It’s Friday, so it’s time again to take a look at what you may have missed in the world of technology outside healthcare.
Here are five interesting general technology stories that people in healthcare should pay attention to, since these issues could have an impact on health tech in the future.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
- “Female coders are rated more highly than men — except when people know they’re women” (Quartz)
A group of computer scientists, when studying the acceptance of contributions on the software repository GitHub, found open source code written by women is actually more often approved than code written by men. The catch — there’s always a catch — is that this only happens when the woman’s gender is hidden.
2. “US intelligence chief: we might use the internet of things to spy on you” (The Guardian)
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
In an appearance at a Washington thinktank last month, the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, said that it was time to consider making the home devices “more defensible,” but did not address the opportunities that increased numbers and even categories of connected devices provide to his surveillance agency.
However, James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, was more direct in testimony submitted to the Senate on Tuesday as part of an assessment of threats facing the United States.
“In the future, intelligence services might use the [internet of things] for identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment, or to gain access to networks or user credentials,” Clapper said.
3. “Breakthrough enables downloads 50,000 times faster than ‘superfast’ broadband” (Sydney Morning Herald)
Imagine you could download the entire Game of Thrones series in high-definition in a fraction of a second.
That dream is one step closer to reality after British researchers simulated download speeds 50,000 times faster than ‘superfast’ 24 megabits per second (Mbps) broadband, breaking a world record.
The University College London team achieved speeds of 1.125 terabits per second (Tbps), the highest throughput ever recorded using a single receiver.
3. “4-inch iPhone 5se & iPad Air 3 planned to go on sale March 18th” (9to5Mac)
Apple is currently planning to introduce a new 4-inch iPhone dubbed the “iPhone 5se” and a new iPad Air at an event on Tuesday, March 15th, then put the products up for sale online and in retail stores as early as Friday, March 18th, according to sources. Apple is unlikely to offer pre-orders for the new devices, according to sources who cautioned that the plans could still change.
5. “AT&T Fires Back On 5G Amid Verizon Push, Touts 5G To Homes” (Investor’s Business Daily)
Aiming to grab some 5G limelight back from Verizon Communications, AT&T announced on Friday plans for trials of next-generation 5G wireless technology in 2016 and, in a surprise, touted 5G services to fixed locations such as homes and businesses, not mobile devices.
Verizon in September declared its intention to be a global leader, and the first in the U.S., in rolling out a 5G wireless network commercially. AT&T has been less vocal, but on Friday CEO Randall Stephenson said in a CNBC interview that 5G speeds could potentially match fiber-optic connections to homes.
