Editor's note:Another week has come and gone, and it's time to round up the top headlines from the past few days. Trending Houston tech and startup news on InnovationMap included new innovators to know, a new energy innovation lab, a guest column about DEI, and more.
3 Houston innovators to know this week
This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes James Hury of TRISH, Serafina Lalany of HX, and Andrew Ramirez of Village Insights. Courtesy photos
In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from space health to virtual collaboration — recently making headlines in Houston innovation. Click here to continue reading.
Deloitte launches first-of-its-kind clean energy lab in Houston
The Houston location is one of six Greenhouses in the U.S. and one of 40 around the world. Photo courtesy of Deloitte
Houston will become home to professional services giant Deloitte's largest and most technologically advanced immersive, interactive innovation hub dubbed the Deloitte Greenhouse, Powered by Energy & Industrials.
Co-located with the company's downtown Houston headquarters, the 14,000-square-foot space is intended to help executives plant and foster new ways of thinking, working, and experimenting in the energy industry.
The Houston location is one of six Greenhouses in the U.S. and one of 40 around the world — take a virtual tour of a few of them here. This is the first Greenhouse in Texas (other U.S. locations include Chicago, New York, San Jose, and Washington D.C.) and the first to focus on the energy transition. Click here to continue reading.
Exclusive: Houston startup is creating a unique digital network to connect innovative communities
This Houston startup is creating a digital platform to create collisions and spark innovation. Image via villageinsights.com
About 10 years ago, Andrew Ramirez was working internally with a corporate team at a Fortune 500 company to build a digital platform that would connect employees to work collaboratively.
"What we really realized is that once you put a lot of people together with a common theme or mission, we started to see a lot of interesting ideas pop up organically," Ramirez tells InnovationMap. "They were creating these collisions without any geographical boundaries."
About a decade later, Ramirez and his former co-worker on the project Mike Francis, revisited the idea of creating this collaborative digital space — with today's technology — for the greater innovation community, and Village Insights was born. Ramirez leads the company as CEO and the new platform is expected to formally launch it's Open World platform next month. Click here to continue reading.
Houston expert: 5 things to consider when tackling DEI at your organization
Progress and feedback will help you reach your organization's DEI goals. Photo via Pexels
Houston is often touted as the most diverse city in the country, but with that comes the responsibility of making sure we are creating inclusive and equitable opportunities that reflect the communities we serve.
With the current state of our country dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as social and political issues, employers across the city have searched for the right thing to say and do to help their employees and customers during this time when personal feelings and beliefs impact the workplace more now than ever. While there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to implementing DEI across an organization, here are a few steps and considerations companies can take to ensure DEI is a priority moving forward. Click here to continue reading.
City launches public dashboard for tracking COVID-19 in Houston's wastewater
For over a year now, scientists have been testing wastewater for COVID-19. Now, the public can access that information. Photo via Getty Images
In 2020, a group of researchers began testing Houston's wastewater to collect data to help identify trends at the community level. Now, the team's work has been rounded up to use as an online resource.
The Houston Health Department and Rice University launched the dashboard on September 22. The information comes from samples collected from the city's 39 wastewater treatment plants and many HISD schools.
"This new dashboard is another tool Houstonians can use to gauge the situation and make informed decisions to protect their families," says Dr. Loren Hopkins, chief environmental science officer for the health department and professor in the practice of statistics at Rice University, in a news release. "A high level of virus in your neighborhood's wastewater means virus is spreading locally and you should be even more stringent about masking up when visiting public places." Click here to continue reading.