Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week.
For the week of December 4, 2020, here’s what we’re reading:
Through Advancing San Diego, we are providing San Diego small companies with paid, remote business interns from top regional educational programs we call Preferred Providers—at no charge. Applications are open until December 18, 2020.
Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in San Diego. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance.
In 2017, the United Stated Department of Transportation, which oversees of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), launched the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) to build pathways that would encourage the expansion of the commercial unmanned aerial systems industry safely and cohesively with existing piloted aircrafts.
Capitalizing on San Diego’s rich aerospace history, industry relationships, and unique operational environment, EDC partnered with the City of San Diego’s Office of Homeland Security to become one of only 10 jurisdictions across the United States to participate.
Over the past three years, San Diego IPP has laid the groundwork for regional companies of all sizes to develop cutting-edge UAS technology here in San Diego by utilizing the streamlined FAA approval process, supporting homegrown talent, and positioning the region as a UAS center of excellence by encouraging the industry’s growth.
As we wrap up the program, below are a few of the key successes:
Public Safety
The challenge: Chula Vista Police Department is largely understaffed—yet as the second largest city in San Diego County, it has been recognized at the tenth safest city in the United States with jurisdictions of more than 270,000 residents.
The solution: In coordination with the San Diego IPP, Chula Vista Police Department became the first in the nation to utilize drones as a proactive public safety tool. The department saw drones as a new opportunity to create a Drone as a First Responder (DFR) unit as a safer, less expensive alternative to helicopter and officer units.
San Diego IPP helped Chula Vista Police Department obtain a FAA permissions and waivers to provide safe, transparent jurisdictional coverage. Ultimately, Chula Vista Police Department was able to dispatch UAS to remotely assess the scene of emergency calls for service.
The results: Together, San Diego IPP and Chula Vista Police Department achieved great heights:
First public safety organization in the nation to be granted a Beyond Visual Line of Sight Certificate of Authorization.
First in the nation to achieve a Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight (“Close Proximity, Low Altitude”) Waiver. This enables police officers on scene to utilize small UAS to search behind obstacles, at a very low altitude to ensure safety for the officers, suspect, and potential bystanders.
First in the nation to achieve 2-to-1 Operations and is pending 100 percent jurisdictional coverage for a Public Aircraft Operator Certificate of Authorization. This enables the Remote Pilot in Command (the operator) to operate two drones at one time, an operation that required an entirely new FAA process to be created, and ultimately expanded service coverage for all residents in the City of Chula Vista.
Safe information dissemination to at-risk populations for COVID-19 response.
Statewide, nationwide, and international acclaim for public safety and innovation. San Diego IPP and Chula Vista Police Department received the 2020 AUVSI XCELLENCE Humanitarian and Public Safety Award, the 2019 California Police Chief’s Association Innovation Award, and were highlighted in UAS Norway, Chicago Tribune, Police Chief Magazine, Interdrone, Department of Justice’s DRONES publication, and more.
To date, DFR has responded to 4,303 calls, assisted in the arrest of 558 suspects, was the first to arrive on scene 1,987times, and has an average response time of 224.49 seconds.
Notably, in 1,065 instances, DFR has been able to avoid dispatching officer patrol units on scene—freeing those resources for other service calls and mitigating potential officer-involved confrontations.
COMPLEX AND CRITICAL Delivery
Despite airspace complexities and difficult operating environments, San Diego IPP leapt at the prospect to test the viability of both commercial food and medical specimen delivery within our region. San Diego IPP partnered with Uber, Matternet, and UPS Flight Forward to accomplish cutting-edge, time-sensitive deliveries in San Diego.
Food Delivery
The challenge: On the heels of a white paper on the future of urban air transportation, Uber Elevate was born. To bring its vision to fruition, Elevate determined a need for a multi-pronged effort at advancing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) efforts nationwide, but needed help obtaining permission for and conducting safe delivery testing.
The solution: Through a series of tests and strategic public-private partnerships, IPP helped the company take the first step toward urban air transportation.
San Diego IPP matured Uber Elevate’s initial business model past short-distance flights at San Diego State University to focus on a more complex delivery route from coastal Chula Vista to the Coronado Cays. San Diego IPP and Uber Elevate worked with local public and private partners for three months to coordinate efforts for a single week of safe delivery testing and an official Part 107 Commercial Food Delivery in December 2019.
