The Knowledge to Decide

The movement to digitize healthcare information promises to deliver massive gains in efficiency, effectiveness and patient access to personal data. The next steps in this revolution involve making health data accessible via mobile devices and applying big data analytics. Can healthcare IT really revolutionize the age-old healthcare industry? Medical records have traditionally been stored at hospitals and medical centers in the form of paper or analogue film explaining the old joke about doctor’s handwriting. Remarkably, a large share of medical records across the world is still stored in this way, especially in developing economies. But for decades now, a quiet revolution has been underway to make medical information digital, portable across different medical institutions, amenable to big data analytics and accessible to the patient. This revolution is now nearing the tipping point when big changes may become visible. Nowadays, leading healthcare providers in develop

Imagine running a farm – without any soil or use of a tractor. Hard to believe? A Boston-based startup, Freight Farms offers consumers’ high-tech hydroponic farms connected to the Cloud – built within a shipping container. Its vertical hydroponic growing towers have 90% less water consumption capability in comparison to a conventional soil-based farm. Moreover, one shipping container can yield produce equivalent on an acre of land. How does it work? An insulated container shell enables optimal environment for growth of produce. Sensors monitor and control the whole system. In addition, farmers can use their smart phones to check up on lighting, soil temperatures, moisture content, carbon-dioxide levels and other environmental variables to help grow herbs, lettuce and other green vegetables in water filled with nutrients. Can hydroponic farms replace conventional farming techniques? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/fancy-a-farm-in-a-box/

Personal Cloud in China is expected to generate USD2.65 billion in revenues by 2017, growing 30.7%, on average, in the coming five years. With many players vying for a share of this huge market, what strategies will succeed? Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the US Consumer Electronics Association’s blog. With improved internet connectivity and increased usage of mobile phones, the personal Cloud is making headway in China’s consumer market. The factors driving this growth include the ever-rising demand for storage, seamless synchronization between multiple devices as well as demand for full-length HD videos, High-resolution images and collaborative projects. Most of the major global personal Cloud platforms are not accessible in Mainland China. However, three players have emerged as leaders in this Chinese space – Alibaba Group, Tencent and Baidu. Tencent is most popular with over 300 million users; where Baidu has about 200 million users follow