MassTLC Report Predicts Massachusetts to Become World Leader for "Big Data"

Download the Report -- Big Data and Analytics: A Major Opportunity for Massachusetts

As reported in today's Boston Globe, MassTLC has identified Big Data and Analytics as a major opportunity for Massachusetts, possibly on the scale of the 1990's software industry growth or the later telecom and Internet boom. The Council has identified more than 100 firms and 70,000 people employed in the field, and estimates the sector could grow by another 50,000 jobs in Massachusetts by 2018.

Massachusetts has become a major hub for companies that create and use "big data" and analytics technologies, a burgeoning technology sector that is expected to continue its explosive growth over the rest of the decade. In fact, the growing emergence of Massachusetts "big data" companies combined with deep university expertise in database management technology, and the presence of both established and startup technology firms give the state the opportunity to become the global economic hub for big data and analytics by the end of the decade.

According to the report, the proliferation of data generated by humans (e.g., text, voice, video) and machines (e.g., GPS, RFID, medical sensors), combined with social and other unstructured communications (e.g., social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn) is creating vast data opportunities, and a wave of new companies, to analyze and extract greater insight and economic value from this deluge of information.

"The Big Data sector is flying largely under the radar right now but this report makes it clear that it could our state's next big tech sector," said Tom Hopcroft, President & CEO of MassTLC. "If investments in this area continue at their current rate, we could see job gains approaching the scale of the early 1990's software industry growth or the later telecom and Internet boom."

According to the report, Massachusetts has all the elements necessary for success: a history of expertise in fields related to Big Data (including storage, security, and traditional data analytics); proven giants such as IBM, Oracle and Google already making Massachusetts investments in this field through acquisitions of companies such as Netezza, Endeca and ITA Software; a venture capital community with strong data analytics expertise; a vibrant academic research community, and a wealth of start-ups, such as Kyruus, Ginger.io, Paradigm4 and VoltDB, already gaining traction in the market.

"Massachusetts has 'Data DNA', a robust group of startups and established companies, as well as the presence of such complementary industries as healthcare, financial services, life sciences, consumer products, and on-line media" said Steve O'Leary, a co-founder of Aeris Partners and co-chairman of the MassTLC Research Committee. "We're in great position to lead, but we should be aware that other regions, most notably Silicon Valley, are moving quickly into this space."

The report identifies more than one hundred Massachusetts Big Data and analytics companies that currently employ some 12,000 workers. A variety of industries -- notably some of the state's biggest employers like healthcare, life sciences, aerospace & defense and financial services -- will increasingly utilize data analytics to grow their businesses. These Big Data users currently represent a complementary employment base of some 58,000 already using Big Data tools and results, for a total of 70,000 currently employed in Big Data jobs.

With its early start, the report estimates that Massachusetts is poised to see its big data workforce (including those creating analytics technology tools and applications within vendor companies as well as data scientists and data managers using analytics technology in healthcare, financial services, and other sectors) could grow to 120,000 jobs by 2018 -- if the region capitalizes on its early lead.

Download the Report -- Big Data and Analytics: A Major Opportunity for Massachusetts

Hard copies of the report will be made available at the Council’s 2nd Annual Big Data Summit on February 15 in Cambridge, MA (see www.masstlc.org for details). Read highlights from MassTLC's 2011 Big Data Summit by the Wall Street Journal.

The Summit will serve as the kick-off of MassTLC's Big Data Cluster.

MassTLC Launches Big Data and Analytics Cluster

In the year since our first Big Data Summit (Read WSJ highlights), MassTLC has been quietly cultivating a new Cluster, focused on the Big Data and Analytics companies in Massachusetts, and are pleased to mark 2012 as the year for Big Data with our recent research report on the sector, Big Data and Analytics: A Major Market Opportunity for Massachusetts, our Second Annual Big Data Summit: The Big Data Disruption, and the launch of a new Big Data Cluster community.

In the context of MassTLC's 2020 Jobs Growth Challenge, Big Data is a significant opportunity for Massachusetts. Massachusetts leads the nation (#6, I believe) in recovering from the recession, based primarily on the information technology and other information technology intensive knowledge sectors. According to a recent McKinsey report, Big Data could be transformative, amounting to a fifth wave in the technology revolution after the mainframe, the PC, the Internet/Web 1.0, and the mobile/Web 2.0 eras.

