While vaccines save millions of lives each year and are among the most cost-effective health interventions ever developed, about 1.5 million children die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Some factors that contribute to the availability of vaccines globally include unreliable transportation systems and intermittent storage facilities, which make it difficult to preserve high-quality vaccines that require refrigeration.
But with the use of smart technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare and medical device companies are improving ways to keep vaccines stored and protected throughout the supply chain. One great example is the Weka Smart Fridge, which enables clinicians in the field to better manage vaccine distribution, helping them save lives.
“Clinicians in areas of Africa and other regions where power is unstable or inaccessible can use our Smart Fridge to store and dispense vaccines. And the Fridge is small enough that you can put it in a van. So if you can’t bring the people to the vaccine, you can bring the vaccine to the people,” says Alan Lowenstein, COO of Weka Health Solutions.
The Fridge automates vaccine storage and dose dispensing to save time and enhance patient care. It includes remote monitoring services to ensure vaccines are stored at the right temperature, while automatic inventory tracing saves staff time and ensures a reliable vaccine supply. The refrigerator houses each vaccine in its own cartridge, in keeping with required storage protocol by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, access is limited through a small drawer on the front of the Smart Fridge to protect vaccines from temperature change.
The Vaccine Smart Fridge uses an IoT platform that collects real-time data from numerous sensors on every unit to enable 24×7 monitoring and analysis. BlueMetal, the 2016 Microsoft Internet of Things Worldwide Partner of the Year, worked with Weka to develop the IoT-enabled device that keeps vaccines fresh, secured and accounted for. The real-time visualization of vaccine inventory throughout the network enables Weka to understand the vaccination rates at every location. And by using business intelligence capabilities such as those in Azure Machine Learning, organizations can be alerted to upcoming vaccine shortages at specific clinics or in certain areas. For example, if a clinic unexpectedly runs out of a vaccine, the system can let a healthcare worker know there’s a physician’s office a few miles away that has a surplus of that type of vaccine in stock.
Controlled refrigeration and monitoring also helps reduce financial losses. “Physicians generally have $40,000 to $60,000 worth of vaccines in their refrigerators,” says Lowenstein. “If the clinic suffers a power outage or the traditional fridge fails, they risk losing the entire inventory of vaccines.” By using automated processes to manage inventory through IoT sensors, the Fridge can deliver proactive alerts on inventory shortages or changes in temperature.
In addition, Weka estimates that a medical practice that dispenses approximately 400 vaccines per month could reduce human-resource costs by more than $1,000 a month with the Fridge’s monitoring system. This system helps ensure that the first vaccines in the refrigerator are the first that come out, so patients never receive an expired or recalled vaccine, and it reduces the manual task of vaccine management by clinicians.
The Smart Fridge is a great example of how companies can accelerate digital transformation with smart solutions to increase staff efficiency and quality control and automate inventory management. Weka’s Smart Fridge is currently scheduled to go to market at the beginning of 2017.
Help JIT Meet its $200k Goal to Support Foster Youths
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Each year, approximately 300 youth reach the age of 18 and transition out of the foster care. But with little or no support the odds and the statistics are stacked against them. Managed Solution invites supporters to once again invest to support the JIT programs that build self-sufficiency for over 500 youth each year.
Just In Time for Foster Youth is running a program called "Pathways to Financial Power", where JIT participants can learn important business skills, such as overcoming self-limiting beliefs, cultivating effective resumes, and interview skills. Discovering a Pathway to Financial Power breaks the cycle of foster care and gives the next generation an opportunity to make a contribution of their own.
$53K more to go to meet $200K goal
Companies are investing in the JIT Pathways to Financial Power program to assist foster youths in learning how to take control of their finances. Our VP of Cloud and Vendor Operations, Jennell Mott, is the Board Secretary for JIT. Support Managed Solution's own employee while helping a great cause for amazing kids. JIT only needs $53K more to meet its $200K goal before the 2016 Pathway to Financial Power event on September 24, 2016.
The event will provide knowledge and networking to:
* Develop a customized resume & cover letter
* Uncover the Top 10 “credit building myths”
* Create a LinkedIn page & maximize social media
* Learn their Strengthsfinder profile & how to use it
* Connect to training & employers with open jobs
* Shop for professional clothing to make a great impression
* Practice an “elevator speech” to tell their story
* Meet volunteers in their potential career field
* Match savings up to $4,500
* Overcome persistent employment roadblocks
For more information on the event and details on how to invest, visit jitfosteryouth.org
Managed Solution demonstrates its commitment to people through contributions, charitable sponsorships and employee volunteer programs in the communities where we work and live. “Committed Redefined” is integral to every company initiative. Managed Solution Cares!
At first glance, the MIT programmers may have looked like just a bunch of gamers goofing off, as they fired spaceship torpedoes in a video game they built.
But more than 50 years later, their 1960s game “Spacewar” has become a milestone in the development of computers, with its then-radical idea of using a controller to manipulate an icon in a graphical interface.
“Shooting your opponent in space may have looked like a waste of time or just a playful activity, but it led to a powerful piece of software that changed the history of computing,” says Steven Johnson, author of several books on innovation that have landed on the New York Times best-sellers list.
