Answering ethical questions posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The fourth industrial revolution is upon us. Also known as "Industry 4.0" or "4IR," it takes the technological advances of the third industrial revolution and connects them into systems that can often operate and adapt without human input. New technologies can create exciting possibilities for positive social impact on diverse issues such as income inequality and the environment.

Yet, at the same time, they often raise new, sometimes difficult, ethical questions. In fact, the irony is this: As we develop technologies that adapt without human input, we are discovering we need human input to address what constitutes the ethical use of these technologies.

As mentioned in a Deloitte article, most leaders want their organizations to create social impact. In today's competitive business environment, social impact initiatives have the ability to separate one company from its competitors in the eyes of consumers. The logic that a company "does well by doing good" has taken hold. And 4IR technologies promise to support companies' efforts to reduce carbon emissions, support diversity initiatives, and other social impact goals.

Yet some leaders are also recognizing that 4IR technologies raise ethical questions in areas such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and potentially a lack of inclusivity in technology design.

According to Deloitte Global CEO Punit Renjen's report, "Success Personified in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," which is based on a Forbes Insights survey, C-suite executives have varying levels of concern about using technology ethically. From June-August 2018, Forbes Insights surveyed 2,042 executives (with company revenue of $1 billion or more) and public sector leaders (with organization budgets of $500 million or more) from 19 countries and all major industry sectors.

As shown in Figure 2 below, only 15 percent of the 194 CEOs/presidents surveyed are strongly concerned about ethical technology use. Surprisingly, chief information officers and chief technology officers are also at the lower end of the spectrum, at 16 percent and 17 percent, respectively. On the other hand, 41 percent of chief operating officers, 41 percent of chief digital officers, and 50 percent of chief sustainability officers are strongly concerned about ethical technology use.

This disparity in levels of concern about ethical technology use at the top of the organization often results in lack of clarity throughout the rest of the organization. Deloitte offers three recommendations to address this:

1. C-Suite adoption: The CEO must prioritize ethical technology use and encourage the rest of the C-suite to do so too.
2. Culture change: The C-suite must set, model, and communicate ethical use of technology and encourage buy-in from employees by allowing them to share ideas about ethical technology use.
3. Adapt: As technology continues to change, companies must continue to define how to use it ethically.

Ethics are important in and of themselves. However, there may also be business benefits for prioritizing ethical use of technology.

As shown in Figure 1 below, Deloitte's analysis of the Success Personified report found a correlation between high concern for ethical use of 4IR technologies and business growth. Of the 536 respondents whose organizations had 0 percent growth, only 17 percent of them strongly agreed that their organization is highly concerned with ethically using 4IR technologies.

On the other hand, of the 148 respondents whose organizations had 10 percent or more growth, 55 percent of them strongly agreed that their organization is highly concerned with ethically using 4IR technologies.

As more companies aim to make a social impact, C-suite leaders should consider the ethics of 4IR technology implementation to grow as a business and stand out among competitors.

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This publication contains general information only and Deloitte is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. Deloitte shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this publication.

About Deloitte
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Cross-functional teams help aid innovation. Photo by Hinterhaus Productions/Getty

Deloitte lays out the benefits of digital innovation

Some workers fear technology, wondering "will a robot eventually replace my job?" Yet, Deloitte Insights and MIT Sloan Management Review found in a recent study that the more a company uses digital technology, the more likely it is to be innovative, which can benefit individuals, teams, organizations, and groups of organizations.

Deloitte and MIT collaborated for the fifth time to conduct a global study about digital innovation. They surveyed more than 4,800 businesspeople and interviewed 14 subject matter experts. The results were published in a June 2019 report titled "Accelerating Digital Innovation Inside and Out."

Deloitte and MIT shared two main findings from the survey:

Digitally maturing companies innovate at higher rates — both internally and externally — than companies with early or developing digital maturity.
Companies should know their ethics so that they can innovate wisely.

Internal innovation
Most digitally maturing companies innovate internally in two ways. First, they typically allow individuals to innovate within their jobs. The more digitally mature a company is, the more likely an employee was to say that more than 10 percent of their work involves the opportunity to experiment and innovate. The opposite was also true. Employees of less digitally mature companies were more likely to say that less than 10 percent of their work involves the opportunity to experiment and innovate.