MassTLC believes that the Commonwealth has significant and unique advantages and an opportunity to be the geographical hub of a massive Big Data and Analytics wave of innovation, company formation, job creation, and economic benefit for the region. We feel it's ours to lose and so are, as a community, going to do everything we can to foster the success of big data companies in Massachusetts, thereby cultivating our economic future.

Towards this end, MassTLC's Big Data Cluster seeks to be an active catalyst for growth and development of the Big Data and Analytics ecosystem in Massachusetts. The Council's unique role as an organization that spans the entire technology ecosystem places MassTLC at the heart of the Big Data tsunami. Below are some of the initiatives MassTLC is undertaking to foster the growth of this important sector:

Research - In addition to it's recent report, MassTLC will continue to study the region's Big Data and Analytics community through surveys, focus groups, and an Oracle-Delphi panel of leading thinkers to inform the community about the sector and leverage points for growth.

Summit - The MassTLC 2^nd Annual Big Data Summit and other programming provides an opportunity for thought leaders to share ideas while the general community learns about opportunities presented by the Big Data and Analytics tsunami.

Community - MassTLC is convening a community of Big Data thought leaders to continue the dialogue through a variety of member-only and public Cluster meetings, events, and initiatives. MassTLC Clusters enable the technology community to take a deep dive in a particular area, share knowledge, and build deep lasting relationships that lead to business growth.

Bump - MassTLC will integrate Big Data and Analytics across our many Cluster communities and key Council initiatives, thereby fostering knowledge exchange with other technology and customer segments. At MassTLC, we believe that innovation happens at the boundaries between communities where ideas often meet with novel applications. Our Clusters, Tech Tuesday, and our Innovation unConference are just a few of the Council's signature initiatives that support bump factor.

Recognition - MassTLC will encouraging Big Data and Analytics companies to participate in the Mass Technology Leadership Awards program to help shine a spotlight on the region's Data DNA.

Workforce - Though the MassTLC Education Foundation, we work to attract, retain, and develop the talent needed to grow Big Data and Analytics in Massachusetts.

Leadership - MassTLC will work to educate and advocate for policies that support the growth of big data and analytics technology development and application in Massachusetts.

Council members interested in getting involved in the Big Data Cluster should contact Sara Fraim at sara@masstlc.org. Non-members should contact betsy@masstlc.org to learn more.

MBTA, Hubway, and Food Trucks Are Focus of Web and Mobile App Contest

The Commonwealth has teamed with the City of Boston on a contest called the MBTA + Boston Bikes Developers Challenge to develop Web and mobile software applications that provide innovative ways to access MBTA and New Balance Hubway information in real-time. The contest supports MassTLC's 2020 jobs growth challenge by connecting public needs with local technology talent.

The six week contest is geared towards the connections between the MBTA, Hubway bicycle rental stations, and the city's many food trucks. There are three areas of competition:

- Food Trucks - Web and mobile app developers are invited to create innovative applications that help residents get information on and locate Boston's Food Trucks. This app would ideally include menus, locations, and directions for getting to the truck via foot, bike, or MBTA.

- MBTA & Hubway Info Access - Web and mobile app developers are invited to create applications using the MBTA's real-time bus, subway, and commuter rail schedule information, and Hubway's Live Station Inventory Data.

- MBTA & Hubway Visualization - Web and mobile app developers are invited to create visualization-based apps using historical vehicle location data from the MBTA and Hubway bicycle rental stations.

Winners of the contests, which runs through February 24th, will receive prizes including a free one-year Charlie Pass for the MBTA, Hubway membership, and/or Food Truck passes.

MassTLC supports public contests and other initiatives that help connect the government as a potential "first customer" to the 400+ mobile, 100+ big data/analytics, and other technology companies in the Commonwealth. This crowd sourced approach achieves the dual purposes of tapping the best technology talent to help deliver public services while creating that essential bridge that could help local entrepreneurs and start-ups access a new market.

More info on the MBTA + Boston Bikes Developers Challenge. See additional ideas on the Mayor's New Urban Mechanics website.

The Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs also recently launched a mobile app development contest, dubbed the Get Outdoors Massachusetts Mobile Apps Contest.

State Sponsored Mobile App Contest Supports Goals of Council's 2020 Job Growth Challenge

The Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) announced an innovative approach to meeting some of the Commonwealth's technology needs -- they are crowd sourcing their project by way of a mobile app contest. The contest supports a key element in MassTLC's 2020 jobs growth challenge.