Johnson’s latest book, “Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World,” continues his study of human creativity by exploring how having fun can lead to revolutionary ideas. Leading up to the book’s launch in November, Johnson is also hosting a 10-part podcast series in partnership with Microsoft.
The series, which began Monday, investigates the link between play and creativity and includes such guests as Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Brand and The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross. The first episode tells the story of computer pioneer Charles Babbage encountering a mechanical doll as a young child, a playful moment that sparked his brilliant career as an inventor.
“I started to reflect on how many important ideas in history initially came out of people playing around with things for the fun of it, or exploring new experiences for a sense of wonder and delight and amusement,” says Johnson. His books include “Everything Bad is Good for You,” “Where Good Ideas Come From” and “How We Got to Now,” which was also an Emmy-winning TV series that Johnson co-created and hosted.
“Wonderland” covers a range of subjects, from the spice trade and shopping to public spaces and games, with fascinating, detailed examples. In a chapter on musical instruments, Johnson highlights a ninth-century flute toy from Baghdad that played different songs through interchangeable cylinders, showing how it was both entertaining curio and pioneering invention.
“It was the first time anybody dreamed of the idea of a programmable machine. It’s really the first moment in history where the difference between hardware and software suddenly became imaginable,” he says. The idea of programmability later enriched computational devices in the 19th century and became a bedrock computing principle in the 20th century.
“It’s an example of an incredibly important idea that began in play, in song and music and amusement,” Johnson says. “Play is a very profound predictor of future developments.”
But for today’s organizations, integrating time for play can be a tradeoff between deadlines and deliverables. A recent survey by Johnson and Microsoft found that 70 percent of U.S. employees feel more energized and productive when they have time to “play” at work, yet only 31 percent say their organizations encourage this time during the work day.
Johnson says businesses can incorporate play by creating lively work environments, encouraging fun and recognizing the importance of hobbies outside of work. Some companies also set aside time for employees to share non-job interests, which might include music, art or volunteer work.
“It’s emotionally interesting and builds team camaraderie,” says Johnson. “It’s also often that an outside idea sparks a new thought. If you’re focused on a problem exclusively within the terms of that problem, it’s very hard to break out of that mindset.”
Play is a very profound predictor of future developments.
A workspace’s physical features also affect creativity, and many companies – startups and tech organizations in particular – have incorporated games and cool hangouts that foster a playful atmosphere.
“There’s a reason to have a pool table and a fun, coffee-shop-like environment, instead of a bunch of conference rooms and cubicles. They’re not just perks; they make people more creative and innovative,” Johnson says. They also spark what he calls “serendipitous connections.”
For Microsoft, the concept of play is embedded in the company’s culture, from the annual //oneweek Hackathon event — a celebration of employee innovation — to an ethos that encourages employees to “bring their ‘whole selves’ to work,” says Dona Sarkar, who leads the community for Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program.
A few weeks ago, funny discussions about togas and lightsabers helped her bond with her partner marketing team, whom she discovered has always embraced individual interests from silly to serious. Using the interests for goodwill and good ideas, the team’s friendly dynamic enables risk-taking and creativity, while personal passions have led to important projects.
One team member, Ursula Hildenbrand, mentioned her volunteer work with elderly people, prompting Windows Insider marketing lead, Jeremiah Marble, and the team to launch a program that teaches technology to senior citizens with help from high school students.
The Windows Insider Community team has fun with togas and lightsabers. The team includes (from left) Joe Camp, Cheryl Sanders, Blair Glennon, Tyler Ahn, Dona Sarkar, Derek Haynes, Thomas Trembly, Manik Rane (kneeling), Ursula Hildenbrand, Joan Steelquist and Seth Rubinstein. (Photo by Dan DeLong).
“When we bring our whole selves to work, we’re able to solve problems for bigger groups of customers,” says Sarkar. “When you introduce humor and levity, it breaks up boundaries between people. It helps co-workers become friends. You can bring up all these creative ideas, and we can riff on them and make them even better.”
As a veteran engineer and manager, Sarkar has always encouraged her teams to leave the office and work together in a coffee shop, park or mall. She often bonds with co-workers while traveling for work and says a few hours with colleagues away from the normal grind can help people open up — and ultimately be more creative.
“When you remove yourself from the office, you stop being ‘Office Person’ and you start being the human being that you are,” Sarkar says.
The advice echoes Johnson’s and Microsoft’s research, which found that more than half of employees reported that their new ideas are triggered while hanging out with friends, doing something playful or even taking a shower — anywhere, it seemed, but at work.
“Sometimes, the best ideas come from stepping away from the problem you’re working on and entering that more playful state,” Johnson says. “And letting your mind explore a more experimental mode.”
If you’re still playing Pokemon Go, then you’ve likely invested enough time and energy to care about this DIY Pokemon Go helmet.
Before we go any further, this video is obviously for fun and isn’t available for sale — worth mentioning since I’m sure more than a few people actually got excited about this.
YouTuber (and self-proclaimed Queen of Shitty Robots) Simone Giertz created this video for some giggles, first spotted by the folks at Kotaku.
Hopefully this brings a giggle to your Monday routine.
And for what it’s worth, Giertz isn’t the only one still riding that Pokemon Go wave. Niantic, makers of the game, have seen more than $250 million in revenue since the game launched earlier this summer.
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