In addition to encouraging individuals to innovate, most digitally maturing companies urge groups to innovate by establishing cross-functional teams. These teams are generally comprised of individuals from across multiple departments and roles and often exist to accomplish a specific task. Deloitte and MIT found that 83 percent of digitally maturing companies surveyed use cross-functional teams. This is far higher than respondents of either developing or early-stage companies' cross-functional team use — 71 percent and 55 percent, respectively.

External innovation
In addition to having employees innovate internally (both individually and in groups), digitally maturing companies often innovate externally by collaborating with others (e.g., their customers, their competitors, government institutions, and more) in their ecosystem. Ecosystems, which are formal or informal networks of organizations working toward a common goal, typically feed innovation in two ways. First, they integrate platform companies, meaning that companies that provide services to other companies — such as Amazon and PayPal — are both a part of the ecosystem and also strengthen it by being part of it.

Second, digitally maturing companies allow all organizations within the network to get better feedback. A company is not just getting feedback from their own customers, but from all customers within the ecosystem.

Ethics and innovation
In order to get the most benefit from their internal and external collaborations, companies should use "loose coupling," a term first coined by organizational theorist Karl Wieck. This means that individuals are linked to teams, teams to the organization, and the organization to fellow members of its ecosystem — but not too tightly. This model allows people the freedom to have both some autonomy and also some oversight as they innovate. If people are micromanaged, they are not able to innovate as well.

Because innovation requires loosening the reins somewhat, companies should have strong ethics systems in place. Otherwise, innovation can get out of hand, and a company risks having employees develop goods or services which aren't in line with organizational values.

Survey conclusion
Over half (56 percent) of survey respondents said they think their organization will exist and be in a much stronger position in 10-20 years due to the organization's use of digital capabilities. A similar percentage (44 percent) of survey respondents said that in 10-20 years, they think that their organization will have been bought out or gone out of business. Companies can act based on market and competitive forces but cannot control them. Companies can, however, decide how much of a priority digital innovation will be.

If they decide it is a priority, how can companies become more innovative? Companies should consider several tips:

Work with other organizations within your ecosystem.
Prioritize cross-functional teams.
Use loose coupling which allows room for trial and error.
Establish and continually update your ethics guidelines.

Innovation in Houston
The Houston innovation scene is thriving, and local organizations know that they are stronger together than apart. Houston Exponential is a "nonprofit organization created to accelerate the growth of Houston's innovation ecosystem" which hopes to "turn Houston into a hub for high-growth high-potential companies by creating pathways for innovation to flow at scale." Houston Exponential has stakeholders from companies, non-profits, government entities, and academic institutions.

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Digital is becoming the way to go. Photo by Towfiqu Photography, Getty Images

Experts discuss the digital transformation of the oil and gas industry

With the disruptive challenges the energy industry faces on a daily basis, the need for digitization has never been more apparent. In "Bits, Bytes, and Barrels: The Digital Transformation of Oil and Gas," authors Geoffrey Cann, retired partner at Deloitte Canada, and Rachael Goydan, Deloitte Consulting LLP managing director, analyze the current landscape for digital technologies in the energy business.

In this Q&A, we will get an exclusive peek into some of the key themes that Cann and Goydan discuss throughout their book, touching on the barriers to digitization and all that it can offer to the energy industry.

Amy Chronis, Houston managing partner, Deloitte LLP: What exactly is digital, and is the definition changing over time?

Rachael Goydan: Simply put, digital is comprised of three elements: data, analytics, and connectivity. It could be anything from a smartphone, computer, or car to a refrigerator or doorbell. Digital objects have the ability to generate data and do analytics and computations. They also have to be connected with other devices to be considered a digital object.

We have been seeing exponential growth over the last 5-10 years in terms of what digital is capable of, and what that means to the energy industry. Digital is constantly evolving, and its impact may even be different tomorrow. In oil and gas, there are now more ubiquitous forms of unstructured data being used, such as sounds, vibrations, or photographs. It has become relatively inexpensive to have computing power on a device and the accessibility of programming languages has grown.

