Where are the women at the table? In recent years, the agtech sector has been growing by leaps and bounds, in part driven by growing attention placed on food access during the pandemic. Case in point, 2021 is another record year for venture capital investments in agtech, according to CropLife. As of mid-2021, some $4.3 billion was invested in the sector in 263 deals compared to $5.15 billion in 2020. Anecdotally, there appear to be more women founders and leaders in what is still considered a young sector.
Within the vast landscape of agtech companies, many of them startups as defined by the stage of funding they have achieved, the gender ratio on boards remains male dominant. While to date there is no comprehensive dataset that confirms numbers, in our self-analysis we took a sample of companies in agtech curated from top searches for prominent agtech companies and examined gender ratio on boards. Our review of 16 companies with public information regarding its leadership shows that 24 percent of leadership positions are held by women and only 3.6 percent are held by women of color.
While one might assume that companies founded by women would have a healthy balance of men and women on their boards, the reality is quite the opposite. A sampling of companies profiled in my new book, From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing How Our Food is Grown (in which most of the companies were founded by women), points to a dearth of women at the table. The sample was taken by going to the companies’ websites and reviewing the board members listed.
Continue reading: https://www.worth.com/more-women-at-agtech-table/

Despite still being underrepresented in tech, women are driving forward sustainability in and around the technology sector to make the world a cleaner and more efficient place.
The efforts of women throughout the field have already led to transformational results that go far beyond using Alexa to hack your sustainability efforts — though we all do what we can. By understanding how these women are integrating sustainability into technology, you too can be a better advocate for sustainability in your tech applications.
There are plenty of examples of powerful, innovative businesswomen doing their part for sustainability, but here we’ll just focus on five.
Jenine Benyus teaches tech innovation through nature.
First on our list of women dedicated to sustainable tech is Jenine Benyus. This incredible innovator is a co-founder of the Biomimicry Institute, an organization that teaches the theory of biomimicry as an instrumental aspect of the design process and one that can lead to unprecedented breakthroughs in sustainability.
After all, nature understands better than any of us how to design a self-sustaining, clean system. Benyus has brought that understanding to over 250 clients, including Nike, Colgate, and Levi Strauss.
Through studying nature, we can apply new sustainability solutions in tech products and materials.
Continue reading: https://womenlovetech.com/sustainability-tech/

Kalpana Behara has over 20 years of experience working in leading tech companies like NIIT, Google, Facebook, and Uber.
Kalpana believes, over the years, the constant challenge was to grow with the industry and survive the hypergrowth of every company she worked with.
Speaking of one experience, she says, “During one of my assignments, I was assigned to train a group of senior network tech teams to move their legacy systems to opensource systems. In under five minutes of walking into the classroom, I was asked to leave as I did not fit the profile of someone who is considered experienced in the industry.”
Despite these obstacles, Kalpana worked her way to the top.
In her current role as Head – Digitisation, GSS at Uber, Kalpana manages content curation, validation, and review across all product lines.
She believes working at Uber has been a life-changing experience.
Kalpana explains: “I was strongly attracted to solve the operational problems of managing millions of entrepreneurs in the form of our driver-partners and transporting people safely. As a power user of the product myself, it gives me immense pride hearing the stories of driver-partners where the company has allowed them to earn and prosper and riders whose life has become easier and stress-free. Uber taught me to innovate at lightning speed while not losing sight of the ability of the product to build and strengthen communities.”
Continue reading: https://yourstory.com/herstory/2021/08/women-tech-digitisation-assets-uber/amp

The trend of women leaving the workforce mid-career to take on family obligations or other responsibilities is not new. However, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly exacerbated this exodus. In fact, nearly three million women left the U.S. workforce during the pandemic, as many have had to make tough choices between careers and families. 
Although we might like to think most of these women will reenter the workforce post-pandemic, the reality of highly technical fields is that qualified women may be discouraged from returning due to the perception that their skills have become obsolete. Unless we address this issue head-on, the already stubborn gender gap in technical professions like IT will only continue to widen.
While it's true that some skills never go out of date (think writing or interpersonal skills), highly technical areas of expertise like data analytics and software application development are evolving at a lightning-fast pace. Even a year off the job can make for a daunting gap to address in an interview with a potential employer.
At the same time, now more than ever, companies are challenged with both attracting and retaining technical talent. Four million people quit their jobs in April 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Continue reading: https://www.ciodive.com/news/roz-ho-women-technical-workforce-training/605430/

