Ways to Improve Creativity at Workplace

True essence of creativity in work comes from your own perception of every employee. Every worker or employee has a unique perception of the world and the way things work. It is not about mechanism and clock-work but the reason. When every worker is allowed to work on his own terms and in his own way, you will find creativity and innovation in everyone’s assignments.

It was Bill Gates who said that his best employees were the laziest ones because they always found the easiest way to get the job done. Clearly, he was amazed by how individual behavior could beget about such efficiency, hence we learn from him that creativity in the workplace allows improvements. As a manager, you must not just talk about being creative; you must encourage your workers to be creative. If an organization doesn’t allow room for this in its culture, then it is likely to lose a competitive edge.

Creativity also gives free profits. You require no investment except support to employee and in return they are motivated and willing to offer you their best. So how does one improve creativity in the workplace?

Create A System

Include creativity and self perception into the organization’s culture. If creativity in work and assignments is what you want then there is no better way than to keep it as a core value in your company. Managers allowing employees to give feedback and inputs on company goals really help them understand the work better. Sales reps can develop much better ways to intrigue the customers since they’re the ones dealing with them on a daily basis. What better source is there then?

Education has nothing to do with creativity. It is simply a person’s different approach to the same point of view. All managers have to do is allow their workers to give their input for the assignment, these inputs could help managers point out problems they never even saw coming and the employee that saw it coming probably have a better way dealing with it than others. If all companies approached the problem in the same way, then who has the competitive edge?

Allow Space For Freedom

Instead of giving assignments with restricted guidelines and instructions, inform the employee of the ultimate goal for the assignment and ask them to do whatever it takes to get the job done. You can always supervise the worker to assure they are not going out of line or breaking any rules which hence gives you the authority. You just need to trust the employees that they will deliver. This way the employees feel motivated and recognize that they have authority and power on the work they do.

Encourage Team Work

Sometimes the most productive and creative work comes from team assignments. Most companies in the information technology industry only operate in teams. HP assigns the creation and development of each product to teams from different departments and the team is responsible for the success of the product. The result: every employee from his respective specialized field works with other specialties and brings in valuable and unique knowledge on the floor. The success depends on how well all employees work together and the floor simply brings in new and fresh ideas and perspectives from every angle.

In short, as a manager only you can bring in creativity in the work environment and foster it. The more authoritative you are, the lesser room there is for creativity because only freedom allows creative ideas to surface. Not all ideas are creative or even effective but that is the job of the manager to use his years of experience to properly polish the idea of the employee and eventually train the employee to see the bigger picture.

India is No.2 in education-related search

Over 60 per cent of Indian students who have access to the Internet use Google as their first source of research information related to educational courses and institutes, placing India at Rank 2 globally for education-related search queries.

The results were revealed through a survey titled “Students on the Web,” which was compiled by Google India. A Google release said, “With over half of the Indian Internet population in the age bracket of 18-35, India has raced to the number two spot globally when it comes to absolute volume of search queries related to education on Google Search.”

According to the survey, vocational courses were the most searched accounting for 44 per cent, followed by engineering with 40 per cent and postgraduate courses — mainly MBA courses — at 16 per cent. Over 40 per cent of the education-related searches were directed towards higher education courses and institutes.

Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director, Google India, said: “With over 60 million Internet-user population in India being in the 18-35 age group, education-related search queries are exploding on Google.” He said that the main objective of compiling the data was to understand the role that the Internet was having on decision-making by students. With the popularity of mobile phones increasing, it is not surprising that the mobile searches have increased by 135 per cent year after year.

An offline research was also conducted by TNS Australia to quiz students on the criteria they use for researching and selecting courses. Close to 56 per cent of the students said placements were the most important criterion. Faculty, course content, reputation of the institute and fees were the other important factors.

During the survey, students expressed their desire to have more mobile-friendly websites, and close to 46 per cent of the students said they would prefer watching videos which would help them make their decision.

Most students prefer watching videos about the career options, placements, videos of faculty and videos of classroom sessions which would aid them in their decision-making process.