AC: Digital has disrupted other industries, but is disruption possible in oil and gas?

Geoffrey Cann: There are many digital concepts that can disrupt business in oil and gas. Much like the cloud car and designer fuel, which allows consumers to pick their fuel origin, the use of artificial intelligence to interpret streaming data from cameras could introduce truly robotic eyes on oil and gas assets 24/7. Historically, the oil and gas industry has been change-averse, so the timing and size of the impact is expected to vary by sector.

Our research has found that technology suppliers, service providers, and retailers may be affected the most by digital disruption. Explorers and producers may be affected less, as their business is often already driven by data. The midstream segment has heavy assets running 24/7 that are hard to take offline, and they cannot add new technologies easily. The impact they feel will likely be less than tech companies.

In resource value, digital has already begun to disrupt. For example, some companies are using high-definition photography to take pictures of drilling cuttings, which are then pieced together via cloud using artificial intelligence and machine learning. These drilling cuttings can have one million times better resolution than with seismic.

AC: I've heard you speak about digital in oil and gas in the past, and you frequently say that digital isn't about the technology but about how people work. Could you give some examples here?

RG: Leaving digital to chance doesn't work. Companies may benefit from having information technology professionals bring expertise, cybersecurity, corporate infrastructure and assets, a help desk, virus detection and remediation, and so on. Companies may also benefit from having operational technology people, who have knowledge of the facilities, contributing a solid understanding of the sources of change resistance and how to address them. These groups will work together with the business. Some companies even have a separate digital team that helps them with change management, using a clean sheet of paper approach.

Companies also may need to recognize that there are different ways of working. Agile methods are how digital gets done versus the waterfall method. They are almost opposite ways of doing work with different speeds. Digital requires some companies to change the way they do things. Changes are to happen on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis.

AC: Is it true that digital in oil and gas has as much potential as in other industries?

GC: Companies in upstream oil and gas are now being valued more on cashflow than traditional reserves valuation. At its heart, digital is about efficiency, which is top of mind for a lot of clients as well. To give the best return to investors, oil and gas companies may need to consider focusing on efficiency and productivity rather than focusing on reserves growth.

Oil and gas has the opportunity to tap into a key feature of the digital world: an ecosystem of resources that includes incubators, university labs, accelerators, and startup groups. Our research has shown companies in oil and gas are much less tapped into this new community of digital innovation. Because digital changes so rapidly, the industry may benefit from plugging into the existing ecosystem to take advantage of the skillsets and capabilities that are out there.

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Bitcoin is an example of blockchain. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

How blockchain is emerging as a core building block

Blockchain technology seems to warrant our attention. Once seemingly confined to cryptocurrency, today blockchain is relevant to entities across many industries. It is even enabling some longstanding competitors to collaborate for mutual benefit. With applications that seem endless and enriching, blockchain may require consideration by companies and potential regulatory oversight by governments.

So, what is blockchain? In its simplest form, it's a way of storing and sharing digital information without an intermediary. Once the data is recorded, it can't be changed, and users can access it anonymously. The most well-known use of blockchain is probably bitcoin, a digital currency. However, there are many other uses for blockchain, such as tracking loyalty points and allowing people to pay for purchases using virtual wallets.

For Deloitte's 2019 Global Blockchain Survey, Deloitte's independent research team interviewed 1,386 senior executives from companies that use or may consider using blockchain, and employees from 31 companies that facilitate blockchain use. Fifty-six percent of survey respondents believe that blockchain is no longer a theoretical concept, but a technology that companies should consider using to keep pace with their competitors.

Houston innovating with blockchain
As an InnovationMap article notes, multiple Houston companies are embracing blockchain. Iownit.us has developed a platform for digital private securities, providing an easier ongoing connection between companies and their investors. Data Gumbo is using blockchain to create smart contracts between businesses in the energy industry. Social Chain allows individuals (rather than social networks) to earn money when their personal data is sold to marketers. Another Houston company, Topl, has six platforms to provide supply chain information — e.g., in agriculture, tracking food products from farm to shelves. Houston innovators have formed the Houston Blockchain Alliance, a blockchain networking group that meets regularly to discuss opportunities.

