachiopods.

These brachiopods and scallops had thrived along a section of coast stretching approximately 250 miles from San Diego to Santa Barbara for at least 4,000 years. But they had died off by the early 20th century, replaced by the mud-dwellling burrowing clams that inhabit this seabed today.

Evidence indicates that the brachiopod and scallop die-off occurred in less than a century. Because this community disappeared before biologists started sampling the seafloor, its existence was unknown and unsuspected. Only dead shells remain.

This loss unfolded during the 19th century, thus well before urbanization and climate warming, says Susan Kidwell, professor in geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago. The disappearance of these abundant filter-feeding animals coincided with the rise of lifestock and cultivation in coastal lands, which increased silt deposition on the continental shelf, far beyond the lake and nearshore settings where we would expect this stress to have an impact.

Continental shelves, the submerged shoulders of the continents, are a worldwide phenomenon. They form a distinct environment separated by a steep slope from the much deeper and vaster expanse of ocean floor beyond, and provide key habitats for biodiversity and fisheries.

The seabed off southern California is one of the most thoroughly studied in the world, but in applying geologic methods to modern biological samples of the sea floor, Kidwell and coauthor Adam Tomaovch of the Slovak Academy of Sciences encountered unsuspected results. Today that seabed consists of soft sediments, where creatures such as segmented worms, crustaceans, molluscs, crabs, and urchins feed on organic matter.

This is a fundamentally different ecosystem than the one that preceded it not so long ago, says Tomaovch, who heads the department of paleoecology and organismal evolution at the Slovak Academy.

The methods applied here provide crucial information on ecosystem response to natural and human pressures over otherwise inaccessible timescales, he says.

Kidwell and her associates work in conservation paleobiology has shown that misfits between live populations and the shells they leave behind on modern sea floors do not signal poor preservation. The differences instead indicate a recent ecological shiftone usually driven by human activities such as pollution or sea-floor dredging.

Tomaovch and Kidwell based their new study on the analysis of samples and data collected from multiple sources. They have conducted their own research on the sea floor off southern California, but theyve also benefited from samples and monitoring data that other scientists have collected from the area since 1954.

Brachiopods and scallops, which prefer cold waters and a gravelly environment, range from the US-Mexico border to the Gulf of Alaska. Tomaovch and Kidwell eliminated climate warming as a likely culprit in their ecosystem collapse, given that large populations of brachiopods persist near Catalina Island, where water temperatures are similar to those of southern Californias mainland coastal waters.

The paleontologists instead pointed to the dramatic changes that southern Californias watersheds have undergone since 1769, after Spanish missionaries introduced cattle, horses, and sheep to the area.

The researchers established the age of the brachiopods using a molecular dating technique called amino acid racemization. All of the 190 shells analyzed were more than 100 years old, and most were older than 200 years, indicating that the start of the population die-off coincided with the rise of livestock and cultivation on the nearby mainland.

Brachiopods and scallops have low tolerance for high levels of suspended sediment, leaving them vulnerable to the side effects of a regional economy that focused on cattle production from 1769 to the 1860s. During this time, much of modern-day Los Angeles and Orange counties were subject to unmanaged, open-range grazing. The economy shifted to agriculture in the late 19th century, but in the absence of soil conservation methods, the side effects on the coastal ocean would have continued unabated into the early 20th century.

The researchers conclude that siltation associated with this prolonged period of unmanaged land use probably drove the collapse of the brachiopod-scallop populations.

Extirpation was complete by the start of 21st-century urbanization, warming, bottom fishing, and scientific surveys, Tomaovch and Kidwell report.

They further conclude that siltation derived from coastal land-use practices is an under-recognized ecological factor on continental shelves around the globe.

They report their findings in Royal Society Proceedings B.

Funding came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, and the Slovak Grant Agency.

Source: University of Chicago

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Lost ecosystem turns up in seafloor mud - Futurity: Research News

With the release of a request for information, the smallest state in the country is hoping to have an outsized role in the future of transportation. by News Staff / June 12, 2017

The 6/10 connector runs through Providence and its suburbs. (Rhode Island Department of Transportation)

Rhode Island is calling out for experts, academics and interest groups for connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) that could transform the states transportation ecosystem. Whether it's a private company looking to test out a fleet of autonomous shuttles or a driverless transportation network, Gov. Gina Raimondo and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) are ready to listen.

On June 7, RIDOT published an RFI (PDF) seeking advice and suggestions on how to position the state as a leader in the developing the transportation system of the future. Although the primary focus is on how to adapt and get ready for CAVs, the document also states RIDOTs interest in other innovative transport system technologies such as on-demand ride-sharing services, and high-speed intercity and inter-suburb transporter technology.

Regional states have already begun working in this space. Boston is working on an autonmous vehicle strategy in partnership with the World Economic Forum and released their Go Boston 2030 transportation plan. New York is taking applications for autonomous vehicle testing in the state and was chosen by the U.S. DOT as a test site for connected vehicle technologies. Pennsylvania has entered into a multi-state coalition with Ohio and Michigan to explore the future of inter-state transportation.

"By embracing innovation in transportation, we are positioning Rhode Island to be a leader and we will create jobs, said Gov. Raimondo in a release. By launching this process, we will be prepared to make best use of new and emerging technologies."

The RFI is broken down into six primary questions:

The state is interested in seeing who will come to the state with proposals and what the future of transportation in the state will look like. Respondents are encouraged to conceptually propose how you envision a proof-of-concept or pilot CAV or on-demand ride sharing service deployment. Five locations are listed as potential locations, which include smart transportation corridors, business parks and university campuses.

"This is a time of rapid innovation in the automotive sector, as products adapt to develop and incorporate new technology, and meet changing consumer demand," RIDOT's Chief Operating Officer Shoshana Lew said. "There is an opportunity to help integrate that conversation with infrastructure planning and execution. Rhode Island can be a place where we help bring those threads together.

Submissions are due to the Department of Administration by July 12, in both hardcopy and CD-ROM.

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Rhode Island Ready to Enter Autonomous Vehicle Ecosystem - Government Technology