While the number of women taking up STEM subjects in Saudi Arabia universities is increasing, female employee numbers in the private tech sector are yet to increase proportionally, says Nicole Arian Markazi, Head of UN Women Program Lead at Nokia
Gender based inequality and discrimination is a subject of debate across the globe. Although the Gulf region has made a conscious effort to reduce the gender gap, a lot needs to be done from a social and cultural standpoint.
Governments in the region have been supporting initiatives and programs that aim to boost the number of working women in the Middle East.
To bring change in an industry like IT that has traditionally been male-dominated, we need to encourage girls to explore new career paths, implement sustainable female inclusion programs and invest in hiring more women.
Additionally, industry stakeholders must advocate for equal opportunities for women to exist and succeed in the workplace. There also needs to be more mentorship for women at school and university levels when they are trying to choose their career path.
Continue reading: https://www.itp.net/business/99576-unlocking-opportunities-for-young-women-in-technology

After studying to become a chartered accountant, roles with RBS, Aegon and Sainsbury’s Bank set me on a definite path in financial services and banking. Thinking back, Sainsbury’s Bank was the place where I felt my career and personal development really took off and this was all down to the opportunities that were presented to me during that time. I was delighted to be selected for the bank’s ‘Stepping into Leadership’ programme and I also owe a lot to the fantastic managers and mentors I had during that period. They gave me the confidence to bring my own style to the job, pushed me to try new roles and embrace any challenges that came my way.
Whilst my financial services experience underpins being the chief financial officer (CFO) of Stellar Omada, because we’re a startup there are so many other tasks that I have the opportunity to get involved in - from marketing and PR, legals, client-facing meetings and the development of our people. At a startup, it really is all hands to the pump and the fifteen months I’ve spent here has undoubtedly been the steepest learning curve of my career.
Continue reading: https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/there-are-so-many-opportunities-for-women-in-tech-sector-zoe-lee-3353659

Today’s Woman in Tech: Anna Stoilova, Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at TIKI
Anna is a digital product expert specializing in design, strategy, UI/UX and marketing.
She is a startup veteran and her latest venture, TIKI, is a data privacy app that helps people see, control and monetize their data online.
When did you become interested in technology?
From an early age, I was interested in technology. One of my first memories was learning HTML and CSS as an extracurricular activity at school. My math teacher had a full course printed out and offered to lend it to anyone interested in learning – I was the only one in the class to take her up on it!
That said, I didn’t always have my sights set on working in technology. From high school through my Masters degree, I actually studied arts and design.
How did you end up in your career path?
At the beginning of my career, I worked in graphic design, then grew into a digital designer, and then moved into UX/UI design. Then, I launched my own VR startup in 2017. One of the biggest shifts I ever experienced was transitioning from a practical, skills-based role to a leadership position where I had to make all the decisions around strategies, sales, investment, as well as product development and marketing.
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-stoilova-175140.html

Watford Borough Council has partnered with local firm IoT Solutions Group (IoTSG) to install hundreds of Internet of Things [IoT]-powered devices in council-owned buildings across the borough.
The technology is being used to monitor the presence of the deadly Legionella bacteria, as well as the continued operation of emergency lighting, which is essential to safety during a power cut or fire.
Both solutions are expected to help improve the council’s health and safety compliance processes by making them more efficient and less labor-intensive, as well as free up resources for other crucial services.
IoTSG will deliver almost 590 Legionella mitigation and emergency lighting management devices to a number of public properties in the area, including Watford Town Hall and Watford Museum, as well as other local amenities.
The Legionella mitigation solution is aimed at improving the detection process for Legionella – the bacteria responsible for Legionnaires’ disease – which commercial landlords, facility managers, and leisure and hospitality providers have a legal obligation to monitor and mitigate in their water systems.
Continue reading: https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/watford-borough-council-rolls-out-internet-of-things-powered-devices/