A couple years ago, MassTLC put out a challenge to the tech sector to create 100,000 new technology jobs by the end of the decade. Since then, MassTLC's board and special task force on job creation has developed a framework of action organized around people, capital, and infrastructure. The task force's recommendations will be communicated to the Administration in early 2012.

One of the task force recommendations is for the Commonwealth to consider the role of the "Government as First Customer." It posits that there is a significant opportunity to connect local entrepreneurs/start-ups with state agencies in need of innovative technology solutions to critical state needs. The entrepreneur/start-up benefits with a first referenceable client, the state agency benefits by accelerating development of solutions to critical needs, and together we accelerate our local job growth engine by buying local.

As an example of how 'Government as First Customer' could work, EEA Secretary Richard Sullivan announced a contest that invites designers and mobile application developers to create applications to help the public find outdoor recreation hot spots in Massachusetts. Dubbed the "Get Outdoors Massachusetts Mobile Apps Contest," the competition is open to the public and seeks participation from application developers to create a mobile app that features Massachusetts outdoor and natural resources.

EEA's Departments of Agricultural Resources (DAR), Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and Fish and Game (DFG) have published geospatial data for developers to create a mobile app designed to map public lands, state parks, farms, public water and land access points, rinks, pools, and other outdoor venues for outdoor recreation.

MassTLC is a proud supporter of this innovative crowd sourcing initiative. "Start-ups are the jobs growth engine for our economy and a 'first customer' is often the difference between success and failure," said MassTLC CEO Tom Hopcroft. "With over 400 mobile and 100 big data/analytics companies and new entrants every day, EEA's crowd sourced approach achieves the dual purposes of tapping the best technology talent to help deliver EEA services and creating that essential bridge that could help local entrepreneurs access a new market." Several MassTLC Mobile Cluster advisory board members are serving on the judging panel that will select the winner.

The submission deadline is March 30, and registration is free. Entrants will compete for prizes including the opportunity to showcase their work to local technology executives. EEA will announce the winners on April 18.

View the official Get Outdoors Massachusetts Mobile Apps contest rules and information.

See also the recently announced MBTA, Hubway, and Food Trucks Web and Mobile App Contest.

Tremendous Turnout for Rapid Development & Deployment Summit

Greater than 150 participants turned out for the Rapid Development and Deployment Summit presented by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council's Software Development cluster. This fast-paced conference covered a lot of ground in two keynote presentations and four panels.

Rapid change challenges software architects and developers

David Skok, General Partner, Matrix Partners, kicked off the morning with an overview of the challenges that rapid change has created for software developers and architects. His presentation included a discussion of the acceleration in the number of applications and users--and the technology trends that are disrupting the development environment.

As functions disappear, new opportunities emerge

Then, he delved into some of the implications:
- Incorporating new technologies, especially in combination, provides users with exceptional power but dramatically increases complexity for developers
- Everything is changing from the way developers build products to how companies distribute them to the ways in users access them.
- Self-service technologies are replacing personnel at various stages of the product development process.
- The proliferation of data has created a market opportunity for business intelligence applications that can provide actionable insights
- Proliferation of new products has produced lots of data--now users are seeking tools to turn data into actionable insights
- Consumerization of enterprise applications increases demand, usage and engagement
- Businesses are getting faster better applications sooner and less expensively

Mobility isn't what makes mobile interesting

Bill O'Donnell, Chief Architect, Kayak shared insights gained from his company's experience with mobile. Perhaps most interesting was the company's misconception about the use case for travel--and how they learned what users really wanted.

Kayak implemented mobile early on, and more than once. When the company decided to launch an IPhone App, developers incorrectly assumed that travelers would be most likely to use mobile when there was no access to other platforms. That is, when they were in an airport and needed to check a flight's status or change their plans.

Customers let them know they were wrong, dead wrong, via a feedback mechanism incorporated in the app, itself, that goes directly to the development team. Many complained that they weren't able to access the full feature set on mobile.

At first, developers questioned the feedback. Then they turned to the search data and learned that customers were using the mobile app the same way they used the web application.

So, they squeezed more features into the mobile app--and usage went up. To their surprise, users didn't seem to mind the small screen or that it took a lot of time to process transactions. Today, 15% of Kayak's traffic is mobile.

