Technology has come a long way in the field of medicine. Could it one day really be used to print entire, fully functional, human organs??
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Krishna Rajendran
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As a resident, I would love to have something like Valet Waste for my building. As you nicely outlined, Valet Waste definitely makes things more convenient for residents to recycle their trash and it also helps property managers better manage their trash collection resources. But I am concerned about how the company would react to a competitor entering this space. While the concept is interesting, I am not sure if the actual technology used is so revolutionary that it would be hard for competitors to copy. One could argue that there is some amount of first mover effect and being the first player in the field of “concierge style” trash collection has given Valet Waste a significant advantage. But if I were running the company, I would look to see how I can diversify and offer more value-added services such as maintenance and apartment cleaning (as you mentioned) or even some kind of security service, to protect myself from competition.
Sarah, this is an interesting article! While I agree with you that AbbVie could potential disrupt the pharmaceutical industry, I would be cautious about saying that larger companies would have a tough time jumping on the digital transformation wave. Big pharmaceutical companies are just so massive in terms of its resources that they could easily counter AbbVie’s efforts by creating a new digital division or acquire an up and coming company in the digital space. Furthermore, the size of the big companies allows it have more wiggle room to resort to aggressive prices wars to gain market share. Abbvie has very little margin for error while fighting against competition since it has an enormous amount of debt – Debt to Equity ratio of 687% compared to major pharmaceutical companies’ debt to equity value of 84%. Some of its current major drugs (such as Humira) are going to go off-patent as well. So it is heavily dependent on it’s new product pipeline to yield some blockbuster drug.
Source: http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/04/is-abbvies-stock-too-risky.aspx).
Farhaneh,
Thanks for sharing information about a problem that many people in the world could relate to. I like Dexcom’s new technology since it uses charts and allows information to be easily tracked over a period of time to identify trends. Another advantage of the new technology is the fact that patients don’t have to obsessively check their blood sugar 10 times a day; this obsession could easily cause more stress and anxiety which in turn would lead to diabetes becoming worse. Nevertheless, the fact that Dexcom is invasive (one could even argue that it is more invasive than the lancet) is a significant drawback in my book.
Recently, a company called Echo Therapeutics developed a new technology called Symphony CGM that is actually non-invasive (i.e. does not involve the use of a needle). I think this new technology is going to pose a significant threat to Dexcom and I am very curious to see how the latter responds to it. I think competition is a good thing and would lead to more and more innovations, which can hopefully benefit patients.
Very interesting article, Caroline! I am still amazed at how most consultations can be set up in just 10 minutes considering each medical professional on average serves about 4700 patients (17+ million members/3600 medical professionals). I think telemedicine has great potential to help people who otherwise would have no access whatsoever to physicians. Nevertheless, telemedicine has to overcome quite a few challenges before it becomes mainstream. As is highlighted in this article (http://www.rmmagazine.com/2016/08/01/the-benefits-and-risks-of-telemedicine/), data privacy/security is a big issue. Even with the advent of technology, today, medical reports are still rarely sent through the internet since information sent online can be easily intercepted without strong security systems. This will be one of the key challenges that telemedicine has to deal with.
Great article! Just to add to what the other people who commented mentioned, Kaveri could establish partnerships and leverage a platform such as E-Choupal (http://www.itcportal.com/businesses/agri-business/e-choupal.aspx) to disseminate information about best practices in improving agricultural yields. The E-Choupal initiative has provided farmers with computers through which they can gain valuable information to improve their yields.Traditional knowledge of farmers combined with the latest innovations in agriculture would help the farmers immensely.
Well written article! Just to further add to your points about diversification, some ski resorts are looking at developing some of their indoor activities (such as waterslides) to attract customers throughout the year. Another interesting thing that some ski resorts are developing in Australia and Britain are ‘Dry Slopes’, which are artificial surfaces made of carpet textures or plastic to mimic the effect of having snow. This would be another way for ski resorts to attract customers throughout the year.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ski-resorts-weather-proofing-climate-change-1.3715284
Very insightful article Ryan! I was curious to understand more ways that LafargeHolcim could reduce C02 emission. I found this article which talks about more ways to reduce C02 emission ( http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/05/09/emissions-from-the-cement-industry/ ). One way to reduce CO2, could be capturing and storing it (Carbon Capture and Storage – CCS). By passing CO2 through concrete, CO2 could be made to react with calcium hydroxide in a water medium to form calcium carbonate. Then it could be careful stored. With more advances in technology, there may be better ways to efficiently store C02.
Very interesting writeup! Just to add to everything that you have said, this report (http://www.egat.co.th/en/images/about-egat/PDP2015_Eng.pdf) states the AEDP is also planning to focus on waste, biomass, and biogas power generation as alternative sources of renewable energy. This report says that about 3000 MW of power could be generated from such sources. Another interesting source of power mentioned in this report was Cassava, which could be used to produce about 1500 MW of power. There are many sources available for EGAT, it will be very interesting to see which approach they end up choosing.
NRG does look like it’s facing an uphill battle, as illustrated in this article. But nevertheless, NRG has taken a few steps to deal with the disruption that will be caused by the Clean Power Plan. NRG is investing heavily in solar power panels There is a massive plant called the El Segundo Energy Center, which provides daytime electricity using solar energy and gas-power mechanism kicks in only when there are sudden spikes in demand. NRG is also trying to invest more in solar community projects. NRG has managed to increase the percentage of energy derived from renewables to 9% from the earlier value of 1% in 2008. NRG faces a number of challenges
This blog is concise, easy to understand, and highlights the key issues that Lend Lease is facing. Barangaroo South is one of Lend Lease’s major projects in Australia. This report highlights some more climate change issues and additional adaptations that Lend Lease has to make to deal with the threat of climate change:
One additional issue that Lend Lease must deal with is the reduction in potable water availability owing to the decrease in the rainfall. One way the company plans to deal with this is to develop a water treatment system that enables the usage of recycled water for a vast majority of non-potable uses.