Preview of Tomorrow

On December 5th, 1933, the 21st amendment of The U.S. Constitution was ratified, effectively ending Prohibition in the United States. 90 years later, alcohol has become a well-studied substance with universally accepted quantities for what constitutes a single drink. But recently, there's been a new player in town. Cannabis. Across the United States, widespread legalization of marijuana has hurtled our country into uncharted territory. In 2018, more than 12 million Americans admitted to driving while under the influence of cannabis. Unlike alcohol, with no “legal limit” or field sobriety test, the dangers of driving while impaired by marijuana become all the more consequential. In fact, it was found that the rate of fatal crashes attributed to impaired driving doubles in states that have recently legalized the drug. All in all, it doesn't matter if you are for or against cannabis, as my guest today is an advocate for safety. Hello, I am your host Mike Lake and in today's preview I will be talking with Denise Valenti, CEO of IMMAD, a company that has developed a technology that can measure visual field functions that are essential for safe driving. Support the show

In the time it took you to brush your teeth this morning, there were over 900 calls placed to 911 emergency services in the United States alone. But would you believe that out of these 900 calls made, almost 300 of them were either non-emergencies or complete butt dials? Unfortunately, within the past couple years, the coronavirus pandemic has spurred an increase in call volume to emergency services, while simultaneously introducing a myriad of understaffing issues. In fact, 77% of public-safety answering points, such as 911 and emergency dispatch, reported being consistently below authorized staffing levels in 2022. But it's not just emergency services that have been suffering. The utilities sector experienced the second to highest percentage of worker resignations last year, leaving those still in the field to be completely overburdened with customer calls. Hello, I am your host Mike Lake and in today's preview I will be talking with Tinna Hung, director of marketing at Daupler, a company that has created a response management system that can be used to help service providers prioritize emergencies and effortlessly match a service to an available provider. Support the show

When was the last time you had a meal? Maybe it was a quick granola bar before work, or possibly you're eating some lunch right now. Whatever the case may be, I bet you didn't realize that you were consuming a resource that, in about 40 years, will be as precious as gold. It has been estimated that, in order to keep up with the current population growth, humans will need to produce more food in the next 40 years than in the previous 10,000 years combined. But here's the kicker. If we increased production by clearing out more agricultural space (like we have in the past), it's estimated that by 2050, this would create about 2 billion more metric tons of CO2 to be emitted into the atmosphere. So, how do we deal with such an imminent crisis if we don't even have the space or the resources to do so? Where do we go from here? … Well, how about up? Hello, I am your host Mike Lake and in today's preview I will be talking with Juan Succar, co-founder and CCO of Verde Compacto, a company designing indoor vertical farms allowing fresh food anywhere, anytime with their revolutionary farm-to-table supply chain. Support the show

Just a few decades ago, the concept of unmanned aerial vehicles, or, as you may know them: drones, was a reality confined only to science fiction films and comic books. In fact, if you told someone just 30 years ago that there are over 900,000 drones registered in the United States, with over half of them being used for recreational use, they'd probably look at you like you were crazy. But the truth is, unmanned aerial vehicles are quickly becoming a close companion to the concept of smart cities, with the potential to offer cost-efficient services for everything from environmental monitoring to traffic management. Yet, with no established system within cities to rent out drones, the potential to use these flying machines for good is wasted. Drones can deliver packages in under 30 minutes and cut surveying costs by up to 98% - so why shouldn't we make them accessible to all?Support the show

When it comes to our plumbing, we usually take an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach. Once we don't see it anymore, we don't think about it anymore - but for the waste that we put in our drains and plumbing systems, the initial flush is only the beginning of its journey. After flowing through mazes of pipes below our cities, waste ends up at a sewage treatment site, where tanks and aerators process the waste into byproducts. But want to hear a dirty little secret? These byproducts can contain pathogens, heavy metals and excess nitrogen that pollutes our landfills and forests. And any excess byproducts end up being incinerated, putting large amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. So, the question remains: how do we sustainably dispose of our waste's waste?Support the show

Potholes: the modern car driver's worst enemy. How many times have YOU hit a pothole just a little too hard, eyes darting to the dashboard, hoping and praying that you don't see that flat tire light blink on? In the U.S alone, there are reportedly 220 million flat tires that happen every year on our roadways, posing a risk to the driver and everyone around them. Flat tires aren't the only threat: heartbreakingly, traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for both Australians and Americans under the age of 15. Despite this, it takes multiple years to gather enough data from police reports to identify an unsafe road. We need a proactive, not reactive approach to maintaining our city's traffic patterns and roads to effectively prevent further tragedy. Hello, I am your host Mike Lake and in today's preview I will be talking with Emily Bobis, founder of Compass IoT, a road intelligence company that utilizes connected car data to better identify unsafe road or traffic conditions.  Support the show

The first ever solar panel cell was created more than eighty years ago: and like many other innovations, it was created by pure accident. Yet since then, those signature rectangular structures can be spotted on the roofs of houses and buildings all over the world. In fact, the number of US solar panel installations is 23 times higher today than in 2014. While this is a clear win for environmental sustainability, it remains near impossible to measure and manage one's clean energy consumption with solar panels alone. And with more than a third of the world's population calling apartment buildings home, many consumers lack easy access to clean energy altogether. Support the show

A recent study in Texas found that, in local governmental elections, the first name listed on the ballot earns an average of ten percentage points more than the last name on the ballot. This is no coincidence, as it turns out that many voters simply chose a random name if they're unfamiliar with a particular election. With an average of only 19% of eligible voters casting a vote in their local elections at all, municipal governments rely that much more heavily on those who do vote. It has become clear that voter education is an important yet widely ignored issue that will threaten both local and national governmental structures if we continue how we have in the past.Support the show

Is your office building suffering from a cold? As strange as this sounds, Sick Building Syndrome is a serious and legitimate problem that can be found in buildings, like your very own corporate office. The culprit of this sickness? Tiny, invisible, airborne pathogens. These tiny villains cause infections, illnesses, and overall reduced productivity in the office. It's not just your office that's in danger though. In the hotel industry, a tiny bacteria called Legionella is commonly detected in AC vents, which can cause guests to feel ill or unrested. Even in hospital buildings, patient illnesses can become significantly worsened if exposed to these toxins, making it even more important to fend off these airborne pathogens. Hello, I am your host Mike Lake and in today's preview I will be talking with Eugenie Addison, CEO of Senzi.Me, a medical device created to detect common airborne pathogens to reduce hospitalization and death associated with airborne diseases.  Support the show

With more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere than at any time in human history, and sea levels rising faster than ever before, it is clear our world is facing a global climate crisis. Despite our urgency, did you know that over two thirds of businesses have reported having no plan for sustainability? With small businesses comprising over 99% of all businesses in both the US and UK, their participation is critical in making a significant environmental impact.  Corporate social responsibility has proven to be an important issue for consumers as well, as 87% of buyers admit they will make a purchase simply because a company advocated for an issue they care about. Clearly, the time is now for businesses to begin tracking their carbon footprints and goals for sustainability. Enter SDG Assessment, an application that helps small businesses and fast growth companies easily report sustainability, ESG and corporate social responsibility performance. Hello, I am your host Mike Lake and in today's preview I will be talking with Sian Young, co-founder and COO of this groundbreaking sustainable solution. Support the show

Did you know that over 80% of Chinese medicine products suffer from severe quality control issues? with the Hong Kong market for Chinese medicines accounting for over 3.7 billion US dollars, we are in desperate need of a solution to standardize the Chinese pharmaceutical industrySupport the show

More than 10% of the world's population goes to bed undernourished every single day. Unfortunately, with the threat of a complete climate crisis on our horizon, it is that same group of people who are at the highest risk of starvation.Support the show

Did you know, for example, that 92% of the world's largest lower-middle income cities don't have mapped public transit routes? And with over two billion people within these cities relying entirely on public transport, we desperately require a solution that will empower those in emerging-market cities to safely, confidently, and more accurately navigate their streets.Support the show

As the sun dips and the city's streets are plunged into darkness, you can almost always count on the glow of street lights to provide a sense of safety until your final destination. Yet with over 230 million street lights around the world in use every single night, the total energy consumption certainly adds up. In fact, roughly 40% of a city's total energy costs can be traced back to its street lights. For this reason, street lights have become the entry point for smart city technology adoption, and will continue to be the source of innovation for cities around the world.Support the show

Despite this massive number, less than 20 percent of the waste will be properly recycled. This is partially due to the complexity of the modern waste system, with material being moved locally, nationally and internationally with no true structure or transparency.Support the show

Did you know that more than half of all public buses in the world don't have space for a single wheelchair? For those with disabilities, transportation can become a daunting task, as even a short distance to travel can present a myriad of obstacles to the destinationSupport the show

A recent study found that 89% of people would be encouraged to purchase an electric vehicle if they could access a parking space with a charger. However, as of right now, public charging in many cities is unreliable and inconvenient, and is in desperate need of transformation.Support the show

In 2021 alone, housefires and wildfires accounted for 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. We are in desperate need of technology that can more accurately identify and extinguish fires before it is too lateSupport the show

In 2019 alone, 3.5 billion gallons of fuel were wasted due to traffic congestion in the US, leading to more than 36 million tons of excess greenhouse gasses. We now must ask ourselves how existing road infrastructure can be more efficiently used to avoid traffic congestion.Support the show

The concept of urban forestry has become increasingly paramount, in fact, just one mature tree can sequester 22 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Today we present a solution to support the built greenery of our cities.Support the show

Did you know that upwards of 75% of the emissions associated with plastic waste don't even come from plastic at all? Today we met a circularity-as-a-solution platform that effectively transforms plastic waste into new products without long-distance supply chains or high-energy manufacturing. Support the show

In the chaos of wartime, much of the world is left disconnected from the crisis, unsure of what is needed or how they can help. Today we will explore a mobile application developed in the wake of the Ukrainian refugee crisis to provide visibility, transportation and immediate reliefSupport the show

Current wayfinding methods are mostly static and not accessible to people who are blind or have low vision - something that is becoming more and more important to building owners and managers Support the show

Human-induced climate change has spurred a sequence of widespread adverse weather patterns and our world's cities get pummeled with increasingly violent disasters. How can we invest in infrastructure better equipped to handle such events?Support the show

In a recent poll 48% admit that they could be making more of an effort to do so. Enter Greenerguide, a solution that solves these issues by mapping out user's energy consumption to plan a more sustainable lifestyle.Support the show

Carbon LimitAs the key building material of most tower blocks, car parks, bridges and dams, concrete has enabled great advancements in our citys' infrastructure throughout the years. It's the most widely used man-made material in existence, but it comes with a heavy price. Did you know that for every 1 ton of cement created, an equivalent 1 ton of carbon dioxide is produced? In fact, the cement industry has been so busy that, if it were a country, it would be the third largest emitter in the world, only behind China and the US. But recently, a new technology has been developed that has the ability to backtrack the immense carbon footprint of cement.Support the show

StormsealSevere weather patterns and climate-related disasters have jumped 83% since the year 2000, causing an estimated 3 trillion dollars in damage. And while homeowners with insurance are eventually able to repair these damages, in the time it takes to finalize a claim, the average temporary tarp malfunctions anywhere from 5 to 13 times. This begs the question that, if another disaster strikes, how in the world will the average tarp protect a home from further damage?Support the show

SAVRpak1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every single year. This translates into about 2.6 Trillion dollars that are lost yearly, simply due to irresponsible food consumption. This, however, isn't just a money problem; as 8% of the world's greenhouse gasses are a direct result of food waste. How can we end this trend? Support the show

Siembra Co.With 10 years left to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal #1, No Poverty, more than 730 million people remain below the global poverty line. And of this astounding number, over two-thirds of them work in agriculture. Is this a coincidence or an injustice? How can we solve it?Support the show

Cocoon TechnologiesThe consequences of traffic stops. A New York Times investigation in 2021 examined why traffic stops for minor offenses sometimes escalate into deadly encounters. Policing is risky for all parties involved, let's make it safer.Support the show

Better Than Recycling Plastic-- Let's Eliminate It.Roughly one-third of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste, and when we say waste, we don't just mean it doesn't get eaten. Even after it is discarded food waste is not composted. Instead, it is more often than not, disposed of in ways that are actually harmful to the environment. Now while this is certainly a double whammy when it comes to wastefulness, at least food waste eventually biodegrades, unlike other materials. Plastic takes 1,000+ years to degrade and releases nasty chemicals into the environment in the process. Lucky for us, Full Cycle Bioplastics has found a way to feed two birds with one hand, by making use of food and other organic waste to produce a plastic alternative.Support the show

Detecting Wildfires Before It's Too LateWildfires—an ever-growing problem for our ever-growing populations. As the world adds another 1 billion people in the next 15 years, most of them will be living in areas designated as “wildland-urban interfaces”. With more human activities near forests, wildfire risks will increase. The 2020 California wildfires burnt over ten thousand homes, leaving areas of the state in destruction and fear of future catastrophe. We are in dire need of tools to combat wildfires, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect natural carbon sequestration resources. Robotics Cats provides early wildfire detection and environmental monitoring solutions to international customers.Support the show

Putting the People in "We are the People"In the United States alone there are more than  89,000 local governments, and less than 1% of these have populations over one million. Despite this, in the US and throughout the rest of the world, there seems to be a disconnect between most local governments and their communities. In this episode,  we will discuss with ITsimple how community engagement can be reinforced through technology providing meaningful interaction, for both the private and the public sector.Support the show

Safer than a taxi, cheaper than an ambulanceMobility is our ability to move from one place to another—to go about our daily activities, moving from one to the next. It is something many of us take for granted. But for others, the lack of specialized transportation options, the expense of those options, and the difficulty accessing them can severely limit their mobility—and their quality of life. Sadly, 80% of non-drivers who have a disability and 40 percent of all older adults cannot do the activities they need or want to do simply because they do not drive.  Care Safe Mobility (formerly Hippo Mobility) provides technology-based transportation services for disabled, elderly people, non-emergency patients as well medical staff.Support the show

No more lost packages or excessive carbon emissionsAstonishingly, up to 30% of industrial wood is consumed for the production of shipping pallets & crates! Now, this is a serious issue as it is predicted that if we continue our current rate of deforestation, the Earth will be completely barren of trees in just over 300 years. Ponera modules easily reduce wood consumption, transport weight, and CO2 emissions.Support the show

Avoid Getting Stuck at Railroad CrossingsTrains often stop traffic at railroad crossings for longer than 5 minutes. When that traffic includes an ambulance, the wait for a train to pass reduces the patient's survival rate by 50% or more. Prevent traffic delays and collisions at rail crossings with predictive rail crossing blockage information. TRAINFO predicts rail crossing blockages to prevent traffic delays and collisions.Support the show

The Fountain of Youth for InfrastructureCorrosion, the silent killer, has plagued our infrastructure since the iron age. Today, it's costing us trillions, and preventing innovative technologies such as offshore wind turbines from becoming more widely implemented. AnCatt has produced anti-corrosion paints and coatings as the world's first and only heavy-metal free and toxic free high-performance anti-corrosion coating product after 50-years of worldwide R&D efforts.Support the show

Modern comforts come at a high price. Burning fossil fuels for electricity and heat is the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Fourdeg is a Service company for heating optimization. Service improves indoor comfort and saves in heating costs. It works automatically at room-level accuracy in any size old or new building with water-circulating radiators, including commercial, public and residential premises.Support the show

Increasing Trash Sorting Accuracy to 92%As stated by the World Bank, in 2011, world cities generated about 1.3 billion tons of solid waste. This volume is expected to increase to 2.2 billion tones by 2025. Bin-e is a smart-bin, IOT device which sorts and compresses recyclables automatically. To do this, it combines unique AI-based object recognition, fill level control and data processing to make waste management convenient and efficient.  Support the show

Taking Cybersecurity to a New LevelAs businesses, governments, and other systems migrate to smart ecosystems, hackers are watching. Infiltron is a proactive, real-time IoT cybersecurity solution that leverages technologies such as Ai, Blockchain, and Quantum to provide innovative cybersecurity protection.  Every system that integrates with Infiltron has a less reactive approach to protecting its data and devices in real time. This technology detects malicious attacks before they happen and protects the system from being affected in addition to protecting and recovering a system, data, and device after a breach or hack. Support the show

Recycling Plastic with a Purpose.With humans digesting more than 40 pounds of plastic during their lives, this is a problem of more than just trash or pollution. Turning plastic into smart gravel solves both the challenges of plastic waste and better construction materials. Arqlite is a recycling technology company building the next generation of sustainable building materials. Our green technology is changing the plastic recycling industry with the capability to process up to 1 ton of non-recyclable plastics per hour, which can be used for green construction gravel, light aggregate, hydroponic growth media, drainage media, and more.Support the show

Cutting your commute time just got easier!Time is said to be life's most valuable commodity. Yet, we waste so much of it sitting in traffic-- reducing productivity, tipping the scales on work-life balance, not to mention spuing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Imagine the impact on your life if traffic signals were synchronized, allowing congestion to flow smoothly through cities.  TrafficGenius uses historical traffic signal patterns, crowdsourcing traffic data, and live HD-video traffic pattern recognition to efficiently manage traffic patterns. Listen to Scott Murdoch explain how TrafficGenius can change the way we move through cities faster and recapture move of that precious time we have been losing waiting at red lights. Support the show

As pipeline infrastructure is aging, associated corrosion costs are skyrocketing, and our access to water is threatened. In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow,  Mike Lake talks with Solveig Parent & Tristan de Servins about how their company, Heuristech, is combating the devastating impacts of our aging infrastructure-- particularly corroding pipes that carry our much-needed water to our homes and businesses. Their technology is non-invasive and ideally suited to assess pipelines in cities, under roads or waterways, and in other challenging environments. Our customers realize significant cost savings through efficient repair targeting and prevented asset damage altogether.Support the show

Taking the edge off of EV charging station management.In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow, Mike Lake talks with Lyubov Artemenko about how her company, GO TO-U,  that serves as a platform for electric vehicle (EV) charging management and operations. Transition to new modes of transport requires reliable charging infrastructure. GO TO-U makes the experience of driving and charging an electric vehicle (EV) simpler, more comfortable, and more accessible by leverage big data and machine learning to monitor EV charging sessions, predict electricity consumption, and balance the demand from the EV drivers.Support the show

While the water industry is a prime victim of climate change, it is also a source of global carbon emissions. In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow,  Mike Lake talks with Mike Dixon about how his company, Synauta, saves 20% of OPEX costs in desalination and water reuse plants, by using supervised machine learning to optimize energy and chemical use for specific conditions. Synauta applies machine learning to account for multiple input and output parameters in the reverse osmosis process, ensuring design standards and mechanical limitations are met, while using less energy, optimizing cleans and maintaining water quality and production. The urban water cycle must reduce its carbon footprint, by applying technologies to gain process efficiencies.Support the show

This solution puts education in the hands of children, literally.In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow,  Mike Lake talks with Soraya Fouladi about how the COVID19 pandemic as drastically perpetuated the unequal access to education among children across the world. Soraya's company Jara, is closing the global digital divide, by building a distance learning solution for children in low-internet and low-power communities. The Jara Unit, is a crank-powered and solar powered off-grid charging IoT enabled personal education device that can teach any e-learning content, in any language, anytime, anywhere.Support the show

Plastic doesn't grow on trees, but maybe it could.In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow, Mike Lake talks with Max Mohammadi about the dire environmental implications of petroleum-based plastics. Max's company, PlasticFri is on a mission to change turn things around by transforming renewable resources into bio-based products for replacing fossil-based plastics. For its groundbreaking work, the company has been awarded the prestigious “Company of the Year in Sweden”, named “Most promising Impact company in Nordics and Baltics”, was chosen as an AcceliCITY Semi-Finalist,  and was awarded the “World's Most Innovative Sustainability Startup 2020” among 1400 companies Worldwide!Support the show

The solution to storing solar energy efficiently is the size of a suitcase.In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow, Mike Lake talks with Jennifer Gallegos about how the common way of storing solar energy is currently impeding the industries growth. The most impressive thing about Jenn's company, Yotta, is that its technology  doesn't need to be indoors due to its patented thermal management system. That's a game changer in terms of reducing total installed system cost. In fact, total installed system cost is perhaps one of the biggest impediments to widespread adoption of solar + storage, and Yotta has solved it.Support the show

Optimus is saving the planet again, this time with biodiesel!In this episode of Preview of Tomorrow, Colin Huwyler, CEO of Optimus Technologies talks with Mike Lake about how his company is retrofitting diesel engines to run entirely on biodiesel.  With the rising risk of climate change, it's important to focus on solutions that can be implemented now. Biodiesel is a readily available fuel source that is not only sustainable, but won't impede on production and efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles. Support the show

Cleaner data may mean cleaner air.This episode of Preview of Tomorrow spotlights Antonio Jara, CEO of HOPU, a company engaging citizens and decision makers to guarantee the data at their disposal is easily understood and intuitive. Using a contextual intelligence platform and loT devices, HOPU is able to provide environmental monitoring solutions that track air quality. The company works with both cities and corporations to analyze their contribution in reducing environmental pollutions through data.   Support the show

If worms can recycle, so can we. As a society we've deposited over 9 million tons of plastic in the last 50 years and only 9% of that plastic has been recycled. On this episode of Preview of Tomorrow, Marc Lacroix, Cofounder of Worm Generation, explains how his company is combating this issue in a rather unique way. Worm Generation has created a farm project that utilizes mealworms to transform plastic into productive and organic matter. Thanks to the bacteria in their gut, mealworms are able to safely and effectively biodegrade plastics completely. Their plastic-free waste can then be used as a natural fertilizer. Support the show