Healthcare Services, US News

IBM Watson partners with Siemens to take on population health management industry

by  • 

ibm-watson-health-has-partnered-with-siemens-healthineers-to-take-on-the-population-health-management-industry_61_40141957_0_14132316_300IBM Watson Health and Siemens Healthineers have agreed on a five-year global partnership to provide hospitals with population health management solutions, reported Forbes.

The goal, according to the announcement by IBM Watson Tuesday, is to improve health outcomes for medical provider clients as the model in the U.S. moves toward value-based care and away from fee-for-service. Siemens, which is already linked to hospitals through its imaging business, is hoped to help the initiative.

“They have a significant amount of relationships at the hospital level and they fully understand the hospital work flow and the way tech works in the hospitals,” said Dr. Anil Jain, chief medical officer of IBM business Explorys, said of Siemens in an interview.

According to Healthcare Informatics, the partnership will help professionals in the healthcare field overcome challenges that accompany the growing diversity in and volume of health data. It will also help healthcare professionals navigate the aging global population and the move toward the consumerization of healthcare.

This new partnership is not the only one breaking into this competitive industry, however. Health insurance companies such as UnitedHealth Group and software companies like SAS are already selling population health services to employers, healthcare facilities and other clients.

Manufacturing, Uncategorized, US News

Consumer Confidence Remains High for September

by  • 

Rebounding slightly in September, US Manufacturing continues to maintain the mildly positive pace that it’s been on all year.  Obviously, certain industries are doing better that others, but consumer confidence continues to rise.  Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board said recently, “Consumer confidence increased in September for a second consecutive month and is now at its highest level since the recession.” She also said, “Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions improved, primarily the result of a more positive view of the labor market.  Looking ahead, consumers are more upbeat about the short-term employment outlook, but somewhat neutral about business conditions and income prospects.  Overall, consumers continue to rate current conditions favorably and foresee moderate economic expansion in the months ahead.” This adds stress to companies who need to add engineering or leadership talent to grow their businesses and replace retiring baby boomers.  The process attracting top talent to consider making a job change gets harder every day.  A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that “the vast majority of Americans are happy with their jobs, and that workers are also holding onto their jobs longer than in the past.  Their data shows that the share of folks who’ve been with their current employer for at least five years rose to 51% in 2014, up from 46% in 1996.” The Pew report also showed that “the changing economy has left many Americans feeling left behind.  This is particularly true of those without college degrees, the so-called working class who make up the base of Donald Trump’s support.  The number of workers in occupations requiring average to above-average education, training and experience jumped 68% between 1980 and 2015.”

 

Bruce Peacock
Vice President of Business Development
The Richmond Group USA

Alternative Energy, Uncategorized, US News

Amazon to build its largest wind farm to date

by  • 

Amazon.com Inc. has announced plans to build a wind farm in Texas. The agreement to buy power from a 253-megawatt wind farm developed by Lincoln Clean Energy LLC will generate enough energy to power nearly 90,000 homes in the U.S., reported Bloomberg. Purchasing close to 90 percent of the energy from the farm, the new farm is set to have more than 100 turbines. Amazon is not the only tech company in agreements with renewable energy facilities. Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. have also purchased alternative energy to power their services. "Direct purchasing by large, long-term thinking customers like Amazon has quickly become a key driver of the transition to renewable power across the U.S.," Declan Flanagan, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Lincoln Clean Energy, said in the statement. Renewable energy installations of the online retailer include a solar farm in Virginia and wind farms in Ohio, North Carolina and Indiana, reported Fortune. The newly announced project is part of an initiative to use wind energy to power the servers that host Amazon Web Services, Inc. According to the company, by the end of 2016, 40 percent of the power for Amazon Web Services will come from alternative energy sources. The long-term commitment is that 100 percent of this subsidiary of Amazon will be generated by clean energy. The wind farm is expected to be up and running by late 2017.Amazon.com Inc. has announced plans to build a wind farm in Texas.

The agreement to buy power from a 253-megawatt wind farm developed by Lincoln Clean Energy LLC will generate enough energy to power nearly 90,000 homes in the U.S., reported Bloomberg. Purchasing close to 90 percent of the energy from the farm, the new farm is set to have more than 100 turbines.

Amazon is not the only tech company in agreements with renewable energy facilities. Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. have also purchased alternative energy to power their services.