Initially focused on food delivery convenience for the end user, San Diego IPP and Uber Elevate ultimately found an opportunity to expand areas of service for regional small businesses and provide options for communities without equal access to food delivery.
The results: Through this effort, San Diego IPP achieved:
The first real time Remote Identification test in the country. Remote Identification allows interested parties to utilize an application that enables the individual(s) watching to identify the drone operator and follow the drones path in real time.
Strategic public-private partnerships. To achieve one week of operations, San Diego IPP coordinated efforts with Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Navy – North Island Naval Air Station, and the local field office at Customs and Border Protection to mandate a minimum altitude to avoid conflicts with existing aviators. Additionally, San Diego IPP worked with the Port of San Diego to create new land use agreements for take-off and landing zones in undeveloped areas along the San Diego Bay for the week of operations. Finally, the Cities of Chula Vista and Coronado both engaged in testing planning efforts and advocacy. The first official Part 107 Delivery was made to Coronado City Council Member, Bill Sandke.
Innovative safety process formation. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees two sanctuaries adjacent to the route, worked with the San Diego IPP team to create solutions to addresses the safe operations of UAS in, near, and around animal sanctuaries, in coordination with FAA and the Department of the Interior legal counsels.
Medical Specimen Delivery
The challenge: With San Diego’s globally recognized expertise and innovation in life sciences, medical specimen delivery was a particularly important goal. With the ability to delivers medical specimens via UAS, San Diego healthcare providers could improve delivery speed and reliability, and ultimately cut costs and improve care. However, Matternet needed help obtaining waivers for night operations and flights over people to support its tests.
The solution: After extensive groundwork, San Diego IPP helped Matternet obtain accommodations for proof-of-concept flights at UC San Diego Health’s Jacobs Medical Center, including a §107.39 waiver enabling operations over people and a §107.29 waiver enabling operations at night. Matternet and UPS Flight Forward were operable and making vertical moves in San Diego by early 2020.
The results: San Diego IPP, with Matternet and UPS Flight Forward, accomplished:
259 successful flight operations at the UC San Diego Health Jacobs Medical Center.
Two separate route approvals on the UCSD Health Jacobs Medical Center Campus.
Next Steps
After three years of aiding in the development and growth of an emerging innovation industry, San Diego IPP will not be moving forward with the FAA’s next step, BEYOND.
EDC will continue to work to ensure San Diego remains a welcome space to research, design, develop, test, and advocate for the drone community, and will continue to provide exemplary service for any UAS business interested in expanding their business or concepts in our region.
Finally, we are excited to continue working with our regional leaders to ensure that we support opportunities that advance this emerging industry, as innovation is the cornerstone to our region.
EDC study quantifies impact of artificial intelligence, machine learning
San Diego industries that are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) support an estimated 175,680 jobs and $33.3 billion in annual gross regional product, according to a study released today by San Diego Regional EDC. Underwritten by Booz Allen Hamilton, “Measuring the Future: AI and San Diego’s Economy” is the first in a series of reports that will identify key industries and clusters where AI and machine learning (ML) have been implemented, and ultimately quantify the impacts of these technologies on San Diego’s regional economy.
The study—available at SanDiegoAI.org—includes a historic timeline, cluster map, and cross-references AI patent language with job postings to anticipate the future impacts of AI and ML on the job market.
AI and ML technologies have swiftly infiltrated most every facet of our lives as computing power and speed increase. Self-driving cars, algorithmic trading, customer experience bots and AI assistants like Siri and Alexa have become commonplace tools used by people at home and at work.
“The proliferation of AI and ML technologies promises to be a transformative force for businesses worldwide—and like in many innovative industries—San Diego is at the forefront. With this report, the EDC Research Bureau helps paint a picture of the impact of AI, proving its potential to grow jobs and even help narrow gender and racial wage gaps,” said Mark Cafferty, president and CEO, San Diego Regional EDC.
Contrary to popular belief and despite current economic conditions, three in five AI developers (62 percent) expect to see the number of employees specifically engaged in AI-related work grow over the next 12 months. This means locally based AI talent could help meet growing demand across the U.S. as employers try to hire workers in earnest that possess skills readily available from San Diego AI. Notably, job postings data in Sun Belt metros like San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Tampa and Miami show that employers are struggling to fill positions requiring facial and speech recognition skills—key specializations of AI developers in San Diego. Meanwhile, predictive and forecasting AI could help alleviate hiring difficulties among firms in major economic and financial centers, including New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. More than eight in 10 AI developers in San Diego specialize in machine or deep learning technologies, a fundamental building block for predictive AI.
