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BoldIQ recognized as one of 8 top stories of 2017 by Seattle24X7

Seattle24x7’s Top Stories for 2017

It’s time to recap a few of the highlights in another breakthrough year for the region’s ongoing leadership in Internet commerce and content.

In 2017, Seattle saw the light at the end of a new tunnel (nicknamed Bertha) connecting points north and south along the downtown corridor. We anchored the tenancies of more of the world’s tech titans (Google, Facebook. et al.) — forming a world-class hub for remote engineering on South Lake Union (“Silicon Lake”). We ushered in the VR/AR revolution with new hardware and software standards. We funded the next generation of our academic community’s computer science program. And we continued our prominence in E-tail, online travel, real estate and gaming, including the hosting of Valve and Steam Software’s DOTA2 Finals with its epic, ten-million dollar first prize.

Here’s a sampling of the digital ink we spilled across our desktops at Seattle24x7 in 2017:

All About Amazon: Why “Day 1” Will Always Be Groundhog Day
How Amazon systems have been designed to affirm the very best practices in fostering a forward-thinking corporate ecosystem.  View Article

Crunching the Numbers: From USAFacts to OED’s Business Decision Engine
Steve Ballmer was born a numbers guy. The former Microsoft CEO and NBA team owner describes how he is applying the empirical, numerical truth to evaluate governmental performance with USA FactsView Article. 

A Fierce Conversation with Susan Scott:  Keeping It Real, Making it Work, Anonymous Trolls, Preposterous Trump and Ferocious Success
Susan Scott, one of the most sought-after self-improvement and HR counselors and keynoters in America, explains why we must pierce the din and clutter with Fierce Conversation.
View Article

To Bing or Not to Bing, That Is Her Question
Christi Olson, the explainer-in-chief and Microsoft Evangelist for the Bing search engine, spotlights the differences between Bing and Google and why they could not be more profound. View Article

The PR for Which WE Stands
Melissa Waggener Zorkin made history with the founding of America’s first female-owned amd operated PR firm. Today WE Communications continues to make history for a roster of A-List clients on a daily basis. The story behind  how WE functions at the forefront of the Internet era including “Jumping the Story Gap” and using the “Story Force” can now be told.  View Article

Saving Lives — There’s an App for That!
After winning the MacArthur Foundation Genius award, UW professor and entrepreneur Shwetak Patel has
made the Apple iPhone a medical diagnostic device for measuring hemaglobin, bone density and  human lung capacity with Senosis Health. View Article

Real-Time Software for the On-Demand World: BoldIQ Builds It One Solution at a Time
Roei Ganzarski is optimizing on-demand air travel, ground transportation, health care operations, and HR Staffing  — from the inside-out.   View Article

A Bird’s Eye View of Legal SEO
How founder Conrad Saam and Mockingbird are advising attorneys about best practices in digital marketing and totally legal SEO. View Article

Click to read online

BoldIQ featured in Juniper’s Smart City report

 

Juniper’s latest Smart Cities research highlights how the market landscape has shifted over the past 18 months, from one that was primarily technology-driven, to one where policy plays an increasingly important role. Juniper’s must-read research provides unique insights into this market, providing in-depth analysis of leading global smart cities’ approach to the industry along with an assessment of emerging challenges and opportunities across key service markets.

 

Click to go to Juniper Research

BoldIQ Team How Smart Will Our Cities Become in 2018? The Fast Mode

“Emerging Futuristic Tech, the Battle to Become the E-Commerce Top Dog and the Re-Imagining of Brick-and-Mortar Will Dominate”

This past year has given us a glimpse into what our futuristic society may hold. For example: in the e-commerce realm, Amazon launched Amazon Go stores allowing consumers to skip the inefficient checkout process by linking their phone to the store app. This step forward acted as yet another sign of how retail giants are fully embracing the ever-changing online shopping experience. In 2017, we also saw next generation technologies start to emerge across new industries from delivery services to disaster recovery efforts. However, experts believe 2018 will be even more transformative. How so? Below are a few trends we can expect to see as we enter the New Year.

#1: AMAZON WILL HAVE TO FIND ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE IN 2018 AGAINST THE CIRCLING COMPETITION

2017 may have been Amazon’s year – from its $13.7 billion Whole Foods Market acquisition to its plans to use futuristic technologies like delivery drones and bots – but this success has created new competition for the marketplace. Companies like Walmart and Target are starting to one-up each other, racing to meet the new consumer expectations of free or two-day delivery. In response, Amazon will quickly need to find a way to differentiate themselves from the pack by offering something no one else currently does (or can) in order to regain their place at the top of the leaderboard in the New Year.

Now, what might that look like? How about a “buy now, deliver later” service. Say you come across a product online you may want to purchase as a birthday or holiday present but it’s a few months until you need to give it to that person. Right now, you would have to buy it and store it yourself or hope it will still be the right price at a later date. However, what if Amazon offered the option to buy it now – in full, not on layaway – but have it shipped at a time of your choosing. This ensures you get the price you want and delivery when you need it while guaranteeing the company a customer.