Earlier this month, Andreessen Horowitz announced it was part of a $111 million investment in Helium. But the facts of the deal were a bit murky. The money from Andreessen was an investment in Helium Network Tokens (HNTs), not an investment in the company. However, Helium did wrap a small, undisclosed bit of outside funding from other investors into that news.
Frank Mong, the COO of Helium, told me the funding that went to the company was “insignificant,” and was raised in an earlier deal. However, he was quick to point out that the Andreessen investment in the Helium tokens was a big validation for the style of decentralized peer-to-peer network that Helium is building.
In my conversation with Mong, we spent a lot of time discussing Helium’s plans for a 5G network, which follows a similar model as its existing LoRa Wide-Area Network. Helium has turned the construction of a physical network for the IoT on its head. Instead of deploying its own gear across the country and managing the network, it has built a peer-to-peer network that rewards people who run their own hotspots with HNTs.
People install a Helium-certified hotspot that uses their home’s Wi-Fi network as backhaul to the internet. The hotspot provides the LoRa coverage and also generates HNTs whenever the hotspot supplies proof that it’s still part of the network, as well as when a Helium customer transfers data on the network. The beauty of the system is that the rise in the value of HNTs offers an incentive for people to use their broadband to provide backhaul and their home as the equivalent of a LoRa “tower.”
Continue reading: https://staceyoniot.com/heliums-investment-and-5g-plans-explained/

U.S. scientists have evaluated three different PV technologies – GaInP, GaAs, and silicon – for powering wireless temperature sensors. They found that the silicon solar module offers the lowest performance and also suggested its use may be applied to low-demand devices.
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to any network of physical objects that embeds technology to communicate and sense or interact with external environments and their own internal states. The devices that are used in these kinds of networks are mostly wireless sensors, control systems, and technologies for home and building automation, all of which require smart, efficient, and cheap forms of power.
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have tested the ability of three different solar module technologies to power Internet-of-Things devices such as wireless temperature sensors.
Continue reading: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/08/20/the-best-pv-tech-for-internet-of-things-devices/

 One of the best parts of going to a large drone show like AUVSI Xponential is having the opportunity to look at the amazing technology on the exhibit floor – like the SWAT team drones produced by Las Vegas-based BRINC drones.
BRINC Drones VP of Sales and Marketing Brett Kanda took the time to show me the new Lemur S: and I waylaid a BRINC customer walking by to get his view on why the Lemur is life-saving tech for SWAT teams.
The Lemur – and the Lemur S, soft-launched at AUVSI Xponential – is a drone decked out with features that make it ideal for the purpose.  It’s an indoor tactical system meant to search structures and keep public safety, first responders, and suspects safe. During a SWAT mission, the Lemur, equipped with a specialized glass breaker, is able to break a window and enter the building.  Once inside, the Lemur can explore (without GPS) room by room, providing both eyes and ears to the operators.  When the Lemur makes contact with a suspect, it can perch – on a bed, bureau, table, or wherever – for up to 10 hours, helping SWAT teams establish 2-way communication with the suspect.    That 2-way communication is critical, Brett explains.   “The data is remarkable about how much better the outcome is when you are able to establish two way communication with a suspect – you have a great opportunity for a safe resolution,” he says.
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/08/23/the-swat-team-drones-saving-lives-brinc-lemur/

Four million miles of roadways, 600,000 bridges and 350 tunnels. Two million one-hundred thousand farms. More than 4,000 U.S. public safety agencies fielding drone programs. Damage estimates for insurance companies and safeguarding against school shooters. UAS are an intrinsic part of supporting and protecting critical infrastructure in America.
Take, for example, the unmanned systems that came to the rescue when an aging dam in Florida, the only barrier holding back lead and nickel-poisoned water from flooding a nearby town, required inspection. Sending divers into toxic water was not an option. Draining the dam would have been prohibitively expensive. Triad Drones, a Safety Harbor, Florida-based company making waves in the dam sector, used its unique unmanned and networked air, ground and subsurface vehicles, with multibeam sonar, to provide predictive structural integrity and volume analysis.
This is but one of hundreds of similar drones-in-infrastructure stories increasingly happening across the country on a daily basis. (By the way, the inspection proved the dam was good to go for a few more years).
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) outlines 16 sectors with assets, systems and networks it considers vital. Drones support nearly all of them (the possible exception is the cyber-based information technology sector). Inspections dominate drone services, but drones also assist with disaster response, construction monitoring, facility disinfecting, marketing and more.
Continue reading: https://insideunmannedsystems.com/opportunity-spotlight-drones-are-critical-to-infrastructure/