Most of the report was complied after combining the search internal tool results and an offline research.

The majority of the respondents were in the 18 - 24 age group, and 24 per cent of the respondents were between the age group of 25 and 29 years. Only nine per cent of the students were in the 30 - 35 age group. The study was done seven cities: New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The most searched institutes in India during January - June 2012 were IIM Ahmedabad, followed by IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore, IIM Calcutta and IIM Kozhikode.

Stick-On Electronic Tattoos

A flexible electronic device stuck on the skin could provide irritation-free monitoring of heart, brain, and muscle activity.

Researchers have made stretchable, ultrathin electronics that cling to skin like a temporary tattoo and can measure electrical activity from the body. These electronic tattoos could allow doctors to diagnose and monitor conditions like heart arrhythmia or sleep disorders noninvasively.

John A. Rogers, a professor of materials science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has developed a prototype that can replicate the monitoring abilities of bulky electrocardiograms and other medical devices that are normally restricted to a clinical or laboratory setting. This work was presented today in Science.

To achieve flexible, stretchable electronics, Rogers employed a principle he had already used to achieve flexibility in substrates. He made the components—all composed of traditional, high-performance materials like silicon—not only incredibly thin, but also "structured into a serpentine shape" that allows them to deform without breaking. The result, says Rogers, is that "the whole system takes on this kind of spiderweb layout."

In the past, says Rogers, he was able to create devices that were either flexible but not stretchable, or stretchable but not flexible. In particular, his previous work was limited by the fact that the electronics portions of his designs couldn't flex and stretch as much as the substrate they were mounted on.

The electronic tattoo achieves the mechanical properties of skin, which can stand up to twisting, poking, and pulling without breaking. Rogers's tattoo can also conform to the topography of the skin as well as stretch and shift with it. It can be worn for extended periods without producing the irritation that often results from adhesive tapes and rigid electronics. Although Rogers's preliminary tests involved a custom-made substrate, he also demonstrated that the electronics could be mounted onto a commercially available temporary tattoo.

The prototype was equipped with electrodes to measure electric signals produced by muscle and brain activity. This could be useful for noninvasive diagnosis of sleep apnea or monitoring of premature babies' heart activity. It also might be possible, Rogers says, to use the tattoos to stimulate the muscles of physical rehabilitation patients, although this use wasn't demonstrated in the paper.

To demonstrate the device's potential as a human-computer interface, Rogers mounted one of the tattoos on a person's throat and used measurements of the electrical activity in the throat muscles to control a computer game. The signal from the device contained enough information for software to distinguish among the spoken words "left," "right," "up," and "down" to control a cursor on the screen.

The device included sensors for temperature, strain, and electric signals from the body. It also housed LEDs to provide visual feedback; photodetectors to measure light exposure; and tiny radio transmitters and receivers. The device is small enough that it requires only minuscule amounts of power, which it can harvest via tiny solar cells and via a wireless coil that receives energy from a nearby transmitter. Rogers hopes to build in some sort of energy-storage ability, like a tiny battery, in the near future. The researchers are also working on making the device wireless.

Ultimately, Rogers says, "we want to have a much more intimate integration" with the body, beyond simply mounting something very closely to the skin. He hopes that his devices will eventually be able to use chemical information from the skin in addition to electrical information.

Over 30,000 Medical Billing and Coding Students Trained on CollaborateMD Cloud Educational Medical Billing Software

Thousands of Medical Billing and Coding Students Trained Annually With Custom Tailored Version of CollaborateMD Cloud Medical Billing Software.

CollaborateMD (CMD), a leading provider of easy and affordable Cloud Medical Billing Software and Practice Management Software has been helping medical billing and coding students across the nation with training since 2006. Over the past 5 years, 30,000 medical coding students have been effectively trained on ClaimGear, the popular educational version of CMD’s medical billing software.

In 2005, Corinthian Colleges, Inc (CCi) ended their searching for a medical billing and coding product that would allow their students to be trained on updated, current and “real-life” software. CCi chose CMD knowing they could deliver the perfect fit for their curriculum; students would be utilizing the exact same software as their commercial customers and because it was cloud-based, the students’ software would always be up to date with the latest healthcare technology and information.

The use of ClaimGear started in 2006 at CCi campuses across the nation in the Medical Insurance Billing and Coding (MIBC) programs. CMD easily customized their commercial medical billing software to allow students to perform billing exercises mimicking real-world scenarios like their commercial counterparts. Students would enter patients, claims, appointments, insurance and patient payments, and run reports. A big plus for students was the fact they no longer had to backup or restore their work for each class. Since ClaimGear is cloud-based, each student has their own account and student can pick up right where they left off each class and use it at home.

To enhance training effectiveness, CMD created an Instructor and Student Web Portal. The Instructor Portal allows for full management of the curriculum, courses, assignments and best of all, instant scoring of the students work with the click of a button. In addition, the portal allows the instructor to monitor the work and progress of each student to ensure their success during and at the end of the course. The Student Portal allows students to manage and grade their own work. If students aren’t happy with their score, they can go back into ClaimGear, fix their errors, and re-score their work to improve their knowledge and understanding of medical billing and coding. Students who complete the course work with a score of 100% are acknowledging by receiving a certificate of achievement personally signed by the CollaborateMD CEO, Mr. 

Douglas Kegler. Instructors that successfully complete all of the required ClaimGear training are also properly recognized by receiving a signed certificate of achievement from Mr. Douglas Kegler. The certificate of achievement is important because it lets industry know the person owning the certificate is qualified in the use of CMD’s Cloud Medical Billing and Coding Software.

Douglas Kegler, CEO of CollaborateMD, stated, “We believe our educational ClaimGear medical billing software product and portals provides the instructors and students with the appropriate tools to improve the efficiency of training, provide on-time student feedback, and most importantly, helps prepare these students for a successful transition from academia to the real world of gainful employment.”

About CollaborateMD

Since 1999, CollaborateMD's innovative cloud healthcare software solution has contributed to the financial success of medical practices and medical billing services across the country.

CollaborateMD's 100% Java solution, with its simplicity, ANSI 5010 compliance, affordable monthly fees, and 99% First Pass Claim Acceptance rate allows thousands of medical providers to see a true return on investment. CollaborateMD customers enjoy fast implementation, exceptional and unlimited support and most importantly, increased office efficiency and reduced account receivables. For more information, visit http://www.CollaborateMD.com or call 888.348.8457

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/8/prweb9823583.htm

Smart Sutures That Detect Infections

Courtesy - Technology Review

Plastic or silk threads covered with temperature sensors and micro-heaters could keep tabs on infections and provide therapy

Stitches that sense: New smart sutures use ultrathin silicon sensors to measure temperature at a wound site. 

Surgical sutures are mindless threads no more. Researchers have now coated them with sensors that could monitor wounds and speed up healing.

The electronic sutures, which contain ultrathin silicon sensors integrated on polymer or silk strips, can be threaded through needles, and in animal tests researchers were able to lace them through skin, pull them tight, and knot them without degrading the devices.

The sutures can precisely measure temperature—elevated temperatures indicate infection—and deliver heat to a wound site, which is known to aid healing. And John Rogers, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and inventor of the smart sutures, imagines that they could also be laden with devices that provide electrical stimulation to heal wounds. "Ultimately, the most value would be when you can release drugs from them in a programmed way," he says. The researchers could do that by coating the electronic threads with drug-infused polymers, which would release the chemicals when triggered by heat or an electrical pulse.

The smart sutures, reported online in the journal Small, rely on silicon-based devices that flex and stretch. Rogers and his colleagues make the devices with silicon membranes and gold electrodes and wires that are just a few hundred nanometers thick and patterned in a serpentine shape. The technology, which they have also used in inflatable catheters and medical tattoos (see "Stick-On Electronic Tattoos"), is being commercialized by MC10, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based startup Rogers cofounded (see "Making Stretchable Electronics").

