Alexandra's Profile

Only time will tell, indeed. Hopefully Uptake has a first move advantage here and it’s partnership with CAT will remain strong even when GE brings its product to market. I imagine that the partnership with CAT will generate a lot of value for CAT customers by allowing them to perform preventative maintenance on machines before more expensive repairs are needed. Are the sensors mainly used for maintenance or are they able to provide data on amount of material mined? I’m not sure how the technology would work in that context but it seems like an adjacency that makes a lot of sense for their business.

Really interesting post! This platform is a great idea and I’m glad it’s connecting hospitals and allowing them to get the blood that they need. Like you suggested, it’s vital for Bloodbuy to promote it’s platform so that more hospitals surgery centers are able to join the network, thus expanding the benefits of the platform for everyone involved. I also really like your idea about using this platform for vaccine management. One other suggestion is that the company could look to partner with pharmaceutical companies that sell to hospitals. If they were able to leverage a pharma company’s sales team to push adoption of their platform, they would hopefully see a strong upswing in their subscription numbers.

As a user of the Starbucks mobile payment app, I found this article really interesting. I agree that the setup time is too long – I was once accidentally logged out of my Starbucks app, didn’t remember my password, and then used a regular credit card at Starbucks for several months because I found that getting back into my account. I also agree that the rewards program is what drives people to use the app over Apple Pay. I was not aware that Apple Pay offered compatibility with other companies rewards programs but would like to learn more about it. How does that system work? Are you able to use the Apple Pay system at a retailer or must you use the retailers app and just link the payment to apple pay? I think the adoption of Apple Pay would greatly increase if it was all accessible through just the Apple Pay app.

Brad, this was an enlightening (and funny!) post. I am similarly concerned that EZ Pass location data is being used for purposes other than paying tolls at dedicated toll booths. The prospect of the government constantly getting pings on my location is frightening but I agree that using the data to reduce traffic is enticing. Do you think that EZ Pass could be subject to a class action lawsuit for allowing data to be used for purposes outside of the terms and conditions of their user agreement? Kapsch Traficcom AG and EZ Pass need to quickly partner with a data protection agency to ensure this data isn’t being used for nefarious purposes.

I am excited to see the GE is helping make our cities “smarter” and is saying goodbye to energy inefficient CFL light bulbs. LED light bulbs are more energy efficient and as more and more cities adopt them, the environmental impact lighting our city streets decreases. Philips is also partnering with cities to get them to start using smart/connected LED light bulbs but they haven’t introduced a sensor like the GE/SST sensor. I’m curious to learn more about how the these GE/SST sensors are able to detect gunfire. What is the accuracy rate? Is there a risk that too many false-alarms will be triggered? It’s a very interesting idea and if the accuracy is high enough, I agree that it’s a great application of technology.

Thanks, Alejandra! That’s a very interesting program and would definitely be good for them to mention when working with their suppliers.

Interesting article! As a banana consumer, I had never considered how bananas would be impacted by climate change. I agree with your suggestion that Chiquita should be considering other geographies for its banana farms in order to hedge against climate change’s negative affects on its current farms in Central America. It might be a good idea for them to investigate which areas of the world are projected to start getting more rain as a result of climate change and to then proactively develop farm land in those regions. Getting a jump start on cultivating new land in wetter areas could give them a leg up on the competition.

The Cleveland Clinic has stated that farmed salmon do no have the same health benefits as wild salmon. Do you think there is a way for Marine Harvest to research ways to improve the nutritional value of their farmed salmon? Increased nutritional benefits might draw more people to farmed fish and therefore help reduce our dependence on wild-caught fish for our diet. Additionally, this increased demand might help Marine Harvest to get the capital they need to explore the on-shore fish farms you propose. Very interesting article!

My energy usage contributing to climate change is not something I had ever considered. It’s great to hear that Google is working on various renewable energy projects to both help their bottom line and help the environment. One question that came to mind is, do you think it’s realistic for Google to remind customers that their data usage (i.e., use of all Google services) is harmful to the environment? I worry that Google won’t be likely to encourage users to decrease their use of Google services and thus will have to come up with different solutions for combating Google’s effect on the environment.

It’s quite surprising to see that Mares is not doing more to protect their business model. I agree with your suggestion that Mares should be partnering with conservation organizations to help in efforts to reduce the rate at which the coral reefs are being depleted. Another potential strategic action would be to partner with other scuba diving companies to form a conservation alliance. That way there could be another strong voice in the mix lobbying governments to increase environmental regulations to protect the coral reefs.

I agree that Mosaic seems to benefit financially from a changing climate. As volatility in crop yields increases due to more unpredictable weather patters, customers may choose to use Mosaic’s products to help their crops perform better. One additional strategic objective they could explore would be to increase R&D projects focused on developing fertilizer that increases crop yields in environments significantly affected by climate change so Mosaic can anticipate demand from their customers and be able to serve them more effectively.