CES 2023 Showcases Diverse Conversations and Leaders

Arlington, Las Vegas , December 21, 2022: The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® announced a CES 2023® keynote panel, “Bold Solutions for a Changing World,” featuring top female investors and company founders. The conversation will explore how investments in under-represented founders are propelling innovation and having big impact on global challenges.

Swati Bhat

The Bold Solutions for a Changing World keynote conversation will illustrate how under-represented founders are innovating in a changing world and are revolutionizing healthcare, supporting families in crisis and enabling economic mobility.

“CES incubates the next big idea, connects funders to innovators, and gives the leaders driving change a platform to share how they shape a diverse and inclusive future,” said Tiffany Moore, senior vice president of political and industry affairs, CTA. “We take seriously our responsibility to lead by example, ensuring CES is open and accessible, and empowering the industry and individuals to grow.”

Diversity and inclusion is a central theme of CES 2023 and is taking the spotlight in Vegas this January. The Female Quotient is the official Equality Partner of CES, bringing its Equality Lounge® that unites a network of Fortune 500 leaders to collaborate and ignite breakthrough ideas to foster equality. Notable highlights at the show and featured on CES.tech include:

D&I Conference Programming

• AARP and CTA AgeTech Summit is a new track at CES focused on AgeTech, the growing category of technology solutions designed to meet the needs of the world’s aging population.

• AI Accessibility: Solving for Your Next Billion Customers. Learn how AI can improve lives, particularly for the more than one billion people worldwide with a disability.

• Building an Inclusive Web 3.0: This session will discuss building equitable practices into the core of Web3, from NFTs and crypto economies, to social networks and DAOs.

• Diverse Representation Plus Innovation Equals Success: How are business leaders and entrepreneurs navigating the new economic landscape and placing an emphasis on innovation?

• How to Build a Billion Dollar Network. Join Omi Bell of Black Girl Ventures, for a curated discussion on building your network as a part of building your business.

• Inclusive Technology for Long Lives, Well-lived, presented by BBC StoryWorks and CTA reframes how inclusive innovation is transforming communities, empowering all generations, and ensuring no one gets left behind.

• Investing in the Next Big Idea: Hear from the leaders transforming the face of web3, Blockchain, and cryptocurrency industries and why investing in the next generation of women and diverse entrepreneurs is a crucial part to the success of the ecosystem.

• Product Inclusion Strategies and Successes: Hear from innovators as they share their strategies for creating inclusive product solutions, from ideation to outcome.

• Reframing the Narrative: The Evolution of the Chief Diversity Officer: Hear from Chief Diversity Officers and Chief Human Resource Officers as they discuss their role in shaping company-wide diversity and inclusion strategies.

• Women in Tech Q&A: Live at CES. Join Stephanie Dismore of HP North America, as she hosts a conversation about the invaluable role women play in reshaping organizations today and in the future.

D&I Focused Events

• The Equality Lounge @ CES presented by The Female Quotient provides networking opportunities for women and their allies from a community of doers and changemakers.

• Innovation for All LGBTQ Meetup, sponsored by Quickplay.

• Black Girl Ventures Meetup, a CTA-hosted entrepreneurs’ reception.

• CTA and the CTA Foundation host leading advocates from the disability community at CES for discussion, roundtables and networking.

• Women in Consumer Technology will host the organization’s annual awards reception.

• Women and Drones will host the 6th Annual Global Awards to celebrate women in emerging aviation technologies.

• The Women of Inforum @CES networking reception, hosted by Magna and Celanese.

Eureka Park

Eureka Park, the show's flagship marketplace for startups, supports diversity and inclusion efforts. These include:

• The CTA Foundation’s Eureka Park Accessibility contest selects five winners to receive a complimentary booth at Eureka Park, along with a $2500 prize.

• The Startup Stage in Eureka Park is home to the Jan. 6 CTA Foundation Pitch Competition. The winner receives a cash prize, recognition and is featured as part of Established Startup of the Year Podcast.

• Now in its third year, CTA’s Innovation for All Startup Experience, awards ten startups led by women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs a travel stipend and booth space in Eureka Park. The program gives selected entrepreneurs an opportunity to network with investors, media and potential partners.