Check out Bill's presentation to see his perspectives about some of the challenges associated with being a development company in a mobile world, both technically and financially. That said, Bill predicts that mobile apps are here to stay because users like them. They're easy to find, easy to install, easy to maintain and don't use a lot of power. In short, the characteristics that make mobile apps desirable--have very little to do with their mobility.

Building high performance teams

The moderator of the breakout session on the Anatomy of a Team, Julia Austin from VMware, began by asking panelists to define high performing teams and followed with a series of questions. Panelists offered multiple perspectives on best practices for attracting talent, hiring the right people, increasing productivity, encouraging team cohesiveness, and motivating teams to do less glamorous projects.

Advice from the experts

A show of hands confirmed that software developers and engineering managers are in high demand, even in Boston and in this economy. To attract talent, panelists advised companies to know and promote their unique differentiation. When hiring mid-managers look for individuals that are building an app in their free time.

To increase cohesiveness, seed teams with members that excel at creating a community. To motivate teams to do less glamorous projects let developers fix it the way they way want it, earn the opportunity to do more interesting projects, or bask in users' appreciation of a problem fixed and a job well done.

Maintaining quality while moving fast

Much of the conversation on maintaining quality centered on Agile: advantages, disadvantages, and challenges. One advantage is that it forces developers to consider factors they might not otherwise have thought about. Another is that frequent testing of prototypes with users catches problems early.

Disadvantages include an emphasis on the short term, at the expense of the long term--and paradoxically the constraints imposed by a system that requires setting priorities in advance. One panelist said his company found that 3-week lead times are too confining for designers. Kanban, on the other hand, lets designers reorder their priorities so that they can focus on what they're doing.

Despite challenges, Agile processes universally favored

A major challenge is managing the technology deficits that emerge in infrastructure when the focus is on implementing new features. Panelists offered solutions ranging from incorporating "fixes" into each sprint to assigning a special project team to reduce the backlog to putting development of new features on hold.

Nevertheless, panelists appeared to agree that the value of quick sprints outweighed the costs. One panelist says he now advocates using small, localized additions of procedural code to add new functionality, rather than investing in re-architecting the product. His rationale is that it's hard to know in advance which features will prove valuable.

Another challenge is motivating developers to do peer reviews. One panelist suggested having incumbents "mentor" new employees. Another periodically has the whole team participate in code reviews after the daily "standups". A third delays implementing a new feature until a team member tests it and signs off on its quality.

Two additional sessions followed on aligning strategy with development and leveraging the cloud in a rapid dev shop. A video and blog post will follow shortly on the cloud session, moderated by Michael Skok of North Bridge ventures.

Rapid learning

Overall, the morning was outstanding. Panelists packed a lot of information into a short time--and audience members left with insights they could apply to their own work environments. Thanks to our sponsors and all who participatied. Look for future programming on agile, measuring engineering productivity and virtualization.

Guest post contributed by Barbara Bix, BB Marketing Plus


For additional commentary, please check out the blog posts from guest speakers below:
Active Endpoints blog post: http://www.activevos.com/blog/
Future of Cloud Computing blog post: http://futureofcloudcomputing.drupalgardens.com/blog/interesting-insights-masstlc%E2%80%99s-software-development-summit

MassTLC Member Dassault Systèmes Dedicates North American HQ: A New LEED-Certified Campus in Waltham

MassTLC member Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, had quite the party this past Friday to dedicate their new North American headquarters in Waltham. The event included speeches by His Excellency François Delattre, France’s Ambassador to the United States, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, Dassault Systèmes President and CEO Bernard Charlès and North America Managing Director Al Bunshaft, as well as a tour of the campus and demos of the company’s latest 3D technologies.

Located in Waltham, the award-winning 27-acre campus is heralded as a showcase for sustainable innovation, the creation of lifelike experiences using 3D, and has been LEED-certified, demonstrating the company’s commitment to conserving national resources.The campus was designed and outfitted with sustainable innovation in mind. More than 2,000 tons of recycled steel were used in construction and 61,000 tons of structural materials re-used as fill. The heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) units use a chemical-free electrostatic water treatment unit instead of chlorine. Overall energy use is reduced by 29 percent through a combination of high-efficiency rooftop HVAC units and boilers.

During his welcome address Bernard Charlès stated, “What you see behind me is not just a building. It is a living laboratory for our Dassault Systèmes vision. From this place, we will reach out to the world with our technology and services. This is where we will help creative people visualize solutions to the challenges that face the world, validate that those visions will work, and plan how to bring those visions to life in the most efficient, sustainable way possible.”