Beyond cryptocurrency
Now that the focus is no longer on if blockchain will work, but how, business leaders are faced with the challenge of incorporating it into their business models. Deloitte's 2019 Global Blockchain Survey states, "executives should no longer ask a single question about blockchain but, rather, a broad set of questions reflecting the role blockchain can play within their organizations." These questions address topics ranging from how blockchain is expected to change industries to what the organizations' "blockchain blind spots" are.

Collaborating with competitors
Blockchain is usually not organized and run by a single entity. For optimal effectiveness when using blockchain, some companies may opt to join a consortium, which as the InnovationMap article states, allows companies to come "together with others in [their] horizontal or vertical ecosystem, in common purpose." Consortia members must agree on their goals, governance, funding, intellectual property ownership, and more. Despite these challenges, 92 percent of survey respondents are either already consortium members or plan to join one within the next year.

Conclusion
The future of blockchain appears bright. This technology is no longer a vision, but a reality — one that companies and countries should consider implementing as technology becomes more and more relevant across industries and around the world.

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Workers think in terms of projects, not long-term employment. 10'000 Hours/Getty Images

Deloitte: Be purposeful in defining your work

Get to Work

Not that long ago, employees had a defined role at a consistent worksite for the same company for many years. The employer-employee relationship seemed stable and well-defined. But times have changed. In a recent Deloitte Insights article, "What is the Future of Work?," Deloitte highlights how "forces of change" — e.g., accelerating connectivity, new talent models, artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing, etc. — are radically redefining the who, what, and where of work.

The workforce of the future has significant implications for everyone. For employees, planning out a 50-year career is almost impossible. For employers, their traditional approach to attract, develop, and retain workers has been shaken. The focus now is accessing and establishing flexible work engagements around specific projects. Deloitte's insights, summarized below, are eye-opening and portend potentially significant societal impact.

What is work?
Deloitte notes that technological advances have long impacted the nature of work in the Western world. The chart below shows the evolution across three eras.

Source: Deloitte Insights

In today's postindustrial era, robots and automated systems are replacing some jobs. Yet workers need not fear: their relational skills and insights can't be replaced by technology — and, in fact, enhance the value offered by technology. For example, online juggernaut Amazon opened a tech hub in Houston in July 2019. As the name implies, the hub will use technology, but it will also create 150 jobs, per a recent InnovationMap article. This is just one example illustrating that work now focuses on the ability to capture value from technology, solve problems, and manage human relationships.

Who is working?
The relationship between employers and employees will likely never be the same. Per Deloitte Insights, "[o]rganizations now have a broad continuum of options for finding workers, from hiring traditional full-time employees to availing themselves of managed services and outsourcing, independent contractors, gig workers, and crowdsourcing." This means companies should be adept at recruiting, engaging, and retaining workers in new types of relationships.

Workers in Houston are wading into the new model. In a study profiled in a recent CultureMap article, "Houston ranked second statewide and 11th in the U.S. among major metro areas for the size of the skilled-freelancer workforce per revenue produced." The relationship between workers and their jobs is shifting from long-term employment to project engagement.

Where are people working?
One thing is clear: workers are spending less face time with work colleagues. More and more work is being accomplished from home or coworking spaces. Many workers appreciate the flexibility of working remotely; companies can benefit from reduced overhead.

Houston is experiencing huge growth in the number of coworking spaces. The Cannon Houston moved into its new 120,000 square foot building in July 2019, and WeWork is planning to open another location, which will be its fourth in Houston and second in downtown Houston. These spaces offer not just desks and offices, but a variety of events and programming designed to foster community.

The new frontier
Deloitte notes that the full impact of these changes may just be starting — and the future of work is not a "foregone conclusion." We can allow technology to merely "drive more efficiency and cost reduction, or we can consider more deeply the ways to harness these trends and increase value and meaning across the board — for businesses, customers, and workers." Deloitte urges organizations to "zoom out and imagine the possibilities" to create positive outcomes for work, the workforce, and the workplace. As Deloitte sums it up: "[p]urpose will bring the future into focus."

