Advances in the Healthcare Space

The booming business of telemedicine is having a moment right now.  Due to legislation and COVID-19 prohibiting some visits, there has been an enhanced need for deep diagnostics for patients by remote specialists.  Note that telehealth and telemedicine are a bit different: telemedicine is a remote clinical option including a full screening and diagnostic, which includes equipment, whereas telehealth is more broad and non-clinical.

Additionally, there is a new frontier in the world of modern medicine.  Genetic testing is gaining traction, particularly useful in terms of genetic testing against severe COVID-19.  What is significant about this innovation is that it is an at-home test against 16 different comorbidities and results can be received in a matter of days.  This innovation would give the world the opportunity to assess severe COVID-19 risk and distribute based on health needs, rather than the current environment which seems more like a measure of rich versus poor.

Diversity and Equality in the Workplace

2020 showed a marked interest in fairness in the workplace, with some gains in diversity and equality.  One area that there are still challenges is in supply chain diversity.  Why?  Many large companies do not have access to a consortium of diversity businesses.  Similarly, small diversity businesses may lack the connections and networks to get in front of major corporate contracts.

Speaking of inequality, let’s look at the business of women’s sports. Incredibly, there is more of a pay gap between men and women in sports than in most typical office positions.  Take the case of the WNBA.  Tthe New York Liberty as a team made $1.3 million for the season, which is barely more than the NBA league minimum of $925,000.  Compare this to men’s basketball on a team such as the New York Knicks.  The Knicks roster made a total of over $109 million for the season.  Something’s got to change.

Seeking New Investment Frontiers

There’s no question that the powers of different regions of the world have been shifting.  What once was a given – areas such as venture capital equated to the Silicon Valley scene – is no longer a foregone conclusion.  It’s time to set our sights for new opportunities, such as investing in Africa.  Back in 2019, five of the fastest-growing economies on earth were in Africa, and these countries were expanding at more than double the worldwide average.

Commercial real estate is also an open opportunity for technological disruption.  It might surprise you to learn that the underlying technology commercial real estate lending code is based in COBOL – including almost half of systems at 43% of banks as of 2019.  This is a programming language that predates the internet and makes it less likely for buying and selling to be as agile as needed in the modern commercial real estate investing world.  Clearly, it is time to modernize real estate lending.

Bringing it All Together

Whether you’re just a student starting out or retraining yourself into a new career, there are plenty of opportunities for you to give yourself a college education online for free.  Whatever career path you choose or have been in, it’s time to look at the innovations around us regardless of industry.  Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and explore new opportunities as we hopefully are getting a handle of the global pandemic.