“Direct purchasing by large, long-term thinking customers like Amazon has quickly become a key driver of the transition to renewable power across the U.S.,” Declan Flanagan, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Lincoln Clean Energy, said in the statement.

Renewable energy installations of the online retailer include a solar farm in Virginia and wind farms in Ohio, North Carolina and Indiana, reported Fortune. The newly announced project is part of an initiative to use wind energy to power the servers that host Amazon Web Services, Inc.

According to the company, by the end of 2016, 40 percent of the power for Amazon Web Services will come from alternative energy sources. The long-term commitment is that 100 percent of this subsidiary of Amazon will be generated by clean energy.

The wind farm is expected to be up and running by late 2017.

Manufacturing, Southwest US, US News

Consumer goods packaging company Huhtamaki to invest $100 million in Arizona plant

by  • 

Consumer goods packaging company Huhtamaki to invest $100 million in Arizona plantHuhtamaki North America, a major consumer goods packaging manufacturer, for food service and retail, recently announced it will invest $100 million in a new plant in Goodyear, Arizona, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.

The company is headquartered in Kansas City and operates several production facilities, which employ 425 people.

The new, 750,000-square-foot plant in Arizona will create 300 jobs and will manufacture tableware products such as paper cups and food containers. Huhtamaki has recently expanded in the tableware market after it acquired a series of smaller companies in the industry during 2012 and 2013, the source noted.

While construction of the plant will take two years, the company will begin using the building as a distribution center in early 2017.

“This is a further investment in our strategy to serve the foodservice packaging and retail tableware markets with core products,” said Executive Vice President of Huhtamaki North America, Clay Dunn, ina press release. “The new facility will expand our footprint and will build off the success of our earlier expansions. The facility will not only grow our capacity, but improve our distribution capability in the region.”

Construction, US News

24 states add construction jobs from July to August

by  • 

24 states add construction jobs from July to AugustMore than two dozen states added construction jobs from July to August, though many firms continue to struggle with a shortage of talent.

During the two-month period, 24 states gained construction jobs, Construction Dive reported. Michigan had the highest gains, adding 2,600 positions, while Wyoming posted the highest percentage growth, with its construction workforce growing by 2.4 percent.

Over the year, 36 states have added jobs in construction, with California gaining the most of any state, at 29,300 positions.

Although these gains are encouraging, many construction firms report facing a shortage of talent, the source noted.

“Despite some slowing in public construction, apartments and manufacturing projects, contractors in many states say they would be hiring more employees if they could find enough qualified workers,” said AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson in a press release.

The National Association of Homebuilders estimates that there are 200,000 unfilled construction jobs in the U.S., up 81 percent from two years ago, Reuters reported.

The shortage is putting a strain on the number of projects construction companies can take on. Since 2007, the average cost of building a single family home has jumped 13.7 percent, even though the total cost of building, marketing and selling a house has gone up only 2.9 percent during the same time frame, Reuters explained.

US News

Self-driving cars get backing from U.S. safety regulators

by  • 

Self-driving cars get backing from U.S. safety regulatorsRegulations for self-driving cars from the U.S. Department of Transportation are set to be released Sept. 20, reported Forbes.

Late Monday night, the agency noted that these guidelines will include a 15-point Safety Assessment governing the “safe design, development, testing and deployment of automated vehicles.” These regulations will apply to the testing and launching of self-driving vehicles from manufacturers including Ford, Tesla, Google and Uber, according to the source.

Aimed at clarifying the vague and non-uniform regulations currently in place at the state level, the new policy will outline the responsibilities of both the federal and state government in an effort to build a national policy for automated cars.

“Prior to this announcement my question was: Are they going to continue to let states, as is often the case, act as the laboratories and then put together a national framework to bring it all together?” said automotive technology analyst for IHS Technology, Jeremy Carlson, in a phone interview with the source. “It looks like they’re being a bit more assertive, and that’s probably a good thing.”

President Barack Obama himself chimed in on the discussion, praising the innovation and efforts of tech giants to make automated driving safer, reported Business Insider. In an op-ed article published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Obama encouraged the self-driving technology but advised that while safety regulations are crucial, it is important that they do not  get in the way of industry advancement.

He acknowledged that the future of self-driving cars has the potential to change the way we live, though he did issue a caution.

“Regulation can go too far,” he wrote. “Government sometimes gets it wrong when it comes to rapidly changing technologies. What’s more, the quickest way to slam the brakes on innovation is for the public to lose confidence in the safety of new technologies.”