Over the past few years, the conversation around drone technology and use cases continue to heat up, particularly when it comes to the consumer-facing side of the industry. The general public is keen to know what the future holds for drone delivery and the impact that will have on our daily lives. While I can speculate what may be on the horizon for consumers, we must not overlook the incredible advancements that have already come to fruition to solve today’s real-world business problems and are paving the way for future developments in autonomy, logistics and the rapid digitalization of the physical world. Much of this can be attributed to the sensor and data analysis abilities vs. the drones themselves.
Here’s a look at how three industries are leveraging advanced drone technology to gain a new perspective: 
Agriculture
Field management is foundational to the success of a farmer. With climate change and increasingly difficult yields to manage, they need to understand the condition of their soil, the health of their crops and how new farming techniques, fertilizers and the environment may be impacting them.
Continue reading: https://www.commercialuavnews.com/forestry/drone-technology-has-reached-new-heights

(TNS) — Fresh off the notoriety of having its processors power NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, Qualcomm has rolled out its next-generation technologies for drones on Earth — aiming to drive adoption beyond hobbyists and into commercial industries. The San Diego wireless technology company announced its Flight RB5 5G Platform on Tuesday. It is the first drone system to include 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence technology, which eventually could help enable autonomous, beyond-line-of-sight flights for such things as crop inspection, search and rescue, powerline/wind turbine monitoring, package delivery, mapping and so on. In addition to the processing/connectivity platform, Qualcomm also launched its first-ever reference design kit for drone developers — essentially an aircraft body, rotors and other necessities to help companies develop drones faster and easier.  
Continue reading: https://www.govtech.com/products/qualcomm-releases-5g-ai-platform-for-commercial-drones

Realtors view drones and cyber security as the most impactful emerging technologies to their business, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR’s 2021 Technology Survey examined NAR members’ current tech usage and attitudes about the future of real estate technology. In addition to drones (37%) and cyber security (34%), realtors believe that 5G (31%) and virtual reality (30%) will also have a significant impact on their business in the next 24 months. “The pandemic has confirmed to all of us in the industry that technology will continue to transform real estate,” said NAR CEO Bob Goldberg. “The great work being done by NAR, including our Strategic Business, Innovation and Technology group, has ensured that realtors will continue to have access to the latest technology and remain at the forefront of the innovations driving the market forward.” The survey also examined the current use of technology by realtors, finding that the most valuable tools used in the past 12 months were eSignature (78%), local MLS apps/technology (54%), social media (53%), lockboxes (48%) and video conferencing (39%).  
Continue reading: https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2021/aug/19/realtors-believe-drones-cyber-security-are-real-es/

Emergency response is a time-sensitive business. When fires burn or a driver crashes their car, seconds can mean the difference between saving lives and watching a situation spiral rapidly out of control. For fire and police departments, getting teams on site can be challenging, what with the vagaries of traffic and bad routing.
Houston-headquartered Paladin is a startup building a custom drone hardware and software solution for cities to be able to respond to emergencies faster and with better data. After years of development, the company is publicly unveiling its Knighthawk and Watchtower products.
The Knighthawk is a custom-made drone designed for the specific needs of emergency response personnel. It comes complete with two cameras — one 10x zoom optical and one thermal — to provide the best video feeds on a developing situation at both day and night with only a half second latency. Importantly, the drone has a time range of 55 minutes and can travel multiple miles away to reach a site, according to the company. Launch time can be as short as a few seconds from when a 911 call comes in.
Continue reading: https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/19/paladin-publicly-launches-knighthawk-a-first-response-drone-for-cities/

Researchers in Japan are using microwaves to power free-flying drones, a project that  could possibly pave the way for a new type of rocket.
Currently, most rockets generate thrust by using controlled explosions of a solid or liquid fuel source, which can make up 90% of their total weight. However, new research published in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets demonstrates the potential of using an alternative source of fuel: microwaves. 
Microwaves are a type of electromagnetic radiation. As such, they're jam-packed with energy that can be converted into electricity, much as sunlight can be converted to power by solar panels. In the new study, researchers generated electricity to fuel free-flying drones by beaming microwaves directly at them.
"In drone experiments, microwave power is sent from the antenna on the ground to the antenna on the drone. A rectifier is used to convert RF [radio frequency] to DC [direct current], and the DC power is used to drive the drone's motors. We call it "rectenna" (rectifier + antenna)," one of the new study's authors, Kohei Shimamura of the University of Tsukuba, told Space.com in an email.
Continue reading: https://www.space.com/microwave-powered-rockets-drone-project