The researchers first use chemicals to slice off an ultrathin film of silicon from a silicon wafer. With a rubber stamp, they lift off and transfer the nanomembranes to polymer or silk strips. Then they deposit metal electrodes and wires on top and encapsulate the entire device in an epoxy coating.

They have built two types of temperature sensors on the sutures. One is a silicon diode that shifts its current output with temperature; the other, a platinum nanomembrane resistor, changes its resistance with temperature. The micro-heaters, meanwhile, are simply gold filaments that heat up when current passes through them.

All the materials used in the devices are safe for use in the body, and the biggest challenge was to make the sutures flexible, Rogers says. Silicon is brittle, so making the nanomembranes as thin as possible and laying them out in a winding pattern was key for elasticity. Placing the silicon halfway between the top epoxy and bottom polymer surfaces of the suture is also crucial. "When you bend the entire construct, the top surface is in tension and the bottom is in compression, but at midpoint the strains are very small," he says.

The researchers have tested the sutures' mechanical flexibility and toughness on incisions in rat skin, but they haven't tested the temperature sensing and heating capabilities in animals yet. They are also working on making the devices wireless.

Township training with Ekasi Entrepreneurship Academy

Cindy Krawe, TSiBA's Community Training Courses Co-ordinator, has recently launched a joint venture project with Silulo Ulutho Technologies to create a training academy in Khayelitsha. Ekasi Entrepreneurship Academy aims to empower township entrepreneurs by giving them the necessary skills and training to grow their businesses.

Ekasi Entrepreneurship Academy opened for business on 23 July with its first intake of nine entrepreneurs. Ekasi means "township" in Xhosa and the name was chosen with a long term dream of opening many of these academies in townships all over Cape Town. The courses are aimed at entrepreneurs with start-up businesses or individuals who have an idea for a business that they want to start. The first course is 12 weeks long and covers topics such as Business Essentials, Business Plan Writing and Mentorship. The course costs R2000 and classes run every week day morning from 08h00 - 10h00 until 12 October at Silulo's Head Office at Khaya Bazaar. The course facilitator, Cindy Krawe, teaches the training material. Cindy has been involved in community training since she graduated from The Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) with her BBA degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership in 2010.

Cindy noticed the overwhelming number of unemployed people in her community and decided to do something about it. She explains, "From the research I conducted, some of the reasons for the high numbers of employment were due to the fact that people didn't have job finding skills, they did not know how to use a computer or type out a CV and if they were lucky enough to secure an interview, they didn't know how to adequately prepare for it to make a good impression." Cindy and TSiBA entered into a joint venture to start the TSiBA Community Training Programme which forms part of the Ignition Centre. Founded in 2007, the TSiBA Ignition Centre is a hub dedicated to extending TSiBA's mission of "Igniting Opportunity" to reach beyond their students and into the communities they come from. The centre offers support to community members and aspiring entrepreneurs through specific training courses, mentorship programmes, networking opportunities, access to business networks, office infrastructure and business instruments. 

To date, the Ignition Centre has helped over 200 entrepreneurs and one of the major success stories is Luvuyo Rani of Silulo Ulutho Technologies. Luvuyo is a former teacher and started his computer sales business from the boot of his Corsa Lite. He first came to TSiBA to seek help with managing growth, finance and compliance. Silulo Uluthu now has more than 18 internet cafés and computer training centres in Cape Town and has recently opened its first internet café in Queenstown, Eastern Cape. Silulo Ulutho was the perfect choice as a joint venture partner because they are committed to empowering individuals with knowledge to create more successful township entrepreneurs.

To book a place on the next course in October, you can contact Nomthandazo Mlungwana at Silulo Ulutho Technologies on 021 361 3212 or email Nomthandazo Mlungwana thandiez@gmail.com. 

Technology fair showcases 'opportunities for the future'

Imagine if you could control the television, lights, locks, thermostats and security systems in your home with one remote-control device.

You can, according to Wired Technologies, which had such a device on display Friday at the 2012 Tri-State Technology Fair at Hagerstown Community College’s Elliott Center.