Al Bunshaft added, “We wanted to create a healthy work environment where people would love the space they work in, while promoting creativity and collaboration.”

A little bit about Dassault Systèmes: As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 130,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes applications provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product - DELMIA for virtual production - SIMULIA for virtual testing - ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, EXALEAD for search-based applications- SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com.

Sustainable Practitioners talk "Green Marketing" at Energy Seminar

A recent Harvard Study revealed that over the long term (18 years in the case of this study) highly Sustainable companies outperformed low Sustainable companies. These highly sustainable companies understand the holistic relationship between customer, employee, community, environment, and shareholder.

On Tuesday, December 6th, MassTLC hosted a panel of highly sustainable practitioners that are not just educating their customers, employees, and shareholders of their sustainable efforts, but engaging them and motivating them to make these practices personal. Jim Nail, founder of communications consulting practice Speaking Sustainability, led the discussion with panelists, Kristine Kalaijian, Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability, Philips Electronics; Monica Nakielski, Project Manager, Sustainable Initiatives, Partners Healthcare; Frank Marino, Corporate Environmental, Health and Safety Manager, Raytheon; and Susan Hunt Stevens, CEO and Founder, Practically Green.

Jim Nail opened the event noting that "green marketing" has low credibility with consumers and corporate social responsibility reports reach a small niche audience. A new approach is needed to reach broader audiences who are critical to a business' success and are increasingly interested in what the firm is doing to address environmental and social issues its operations impact.

Companies such as Unilever are making sustainability personal in order to motivate their workforce remarked Susan Hunt Stevens. She went on to describe how Unilever's campaign has given everyone in the company the title Head of Sustainability. Why is it so important for companies to engage employees and customers on this level? Raytheon, Phillips and Partners Healthcare all shared that they have set aggressive sustainability goals for the near term and will need their employees incorporating sustainability into their daily tasks to meet these goals. For example, by 2015 Philips will improve the energy efficiency of its overall portfolio by 50% and double the global collection and recycling amounts of their products, as well as double the amount of recycled materials in products. View Susan's presentation here

Kristine Kalaijian explained that sustainability at Phillips is broadly defined to encompass social and ecological goals throughout their different businesses of healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle. Philips defines sustainability as improved health and well being while respecting natural resources. Philips uses a specific framework that balances the Human Development Index with Ecological Footprint
Raytheon has also embraced the make-it-personal model by increasing employee awareness with a simple quiz and naming those that finish the quiz Energy Citizens. Taking it a step further Raytheon has around 12,000 Energy Champions embedded within the business who lead specific energy conservation and efficiency projects. View Kristine's presentation here

Monica Nakielski is new to Partners Healthcare and is rethinking the status quo which has been focused on environmentalism and buildings. Partners wants to tie together green teams with energized leadership to move beyond buildings and look at sustainability at a broader level that includes personal well-being. Sustainability has been embraced at the Chief executive level by the very nature of their business, since healthy people need a healthy environment.

So it sounds like everyone is on board right? Well not exactly, there are still challenges to overcome. For example, employees that do not want to change or do not want another check list item on their "to do" list may be harder to engage. Frank Marino talked about how Raytheon still has room to grow mainly since it is a conservative company that is risk averse. View Frank's presentation here

Phillips has used sustainability as a means for growth and innovation but larger projects where the return on investment is longer term and harder to measure can still get stalled. Monica Nakielski noted that the issues on the agenda of some Partners senior executives may not match what is top of mind for employees and part of the employee engagement process will require sharing and education of both groups.

So how do you integrate the skeptics? Social media can play a part. Raytheon is using an in house social media tool to help link together passionate individuals. Zimride uses gamification, Seventh Generation and Stonyfield give small rewards to customers. These types of programs also have metrics built in so the benefits are measureable for the company. Awareness of a company’s commitment to sustainability can also help employees and management engage. Raytheon has done a lot to green their dining areas. This is a place where all employees can see a demonstrable change. These beliefs that are being embraced in the workplace are then coming home with people. Phillips is encouraging this type of community engagement.

One key theme is that achieving sustainability goals requires more than information and a traditional communications approach that emphasizes broad distribution of messages. The goal needs to be to change the audience’s behavior to adopt sustainable behaviors. Susan Hunt Stevens referred to the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini and Jim recommended the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. Both provide insights from academic research demonstrating that change often begins with a small action, not with a change in attitudes.