A compact new integrated electronics package will be the brains for the next generation of advanced smart drones.
Semiconductor giant Qualcomm QCOM +0.7% has long been known for innovation in the drone sector. Way back in 2015 – pretty much the Stone Age in drone history – it produced the Snapdragon Flight, a system-on-a-chip to bring advanced video handling, communication and navigation capability to small drones. Since then they have produced successive generations of more advanced technology; it says something that the Qualcomm Flight drives the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.
“Qualcomm has 200-plus drone customers and if you’re coming across a drone or robot – it’s likely powered by Qualcomm’s robotics and drone technology,” says Dev Singh, General Manager of Robotics, Drones and Intelligent Machines at Qualcomm.
Their latest release announced this week is the Flight RB5 5G Platform. This is another credit-card-sized device which packs all the technology needed for high-end drone operations into a single unit. As the name indicates, it has 5G connectivity – their launch slogan is ‘5G Takes Flight’ – which represents a powerful new way of communicating with drones over existing networks. But perhaps more significantly, the platform has features enabling autonomous operations, which may largely remove the need for the drone to communicate at all during a mission.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2021/08/19/new-qualcomm-release-to-drive-next-gen-smart-drones/?sh=b4b90103f979

Half of the farmers in the biggest corn, soybean, and wheat states employ precision agriculture in their operations — from GPS guidance of tractors and combines to deploying drones to scout fields or monitor livestock — twice the national average, said a USDA report on computer usage on Wednesday. Far more farms have a cellular internet connection than broadband; 18% have no internet access at all.
Earlier this year, two Purdue economists said that adoption rates for precision agriculture technology “have been very high during the past 10 years, and given the increased venture capital devoted to developing these technologies, [are] likely to continue at an accelerated pace.” For crops, precision agriculture uses computers to track production in each section of land on a farm and tailor seed, fertilizer, and pesticide usage accordingly. Large-scale operators were both the most keenly interested in the technology and the most pleased with the results of using it, said a 2019 Purdue survey.
Continue reading: https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/senate-confirms-moffitt-as-agriculture-undersecretary-for-marketing

Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) have been widely used to treat agricultural crops throughout the world, and spray against disease-carrying pests like mosquitos. Now researchers are expanding trial use of drones to control harmful insects by dropping enemy species on them.
Bug vs. bug crop protection technique delivered by drone
The use of bug against bug is not new, but is expanding in terms of degree and sophistication, according to a report in the June edition of the Entomological Society of America’s Journal of Economic Entomology. DroneDJ has written about other drone applications in the battle against harmful insects, but not the research now gaining speed in North America. That involves deploying specialized agricultural craft to drop natural enemies of destructive pests in appropriate situations, and thereby limit or entirely eliminate the need for traditional insecticides.
The technique could have bigger payoffs than most observers might suspect. Harmful insects inflict more than $100 billion in damage to crops each year in the US alone. Agriculture’s lucrative organic sub-sector is particularly vulnerable, since rules determining what can be sold as naturally grown are generally strict, but particularly draconian when it comes to pesticides. So specialists are looking to multiply applications of their equation “harmful pests + enemy insects = fewer bugs all around.”
Continue reading: https://dronedj.com/2021/08/19/drones-airdrop-enemy-bugs-on-harmful-insects-in-crops/

Earlier this month, hackers nabbed over $600 million in crypto from decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Poly Network in one of the biggest crypto heists ever. The cyberattack comes hot on the heels of several major hacks throughout the year, including the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline that led to brief gas shortages on the East Coast. The company paid the hackers a ransom of 75 bitcoin, or about $4.4 million at the time. 

• In 2020, $406.3 million was paid out in cryptocurrency ransoms, 337% more than the previous year. This year’s ransom payments are on pace to pass seven figures as well, according to Chainalysis.

