How Biden is using internal government startups to lure tech talent to D.C.

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As the Biden years begin, there are hopeful signs that the new administration is serious about using technology to streamline the work of the government. The U.S. Digital Service and 18F —tech-forward “startups” that formed within the government during the Obama years—may get renewed attention and funding. While those groups were successful within government agencies, much work needs to be done to better coordinate federal programs with states and counties, work that was largely ignored during the Trump years. Read More …

The startup that saved the restaurant industry in the nick of time

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Nick Kokonas, CEO of the restaurant reservations platform Tock, is meeting a handful of new employees over Zoom for the first time. The latest hires of his rapidly growing Chicago-based company are tuning in from their apartments. He’s logging in from a house in Lake Tahoe that he’s rented for a few weeks in January in an attempt to take a vacation after an extraordinarily busy year.  The plan is to welcome his employees to the company with an introductory pep talk. He’ll explain how his 6-year-old reservation system is designed to help chefs manage both their dining rooms and kitchens more efficiently. He’ll go on to tell them about the way it threw a lifeline to independent restaurants during the pandemic by allowing their kitchens to offer take out and delivery service on better terms than other platforms. And then he’ll explain how the 140-person company is now taking on some of the biggest industry players with a tech platform that gives more control to chefs and restaurateurs. He is, after all, co-owner of Chicago’s renowned Alinea restaurant, along with several other eateries in the city, and has spent the past decade and a half thinking about what a restaurant needs to survive and even thrive.  But before he begins, Kokonas wants to set one thing straight: He did not purchase the large wooden yin-yang that hangs above his head. “This is not my house. This is not my yin-yang,” he tells his new hires. “This is T. Read More …

The 10 most innovative companies in robotics

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Robotics and automation have already transformed how certain industries work, like the auto industry. But the technology is still being realized in many other sectors, and some of those businesses–like retail, food, and healthcare–became more reliant on automation and robotics during the pandemic. That change is likely permanent. The fact is that there are still many, many jobs that machines can do better than humans. The companies on this year’s list not only have great technology, but they’re applying it in ways that make a difference. 1. DroneSeed For replanting fire-ravaged forests We’ve just seen the worst wildfire season on record in the United States, resulting in more than 8 million acres of land burned. On average, the world loses 18.8 million acres of forest to fires every year. Getting all that forest replanted and back to converting carbon dioxide is crucial to the environment, but in practice, it’s a costly and slow process. Seattle-based DroneSeed uses swarms of large, proprietary drones to carry seeds to burned areas and plant them in spots where they’re most likely to grow well. The seeds are delivered in “vessels” designed to keep the seed hydrated and protected from animals. The company says that it’s seen its contracts jump well into the six figures this year, and it’s now working with the Nature Conservancy and three of the five largest timber companies. Read More …

The 10 most innovative security companies of 2021

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With so many people working from home on their personal devices during the coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity has gotten more important than ever. Security companies have developed new ways to protect people from malicious activity on their phones and computers—even when they’re on their own—by detecting phishing messages, political misinformation, denial-of-service attacks, and other types of cyberattacks. They’ve also come up with new techniques to help stop fraud by confirming that people are who they say they are without relying so much on passwords and centralized databases that can themselves be targets for criminals. And they’ve built new systems for securing people’s most sensitive business data, whether it needs to be accessible on corporate servers or on individual employee cellphones. Camille François , Chief innovation officer at Graphika. [Photo: Taylor Kay Johnson ] 1. Graphika For tracking disinformation campaigns around the world through the 2020 elections and beyond Researchers at the social network analysis company Graphika made a name for themselves in 2020 by reporting suspected Russian operations targeting conservative voters before the U.S. presidential election, flagging Chinese state efforts targeting Taiwan, and discovering global misinformation around COVID-19. Working with competing companies—including Facebook, Google, and Twitter—helps Graphika spot deceptive activities that aren’t limited to just one site and get posts taken down, rooting out online disinformation. For more on why Graphika is a 2021 Most Innovative Company, click here .  2. Identiq For using cryptography to allow companies to vouch for users without sharing personal data Identiq lets companies verify that new customers are who they claim to be based on digital references from other companies in its network. It has developed cryptographic tools to let companies confirm they’re talking about the same person without having to actually share any data with Identiq or even with each other, meaning fewer opportunities for data breaches or privacy violations. Because data comes from partner businesses’ own systems, it can essentially be kept permanently up to date. For the system to work, Identiq needs a critical mass of business, and a May 2020 virtual summit brought praise from companies like transportation booking company Gett, gift card and payment tech company Blackhawk Network, and international payment company PayU. 3. ZecOps For spotting the hacks that can cause apps to crash—on iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux ZecOps makes automated software that spots when apps crash on computers and phones, then tries to find out what went wrong Read More …

The 10 most innovative companies in media

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As the media industry was rocked by the pandemic in 2020, companies were forced to quickly come up with creative ways to make and distribute content, as well as keep audiences united during a socially divisive time. These companies led the way on those fronts and more. 1. SpringHill Company For marrying entertainment with social justice through Hollywood content LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s marketing and entertainment company has an unapologetic agenda: to make and distribute content that will give a voice to creators and consumers who have been pandered to, ignored, or underserved. Its commitment to this community hasn’t wavered as the company significantly scaled into a content creation powerhouse and raised $100 million in 2020. It was a producer of the Netflix limited series Self-Made , starring Octavia Spencer as Madam C.J. Walker, the Black creator of an early-20th-century beauty empire; and the documentary series The Playbook about legendary coaches, also on Netflix. SpringHill Company also backed James’ More than a Vote initiative to boost voter turnout, and created animated shorts and other digital media to educate and inspire people to get involved in the Presidential election. More content is on the way thanks to a blizzard of new deals with Amazon, Disney, Universal, CNN, Sirius, and more. 2 Read More …