22 Jun Monthly Trend Report – June
Prepr Newsletter
As we enjoy the warmer weather and look forward to brighter days, we reflect on the unprecedented challenges we now face in the midst of a pandemic. Prepr is reflecting on new tech trends in some of the most affected sectors: healthcare, education, retail, manufacturing, and mobility.
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Healthcare: Fighting COVID-19 with AI
Artificial Intelligence is assisting researchers and healthcare workers with fighting the pandemic! One UK company called BenevolentAI innovated an AI platform that helps coronavirus drug researchers identify critical relationships between genes and diseases, so that we may quickly discover the drugs that best combat COVID-19. Another example of AI helping the pandemic is the Canadian startup BlueDot, a tool that gathers insightful information about outbreaks for public health officials to identify and prevent the spread.
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Education: Remote Learning Platforms
Educators and students alike are struggling to adjust smoothly to an abrupt change in the education system. Luckily, there are tools beyond the standard email or Skype call that more educators are gravitating towards to address the issue! For example, EdPuzzle is a tool specifically designed for teachers to create engaging pre-recorded video lessons, where they can see how their students are interacting and understanding the content. Trello is another tool for teachers to manage a successful online classroom. There, teachers and faculty have a space to collaborate, plan, and organize course curriculum.
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Mobility: AI is Riding Public Transit
Lockdown orders have kept us inside and majorly cut down our use of public transit. Transportation experts are predicting that the future of public transit involves AI assistance, which would reduce the need for transit employees and thus reduce the amount of people in transit stations. Right now, we are seeing efforts being made to prevent public health risks on public transit, including plans for social distancing on vehicles, accessible hand sanitizer, and increased cleaning of vehicles and stations.
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Retail: Remote Work Management Tools
A KPMG survey reveals that 60% of employees are finding their new remote work life more demanding than before. To combat the challenges inherent with remote work, employers are using digital project management tools like Asana and Jira along with video chat software on platforms like Skype and Zoom. Remote work is the present. With the tools our society is increasingly reliant on, will remote work be our future too?
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Manufacturing: Autonomous Factory Re-Openings
The manufacturing industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. A machine learning firm is set to “do five years of innovating in the next 18 months” to improve manufacturing. Factories have been dealt severe health precautions, but with the assistance of AI, manufacturing could be changed forever!
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Construction: Social Distance Monitoring
A large concern within communities is how construction workers are maintaining social distance. Introducing Smartvid.io‘s social distancing monitoring software! This new innovation gives administration a smart tool that detects human faces, physical distance, PPE and more.
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Energy: Efforts for Energy Accessibility
Access to energy is especially crucial during the pandemic for all types of community members, from healthcare providers to newly remote workers. WeForum reports on the necessity to make energy available for vulnerable, poor populations around the globe, as well as hospitals, who crucially need to operate at full capability to save lives right now.
Spotlight Challenge of the Month:
Prepr’s Beyond Covid-19: Global Open Innovation Challenge!
We are so excited to be extending our Beyond Covid-19: Global Open Innovation Challenge that we launched during the month of May, through the month of June! Prepr and our challenge participants are fortunate to be supported by expert mentors and generous sponsors for this open innovation challenge. We are receiving brilliant innovation project submissions from all around the world!
Our Challenge calls upon passionate innovators to come up with creative solutions to pandemic-related issues in the following four areas: Business, Education, Community, and Prevention.
Right now, the world is divided and isolated. When we come together, life-saving innovations are possible. Collaboration is an essential ingredient in our socially conscious challenge-based projects, and we are so impressed with the teamwork represented in the projects submitted so far!
Innovators like you are changing the world, one idea at a time.
Submissions close on June 24th. We can’t wait to review the submissions and choose the winners that will be awarded incredible prizes!
Make sure to follow Prepr on our social media channels to get timely updates on all things Prepr!
Head to the Apple store or the Google Play store to download the Prepr app and get started on building your skills for tomorrow, today!
Prepr (@PreprMe) is not-for-profit which is building a global network of labs by connecting entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and educators to co-LEARN, co-LAB, & co-SOLVE® real world challenges and create business opportunities. To find out how you can become a Prepr Educator, visit our website at https://prepr.org/co-learn/