One thing has become clear in behavior change for employees, customers and even companies; they would rather fit in than get a reward. Bringing about this type of culture change can bring about big wins for companies bottom lines and also for the overall health of our population and environment.
To wrap up, the panelists noted firms whose sustainability communications they admire:
- Kaiser Permanente
- Cleveland Clinic
- Hewlett Packard
- Patagonia
- Nike
- Marks & Spencer

Mass Technology Leaders Join Governor Patrick on Innovation Economy Mission to Brazil

MassTLC chairman Mohamad Ali, CEO Tom Hopcroft, and eight other MassTLC members will accompany Governor Patrick on his Massachusetts-Brazil Innovation Economy Mission next month. The trade mission, which includes 27 of the state's top business leaders (plus an additional 10 academic and 12 government leaders), is designed to encourage greater collaboration between Brazilian and Massachusetts companies, academic institutions, and government entities, resulting in greater economic benefits to both our economies.


(Delegation members at a trip briefing)

The mission is part of the Governor's effort to market Massachusetts to key growth markets and centers of innovation around the world, and supports the Council's goal of increasing tech sector employment in Massachusetts. Brazil, which already boasts one of the world's fastest growing economies, has recently emerged as new hotbed of technology innovation and entrepreneurial activity.

MassTLC is serving as the lead non-governmental tech sector organizer for this trip, as it did on a recent mission led by the Governor to Israel and the U.K. earlier in the year. MassTLC members will take part in roundtables, company visits and meetings with government, academic, and business officials - all designed to encourage new collaborations and investments that will support our efforts to grow the Massachusetts tech economy.


(Pictured left to right: Consul General Fernando de Mello Barreto, Ambassador Mauro Vieira, and Governor Patrick briefing the delegation)

"We are committed to competing for every job in every corner of the Commonwealth, and the world," said Governor Patrick, in the press release announcing the trip. "To continue our recovery, we need to position Massachusetts for success in growing markets like Brazil, to drive job growth and catalyze international investment."

The MassTLC team will visit Brazilian companies, universities and government leaders during stops in Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero. Last year, bilateral trade between Massachusetts and Brazil topped $475 million - representing more than $396 million in exports to Brazil and more than $80 million in imports to Massachusetts.

MassTLC President & CEO Tom Hopcroft featured on NECN discussing the trip:



The official delegation list is below.

GOVERNMENT DELEGATION:
Governor Deval Patrick
Secretary Greg Bialecki, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development
Secretary Paul Reville, Executive Office of Education
Secretary Rick Sullivan, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Senator Marc R. Pacheco, State Senator, First Plymouth & Bristol District
Susan Windham-Bannister, PhD, President & CEO, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Pamela Goldberg, CEO, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Patrick Larkin, Deputy Director, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Patrick Cloney, Executive Director, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Kenneth Brown, Executive Director, Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment
Josiane Martinez, Executive Director, Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants

ACADEMIC AND CULTURAL DELEGATION:
Dr. Dennis Berkey, President, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Dr. Robert Caret, President, University of Massachusetts
Dennis Carr, Assistant Curator, Art of the Americas, Museum of Fine Arts
Jason Dyett, Program Director, Brazil Office, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University
Laurence Madin, Executive Vice President and Director of Research, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Bruce Magid, Dean, International Business School, Brandeis University
Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, President, Bridgewater State University
Maria Muller, Deputy Director, External Relations, Museum of Fine Arts
Ben Schneider, Director, MIT Brazil, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Karina Xavier, Manager, MIT Brazil, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