Large local companies in San Diego like Booz Allen Hamilton, Northrop Grumman Corporation, ResMed and growing startups and small businesses like Lytx, Lockton, Traits AI and Semantic AI are helping to lead the charge in AI—enabling people and firms to operate more quickly and efficiently. Specifically, the use of AI or ML technologies largely supports four areas of firm activity: the development of new products and services, improved efficiency and productivity, reduced costs and an increase in business revenues.
“Booz Allen Hamilton is at the forefront of AI adoption, development and implementation, and we believe that San Diego’s companies can leverage this technology to meet their missions, attract talent and fuel economic activity,” said Joe Rohner, a Booz Allen director and leader in the firm’s analytics practice and AI services business. “We are energized that EDC’s report findings show local respondents see AI as truly helping the San Diego economy by creating more jobs—not eliminating them. People are essential to the ethical application of AI, and this technology will enable organizations and their workforce to increase productivity, quality and efficiency—in San Diego and globally.”
Despite AI’s productivity-boosting, job-creating power, a number of challenges remain. Top of mind for most local employers is the inability to source qualified talent. However, COVID-19 and the subsequent increase in remote work has expanded the talent pool for San Diego County’s AI and ML employers.
“Rapidly developing machine learning/artificial intelligence technology that enhances the work our men and women in uniform do every day is critical to the future of defense. Northrop Grumman is well positioned to continue to grow the local talent pipeline through our San Diego-based education programs so businesses in our community have the right skill sets available to support this important and rapidly evolving field,” said Alfredo Ramirez, Vice President of Northrop Grumman’s San Diego Autonomous Design Center of Excellence.
OTHER KEY FINDINGS
Average salary in AI/ML-concentrated industries is $127,960—3.9 percent above the national average for these industries and more than 70 percent above San Diego’s average worker salary.
For every 1,000 jobs gained in this cluster, another 1,400 jobs are created in other industries.
Survey proves AI adoption is creating job opportunities in the region:
66 percent of firms agreed that the use of AI and ML has created new job opportunities
54 percent of firms agree that AI and ML are increasing the need for more workers at their business
31 percent of jobs in AI-concentrated fields require only a high school diploma and pay an average of $22.42 per hour
The boost to productivity and efficiency from AI and ML should lift wages in traditional or population-serving industries, which employ a larger share of women and non-white workers than other sectors, and could therefore potentially reduce gender and racial wage gaps as these technologies are adopted.
The report was produced by San Diego Regional EDC, underwritten by Booz Allen Hamilton, and sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation, ResMed, Lytx and Lockton.
As the year comes to a close, Advancing San Diego partners remain committed to connecting San Diego students to local companies into 2021. We’re excited now to announce our Preferred Providers of business talent, and to open our application round for small companies in need of business interns.
First up: Meet the Preferred Providers of business talent
EDC, San Diego Workforce Partnership, and Advancing San Diego partners are excited to announce the following schools as Preferred Providers of business talent. Through a competitive application process, these Preferred Providers are colleges, universities, and certificate programs recognized by local employers for training the next generation of business professionals in San Diego.
Preferred Providers of business talent:
CSU San Marcos
MiraCosta College
National University
San Diego Mesa College
San Diego State University
UC San Diego Extension
University of San Diego
The Preferred Provider network serves as a resource to better connect employers to locally-serving education programs. Earlier this year, we announced the cohorts of Preferred Providers of software and engineering talent. View the full network of programs on EDC’s Preferred Provider map. Learn more about their respective programs
And finally, Do you need business interns?
We’ll pay them for you.
Through the Advancing San Diego Internship Program, small local companies can host remote business interns at no cost to them. All interns will be sourced from Preferred Provider programs mentioned above and will be paid $20/hour. If you are a small company (<100 employees) interested in hosting business interns in the springand meet the eligibility criteria, please apply now! Twelve companies will be selected to host interns starting March 2021. Applications will close December 18, 2020.
Hear first-hand testimonials from some of the 34 small businesses who have already hosted interns in our blog series here.
