Every day when I look through the headlines there’s always another story about Facebook, Google, or another tech company abusing their users and offering the same old platitudes about how important user privacy is to them or being investigated/fined by the Feds, European Union and some other country.

Ho-hum, business as usual.

There is still a certain amount of choice about using Facebook, Google-Android, various apps, and smart products, such as Samsung’s smart TV, all of which can be hacked. And while it takes effort, to some extent you can protect yourself and your privacy.

But even Facebook and Google’s efforts to dominate pale in comparison, as do the dreams of power of every despot, politico, religious zealot, or military organization, to the future Amazon sees for itself.

Amazon’s incredible, sophisticated systems are no longer being used just to serve up good deals, fast delivery times, or cheap web storage. Its big data capabilities are now the tool of police forces, and maybe soon the military. In the corporate world, Amazon is positioning itself to be the “brains” behind just about everything.

Add to that Amazon’s belief that they have no responsibility in how their tech is used.

Rekognition, Amazon’s facial recognition software is a good example.

Civil rights groups have called it “perhaps the most dangerous surveillance technology ever developed”, and called for Amazon to stop selling it to government agencies, particularly police forces. City supervisors in San Francisco banned its use, saying the software is not only intrusive, but biased – it’s better at recognising white people than black and Asian people. (…) Werner Vogels, Amazon’s CTO,  doesn’t feel it’s Amazon’s responsibility to make sure Rekognition is used accurately or ethically.

In one form or another, with great power comes great responsibility has been a byword starting with the Bible and down through the ages to Spiderman.

When a company wields the power to bring the modern world to its knees one can only hope it will take that to heart.

Image credit: judon / aparagraph.com

IBM Watson Health and Broad Institute launch major research initiative to study why cancers become drug resistant.

Hi Folks,

I had the chance to attend one of the largest healthcare IT conferences this week in Orlando known as HIMSS or Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.  

What this mouthful of a name means is if you want a venue showcasing the cutting edge technology in healthcare with 40,000 of your closest friends…well you’re in the right spot.

I was there as a representative of my company and had a chance to have some meaningful conversations, but it was the conversations off the floor that were perhaps more valuable.

As anyone who has attended a convention of this size knows, you’re in for a menagerie of vendor sites and sounds. It can be overwhelming and enlightening 

While I had some downtime I took a walk on the floor to see what else is occurring within the medtech sector.

During one of these occasions I had a chance to meet with some folks from IBM. Now IBM needs no introduction, but within healthcare they are a new entrant.

They have utilized their Watson cognitive thinking system to tackle some of the toughest problems in medicine today.

They are currently focused on oncology and determining patients at risk or treating mutations earlier than currently possible.

Something that struck me was the fact that this technology is very affordable to their customers. Their mindset is that all people, regardless of income, location, background or country should receive the same level of care as anyone else.

I was floored.

Healthcare is big business and while most mean well, the stated goals are not so noble.

Where did this culture come from at IBM? 

As of now I don’t have that answer, but I wanted to at least inform you that a company of that size has genuine concern for the well being of us all.

Flickr image credit: IBM

I attended my first AlwaysOn Innovation Summit this past week and I was really impressed with the companies, ideas, and technologies highlighted during the summit.  We often read about new companies launching products that are merely a twist on the social network, e-commerce, or the latest industry deemed “ripe for disruption.” The companies highlighted in the Summit certainly had more to offer.

As a capitalist and a social entrepreneur, I believe in the power of technology to improve lives across the socio-economic spectrum.  There are significant economic opportunities in providing solutions to real problems faced by families in the US and the emerging world, that are often overlooked for some reason or another.  The AO Innovation Summit highlighted many companies with technologies and ideas with the potential to change economies, alleviate poverty and, most importantly, save lives.

We heard from Mike Cheiky of V-Grid Energy Systems, whose company focuses on providing cheap energy to help connect the rest of the world to the internet.  More impressive still, the by-product of their process is a fertilizer that can be used in those same regions to improve agriculture and alleviate food-security issues.  Children go hungry every day, and governments have been overthrown as a result of food prices.

The panel on the changing landscape of education stood out for the immense potential impact that technology is having in this area.  We heard from Daphne Koller of Coursera, a company with a mission to provide free and open access to elite education.  In a world where the cost of education is raised beyond the reach of most families, this will undoubtedly improve lives both domestically and abroad.  Imagine a kid in Haiti learning to code on Coursera and creating the next great technology firm.  Speaking of which, Tim Draper, founder of Draper University, is doing what most people say can’t be done – teaching entrepreneurship.  Draper University’s 8-week program fosters skills and provides the kind of experience that can help set-off the light bulb for the next generation’s Steve Jobs or Elon Musk.

The future of fashion will not simply be about the designer on the label, it will benefit from beautifully designed technology solutions that improve our daily lives.  At the AO Innovation Summit, we were treated to a new wave of wearable technologies that will help us be more efficient, assess our health, and provide critical insights.  Dave Icke of MC10 demonstrated their ground-breaking technology that allows parents to monitor their sick baby’s temperature with a simple patch.  Now imagine the infinite possibilities of such a technology and its ability to lower the infant mortality rates in the emerging world.

From discussions with a variety of companies at the Summit, it’s clear there is a cultural shift within our industry.  Businesses should have a lasting positive impact on our community, as well as prove to be sound investment for our partners.  For too long those propositions have been polarized.  At the AO Innovations Summit I was pleased to see more businesses sharing our vision of the future.  I am not saying these solutions will solve all of the world’s problems, but it gives me hope that our best and brightest are tackling real world problems and not merely catering to the latest fad.

Jerry Nemorin is Founder and CEO of LendStreet Financial Inc., a social lending platform whose mission is to help people get out of debt, rebuild their credit, and get a fresh start.

See how some leaders communicate their visions.

Image credit: untitledprojects on flickr

Riaz Khadem’s Total Alignment: Integrating vision, strategy and execution for organizational success is scary. It’s scary for three reasons

1. the entire book makes perfect sense;
2. the approaches and solutions it offers are devastatingly simple; and
3. it’s a fast (just 150 pages), fun read—not always the case with business books.

Its focus is larger companies, although young companies that are planning on substantial growth can benefit from implementing the structures described when appropriate.

But the great difference is that Total Alignment is written as a story, complete with a hero and a villain and a guru. It’s fast paced, weaving the needed how-to’s into the story, showing how they work, how to draw people in, including the skeptics, and the results from implementing the ideas and philosophy presented.

No smoke, no mirrors.

In the end, it takes the thoughtful CEO to a new vision, one beyond the usual thinking and beyond just the success of his company.

“Total Alignment is aligning the [corporate] vision itself with the urgent needs of humanity.”

Once a company is completely aligned internally then true total alignment is achieved by “making a positive contribution to the local, national, and world community while maintaining the company’s financial and operational advantages.”

For those of you who aren’t in agreement with business’ social responsibility fear not, it’s only brought up on the last three pages and you can easily skip them.

Please add your thoughts on Total Alignment now or come back and do so when you’ve read it.

Image credit: Infotrac