BUSINESS DELEGATION:
Aron Ain, CEO, Kronos Incorporated
Mohamad Ali, Chairman, Mass Technology Leadership Council; Senior Vice-President, Avaya
Priyanka Bakaya, CEO and Founder, PK Clean
Brian Burke, Northeast Director of Government Affairs, Microsoft Corporation
Wayne Canty, President, Heat Trace Products, LLC
Bob Connelly, CEO and President Madico, Inc.
Robert Coughlin, CEO and President, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council
Walt Doyle, CEO and President, WHERE Inc.
Marcia Fournier, Founder and CEO, BIOARRAY Therapeutics
Chris Goode, Vice-President, Global Corporate Affairs & Public Policy, EMC Corporation
John Harthorne, CEO and Founder, MassChallenge
Winston Henderson, Vice President and General Counsel, Nano Terra
Tom Hopcroft, CEO and President, Mass Technology Leadership Council
Florian Hunziker, COO, Harmonix Music System
Edvaldo Morata, Managing Director of Corporate Banking, Sovereign Bank and Banco Santander
Linda Moulton, CEO, TRU Corporation
Steve Papa, CEO and Founder, Endeca
Robert Perez, Executive Vice-President and COO,Cubist Pharmaceuticals
Brad Rinklin, Vice-President, Global Marketing, Akamai
Kristen Rupert, Executive Director, Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) International Business Council
Dr. Ido Schoenberg, CEO and Chairman, American Well Corporation
Joel Schwartz, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Global New Business Development, EMC Corporation
Greg Shell, Manager, GMO LLC
Dr. Riccardo Signorelli, CEO and President, FastCAP Systems
Per Suneby, CEO, PMC Biotec
Kirk Sykes, President and Managing Director, Urban Strategy America Fund, L.P.
Andrew Tarsy, President and Executive Director, Progressive Business Leaders Network

Hundreds Pack Microsoft NERD for Tech Tuesday: Meet the Rockstar Developers of MA

Last night's Tech Tuesday, Meet the Rockstar Developers of MA, was fantastic and truly showed what the Stay in MA campaign is all about. Over 300 people turned out, including over 100 computer science students from regions colleges and universities. There was a great vibe all night with so much buzz about the cutting edge technologies that are being created in the region.

(Pictured Left to Right: Dharmesh Shah, Walt Doyle, Jeremy Wertheimer and Vinit Nijhawan. Photo Credit: Dan Bricklin)

Kicking off with a panel of "rockstar" developers moderated by Vinit Nijhawan from BU and including Walt Doyle from WHERE, Inc., Dharmesh Shah from Hubspot and Jeremy Wertheimer from Google. Highlights from the panel included:

• Create code everyday and hit send; get it out there fast.
• Biggest hurdles of starting a company: rapid development and shaping expectations.
• Finding the right team is crucial, and keeping them happy leads to further company success. 

Following the panel were some shout-outs talking about some of the coolest new technologies coming down the pike for companies, including Black Duck Software, Telerik, VMware, MEDITECH, Microsoft, Big Belly Solar, Funkitron, AisleBuyer, and many more (download app at rockstarma.appguppy.com for full listing of exhibiting companies).

(Photo Credit: Dan Bricklin)

 The latter part of TT was all about the networking. You could not move without hearing some great dialogue among the developers and soon-to-be developers. The action was also taking place upstairs on the 11th floor where we heard of at least 1 great candidate was being wooed by a rapidly growing company.

#RockstarMA continued to trend today and we’d like to see the dialogue continue. Dan Bricklin captured the night with pictures, if you were there, I’m sure you can find yourself in one of them. If you weren't take a look for a better idea of what you can experience next time.

And be sure to stay tuned for our next Tech Tuesday on January 17, 2012 to keep this energy going.

Dynamic Community Care Teams and the Role of Technology

On Thursday, November 21, 2011, I attended the Mass Technology Leadership Council Breakfast Seminar, How Technology is Enabling Dynamic Community Care Teams. Rick Siegrist, the CIO at Press Ganey, began the morning with a discussion about integrated care. He explained that integrated care is not merely organizational legal integration or coordination of service. It is a patient-centered model that often involves coordination within and across multiple care teams as well as across community resources, especially in patients with serious or chronic illnesses.

Integrated care requires a continuity of relationships and familiarity with patients over time and must also take into account what happens to patients between visits with care providers. Providers must learn to look at the care they are providing from the patient's viewpoint. At the same time, patients must share responsibility for and become engaged in their own care. To help with the integrated care model, Siegrist explains that providers are now able to mine with web for feelings in addition to facts using what he called "The New Science of Sentiment Analysis," a process that analyzes customer opinions to extract feelings. Patient satisfaction surveys are a very meaningful database of information because when people are involved in a life and death situation or a trauma, their responses are likely to be more meaningful and honest because they have a strong personal connection to what occurred. Hospitals must take steps to respond to patient opinions and criticisms found in these surveys. If they don't take action, patients with negative experiences will broadcast them on Facebook or blog about them, creating larger-scale negative publicity that providers and hospitals did not have to deal with in the past.