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Technology should enhance your quality of life. Art Wager/Getty Images

Deloitte's smart vision for Houston

Ready for an Upgrade

Cities across the country are in a race to get smart. Imagine a city where infrastructure and citizens are all interconnected by new technologies. Information about traffic, parking, energy use, city services, flooding, and much more is shared widely in open technology platforms. The possibilities are exciting: Smart Cities will collect and disseminate data in ways that should enhance quality of life, sustainability, and economic growth.

Indeed, a sea change is underway. In the past, the workings of a city were managed by the few — i.e., city planners and government officials. Looking ahead, new technology platforms are now enabling the many — i.e., corporations, nonprofits, and individuals — to share data in real time and significantly influence the workings of the city. It is a new era: the crowdsourcing of data coupled with ubiquitous access to useful information. Very smart.

What is a Smart City?
Deloitte, a leading voice in the development of Smart Cities, notes an evolution is underway. In a recent article, "Forces of Change: Smart Cities," Deloitte defines a Smart City 1.0 as "physical assets networked via sensor technology that generate streams of valuable data from 'smart' parking meters, streetlights, and even trash receptacles." But that's just the start. A Smart City 2.0 builds on the interconnection of the city's physical infrastructure, and adds people into the equation: residents, government and business employees, and visitors (see Deloitte's framework for Smart Cities below). Per Deloitte's article, "Smart City 2.0 focuses on enhancing the citizen experience by operating at the intersection of the 3Ds: data, digital, and human-centered design." The opportunity: leverage the collective knowledge of entire communities.

Houston getting smart
Houston is laser-focused on capturing this opportunity. Last March, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the launch of the Smart City Advisory Council. Amy Chronis, managing partner of Deloitte's Houston office and the chair of the Greater Houston Partnership's (GHP's) Sustainability Advisory Committee, facilitated a workshop with city leaders. Per a GHP article, "the advisory council is charged with engaging community stakeholders, governments, academia and industry to develop a roadmap that will speed the adoption of technology and data-driven practices in the public realm."

Houston's Smart City initiative divides projects into a portfolio of opportunities: transportation, public safety, resiliency and sustainability, and engagement. The scope spans areas such as traffic, security, community life, and flooding. For example, the expanded Houston Intelligent Transportation System (HITS), a network of digital traffic signs, cameras, and more, will "monitor and manage traffic in real-time, improving public transit speed, information sharing and overall reliability." Flood detection sensors and roadway flood warning systems will gather and transmit flood-related data. With increased information, we should experience far fewer surprises on the road.

To move from a Smart City 1.0 to a Smart City 2.0, Houston is tapping into input from a wide swath of the population. In partnership with Microsoft, Houston is using a program "which scrapes data from the internet and social media to recognize trending topics and how they impact citizens' views toward the city" — just one example of giving a new voice to citizens. Also, a 311 chatbot allows citizens to seek city information or request services, while 311 prediction enables the city to better forecast needs and allocate resources smartly. We are headed toward more empowered citizens and a far more responsive city government.

For Houston, the opportunity is particularly large. With a diverse population and large geographic sprawl, Houston is poised to benefit greatly from increased interconnectedness. The city can get more ideas from diverse sources to solve issues, businesses can make smarter investments, residents will secure more ownership of their communities, and visitors will be more well-equipped to enjoy their experiences here. City leadership has grasped the vision. As Mayor Turner stated in a May 2018 address: "We must leap, not stroll into the future. We must sprint, not jog. It will be this city that will be the Smart City of the world."

Graphic courtesy of Deloitte

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Rice Business Plan Competition doles out $2M to 2025 student teams

big winners

Celebrating its 25th year, the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship hosted the celebrated Rice Business Plan Competition this month, doling out more than $2 million in investment and cash prizes to the top-performing teams.

“For 25 years, the Rice Business Plan Competition has helped shape how Rice Business shows up in the world by creating a platform where student-entrepreneurs can tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time in energy, in health care, in technology and beyond,” Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice Business, the presenting sponsor of the event, said in a news release. “If we’re serious about changing the world — and I believe we are — then it’s our responsibility to open doors for students everywhere to imagine bold solutions and build what comes next.”

