We All Need to Forget, Even Robots

How do we decide what a robot should remember?
Christopher Stanton | Western Sydney University

We all know what it’s like to forget something. A loved one’s birthday. A childhood memory. Even people capable of extraordinary memory feats – say, memorizing the order of a deck of cards in less than 20 seconds – will still forget where they left their keys. People, it seems, are never in complete control […]

Breakthrough Approaches for Sustainable Cities

The long-term health of cities matters – we must work together for a lasting future for our urban centers.
Mark Wallace | UPS

More and more of the world’s population is moving to cities. According to the UN, by 2050 nearly two-thirds of the global population will live in cities, and urban populations will increase by 2 billion people. While this mass migration will bring new, exciting opportunities for city residents, it also brings daunting challenges to urban […]

Why We Need to Pay Attention to Chinese Millennials

Does your company have a talent gap? Chinese millennials could be the answer.

Sebastian Guo says companies aren’t looking far enough for millennial talent – more specifically, far enough east. Chinese millennials, Guo argues, are going overlooked at a time when businesses need an infusion of specialized skills. Guo’s Chinese counterparts are well-poised and ready to take on today’s most vexing business challenges. Sebastian takes the stage at TED@UPS to […]

Innovation for Last-Mile Connectivity

Billions of people lack access to the internet or even basic mobile networks. How can we connect the unconnected?
Troy Etulain | FHI 360

Connectivity transforms lives. Access to a mobile network, including the internet or a mobile phone, opens the door to information, and information enables people to discover their full potential. Without connectivity, people are in the dark, closed off from opportunity. Yet, more than 4 billion people remain unconnected to the internet, and 20 to 40 […]

Delivering on the Dream of Diversity

We cannot reap the benefits of a diverse workforce without doing everything in our power to ensure all people have the opportunity to reach their potential.
David Abney | UPS

Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Join us in celebrating the generations of Hispanics enriching the world of today and tomorrow. These days, hot-button issues, hot tempers and heated debates seem to rule the day. It’s because we live in a divided nation that’s becoming even more divided. Over the years, we’ve […]

The Staggering Numbers Behind the World’s Closest Trade Relationship

You might be surprised by how much the United States buys from Canada – and vice versa.
Jeff Desjardins | Visual Capitalist

Whether we’re discussing the ancient merchants that traversed the legendary Silk Road or the transfer of goods across modern border lines, trade has always been about building close relationships. There are many examples of strong and mutually beneficial trade relationships all throughout history, but one doesn’t have to look far back to find what could […]

Can We Design Cities for Happiness?

Quality of life depends on how much we engage in it.

Tom Madrecki understands the importance of shifting our focus from building codes and road engineering guidelines to figuring out what people want in their city. For city planners concerned about quality of life, the link between well-being and engagement is paramount. If we want to make our community a better place to live, we need the […]

What If Protectionism Spreads?

With protectionism at the center of today’s debate, a logistics expert says we can't turn back the clock on global progress.
Augie Picado | UPS

We make every product – from golf clubs to laptops, internet servers, automobiles and even airplanes – with parts from all around the world. Augie Picado knows this because he’s seen it first-hand. Lately, there’s been talk about countries looking to limit imports in the name of protecting domestic businesses. Augie takes the stage at TED@UPS […]

TED@UPS 2017: Meet the Speakers

Take a closer look at those who dare to ask: What if?
TED@UPS | UPS

In July, 12 UPSers took to the stage to ask a simple – but far-reaching – question: What if? In a time of lightning-fast transformation, one reminder is more important than ever: Daring innovation can still solve our most complicated problems. That’s why we examined the potential of global connectivity and what it means to evolve […]

Sustainability on the Move: Transportation Innovation

Advancements in sustainability require advancements in how we move people and products.
John Hodges | BSR

In a recent blog post, I described how the design phase often determines the biggest sustainability impacts of infrastructure projects. With transportation infrastructure in particular — whether for air, rail, road or sea — about to be radically transformed through technological advances, I foresee tremendous opportunity for sustainability. If you think about it, the basic […]