Wired Technologies, a company that provides home audio/visual installation services, was one of more than 30 vendors displaying their wares at the fair.

The company’s Control4 provides a controller that allows users to control virtually any device in a home or business automatically. The controller can be a remote or even a smartphone or iPad.

“It’s like smart-home technology,” Wired Technologies co-owner Kenny Castro said. “You can control one light or the whole house.”

Users can control devices when they are away from their homes with certain programs.

“I can dial into my house and see the state of my system,” Castro said. “It will work as long as you have an Internet connection.”

Various forms of technology, including cybersecurity, medical technology, biotechnology, and home audio/video/automation technology, were on display at the fair, which was sponsored by Herald-Mail Media and HCC.

“There is a need to showcase emerging technology starting to impact our area,” said Theresa Shank, dean of continuing education and business services at HCC. “It’s the things you hear about, but don’t have a concrete idea how it affects you.”

Students from Washington County Technical High School were on hand to raise awareness of the threat of cybersecurity. To display how dangerous it can be, they set up a sample computer with a sample wireless password and then hacked into it from another computer.

The students are part of the computer repair and networking program at the high school.

“Even if you have a secured Wi-Fi, we can crack into it,” said Brian Tew, 17, of Boonsboro, who is a senior at Washington County Technical High School. “Your wireless router isn’t always going to be safe. You need to use a complex password.”

Other students from the program were at the fair to check out the technology.

“We wanted to see what they have to offer, and we’ve seen a lot of cool things,” said Erik Winger, 16, of Hagerstown. “There’s a lot of different things to show how far we’ve come in technology.”

Sarah Kubala, 16, of Hagerstown, said she went to the fair to look at what’s in store for the future.

“It looks like we’re stepping into the future,” she said. “Everything’s pretty cool. I wanted to look at opportunities for the future.”

Three medical-technology vendors from Frederick Regional Health System were set up along the wall next to each other in Room 211. One displayed a robot that surgeons can use to perform surgery with only minor incisions.

The robot, called the da Vinci Surgical System, is at Frederick Memorial Hospital, and can magnify the inside of the body as well as provide different instruments that the surgeons can control for surgery. It is designed and built by Intuitive Surgical.

“We enable surgeons to take what is traditionally open surgery and offer their patients a minimally invasive approach,” said Jonathan Young, intuitive surgical clinical sales manager for Greater Washington, D.C., in Maryland. “The surgeon’s hands are translated into the tips of 8-millimeter instruments.”

The surgeon performs the surgery from a “cockpit,” looking through a lens, and attendees were able to use the instruments on display. More than 2,000 of the robots have been sent to more than 1,000 hospitals, Young said.

He said the robot was put on display at the fair to inform people that it can be an option.

“If patients understand the benefits of robotic surgery, they start asking for it,” Young said. “The biggest epidemic is patients not understanding their options when facing surgery.”

Josh Rosenberry, 24, of Needmore, Pa., said the robot was one of his favorite displays.

“It’s neat how they can do surgery without ever really touching you,” he said. “I’m here looking to get into the school’s alternative-energy program, and I’ve always been interested in technology.”

Register Now! Switching Innovations: Supporting the Need for Speed in your DataCenter

Register Now Live Chat on 28th August, 2012 10:30 a.m – 11:30 a.m IST Featuring Cisco TechWiseTV hosts: Robb Boyd and Jimmy Ray Purser Connect with Us: Follow CIN India Follow CIN India The confluence of technology trends including cloud computing, video, virtualization, workforce mobility, and the need for supporting ever-increasing data needs is driving significant change in IT. Is your network really ready to meet these new challenges? That's where the TechWiseTV team comes in…bringing you the world of switching on the "technology autobahn." That's right, this show is all about speed and switching innovations to support your intelligent infrastructures. See how to reap the benefits of lightning-fast 100Gb speed, enjoy better resource utilization and security, and gain greater operational simplicity and efficiency. Check it out now! See how to reap the benefits of lightning-fast 100Gb speed, enjoy better resource utilization and security, and gain greater operational simplicity and efficiency in this TechWiseTV episode. This TechWiseTV session will explore: • Executive Interview with Berna Devrim • Nexus 7K 40GE and 100GE M2-Series Modules • 40 GE 6900 Series Interface Module for 6500 • Fundamentals of Cisco Easy Virtual Network • Easy Virtual Networks Bring your questions and your notepad and be prepared to be engaged! Live Chat with Cisco Experts during the broadcast.    HURRY ! REFER A COLLEAGUE TO WIN EXCITING PRIZES ! Sincerely, CIN Team