Siegrist concluded with an example of "low-tech" integrated care, explaining that Harvard Vanguard, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser, Dartmouth and the VA have begun to offer shared medical visits for patients. Under this model, eight to 12 patients, all of whom sign privacy agreements, gather with a doctor, a nurse, a behaviorist and a documenter for a 90-minute appointment. Patients (who may or may not have similar medical conditions) take turns being examined and all are present for questions and explanations by the provider. The documenter records the entire appointment. These shared medical visits improve access to care (patients might get an appointment with a sought-after provider next week instead of six months from now), encourage patient involvement (patients share information with each other about their conditions) and garner higher provider satisfaction ratings (because providers do not feel rushed to move on to the next appointment). Take a look at his presentation here.

Betsy Weaver, CEO of TPR Media LLC, discussed her company's recent launch of UbiCare (the name comes from the word, "ubiquitous"), a social media tool designed to enhance and streamline how healthcare connects with patients through Facebook, Twitter, text messaging and email. Weaver explained that US healthcare is facing irreversible change. Currently, quality of US healthcare is poor and costly, a combination that definitely needs to change. Healthcare's solution must improve outcomes and create cost savings for patients and providers alike. She launched UbiCare because healthcare must be where patients are. A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that 79% of all Americans are online, six of ten have wireless connections, small screens outnumber big screens and one of every three US adults has a smartphone. She explained that the only people who really do not use the Internet are those over 70 years old without a high school education. Betsy's presentation is available here.

Ken Accardi, the CTO of iGetBetter.com, described how his company's software allows hospitals to put patient discharge plans online and track patient follow-up care more closely. It gives providers the ability to monitor patient pain levels and see whether they are taking prescribed medication.

Coming at the health care relationship from a different angle, Benjamin Bielak, CIO of Dovetail Health, said that his company's goal is to keep hospital admissions down and keep patients at home by developing an emotional connection with them, thereby reducing the risks of higher costs and potential illness stemming from hospitalization. Dovetail providers conduct an initial two-hour appointment where they ask patients what their emotional goals are. If a patient's goal is to attend his daughter's wedding, Dovetail works with the patient to try to reduce hospital admissions, keep the patient healthy and ultimately, to make his goal a reality.

Kathy Duckett, Director of Clinical Programs at Partners Healthcare at Home, told the group that her agency makes 3,600 home visits to patients each day, for a total of over 400,000 per year. Because PHH is a certified home health agency, it must abide by federal guidelines and regulations and is limited to providing skilled nursing visits to homebound patients. Despite these limitations, PHH must begin to think outside the box and has launched that Telehealth program which provides remote monitoring of 250 patients who are not homebound, but are frequently hospitalized. This program empowers patients to be more involved with their own care.

Finally, Marie Maloney, CIO of Senior Whole Health, spoke of the difficulties her agency encounters providing care to Medicare/Medicaid eligible patients with an average age of 74, many of whom are not connected to the Internet. They have adopted a member-centric model that provides care at the level deemed most appropriate for the patient, either annually, every six months or twice monthly. Forging a relationship with these patients and their families, only 46% of whom are English speaking, is the "secret sauce" to engaging these frail, uneducated seniors. Senior Whole Health employees speak many languages and care providers often come from the culture or community in which they are working.

So what is a dynamic community care team? First and foremost, it must be focused on patient needs and must respect what the patient wants. It requires participation from all those who are involved with a patient-providers, the patient, family caregivers (to the extent the patient wants family members privy to health care information), home health aides, and care managers. Ideally, a dynamic community care team will have a centralized record keeping system, where all those involved with a patient's care can share access to information on a real time basis.

But questions and issues remain with respect to the use of technology to enhance patient care real time. Some providers, for example, are concerned about the use of email. If a patient or caregiver emails a provider about a high blood sugar level, for example, and the provider is unable to respond immediately, is the provider liable if something happens to the patient?

There is also a debate about what information should be shared. Providers want information they can act on; information overload is not helpful. Perhaps most helpful would be an easy-to-use system that can adapt to provide information providers want, based upon the changing needs of the patient. Unfortunately, this kind of system takes time and money to build. For it to work effectively, patients and providers must also be convinced of its value. While we are waiting for a better system, providers must continue to try to provide more integrated care, keep things simple and forge an emotional connection with patients to keep them invested in their own care.

Sharon Patton

November 22, 2011