Workplace by Facebook: the new private social network for businesses

24

October

2016

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Workplace is the latest solution developed by Facebook for businesses. It looks very familiar because of its strong similitudes with Facebook’s interface. Given that Facebook has more than 1.5B of users, it gives Workplace a serious advantage over its main competitors, as Slack or Trello.

The main objective of this new platform is to facilitate collaborative work, to connect people in the company and to accelerate communication. Each organization has its own network internally. Workplace is an ad-free space, which is expected to be used mainly on mobiles and tablets.

As previously mentioned, the user interface is really similar to Facebook: profile, personalised News Feed, group discussion, instant messaging (Work Chat), voice and video calling. The only difference is that we do not become “friends” with people but instead we follow their news. During the beta testing phase, Facebook has observed and reports that this resemblance greatly favors the adoption of the solution by employees.

Workplace enables users to create groups to collaboratively work on projects. These groups are similar to the ones found on Facebook but people are not grouped together by interest but by professional projects. Groups can be used internally, but it is also possible to create “cross-enterprise” groups.

workplace

To reassure users and to respect their privacy, Workplace emphasizes that Facebook’s personal accounts and Workpalce’s accounts are totally distinct. Moreover, the data that are shared on Workplace remain the company’s property and do not belong to Facebook.

In terms of pricing, Workplace costs $3 per user for companies with less than 1,000 monthly active users, $2 for companies with between 1,001 and 10,000 active users and 1$ thereafter. Workplace’s main competitor is Slack, which offers a free version and a premium version at 7$ per month per user.

The first results are really promising and all the companies that used the solution during the beta version phase are really happy with it and state that they will recommend it.

What do you think about this new solution? Have you ever used any collaborative workspace?

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iPad scanning and 3D printing to mend broken bones

22

October

2016

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Even if 3D printing has been around for many years, it only became popular a few years ago with breakthroughs in the technology and decreasing 3D printing costs.

We have seen all sorts of 3D-printed items and some of them made us question the usefulness of the technology, but a sure thing is that 3D printing is not only a recreative tool anymore and that it is changing the game in the health industry. Spectacularly innovations have entered the market such as a 3D-printed skin for burn victims or 3D implants for babies affected by tracheobronchomalacia.

Xkelet, a Spanish start-up, also wants to leave its footprint in the industry and has recently been rewarded for its customized 3D-printed orthosis that speeds up the healing of 80% of the most common bone injuries.

interview_xkelet

A scanning app available on iPad analyzes the affected limb and models the perfect splint adapted to the morphology and the exact injury of the patient. Further customization (color, material, etc.) is also available via the app.

Xkelet orthosis is lightweight, flexible and optimizes hygiene and comfort. First results are promising and patients declared that they were able to conserve a normal routine (wear normal clothes, take shower with the splint) and that Xkelet helped to prevent muscle loss.

The product has just received certification from the EU and approval from the European Medicines Agency. Xkelet is expected to go to market early 2017.

One downside of the product is the relatively long time to get the customized orthosis. It takes approximately 8 hours for the printing but the patient should wait up to 4 days to have the cast. If the injury is serious, the patient should get an immediate treatment and he will not be able to wait 4 days but the CEO is confident and does not think that this time will be an issue “”We have to remember that with broken bones, the doctor has to reset the injury before definitively immobilising it, and that means going back to the surgery after between three and eight days”.

What do you think about Xkelet? Do you think it will manage to revolutionize the medical healing process?

 

Sources : https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601931/you-can-get-a-3-d-printed-cast-for-a-broken-bone/

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