But crime on the blockchain isn’t just a problem for big companies: Nearly 7,000 individual investors lost a collective $80 million to cryptocurrency scams from October 2020 to March 2021, according to the FTC—almost 1,000% more than in the same period the year prior.  
Illicit activity on the blockchain is heating up, from minor scams to elaborate ransomware attacks to...faking your own death? That’s what Kimberly Grauer, director of research at Chainalysis, told us is happening. Read on to hear more from Grauer about the unique challenges of fighting crypto crime.
Continue reading: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2021/08/23/blockchain-expert-fights-crypto-crime

People often ask if Bitcoin is a safe investment not because of the market's legendary volatility, but because they're worried about the security of the digital asset. Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world and has been around since 2009. Since then, in over a decade, the network has proven to be very resilient and powerful in protecting vital information. In recent years, the blockchain technology that Bitcoin runs on has become increasingly prevalent as cryptocurrency has begun to take center stage in many markets.
Blockchain technology that runs the virtual currency is known for its unparalleled security. It's one of the main reasons for its rapid adoption, with Bitcoin being one of the biggest success stories of the technology.
What is blockchain technology and how does it work?
Blockchain is associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others, as a platform for digital money transactions. It's a database of all cryptocurrency transactions worldwide. However, this technology has also been used to store other types of data like medical records, data on humanitarian aid, and more.
Blockchain technology is like a ledger that is digital and open to the public. It provides a secure way of making and recording transactions. All transactions made using cryptocurrency are recorded and saved as data on blocks. All this information is time-stamped.
Continue reading: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/cryptocurrency/features/how-secure-is-bitcoin-blockchain-cryptocurrency-technology-2516405

Crypto leaders have long said blockchain has great potential in entertainment. Decentralized Pictures marks the most significant vote of confidence in that to date.
For those outside the tight-knit circle of cryptocurrency devotees, the buzz around blockchain technology can feel like an impenetrable collection of technobabble — maybe nothing more than a passing fad. But early adopters of these decentralized data systems have long said blockchain is poised to change everything from finance to transportation and, yes, even entertainment.
Now, the potential of blockchain in the film industry has earned a major vote of confidence from one of Hollywood’s most influential families. The nonprofit Decentralized Pictures — co-founded by Roman Coppola, tech and entertainment veteran Leo Matchett, and American Zoetrope exec Michael Musante and led by a board that includes Sofia and Gia Coppola — plans to go live in the fall with a mission to discover and support underrepresented filmmakers using a blockchain-powered web platform.
“In a sense, this is a democratically selected film fund,” Musante told IndieWire. “Instead of a boardroom of executives, it’s our community that decides, that gives their opinion and tells people what they like.”
Continue reading: https://www.indiewire.com/2021/08/decentralized-pictures-blockchain-coppola-1234655602/

Women in the AI field are making research breakthroughs, spearheading vital ethical discussions, and inspiring the next generation of AI professionals. We created the VentureBeat Women in AI Awards to emphasize the importance of their voices, work, and experience and to shine a light on some of these leaders. In this series, publishing Fridays, we’re diving deeper into conversations with this year’s winners, whom we honored recently at Transform 2021. Check out last week’s interview with a winner of our AI responsibility and ethics award. 
For many people, nothing sounds more tech-y than AI and machine learning. But the field is of rising interest in social sciences, too. Arezou Soltani Panah, a computer scientist and the winner of VentureBeat’s Women in AI rising star award, has made strides using AI technologies to tackle complex social problems such as loneliness, family violence, and social stigma. She’s even created novel machine learning techniques for this work, specifically.
“Traditional social science is a territory mostly occupied with qualitative researchers and empirical scientists, and perhaps they’re less aware of the benefits of AI for their field,” she told VentureBeat. “But the marriage between AI and social science has already been established and is evolving.”
An immigrant to Australia from Iran, Soltani Panah’s work focuses on social inequality and disempowerment. And it’s cross-discipline in every way, often requiring collaboration with government policy advisors and subject matter experts like social scientists.
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/20/how-ai-can-tackle-complex-social-problems-from-loneliness-to-stigma/

Struggling to get your Artificial Intelligence initiative past the early stages? Consider these lessons from teams that have successfully implemented and scaled AI strategies.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly seen as a must-have technology that enables businesses to become agile and innovate at scale. IDC predicts global spending on artificial intelligence (AI) systems will increase from US $50 billion in 2020 to US $110 billion in 2024.
But Gartner research estimates that 50 percent of AI implementations are struggling to get past the proof-of-concept stage and be implemented at scale. The reasons vary from overhyped expectations and lack of vision to inadequate data infrastructure and lack of skilled resources.
Another important factor is the team that’s working on the AI programs. While AI teams may have the requisite tools and technologies, many lack other key capabilities – like mining for the right use cases and optimizing decision-making – that are essential for success.
Continue reading: https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2021/8/artificial-intelligence-ai-4-characteristics-successful-teams