CTA Initiatives

Many CES exhibitors are working to diversify their workforces, making diversity and inclusion a business imperative. CTA initiatives beyond CES include:

• CES 2023 will amplify CTA’s continued $10 million commitment to investing in venture firms and funds that support women- and diverse-led stakeholder funds backing women and startups. CTA has invested in eight venture funds that model passion and commitment to ensuring that the next great idea is empowered to change the world.

• CES features a Future of Work track and CTA supports employer-led strategies and regulatory approaches that help address the nation’s skills gap. CTA leads a 21st Century Workforce Council, the CTA Apprenticeship Coalition and conducts an annual Future of Work Survey.

Owned and produced by CTA, CES 2023 will take place in Las Vegas on Jan. 5-8, 2023, with Media Days taking place Jan. 3-4, 2023. Attendees will experience new technologies from global brands.

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Scientists come up with new technology to reduce potholes

Sydney [Australia] November 6: Researchers have created an "intelligent compaction" technology that can evaluate the quality of road base compaction in real-time and is integrated into a road roller. Roads can become safer and more durable with improved road construction, which can also lower maintenance costs and pothole counts.

Months of persistent rain and flooding have brought home how crucial good road building is since it prevents potholes and road sinking. Tyre blowouts and structural damage to automobiles and trucks are both brought on by this, and the likelihood of fatal accidents also rises.

The cutting-edge machine learning method was created by a research team from the University of Technology Sydney and uses data from a sensor mounted to a construction roller. Together with Professor Hadi Kahbbaz, Dr. Di Wu, and Ph.D. student Zhengheng Xu, Associate Professor Behzad Fatahi, head of geotechnical and transport engineering, oversaw the project.

"We have developed an advanced computer model that incorporates machine learning and big data from construction sites to predict the stiffness of compacted soil with a high degree of accuracy in a fraction of a second, so roller operators can make adjustments," communiqué by Associate Professor Fatahi.

Roads are made up of three or more layers, which are rolled and compacted. The subgrade layer is usually soil, followed by natural materials such as crushed rock, and then asphalt or concrete on top. The variable nature of soil and moisture conditions can result in under or over-compacted material.

"Like Goldilocks, the compaction needs to be 'just right' to provide the correct structural integrity and strength. Over-compaction can break down the material and change its composition, and under-compaction can lead to uneven settlement," said Associate Professor Fatahi.

"A well-compacted multi-layer road base provides a stable foundation and increases the capacity of a road to bear heavy loads. Trucks can weigh up to 40 tonnes, so a poor quality base can quickly lead to cracks and weak spots in the asphalt surface."

According to research that was just published in the peer-reviewed journal Engineering Structures, the use of this technology could aid in the construction of more resilient roadways that can endure extreme weather.

The team is currently looking to test the new technology on-site for different ground and roller conditions for road, railway, and dam construction projects. They are also looking into methods to measure the density and moisture content of the compacted soil in real time while construction is taking place.

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Do you know about in-car payment?

Mumbai [India], July 13: Technology, sure, is making our lives easier. After FASTag cut short our waiting time at toll plazas, more plans are afoot for similar experiments. Let us see what they are, in this report

Swati Bhat

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Thanks to FASTag, we now do not have to carry cash or cards to pay for tolls on highways. It is the first and the most successful example of in-car payment service in India.

The next step now is to enable in-car payments for many other services such as fuel, parking, maintenance, insurance, etc. Before we get to its advantages and disadvantages, let’s understand how the in-car payment system works.

The easiest and most common way to enable an in-car payment system is through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.

For the uninitiated, RFID tag is a short-range wireless system that uses radio waves to communicate. These tags store a range of information, read by a specific device called reader. The beauty of RFID tag is it does not require power or internet connectivity to work, and can send data over-the-air.

The other method to implement an in-car payment system is through an embedded Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module. These modules are expensive and require an operating unit to work.

But they can transmit data at a higher range, which, in turn, lowers the chances of payment failure. Unlike the integrated systems such as RFID tags, this embedded system requires power to work.

Another way to implement an in-car payment system is through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). It is an advanced and most secure way among the available methods to enable in-car payments, but is expensive and complicated because of hardware and software compatibility issues. It requires both power and internet connectivity to work.

Coming on to the challenges with in-car payment systems, security is one and foremost because your personal and financial information may be compromised due to cyber attack irrespective of systems used -- integrated such as RFID tags or embedded such as BLE module/APIs -- to enable the payments.

Connectivity is another challenge, especially in embedded systems, because there still is a wide geographical area in the country where the internet has not reached as yet.

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