Over the course of the three-day event, the 42 startups competing this year from colleges or universities around the world presented their plans before more than 300 angel, venture capital, and corporate investors. The teams were selected from the event’s largest applicant pool to date and represented 34 universities across four countries, according to Rice. Winners were announced at the company showcase and awards ceremony April 12 in downtown Houston.

Seven finalists were selected, though each team left the competition with some form of funding, according to Rice. The University of Michigan's Intero Biosystems was the star of the show, bringing home both the top-place finish and the largest total investment. Rice's own Pattern Materials also had a strong showing, placing fourth in the pitch competition and also earning the fourth-highest investment total.

Here are the teams that won big in 2025. See a full list of winners and prizes here.

Intero Biosystems, University of Michigan - $902,000

The team finished in first place for its GastroScreen, the first stem cell-driven human “mini gut” that is ideal for organ function testing before testing on humans, and also claimed the largest total investments among the competition.

$150,000 Goose Capital Investment Grand Prize
$250,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
$200,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize
$100,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
$100,000 Investment Prize from Nancy Chang
$1,000 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Overall Winner
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
TMC Innovation Healthcare Accelerator Bootcamp Invitation Prize

MabLab, Harvard University – $301,500

The team placed second for its rapid test capable of detecting multiple adulterants in laced drugs and spiked drinks.

$100,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Anderson Family Fund, Jon Finger and Finger Interests
$100,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize
$25,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
$50,000 Valhalla Investment Network Investment Prize
$25,000 The Eagles Investor Investment Prize
$500 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Life Science*
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize

re.solution, RWTH Aachen University — $76,500

The team placed third for its water-based technology that recycles polyesters without generating salt waste, making textile recycling viable.

$50,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Anderson Family Fund, Jon Finger and Finger Interests
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$500 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Energy/Cleantech
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize

Pattern Materials, Rice University – $134,500

The Houston-based team placed fourth for its laser-induced graphene technology that can be rapidly performed, enabling low-cost, scalable production of the material.

$5,000 prize, sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright
$50,000 Valhalla Investment Network Investment Prize
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize
$25,000 Amentum and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize
$500 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Hard Tech
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
$3,000 Venture Builder Innovation Prizes

Xatoms, Western University and University of Toronto — $30,000

The team placed fifth for its AI- and quantum-driven platform for discovering solar-activated semiconductor materials.

$5,000 prize, sponsored by EY
$25,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize

Mito Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University— $5,000

The team placed sixth for its automated manual cell culture with AI-powered robotic scientists for life science research

$5,000 prize, sponsored by Chevron Technology Ventures

FarmSmart.ai, LSU – $106,000

The team placed seventh for its AI—driven assistant that synthesizes vast agricultural research into actionable, tailored intelligence, but earned the fifth-most investments among the group.

$5,000 prize, sponsored by Shell Ventures
$100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
Edward H. Molter Memorial Prizes for Wildcard Round - 1st place - Advance to Finals

Other significant awards

GreenLIB Materials, University of Ottawa – $152,000

$150,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
$2,000 Venture Builder Innovation Prizes

Microvitality, Tufts University – $26,500

$25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize
$1,500 Edward H. Molter Memorial Prizes for Wildcard Round - 3rd place overall in WC

Nanoborne, University of Texas at Austin - $25,000

$25,000 NOV Golden Ticket to Supernova Accelerator and Cash Prize

Last year, the Rice Business Plan Competition facilitated over $1.5 million in investment and cash prizes. MesaQuantum from Harvard University landed the highest total investment last year, although it was not named a finalist. Protein Pints from Michigan State University won the pitch competition.

According to Rice, 910 startups have raised more than $6.9 billion in capital through the competition over the last 25 years.

Houston nonprofit news outlet will shut down after only 2 years

In the News

Amid financial challenges, the nonprofit Houston Landing online news outlet plans to shut down by mid-May.