AWS Summit 2012 - Meet Amazon CTO and Listen to the 7 Transformations of Cloud Computing

AWS Summit 2012 | India Share it! Keynote and Featured Speakers from AWS Dr. Werner Vogels Chief Technology Officer Miles Ward Solutions Architect Robert Barnes Director, Benchmarking Swami Sivasubramanian General Manager, Amazon DynamoDB Sundar Raghavan General Manager, Amazon RDS Mumbai - September 25 | Chennai - September 28 | Bangalore - October 4 The AWS Cloud is evolving quickly with new services, features, and tools. To help you stay informed on the latest innovations, join us at an AWS Summit in a city near you. The AWS Summits are a global series of one-day events designed to bring AWS customers and those interested in Cloud Computing together to meet and share ideas. Attend this event and you will learn about the latest technology trends and some of the most interesting AWS Cloud use cases and workloads. You can choose between sessions to help you get started or dive deeper into specific solutions. You will also have an opportunity to meet with AWS experts and get your technical and business questions answered. 10 Reasons to Attend Hear the opening keynote by Amazon.com CTO, Dr. Werner Vogels, on the future of the AWS Cloud and learn about the 7 major transformations of cloud computing. Ask questions directly to our customer panel (Apalya, Druva, Eros, InMobi, MPS and Zedo) about how they leverage AWS in their own line of business applications. Learn about The Total Cost of (Non) Ownership in the Cloud and cost savings using AWS. Discover the latest services and features in the AWS Cloud and learn how to put them to use in your business applications. Deep dive into common solutions and workloads in the AWS Cloud: Enterprise Applications, Content Delivery, Disaster Recovery, Big Data, and more. Gain understanding of AWS best practices for developing, architecting, and securing applications in the Cloud. Hear how AWS customers have successfully built and migrated their applications to the AWS Cloud. Learn from first-hand experiences about AWS empowering Agile development for both startups and greenfield projects. Explore best practices for running Microsoft applications on AWS securely and effectively. Meet AWS partners who offer consulting and technology solutions to help get you started in the Cloud. Who should attend Business and Technical Decision Makers. Technical Users: Developers and Engineers, System Administrators, and Architects. Startups who follow the Lean Startup mantra and want to get to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) fast. Enterprises who are keen to learn more about Cloud Computing and how the AWS Cloud can help them build sophisticated, scalable applications to grow their business. Event Agenda For details of the event and agenda please click here. Seats are limited, so sign up for your free pass today! We look forward to meeting you. Best Regards, The AWS Marketing Team EVENT DETAILS AWS Summit | Mumbai Date & Time: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 8:30 am - 5:10 pm Location: Grand Hyatt, Off Western Express Highway, Santacruz (East), Mumbai, India. EVENT DETAILS AWS Summit | Chennai Date & Time: Friday, September 28, 2012 8:30 am - 5:10 pm Location: Hyatt Regency, Anna Salai, Mt Rd, Triplicane  Chennai, India. EVENT DETAILS AWS Summit | Bangalore Date & Time: Thursday, October 4, 2012 8:30 am - 5:10 pm Location: The Lalit Ashok, Kumara Krupa High Grounds, Bangalore, India QUESTIONS? If you have any questions, please email us at: Mumbai awssummit.mumbai@neoniche.net Chennai awssummit.chennai@neoniche.net Bangalore awssummit.bangalore@neoniche.net For any further details please contact Ms. Taiba Shaikh at 022-23485500. Customer Panel Event Partners Diamond Silver Bronze