This year was unlike anything anyone could have predicted. Our communities grappled with unimaginable loss brought on by COVID-19, a social and racial justice reckoning, an ever-contentious political landscape, and so much more. And yet, here we are—turning the page into the New Year, still with the same problems of 2020, but with greater resilience, forward thinking, and commitment to inclusion.With and through our nearly 200 investors, EDC worked directly with nearly 500 San Diego businesses through crisis and recovery. Learn about this work and more in our Top 20 in 2020, and read on below for our month in review.
By the Numbers
7.7% San Diego County unemployment rate
359 business assisted year-to-date
8K jobs impacted year-to-date
15 Programs identified as Preferred Providers of business talent
The Advancing San Diego (ASD) Internship Program launched this Spring in a remote-capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to provide up to 100 San Diego-based companies with fully subsidized interns. This program targets companies with 100 employees or less, which comprise 98 percent of all businesses in San Diego, employ nearly two thirds of San Diegans, and account for 70 percent of job growth. A key issue for these companies has been a lack of time and resources to recruit the skilled talent necessary to continue their growth.
As students close out their Summer internship experiences, EDC has launched this blog series to highlight the innovative local companies that comprise the first cohort of the program, and the interns they hosted.
In this feature, we sat down withTraits AI, Inc. intern and Mesa College student Emma Plum. A part of the inaugural cohort of host companies, Traits AI is a San Diego-based software company that creates animated artificial intelligence (AI) avatars that you can talk to, like you talk to Siri or Alexa. The company develops Alexa Skills, Google Assistant Actions, and chatbots for clients to help them better serve their customers; but its particular area of focus is on AI avatars that put a face to the voice using an animated avatar that looks like and sounds like the person they represent to help them extend their reach.
People are busy, especially those in in-demand professions like law, healthcare, consulting, and more. In these fields, there’s often only one point-person, but thousands of people who want a little bit of their time. While we cannot duplicate or replace those professionals, Traits AI can extend their reach by automating some of the repetitive parts of what they do on a daily basis. This frees them up to spend more time on things that require their unique skill set and expertise.
Read on for more from Emma.
How has your experience in the ASD Internship Program been, and what projects have been the most meaningful?
I enjoyed my time in the internship at Traits AI. My supervisor Brandon was very understanding and flexible with work schedules. My primary projects were working on Facebook Messenger bots/marketing campaigns and email marketing/automation. These helped my understanding of design in marketing greatly, as well as improved my time management skills.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your day-to-day, and what challenges have you faced as a student?
Online learning and the transfer to the online structure has been particularly challenging during this time. Online school is an entirely different beast. Scheduling seems more flexible but between keeping up with everything at home (work, school, clubs, social life), Zoom fatigue hits hard and you have to keep a strict schedule to keep up.
What advice would you give to high school students looking for a successful career in the local software industry?
Be assertive! You don’t know what you don’t know, so reach out to the people who do. Talk to a high school counselor or someone knowledgeable about job opportunities, interview skills, resume reviews, and industry knowledge. Networking can be a gamechanger; go out and email or connect on LinkedIn/social media with industry professionals as you look for advice or job openings. Chase after job opportunities, even the ones you think you won’t get because you never know where you’ll get your foot in the door. Even if you don’t get the job after the interview, that’s a great practice. And don’t be afraid to leave a job if the work environment is toxic.
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week.
For the week of November 20, 2020, here’s what we’re reading:
This edition of San Diego’s Economic Pulse covers October 2020 and reflects some effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the labor market. In October 2020:
San Diego’s jobs recovery accelerated from previous months, but remains uneven across industries.
San Diego employers brought back 21,500 workers, lowering the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent.
Job gains were widespread, and workers returned to the labor force in record numbers.
Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in San Diego. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance.
The Advancing San Diego (ASD) Internship Program launched this Spring in a remote-capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to provide up to 100 San Diego-based companies with fully subsidized interns. This program targets companies with 100 employees or less, which comprise 98 percent of all businesses in San Diego, employ nearly two thirds of San Diegans, and account for 70 percent of job growth. A key issue for these companies has been a lack of time and resources to recruit the skilled talent necessary to continue their growth.
As students close out their Summer internship experiences, EDC has launched this blog series to highlight the innovative local companies that comprise the first cohort of the program, and the interns they hosted.
In this feature, we sat down with Brandon Bosse, Founder and CEO at Traits AI, Inc. A part of the inaugural cohort of host companies, Traits AI is a San Diego-based software company that creates animated artificial intelligence (AI) avatars that you can talk to, like you talk to Siri or Alexa. The company develops Alexa Skills, Google Assistant Actions, and chatbots for clients to help them better serve their customers; but its particular area of focus is on AI avatars that put a face to the voice using an animated avatar that looks like and sounds like the person they represent to help them extend their reach.
