When the U.S. raced to lock down the country in the face of a quickly spreading novel disease, telehealth provided a lifeline. Using technology such as video calls, healthcare organizations were able to screen individuals for COVID-19 before there was any testing infrastructure. But now in this later stage of the pandemic, Americans are coming out of their homes and going back to the doctor’s office. Stocks for big telehealth companies are down. While telehealth remains an important tool
With all the public outrage from viral news stories on the dangers of artificial intelligence, it’s no small secret that governments have been gearing up to set the ground rules on AI for some time now. For those of us involved in these efforts, every other week of 2021 felt like it brought about a new official body publishing guidance, standards, or a Request for Information (RFI), signaling a new and major transformation that’s right around the corner. It may be true that 2021 w
If 2021 was the year when ESG (short for Environmental, Social, and Governance) went mainstream, 2022 will be the year that innovations and innovators propel it forward, say members of the Fast Company Impact Council—an invitation-only collective of leaders from a range of industries. Members say a number of business, regulatory, and cultural factors will motivate companies to keep advancing an agenda that places sustainability, social good, and inclusion on equal footing with profitabili
Companies are swimming data. Members of the Fast Company Impact Council—an invitation-only collective of leaders from a range of industries—urged business leaders to protect customer and employee information, even as they extoled the virtues of exploiting data to make companies faster and smarter. Edited excerpts follow: Frank T. Young, president, vertical market software solutions, Global Payments “The one big trend I want [raise] is the importance of privacy and infor
On December 21, just days before a deluge of Americans walked out to their driveways, suitcases bulging, primed for holiday travel, President Joe Biden delivered a message: “I know some Americans are wondering whether you can safely celebrate the holidays with your family and friends,” he said. “The answer is, yes you can: If you and those you celebrate with are vaccinated—particularly if you’ve gotten boosted.” It feels like there are two realities now,
Sometimes the best advancements in technology are the ones that don’t try to change everything. Instead, they come in the form of simple improvements to the products we already use. They’re the ideas that seem so smart, you suddenly wish every company would copy them. At a time when the tech world is swinging for the fences with metaverses, blockchains, augmented reality, and AI, let’s take a step back and celebrate some smaller innovations that you can take advantage of tod
Terms such as NFT (short for non-fungible token), blockchain, and metaverse became part of the mainstream vernacular in 2021. Lionel Ohayon, founder and CEO of ICRAVE, an innovation and design studio, predicts that 2022 will be the year businesses start to incorporate all three digital trends in their strategies—if they haven’t already done so. As part of a series of year-end articles featuring insights from members of the Fast Company Impact Council—an invitation-only coll
While 2021 has been a weird year overall, it’s felt like a return to normalcy on the app front. The endless attempts to reinvent video chat have quieted down. And while remote work tools remain in vast abundance, some of this year’s best apps have nothing to do with being productive. As in previous years, this list focuses on apps that either launched in 2021 or saw substantial updates that warrant fresh consideration. It also tries to avoid obvious choices from major tech players
The quest for health equity—when every person has access to quality care and wellness resources—will be a key theme in 2022, according to health executives and experts on the Fast Company Impact Council—an invitation-only collective of leaders from a range of industries. Members shared their insights on the imperative for the healthcare industry to become more inclusive—and how employers would need to think more expansively about the kinds of care it offers
Depending on the breaks, 2022 could be a very eventful year for new tech products and even whole new tech categories. From gaming to electric vehicles to mixed reality wearables, next year’s releases could even begin a shift in the way we view tech’s role in personal and business life. I’ve taken my best shot at rounding up the most significant and anticipated of those releases. It’s admittedly a mixed bag. Some products have already been announced, and—barring