Welcome to What We Follow Friday! The internet is teeming with new data, interesting stories, breaking news and so much more every single day and it’s easy for the important information to get lost in the noise. That’s why we’re sharing some of our favorites from around the web with you every Friday.

Here’s what we’ve picked this week:

The Innovation Strategies That Lead to Success (Infographic)
“Most companies acknowledge that innovation is vital to achieving success, yet more than half of businesses don’t have any innovation strategies in place. The reality is that there are some true roadblocks–like resource and budget constraints–which get in the way of focused innovation efforts. However there are other factors, such as strong and visionary leadership, that can foster innovation within a business.”

Is For-Profit the Future of Non-Profit?
“Charity is for patsies. If you really care about making the world a better place, buy a trendy bag. That was the logic Lauren Bush Lauren articulated in a 2013 interview about FEED, a for-profit entity she founded that creates simple, eco-friendly tote bags whose price covers the cost of donating school meals to children in Rwanda via the UN World Food Program.”

Take a Tip from Bezos: Customers Always Need a Seat at the Table
“When starting a new business, it’s understandable that the main focus is to develop an innovative product or service that will cause the market to stand up and pay attention. It’s also clear that entrepreneurs need passion and endless supply of energy to create a new business from that innovation.”

Does Samsung’s New Stress Monitoring App Really Work?
“With little fanfare, Samsung this week added a curious new feature to the health-monitoring app that comes with its Galaxy S5 smartphone and Gear smartwatches. On top of the existing pedometer, heart-rate monitor and various other means of self-diagnosis, the “S Health” app now also offers a “stress monitor,” which promises to keep a log of how anxious you get during the day.”

Physicists Prove Surprising Rule of Threes
“More than 40 years after a Soviet nuclear physicist proposed an outlandish theory that trios of particles can arrange themselves in an infinite nesting-doll configuration, experimentalists have reported strong evidence that this bizarre state of matter is real.”

If you come across an article you think we should be reading, tweet it to us, post it to our Facebook page, or leave us a comment at the bottom of the page!

Welcome to What We Follow Friday! The internet is teeming with new data, interesting stories, breaking news and so much more every single day and it’s easy for the important information to get lost in the noise. That’s why we’re sharing some of our favorites from around the web with you every Friday.

Here’s what we’ve picked this week:

5 Free Apps for the Best Summer Vacation Ever
“This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer vacation season. Lucky for you, this week’s edition of Free App Friday can help you plan your summer trip.”

The Most Common Productivity Killers in Workplace (Infographic)
“On average, professionals spend up to 37 percent of their workweek checking emails–many of them unnecessary ones. Unfortunately, much of the other two-thirds of their time is filled with other time wasters, such as sitting in meetings and surfing the Web.”

Science Graphic of the Week: Monitoring Ocean Waves From Space
“The radar instruments on some satellites can be used to gather all sorts of interesting information. The animation above illustrates wave heights in the North Sea that were derived from satellite radar measurements.”

4 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Do Before Meeting an Investor
“Almost all startups – whether they are in major hubs like Silicon Valley, Boston or New York or less metropolitan areas like Kansas City, Mo. – face the same problem. ‘We need funding,” they say. “We’re really looking to raise more capital from investors, angels or anywhere.'”

The Five Letters that Will Change the Data World: BYOBI
“BYOBI is an acronym I first heard on a telephone call with a VP of Technology at a large corporation. The word is almost unknown today, but I think that it will be one of the largest trends to impact data in the next five years. BYOBI means Bring Your Own Business Intelligence.”

If you come across an article you think we should be reading, tweet it to us, post it to our Facebook page, or leave us a comment at the bottom of the page!

Welcome to What We Follow Friday! The internet is teeming with new data, interesting stories, breaking news and so much more every single day and it’s easy for the important information to get lost in the noise. That’s why we’re sharing some of our favorites from around the web with you every Friday.

Here’s what we’ve picked this week:

The Potentially Super Creepy Future of Wearable Tech in the Workplace
“Wearable data-tracking devices used at work and at home could help to boost employee productivity, according to research from Goldsmiths, University of London. And the possible future uses of such devices in a workplace setting might just be worthy of a sci-fi novel.”

Branding 101: We Respond Emotionally to Numbers
“Radiolab recently examined the emotional power of digits when guest Alex Bellos, who writes and lectures on mathematics, discussed a global survey he conducted–on favorite numbers. What he found, among 30,000 responses from across the world, is that we have a universal tendency to anthropomorphize numbers.”

Now You Can Print a House in 24 Hours, Plus 13 Other Weird 3D Printed Things
“Printing in metal, plastic, nylon and a hundred other materials? No, it’s not science fiction, but fact. 3D printing – the ability to produce objects on demand at a relatively low cost – is a top trend once reserved for prototypes and toys that is set to explode into the consumer marketplace.”

12 Thing Incredibly Happy People Often Do
“Do you have a friend who always seems so happy? Have you ever thought, “how do they do it?” How do they stay positive even when life seems impossible? People who are generally happy have a set of habits that they do daily that puts them in their happy place.”

Every Job in America, In 1 Graph
“There are roughly 137 million jobs in this country. About two-thirds of those jobs are in private-sector services; the remaining third are split between goods-producing jobs (mainly manufacturing and construction) and government work (mostly at the state and local level).”

One factor that has certainly driven the growth we have seen in remote work in recent years is the advancement we have witnessed in technology. It is clear that recent technology advancements have made it easier to communicate and manage work without being located at the work location. However, exactly how has technology changed and what are some of the implications for remote work? Looking through the lens of the 4 Cs, we can take a closer look.

Communication

In the early days of remote work, communication was limited to phone and text-based email.  However, more advanced communication technologies, such as cell phones and web cameras, make it easy to send messages, data, and files anywhere and at anytime. These technologies also allow us to move beyond audio and text-based means of communication, so that we can transmit non-verbal cues, images, and videos.

Connectivity

Connectivity is so much easier and faster due to advancements in the areas of broadband, vpn, wireless, wi-fi, and LAN’s. For example, it has been estimated that currently 90% of households with a computer subscribe to broadband services. Broadband penetration has increased rapidly – only five years ago, this figure was at 65%. These connectivity advances increasingly allow us to work from anywhere, and the greater bandwidth supports more data rich forms of communication.

Collaboration

The creation of tools such as wiki’s, social networking sites like LinkedIn, remote desktop access, web-based applications such as GoogleDocs, and workflow systems make it easier for workers to collaborate from more locations. These tools not only allow workers to share information but also to collaborate on a work product simultaneously, in real-time.

Content Management Systems

These systems enable organizations to easily share, access, manage versions, secure and re-use content. Some examples include Document Management Systems, knowledge repositories, Content Management Systems, Digital Asset Management, and cloud computing.

In summary, technology advances have led to richer forms of virtual communication, improved connectivity, easier and more productive collaboration, and better management of content. Together,  these improvements are a big reason why we have seen such rapid growth in employees working outside the confines of the traditional office.