How Healthcare Is Changing in the Digital Age

Let's give every person around the world access to digital healthcare solutions.
Niall Dunne | BT Group

Technology is transforming global healthcare for both healthcare workers and patients across the world. We only have to look at how the digitization of patient records has simplified life for clinicians, making it easier than ever before to record real-time patient data, look for personal health trends and patterns and study patient history. This has […]

How Cognitive Computing Is Reshaping Retail

The old retail playbook is no longer an option. Luckily, digital consumers are leaving clues for us to follow.
Andrew Busby | Retail Reflections

Cognitive computing is forever changing how we shop. How? Consider your social media activity. What did you post on Facebook this week? Twitter? Snapchat? You are sharing your one-of-a-kind digital footprint with the world through images, videos and chats that detail likes, dislikes, emotions and opinions. Retailers know they can “distinguish themselves by providing value […]

Learning to Walk

Here are five lessons forward-looking companies can learn from my infant daughter.
Sean O'Brien | UPS

As my 1-year-old daughter begins her journey toward mobility, she teaches me something new every day – and not just on the need to block the stairs and pad the fireplace. In the new global e-economy, companies and professionals are scrambling to respond to the infancy of this new order of commerce. From company boardrooms […]

Education and the Success of Tomorrow’s Workforce

Workers need to be nimble enough to solve new, fast-moving problems.
Randy Swearer | Autodesk

Amid today’s fast-moving, tech-heavy landscape, sit back and ask yourself an important question: How does your degree and formal education impact what you’re doing in your work life? This question gets to the heart of the immediate need for a foundational shift in how academia and industry operate — and need to cooperate — for […]

Blockchain: What Can We Solve Together?

Thanks to blockchain technology, companies can make the food supply chain safer.
Marie Wieck | IBM

Last month, Dutch authorities learned that 20 percent of the eggs coming from the Netherlands were not safe. European authorities are now in a dash to pull the bad food from the shelves. Earlier this year, 3,000 school children in Egypt became ill in the early afternoon. Ambulances were dispatched to elementary schools, as authorities […]

What to Do When Your Boss Says ‘Be Creative’

Novel ideas don’t just come to us like flipping on a light switch.
Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks | University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business

There’s a misconception that our brains are like computer random access memory, able to pluck the best information on command or, in particular, when needed for generating new ideas. That isn’t how it works, and it’s why many individuals and teams struggle to innovate. They’re told to “be creative” without being taught how exactly to […]

Latin America’s Innovation Potential Is Largely Untapped

New policies in Latin America could kick-start the global economy.
Lorena Rivera León | United Nations University

Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico were Latin America’s big winners in the 2017 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), which ranks the world’s economies on their innovative capabilities (innovation inputs) and measurable results (innovation outputs). The GII report, launched in June at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, was co-authored by Cornell University, […]

The Future of Mobile Engagement

Seamless connectivity will create competitive advantages for leaders in many industries.
Eugene Berger | Hewlett Packard Enterprise

It’s 2017. Going digital is no longer a choice but an integral part of any business strategy worth its salt. And mobile technology is at the heart of this, whether you want to boost engagement by placing connected devices in a museum or improve the customer experience with custom applications for your shopping mall. Now […]

Cutting the Cost of Grocery Delivery

Here's how multi-compartment vehicle distribution can create greater operational flexibility.
Dr. Alexander Hübner | Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Manuel Ostermeier | Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt

Groceries need to be stored and transported at different temperatures depending on the nature of each product – so why not rationalize the distribution of these items by accommodating different temperature zones in the same truck? This is the basic rationale of multi-compartment vehicle (MCV) distribution, which is gaining ground in Europe. But adding complexity […]

Resiliency is Preparedness

Collaboration between cities and the private sector can prepare us for physical, social and economic challenges.
Scott Tew | Ingersoll Rand

Cities across the globe are already experiencing a great deal of change – and stress – associated with the rise of urbanization. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, urban residents accounted for 54 percent of the total global population in 2015, and that number is expected to grow to 60 percent by 2030. […]