People are busy, especially those in in-demand professions like law, healthcare, consulting, and more. In these fields, there’s often only one point-person, but thousands of people who want a little bit of their time. While we cannot duplicate or replace those professionals, Traits AI can extend their reach by automating some of the repetitive parts of what they do on a daily basis. This frees them up to spend more time on things that require their unique skill set and expertise.
Read on for more from Traits AI founder Brandon Bosse.
Why was your company founded, and what are your current points of focus?
You know that annoying feeling you get when you ask Siri or Alexa a question and she completely gets it wrong and has no idea what you just said? Yeah, we get annoyed by that, too! That is the underlying problem we fell in love with and seek to solve: people need better, more instant access to information. Of course the nuances of language are incredibly challenging to understand even for us people and, so far, understanding complex language is also beyond what AI models can do. That’s why we turned to crowd-sourcing responses as a stepping stone approach until natural language models like GPT-3 are able to grasp the nuances of language.
Our main point of focus now is on establishing product-market-fit to help in raising a pre-seed funding round. Most investors aren’t aware of the budding field of synthetic media and recent advances in China, New Zealand, and Canada, and it is our job to help demonstrate how AI avatars can be a benefit to modern society.
Tell us about your experience building a startup in San Diego.
San Diego is an amazing place to start a tech company because it attracts so many brilliant people and has a thriving startup scene.
For example, in 2017, I joined the fall cohort of The Founder Institute, which was instrumental in getting Traits AI up and off the ground. Through networking with fellow graduates, I learned about the Small Business Development Center and The Brink where I have received mentorship and support, including connection to the ASD Internship Program. For the past two years, I have volunteered at the registration desk of San Diego Startup Week and have met some really amazing people!
There are also fun community events and meetup groups that have been a great way to socialize and meet other people interested in entrepreneurship, AI, and tech. I’ve enjoyed attending Triton Entrepreneur Night where I got to see how great pitching is done! And I’ve met some really smart and amazing people at The Machine Learning Society and The San Diego Machine Learning Meetup Group.
Has your company pivoted as a result of COVID-19?
Yes, in March 2020 we began working on a new AI avatar/chatbot named Vita to help people with advanced care planning, like filling out an advanced directive. Since patients with COVID-19 are typically in isolation, having an AI avatar help them navigate their healthcare choices makes sense so that healthcare staff aren’t exposed any longer than necessary. Vita is able to take as long as the patient needs to talk about and answer questions related to advanced care planning.
Tell us a little bit about your interns and the value they bring.
We have been lucky enough to work with four interns through the program and they have all brought their own unique talents to the team. Their education in programming, web development, social media, and creative writing have helped the company advance toward our goals. I have found them to be professional, responsible, and hardworking even during this time of remote work and I am grateful to have them on the team.
In your opinion, what is special about San Diego’s science and technology community, and the talent that drives it?
California has always been the land of dreamers—people who dare to DREAM BIG and make their dreams come true. It also attracts open-minded, outside-the-box thinkers who don’t always fit into mainstream society. I see many dreamers, open-minded, outside-the-box thinkers in San Diego and THAT is what makes it a great science and tech community.
I think Steve Jobs put it best when he said, “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes…the ones who see things differently—they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week.
For the week of November 13, 2020, here’s what we’re reading:
Our region is home to a vibrant manufacturing cluster that spans across many industries, from defense to craft brewing. EDC has partnered with California Manufacturing Technology Consulting to help San Diego regional manufacturers identify and connect to key resources and relief. Click below to get in touch with EDC’s team.
Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in San Diego. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance.
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week.
For the week of November 6, 2020, here’s what we’re reading:
A look back at Advancing San Diego’s Career Exploration Day and Virtual Career Fair
With the support of title sponsor Qualcomm, EDC hosted Advancing San Diego’s Career Exploration Day and Virtual Career Fair – a free event that brought together San Diego employers and students for a full day of career exploration, professional development, company information sessions, peer learning, and networking. Throughout the day, 150 students from universities, high schools, and training programs across the region logged on to chat with employers in the virtual career fair and listen in on a webinar series on job search strategies.
Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in San Diego. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance.
