Month: November 2014

Connecticut continues to be a national leader in technological innovation. The Milken Institute think tank ranked the state ninth in its latest State Tech and Science Index, a biennial evaluation of all 50 states according to their tech-driven economic development. It is the sixth straight edition in which Connecticut has been inside the top 10. The state received an average score of 65.5 out of 100.

In Connecticut's case, the high marks are a result of a steady influx of capital and a focus on research by both private and public organizations. Of the five indices that make up the average, the highest ranking was in human capital investment, where Connecticut was third nationally with a score of 75.9, followed by a tenth-place ranking in research and development inputs.

Not all the results are positive, however, as Connecticut fell in four of the five indices, and dropped out of the top 20 altogether in technology concentration and dynamism. This data should drive state leaders to continue investing heavily to ensure that the Nutmeg State remains in the top tier two years from now.

Unsurprisingly, the Northeast region has a strong presence at the top of the list, with Massachusetts, the overall leader for the fifth straight edition of the index, and New Hampshire both joining Connecticut in the top 10. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont are all ranked between 11 and 18.

Managed IT services software developers can help local companies thrive and keep Connecticut in its rightful place as a national leader in technology development.

The number of countries and industries benefiting from FileMaker software continues to grow as more companies learn to adapt the database tool to their specific needs. Vinepower Limited, a contracting firm for the viticulture sector based in Blenheim, New Zealand, is furnishing its employees with iPads to keep better track of its operations.

Vinepower provides vineyards with workers for year-round tasks such as pruning and thinning and employs up to 250 during peak season in the Marlborough Region, a well-known producer of Sauvignon blanc wine. The company used FileMaker to build a database they affectionately call “Vinny.”

For field work, supervisors carry iPads where they enter information on vine rows and workers, and later sync all the data in the Vinny database. This work used to be done manually in a much more time-consuming and tedious process. The new solution has had both operational and financial benefits.

“We’ve got better knowledge of our production and how workers are performing,” said Vinepower director Jono Bushell to The New Zealand Herald. “It’s also allowed us to do invoicing before we even do payroll, which improves our cash flow.”

GE Capital says that the use of custom solutions is on the rise worldwide among mid-market companies. Software like FileMaker is more available than ever to businesses that don’t have large IT departments or budgets at their disposal.

FileMaker developers can help companies by creating and customizing databases to fit their specific needs. Training is also available for employees, even those without extensive IT knowledge, to learn how to update and manage their own systems.

The ease with which FileMaker can be used and customized is allowing health care workers to develop apps that make their jobs easier both in the United States and in underdeveloped countries. mHealthNews has the story of three such physicians that have used the software to build game-changing databases.

Patrick Singley, a dentist from Columbus, Mississippi, who regularly does work in developing countries, built an electronic health record system to gather data about patients in poor areas where no such records are kept. After coming up with the idea, he spoke to several programmers but ultimately decided to do it himself using FileMaker.

The app is currently being used in Haiti, and next year it will be deployed in a Kenyan orphanage and made available to non-profits. While this is one of the most remarkable cases, it's far from the only one.

"You have a lot of very smart people out there in healthcare whose time is valuable, who are increasingly tech-savvy, and who have specific needs," said FileMaker vice president Ryan Rosenberg. "Clearly, there are a lot of scenarios where mobility is incredibly important."

A doctor at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis designed an app that lets residents chart bedside ultrasounds on their iPhones rather than on paper. And an eye bank in Birmingham, Alabama, has developed a relational database to easily track available organs and patients waiting for a corneal transplant in order to easily find matches.

Users in a wide range of business areas can benefit from implementing FileMaker in their operations. Certified partners can assist with FileMaker development, customization and training to help companies make the most of this software.

FileMaker has joined forces with Network Rail, the operator of most of Great Britain's railroads, to help students at UTC Reading in southern England develop their design and other skills. UTC Reading provides technical education to teenagers as an alternative to a traditional high school, and counts Network Rail among its business partners.

Experts from both companies will be training students to code, design, draw and manage finances over the course of 14 weeks. During that time, the students will be working on designing a theoretical railroad crossing. They will use FileMaker to gather information on maintenance, terrain and traffic flow, among others, which they will then analyze to determine the ideal location for the crossing. They will create a model with a 3D printer and the best projects will be presented to Network Rail.

Network Rail's manager of education programs and the school's principal highlighted the value of projects such as this one to develop the STEM fields in the United Kingdom. With high-level technical education at young ages, they can ensure that their nation remains an engineering leader on the global stage.

"We're seeing students from the ages of 14 to 18 taking on and providing the solutions to everyday problems we face in our business, managing projects and teams of people of varying age and ability," said Filemaker's Northern Europe director, Tony Speakman. "The skills we are working with them on, such as report writing, are things that they won't learn from an undergraduate course."

FileMaker consultants can provide direction to businesses that wish to take advantage of the many possibilities this software provides, training employees to gather data and customize and update their databases to fit their companies' needs.