In an April 15 announcement posted on its website, Houston Landing says that although it launched in 2023 with more than $20 million in seed funding, the outlet failed to attract enough revenue to continue operating. The announcement followed a vote by the organization’s board of directors to close the nonprofit newsroom. All 43 employees will be laid off, the Columbia Journalism Reviewreports.

“We are proud of the Landing’s coverage of Greater Houston and continue to believe deeply in the need for more free, independent journalism in our region,” Ann B. Stern, board chair of Houston Landing as well as president and CEO of the Houston Endowment, says in the announcement. “This decision was difficult but necessary. Houston Landing’s reporting has made a meaningful impact in the community, but it struggled to find its long-term financial footing.”

According to the announcement, the Landing’s board is exploring a partnership with the Austin-based Texas Tribune, a pioneer in nonprofit journalism, to potentially establish a local news initiative in Houston. Later this year, the Texas Tribune plans to open a locally focused newsroom in Waco. A similar newsroom is in the works in Austin.

“We have great respect for Houston Landing’s work in delivering high-quality, nonpartisan journalism to its readers,” says Sonal Shah, CEO of the Texas Tribune. “We also understand the profound challenges facing local newsrooms today — journalism is a public service and needs a strong ecosystem to thrive. We look forward to exploring how we can learn from what the Landing started and create a sustainable model that serves the Houston community. We will take time to explore the right path forward to ensure sustainability.”

Houston Landing was launched after a two-year study led by the American Journalism Project found many Houstonians were disappointed about a lack of trustworthy, deeply reported local news. Financial backers of the Landing include the American Journalism Project, the Houston Endowment, Arnold Ventures, the Kinder Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Despite the high-profile support, the site struggled to find an audience. CJR notes that the Landing had approximately 13,000 newsletter subscribers and only generated about $80,000 in subscription revenue. In the article, executive editor Sewell Chan identifies a number of other issues, including a lack of editorial focus and changes in leadership. “But in the end, the gap between board and staff, between management and labor, and between runway and revenue was just too large to bridge,” he writes.

“While it’s with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our newsroom, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the dedicated journalists and staff members who poured their passion into our mission every single day,” Houston Landing CEO Peter Bhatia says.

“Houston Landing demonstrates how a commitment to truth and accountability can transform communities and improve lives,” he adds. “I’m thankful to those who believed in us, supported us, and stood with us as we connected with each other through stories that inspired positive change.”

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

Houston space tech company develops new engine features with NASA funding

testing 1, 2, 3

Outfitted with a new type of aerospace technology, a rocket engine developed by Houston startup Venus Aerospace for hypersonic flights will undergo testing this summer.

Supported by a $155,908 federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from NASA, Venus Aerospace came up with a new design for nozzles — engine parts that help manage power — for its compact rocket engine. Venus Aerospace says the newly configured nozzles have “exceeded expectations” and will be incorporated into Venus’ upcoming ground-based engine testing.

“We’ve already proven our engine outperforms traditional systems on both efficiency and size,” Venus Aerospace CEO Sassie Duggleby says. “The technology we developed with NASA’s support will now be part of our integrated engine platform — bringing us one step closer to proving that efficient, compact, and affordable hypersonic flight can be scaled.”

The engine at the heart of Venus’ flight platform is called a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE). Venus says it’s the first U.S. company to make a scalable, affordable, flight-ready RDRE.

Unlike conventional rocket engines, Venus’ RDRE operates through supersonic shockwaves, called detonations, that generate more power with less fuel.

“This is just the beginning of what can be achieved with Venus propulsion technology,” says Andrew Duggleby, chief technology officer at Venus, founded in 2020. “We’ve built a compact high-performance system that unlocks speed, range, and agility across aerospace, defense, and many other applications. And we’re confident in its readiness for flight.”

Last fall, the company unveiled a high-speed engine system that enables takeoff, acceleration, and hypersonic cruising — all powered by a single engine. While most high-speed systems require multiple engines to operate at different speeds, Venus’ innovation does away with the cost, weight and complexity of traditional propulsion technology.

Among other applications, the Venus system supports:

Spacecraft landers
Low-earth-orbit satellites
Vehicles that haul space cargo
Hypersonic drones and missiles

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INNOVATIONMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME