With yesterday’s Earth Day top of mind for many, I have some thoughts about how we are currently in the perfect storm. Infrastructure in the United States is continuing to fail. Couple these challenges with increased drought, not enough food and water, and severe storms. This also comes while we are struggling to find skilled labor to address many of these challenges. The time is now to rebuild a more sustainable and resilient future. But what exactly does that really mean? Simply, we have a lot of work ahead of us, but opportunities abound. The Biden-Harris Admin., aims to help with the annou ..read more

Yesterday was Earth Day. What did you do to commemorate it? Today wraps up our Earth Day Series, which has looked at sustainability in construction and in the lifecycle of buildings. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this series is that all stakeholders in the construction industry need to work together to achieve the ambitious goals that are needed to reduce lifecycle emissions—from design, to construction, to operations, and everywhere in between. New programs could help too. Consider the example of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) v5, wh ..read more

ABI Research says the digital cockpit domain controller is rapidly gaining popularity with auto OEMs, reaching 45 million shipments by 2030. The post Fact of the Day – 4/22/2024 first appeared on Connected World ..read more

Today is Earth Day—what are you doing to protect the planet? Many businesses and individuals are taking the necessary steps to reduce carbon emissions, ultimately improving the environment for generations to come. Consider the example of 27-year-old Dillon Baster, who has an objective to convert upcycled agricultural waste into a compostable plastic alternative. To do this, he launched his company PlantSwitch, which has raised $20 million and is currently manufacturing 50 million pounds of its plant-based bioplastics annually. Here is how this can help: Break down in backyard compost in less ..read more

Berg Insight says the smart electricity meter penetration rate in Europe reached 60% at the end of 2023. The post Fact of the Day – 4/19/2024 first appeared on Connected World ..read more

Juniper Research says OTT business messaging traffic to reach 175 billion globally by 2025. The post Fact of the Day – 4/18/2024 first appeared on Connected World ..read more

We are officially in the middle of Distracted Driving Awareness Month—a month that began back in 2010 when Congress passed a resolution to create a special month devoted to increasing awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. Have we made any progress? Let’s look at some of the data since we all would like to talk about the significance of the numbers. And after we dive into the numbers, we will explore how technology and other methods can step up to help save some lives. The numbers paint a dire picture of the state of distracted driving in 2022. That year there were 3,308 people killed ..read more

Gartner survey shows 41% of internal audit teams use or plan to use generative AI this year. The post Fact of the Day – 4/16/2024 first appeared on Connected World ..read more

We are currently embarking on a blog series looking at sustainability—and exploring the topic in both in the construction process and ultimately in the lifecycle of the building. Now, there is a new report out that explores how we can create a national blueprint for decarbonizing the United States in the building sector. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts. Released in April 2024, the report from the U.S. Dept. of Energy provides a framework for how to reduce building greenhouse gas emissions, while still providing resilience, affordability, equity, and other benefits to communities. I ..read more

ABI Research says U.S. EV battery recycling industry faces challenge as input supply reaches only a quarter of capacity by 2030. The post Fact of the Day – 4/15/2024 first appeared on Connected World ..read more