5 Ways Mobile Technology Can Help in Humanitarian Emergencies

Mobile technology can be a lifeline in dire situations.
Mats Granryd | GSMA

An estimated 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes in 2016, and this number continues to rise. From 2000 to 2016, more than 3.5 billion people worldwide were affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises – and the scale of response required in these situations is placing increasing pressure on the humanitarian sector […]

3D Printing Is Revolutionizing Plastic Surgery

How 3D printing is benefiting patients, doctors and pocketbooks.
Yari Bovalino | GE Aviation

Maggie Sieger | FitchInk

At first glance, the line of cheerfully colored plastic skulls atop professor Laurent Lantieri’s bookshelf might be out-of-season Halloween decorations. But a closer look reveals something less than cheery: jagged holes, missing jaws and crumpled eye sockets. The skulls represent something very real – injuries that Lantieri has fixed. Only the most seriously injured – whether by […]

The Making of a Pioneer

A Q&A with the co-founder of iRobot on leveraging technology and disruption.
Helen Greiner | CyPhy Works

With big dreams and a passion to be a pioneer, a robotics innovator began her journey. Helen Greiner, the co-founder of iRobot and now CTO and founder of CyPhy Works, began her career much like many of us – as an intern. She worked in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, helping design robots to make repairs […]

Student Engineers Have The Right Stuff

Could SpaceX’s Hyperloop pod competitions lead to a breakthrough?
TJ McCue | Refine Digital

At an unknown point in the future, a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles could take approximately 30 minutes – an amazing feat of mass transportation – if Elon Musk is right about his Hyperloop concept. That’s compared to the current five-plus hours by car or two hours on an airplane, both hugely optimistic figures not […]

Mapping the Knowledge Supply Chain

The traditional view of the supply chain is incomplete. What about passing the knowledge baton to others?
Kelly Barner | Buyers Meeting Point

When I write about supply chains, I think readers naturally envision product or material supply chains. In a physical supply chain, raw materials are processed or refined and made into other things that have to be moved from here to there. This all naturally involves trucks, air and ocean freight, warehouses, assemblies and inventory – […]

Making Driverless Cars Safe for People on Foot

Discovering the best communication approach between autonomous cars and pedestrians is crucial to safety.
Michael Clamann | Duke University

Right now, there are two ways to safely cross a road: Wait until no cars are close by so there’s enough time to make it to the other side of the street – or communicate with oncoming drivers. As the number of pedestrian deaths on U.S. roads climbs, up 25 percent since 2010 to more […]

How AI and Machine Learning Improve Schizophrenia Research

Powerful technology can identify and measure the progression of schizophrenia.

In the U.S., about 20 percent of adults suffer from a mental health condition, ranging from depression to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia, and about half of those with severe psychiatric disorders receive no treatment. While early identification, diagnosis and treatment for patients with psychosis tends to mean improved outcomes, there are significant barriers to progress. […]

What Did You Learn Today?

How to inject learning into your daily habits.
Mark Modesti | UPS

There is so much coming at us – the critical mixed in with the mundane. It can all become a blur of open loops. But luckily, habits provide a way of instilling order in the chaos. I’ve probably implemented hundreds of daily habits over the years, but I’ve only kept a half dozen or so. Some […]

How Analytics is Changing High-Tech Supply Chains

How supply chain analytics can help tech companies make more sense of data.

High tech is changing the logistics industry, forcing supply chains to adapt quickly. A UPS executive and an MIT professor share their views on how analytics is affecting the supply chains of technology firms. A UPS perspective by David Andries, Vice President, Customer Solutions, UPS In a recent survey of manufacturing and supply chain leaders, […]

Automation and Tech Will Change How We Build

The buildings and communities we live and work in could soon serve a very different purpose.
Viktor Weber | Future Real Estate Institute

Our built environment and its entire value chain are in the wake of a severe transformation. Artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, robotics and other technologies are not only responsible for the emergence of smart cities, automated processes and new business opportunities, but a change to the rules underpinning the real estate industry. The […]