A multi-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has been tackling key challenges for open data integration in research, with a focus on bioinformatics. In this article, they present their early work on the Habitat platform. Their goal is to create “Living Labs” where researchers can acquire the types of insights available at a Google or a Facebook from academia, while focused on problems at the “bleeding edge” of science.

If you’d like to dig deeper, check out their NIH/NSF funded Penn Provenance project.

Responding to public and parliamentary criticism for its slow action in providing information about medical device safety, Health Canada has started to implement a three-part Action Plan: (1) to improve how devices get on the market; (2) strengthen monitoring and follow-up of devices in market; and (3) provide more information to Canadians about the medical devices they use. Open data for public good.

Details here.

Pamela McCorduck is an author who has written on the history and philosophical significance of artificial intelligence, the future of engineering, and the role of women in technology.

In April 2019, FDA announced that it would develop a framework for regulating AI products that self-update based on new data. The agency received comments from vendors, academic researchers, patient advocates, and this one from American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). The association recommended changes to address potential bias and cybersecurity risks.

The US military faces unprecedented challenges in defending the nation’s security and interests - many driven by the rise of emerging tech in the kinetic, space and cyber domains. This discussion with Dr. Will Roper, US Air Force Asst. Secretary for Acquisition Technology, and Logistics, is a tour de force with ideas and lessons for innovators outside defense.

A highlight at 40:00 is Roper’s description of the USAF’s innovative Pitch Days for startups - a day of Shark Tank-like pitches with vetted firms. Winners are awarded a half-page contract that day, with money in their accounts within 15 minutes.

How do creative people come up with great ideas? Organizational psychologist Adam Grant delivers an entertaining TED talk about “originals” and what makes them successful.