Fri, 07/02/2021
Welcome to ‘Tech Roundup,’ where we highlight some of the most significant/thought-provoking news items from the world of tech, especially at the nexus of law and technology. We are particularly interested in foregrounding tech news that is happening in Nebraska, and our region more broadly. If you have a news item you would like to see in the Roundup, please email neil.rutledge@unl.edu.
Local/Regional
'Silicon Prairie' Ready for Quantum Leap
WebMd
- The National Science Foundation is betting on the Cornhusker State to help lead a high-stakes era of innovation as America gets ready for next-generation computer and security technology.
- That bet takes the form of a $20 million grant, spread over 5 years, to be shared by four universities in Nebraska.
- "Quantum science and technology is the next big thing. Missing out on this is not an option," Christian Binek, PhD, professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and director of the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, says. Staples of modern life, such as computers, smartphones, light-emitting diode (LED) lights, and lasers, are all based on quantum mechanics, Binek explains
IANR receives funding for Western Rangeland Livestock Center
Nebraska Today
- Together with partners in Montana and Oregon, Nebraska researchers will focus on developing precision-based nutrition strategies for rangeland-based livestock, as well as technology-based livestock management strategies to optimize the health and productivity of western rangeland-based livestock and the rangeland ecosystem.
- Strides in new rangeland monitoring technology have provided opportunities to enhance understanding of natural resources and livestock behavior, which is important for rangeland research and applied management of beef cattle on extensive rangelands.
Kiewit Hall ceremony kicks off $97M engineering expansion
Nebraska Today
- The project, which includes a $25 million gift from Omaha’s Kiewit Corporation, is part of a multi-phased, $170 million expansion of College of Engineering facilities.
- “This is a big day for us, the University of Nebraska, for the State of Nebraska (and) for the field of engineering as we turn ground on the largest academic facilities project in the 152-year history of the university,” said Chancellor Ronnie Green.
IANR launches Center for Agricultural Profitability
Center for Ag Profitability
- Approved in March and housed in the Department of Agricultural Economics, the center will work to improve the economic viability of the agricultural sector in Nebraska and beyond. It focuses on research, extension outreach and education related to profitability and supporting informed decision-making and management choices to keep farmers and ranchers financially healthy.
- It will also offer educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students while facilitating collaboration with other units in IANR and across the University of Nebraska system.
Hunger-fighting app GiftAMeal raises $500,000 in latest investment round
Silicon Prairie News
- A mobile app allowing users to turn photos of their food into meals for those in need announced yesterday that it had raised $500,000 in a recent investment round.
- GiftAMeal, founded in 2015 by then-college student Andrew Glantz, is a St. Louis-based startup with a mission to feed the hungry through technology that gamifies social media engagement and encourages patronage of participating restaurants. The startup has expanded to 250 restaurants across Missouri, Illinois and Michigan.
Model predicts lane changes, could inform driver-assist systems
Nebraska Today
- Li Zhao and her colleagues at the Nebraska Transportation Center have developed a new model that can read between the white lines to help predict when vehicles will change lanes. Their efforts could ultimately help give advanced driver-assistance systems — the vehicle-housed tech designed to anticipate threats and correct for human error — more lead time to react and, ideally, protect.
- The team built its model on data from roughly 3,000 vehicles outfitted with front-facing cameras and various sensors. In the early 2010s, the owners of those vehicles drove their regular routes for two months as part of a project funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which eventually made the naturalistic driving data available to the public.
Local Startup Spotlight
- “Centese is developing Thoraguard, an Intelligent Surgical Drainage System for Cardiothoracic Surgery. We are using innovative design and smart software to create an elegant solution to an unsolved clinical need. Our technology will improve patient outcomes, reduce costs to the healthcare system, and provide a better patient experience.”
National/International
Big Tech Says Global Tax Deal Is a Win
The Wall Street Journal
- Big tech companies said Thursday’s breakthrough in negotiations over a global tax overhaul was a step toward avoiding a patchwork of overlapping national taxes, but executives and trade bodies said they still need to see those tax regimes disappear before calling the deal a win.
- The U.S. secured international backing for a global minimum rate of tax as part of a wider overhaul of the rules for taxing international companies. Officials from 130 countries that met virtually agreed Thursday to the broad outlines of the overhaul. It would be the most sweeping change in international taxation in a century.
Using A.I. to Find Bias in A.I.
New York Times
- Parity is one of many organizations, including more than a dozen start-ups and some of the biggest names in tech, offering tools and services designed to identify and remove bias from A.I. systems.
- Soon, businesses may need that help. In April, the Federal Trade Commission warned against the sale of A.I. systems that were racially biased or could prevent individuals from receiving employment, housing, insurance or other benefits. A week later, the European Union unveiled draft regulations that could punish companies for offering such technology.
- Many in the tech industry believe businesses must start preparing for a crackdown. “Some sort of legislation or regulation is inevitable,” said Christian Troncoso, the senior director of legal policy for the Software Alliance, a trade group that represents some of the biggest and oldest software companies. “Every time there is one of these terrible stories about A.I., it chips away at public trust and faith.”
FTC Vote to Broaden Agency’s Mandate Seen as Targeting Tech Industry
The Wall Street Journal
- The Federal Trade Commission voted Thursday to broaden its discretion to challenge what it finds to be unfair methods of competition, potentially opening the door to a wider array of antitrust enforcement cases against big technology companies.
- The FTC’s new Democratic chair, Lina Khan, who supported the move, said it was aimed at returning the agency to the original mandate of Congress—based on the Fair Trade Commission Act of 1914—of policing unfair competition practices that aren’t covered by other laws.
ANALYSIS: New Crypto-Friendly Law Creates the DAO of Wyoming
Bloomberg Law
- A Wyoming law, enacted April 21 and effective July 1, specifically approves DAOs as a form of corporation and establishes definitions and other terms for their use.
- A DAO is a business concern run automatically by rules encoded in computer programs—known as “smart contracts"—using blockchain technology to establish ownership rights, record transactions, and settle governance issues.
- One of the main uses for DAOs has been as platforms for decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi applications, also called Dapps, aim to provide financial services similar to those of existing financial institutions—payments, loans, investments—with blockchain-based automation substituting for traditional business models with human management and back-office operations. DAOs may also have applications in other, non-financial businesses.
FTC Charges Broadcom With Illegal Monopolization, Proposes Order
Bloomberg Law
- The Federal Trade Commission charged Broadcom with illegally monopolizing markets for semiconductor components, and ordered the company to cease anticompetitive conduct.
- The complaint alleges that the California-based company illegally maintained power in three monopolized markets through long-term pacts with original equipment manufacturers and service providers, preventing customers from purchasing chips from competitors
Virtual clinical trials are on their way
The Economist
- The hunt is on for computer models good enough to replace warm bodies for at least the preliminary phases of (medical) trials.
- In a paper in Nature Communications, Alejandro Frangi of the University of Leeds, in Britain, and his colleagues have published the results of the most comprehensive such virtual trial yet attempted.
‘Crucial Time’ for Cloud Gaming, Which Wants to Change How You Play
New York Times
- Cloud gaming, at its core, is the ability to separate the technical power required to play a video game from the device it is being played on. That is accomplished by using remote data centers, which harness a company’s processing power and stream a game directly to a user’s device.
- That means games will no longer be tied to specific platforms or devices, so Halo could be played not only on an Xbox console but on a mobile phone or streamed directly to a television. Someone could use the power of the cloud to play a high-quality, graphics-intensive game on an older or weaker device.
Could miniature forests help air-condition cities?
The Economist
- A possible answer to the twin problems of pollution and heat is trees. Their leaves may destroy at least some chemical pollutants (the question is debated) and they certainly trap airborne particulate matter, which is then washed to the ground by rain.
- And trees cool things down. Besides transpiration, they provide shade.
What We Are Reading
Adam Thompson, Lecturer and Assistant Director of the Kutak Ethics Center at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, commented on a recent Pew Research Center poll that found that ethicists are skeptical that ethical AI design will be the norm within the next decade:
Experts Doubt Ethical AI Design Will Be Broadly Adopted as the Norm Within the Next Decade
Pew Research Center
- 68% of experts surveyed believe that ethical principles focused primarily on the public good will not be employed in most AI systems by 2030.
- A substantial number of experts believe that “the main developers and deployers of AI are focused on profit-seeking and social control, and there is no consensus about what ethical AI would look like.
Thompson offered the following perspective:
(The survey) seems to support the idea that there is a significant need for STEM education to include a significant ethics education. We're currently blazing that trail here at UNL through our collaboration with the Department of Philosophy and Computer Science and Engineering (CSCE). Our Embedded Ethics program focuses on embedding modules into courses throughout the CSCE curriculum. We will pilot the program this fall and work to scale it up as we learn more about the courses and students as well as the most effective ways to facilitate the modules.
Tags: Tech Round-Up
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