#2: THE RE-IMAGINING OF BRICK-AND-MORTAR AS WE KNOW IT: HELLO RETAIL EXPERIENCES AND STORAGE HUBS

Shopping malls and retailers across the United States have been steadily closing their doors over the past five years, leaving an eerie vacant building ready for the next tenant to come in and transform it back to its former glory. And as social beings, we want to interact and ‘experience’ things like going to the mall or store to look, touch, and try-on items before buying them but would rather not be inconvenienced by driving our cars, carrying bags, or only hoping they have the desired item in stock. On the other hand, the retailer would probably prefer to pay less in store front rent, not have to hold so much inventory on site, and put more focus on the customer experience.

In 2018, a transformation will begin. As consumers grapple with the experience of going shopping versus the convenience of e-commerce, traditional brick-and-mortar stores and malls will transform their storage footprints and physical shopping experiences. These new store fronts will allow the consumer to experience, touch, feel, and try on product and even buy it on the spot – but eliminates the worry about it being in stock, carrying it around, or having room in the car (or ride share) to bring it home. Instead, customers will get their purchased item shipped directly to their doorstep. Not only will this make the shopping experience more pleasurable, this trend will promote the use of ride sharing and next generation delivery and transportation models.

#3: DRONES AND DELIVERY BOTS ARE COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU, BUT NOT HOW YOU’D EXPECT

Based on recent regulation discussions by the FAA and White House, delivery drones and sidewalk bots might be coming to your doorstep sooner than you think, furthering our goal of ‘smarter’ deliveries and supply chain optimization. In fact, a Gartner forecast report predicts the global drone market will grow to more than $11.2 billion by 2020. In the next year, we can expect to see more businesses across several industries testing both bots in metro cities, which are more heavily populated, and drones in rural areas where there are fewer obstacles and distractions.

#4: INTELLIGENT SMART TECHNOLOGIES WILL BEEF UP DISASTER RECOVERY IN 2018

With an unprecedented number of natural disasters this year, many companies, cities, and countries will begin to overhaul their disaster recovery strategy and use smart technologies to optimize recovery efforts. By using software that provides decisions based off of previous disaster data and real-time resource and situational data, advanced technology will be used to make life saving decisions in real-time. In addition to using ‘smart’ technologies, states, organizations and individuals will turn toward applications that crowdsource recovery efforts to formulate the best plan when we are forced to expect the unexpected.

On that note, 2018 has the potential to surpass our expectations on next generation technology innovation and implementation. As consumer demands in an ever more connected economy continue to dictate how most industries and markets evolve, we have unprecedented opportunity for technology growth and adoption to be materialized in the next few months.

Click to read online in full

A look ahead to 2018 with Tech Target

With 2018 right around the corner, everyone from industry experts to company CEOs is looking ahead to the trends the new year will bring. For those situated in our evolving smart cities, the growth of the on-demand economy to the increasing interconnectivity of IoT devices will be especially interesting over the next 12 months. After all, this year saw the advent of drone delivery with Amazon’s early tests and later examples from competitors of deliveries, ranging from the trivial, such as Domino’s pizza delivery, to life-saving medical supply deliveries in Tanzania. Additionally, the self-driving car race heated up, with nearly every auto manufacturer announcing new and improved models up to and including the Tesla driverless truck. Finally, convenience-based services reigned supreme, all thanks to the on-demand economy.

When we take a look back, technology made a big impact on our lives in 2017; so that now begs the question: What trends will 2018 hold? Let’s take a look.

Delivery drones and sidewalk bots may be heading to our front doors sooner than we think. With regulation discussions by the FAA and White House heating up, it is clear the goal of building smarter cities is a priority in 2018. This includes the testing, implementation and adoption of smarter, more efficient delivery methods of products and goods. Over the next year, we can expect to see more companies — across a surprising number of industries — testing sidewalk bots in metro cities, which are more heavily populated and present different challenges and risks, while drones will reign king in rural areas where there are less distractions and obstacles to make deliveries.

On-demand services, including anything from ride-sharing to food delivery to laundry services, are the backbone of the gig economy and have quickly become a necessity for our society. However, it’s commonly overlooked that most companies in this industry dip into the same pool of resources. Think about it: How many times has a ride-share car pulled up and the corner of its window has stickers of all major players in the market?

With new companies entering the market each day, we will soon reach a significant imbalance of overall resources and consumer demand. And if this imbalance continues to grow at the rate it’s currently growing, the gig economy bubble will eventually burst. The solution? Twofold:

  1. Consolidate to counterbalance supply with demand. In 2018, we’ll begin to see companies merge within their respective markets to use resources more efficiently and gain the most market share, while others will subsequently become obsolete.
  2. Control your resources. In the year ahead, we will start to see companies use controlled resources, i.e., resources that they will be able to schedule for work and direct quality and service for. Resources will return to become a service company’s competitive advantage.

Overall, we can expect to see the full implementation and maturation of technology introduced in 2017 over the next year. Self-driving cars, checkout-less grocery stores, and drone and bot deliveries will become much more commonplace and an accepted part of our society. However, one big question lingers: Will industries and companies ensure the technology is efficient and optimized for the benefit of both consumers and society? The answer: We’ll have to wait and see.

Click to read on TechTarget