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News regarding The Park and all of the activities going on in Peachtree Corners

Cyber FinTech Event at the Park

Cyber FinTech Event has Great turnout

By Events, Latest News

A jam-packed day for the Cyber FinTech event kicked off with James Azar of CyberHub Podcast and Robin Bienfait discussing the current state of cyber and its ability to enable growth in the FinTech Sector. “It’s great to be back in-person and knowledge share,” James said as he kicked off the event. Robin agreed adding, “Covid 19 and cyber pandemic elevated importance of security to the business.”

New to The Park this year was the addition of a cyber breach simulation hosted by James Azar featuring an intimate conversation and hands on experience. Along with the breach, The Park continued its hybrid approach by offering exclusive online content, including Jeff Fried of InterSystems discussing A Practical Path to Machine Learning Success for Financial Institutions. Jeff went into an in-depth overview of AI and how to ensure success. Sam Phillips of Wells Fargo joined James for a virtual fireside chat discussion about his journey into cyber. When you take the “that will never happen to me approach, how do you know? You are really going to keep yourself open ”, Sam noted. Also joining James was Ron Green of MasterCard. They covered how being in security and fintech never has a boring day where Ron mentioned “the change in covid response required rapid changes to technology that was used every day. Instead of securing core centers, we’re having to secure everyone not being in a center. You’re depending more on your cloud servicer providers than ever before.”

Robin Bienfait held her CISO/CIO/CTO Roundtable where they discussed the past 120 days and the impact of cyber breaches where one happens every 11 seconds. Cyber activity and fraud has increased by 600%. As a CISO practices cyber, how do we practice better? Learn from events. Prevent events? In summary, having better tools is important. Orchestration is important. Having partners telling you what you should be looking at and for with threat Intel is key.

Our virtual attendees we able to learn more about Avertium and Veloxiti and the afternoon wrapped up with an all star panel that included Paul Farley, NCR; Ken Foster, Fiserv; Sam Phillips, Wells Fargo; and Gautam Vyas, FIS Global. They covered a vast array of topics, including how to ensure that everyone maintains a work/life balance now that so many work from their homes. They also touched on how people are viewed as more human when the dog walks into the room or the kids are in the background. On a serious note, they continued on the discussion of the challenge securing everyone working from home and the need for security around documents, devices and best practices.

If you would like to see the event, please click here.

This event is our lead up event to Georgia Cyber Week, to be held September 20 – 23, 2021 where we will highlight the three main verticals of Georgia’s economy. This week will unify the ecosystems in Georgia around cybersecurity and focus on how Cyber is a business enabler that helps businesses grow.

Conference Rooms Avalialbe

Video Calls from a Safe Distance at The Park

By Latest News, The Park

Things at The Park certainly haven’t been the same for a couple of weeks now, but we are optimistic that a return to “normal” will happen sooner rather than later.

We already rescheduled our inaugural Cyber HealthTech Conference from April to July 2020. We also had to cancel our members only Wine Wednesday for March (but rebounded with a virtual one… see below!) along with some of our other programming that’s been a big asset to our community. Fortunately, recaps of some past events are online.

As a hub for entrepreneurs, we know that (small) business owners have to be resilient to succeed. Everyone does. We, too, have to be in order to get through this, and we will. And when it’s over, we’re going to have a killer happy hour to celebrate the good times ahead.

The Park was still open for business even when quarantines and lockdowns started in March. With Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s recent announcement permitting some businesses to open starting April 24 and 27, we will resume “normal” operations at The Park as best we can. Normally, that means dozens of people working diligently in their personalized setup, occasionally chatting over a freshly brewed pot of coffee, and getting in a game of ping-pong whenever they can thanks to Netflix.

Lately, people have been at The Park—but distancing. They’re there because they provide essential services and product such as software, construction metals (great time to do infrastructure upgrades), cybersecurity, technology for medical professionals and first responders, and more. Many people around the world are conducting business via Zoom and other video-calling software lately too.

That being said, we have six meeting rooms at The Park. Every single one of them is big enough for distancing comfortably and equipped with wireless video-calling capabilities and a sound system that makes remote conference calls seamless and professional. All you need to get connected is an Internet connection, which is the motor oil of today’s economy. Cybersecurity is one of Robin’s strongest areas of expertise. It’s something we take seriously at The Park, so rest assured your data, documents, and web activity are secure on our network.

Each conference room area at The Park also has a different name that represents a different element of success. Some also represent places and things that embody our identity as a global accelerator. They are as follows:

Garden City: A nod to Singapore and our commitment to be a global innovation hub, this conference room is where great ideas come to bloom. Used as a green room for comedy shows and performances, continuing education classes, regular team meetings, and more. It seats more than a dozen people, and is equipped with multiple HDMI plugins throughout, so seating can be as comfortable as you need or want it to be.

Oasis Room: A homage to Japan, the Oasis room is the newest addition to The Park’s event space. Originally located in the front end of the building, the Oasis room was moved to the back corner of the building (near the auditorium) to make way for a new office suite. The move seems to have been a hit with the community. It has made our meeting hub more centralized within The Park, and the glass wall adds a modern and sleek touch to the facility that defines us as an accelerator catered to futuristic innovation.

Digital City: Our cluster of conference rooms has a sign over it that reads Digital City. Here, there are a handful of technologically advanced, secure meeting spaces that (when appropriate again) are suitable for small groups of 5-6 people to larger groups of up to 12. Each room in Digital City has a theme associated with it such as “Create,” “Connect,” “Ignite,” etc. that embody the great characteristics of collaboration and innovation.

Right now, members have access to all of the meeting spaces to work privately or take video conference calls as necessary. We hope to see you at The Park soon, whether it’s to bring you a reprieve from being sheltered in your home office or once this all ends. Either way, we will be here.

HealthTech Innovations Seen in Pandemic Response

By Events, Latest News, The Park

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When we decided to host our inaugural Cyber HealthTech Conference and Challenge in April 2020, we had no idea that a global pandemic would rock the core of medical institutions around the world and right here at home. However, things happen, and as people our ability to adapt has enabled us to survive and thrive for centuries. That being said, the scope of our event has changed slightly.

For starters, the conference has been rescheduled to July 2020. The theme is still “Disrupt or Be Disrupted.” That means highlighting ATP alumni companies such as ControlRad, which uses revolutionary technology to reduce radiation exposure to patients and doctors during FGPs, and AffirmHealth, which has helped curbed the opioid dependency through web platforms. Now, the conference also entails discussing all of that in addition to the disruptor that is coronavirus. More specifically, we’ll be talking about innovative ways that medical and technology experts have come up with ways to inform and treat the public during this pandemic. Here are some examples we’ve seen that are worthy of sharing:

The first and most notable use of HealthTech in response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been the reporting and presentation of the data pertaining to the number of cases, locations, and more. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center tracker is an interactive map updated with new information daily. It shows the number of total confirmed cases, deaths, and recoveries in real time. The map can be viewed by cumulative confirmed cases or active cases and provides a breakdown of cases by specific countries and regions. Other features on the map can show you different views, filter for different variants, and show a log of how the virus has grown in its spread over time. While it may be scary to look at, being informed allows healthcare workers and government officials to make better decisions of what actions need to be taken to prevent the pandemic from becoming a larger problem.

Another notable trend in response to the pandemic has been the rise of TeleHealth communications. Although it may seem as if getting tested for COVID-19 has been easier for the ultrarich or megafamous, the emergence of TeleHealth has become one way to make healthcare more accessible for everyone. Defined as using telecommunications to treat and diagnose patients virtually or digitally, TeleHealth enables healthcare workers to physically distance themselves from those showing symptoms of an illness (thus preventing the spread), be more efficient with their time, and also work with patients across state lines, which has been temporarily allowed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Healthcare professionals and the American public are taking to it, too. The State of Georgia has launched a COVID-19 hotline where residents can call (844-442-2681) and be consulted over the phone if they begin to feel symptoms associated with the coronavirus.

TeleHealth is currently free, even for the uninsured. Numbers for TeleHealth usage are drastically up across the board, and as more cases arise, the need for TeleHealth and the supporting infrastructure will become greater. Case in point: The global TeleHealth market is expected to be worth $55.6 billion (USD) by 2025, according to a forecast published by MarketsandMarkets. It is currently worth $25.4 billion, the same report said.

A trend gaining popularity in technology over the last few years has been 3-D printing. Praised for its ability to create sturdy prototypes and products cost effectively, the focus of 3-D printing products has become manufacturing medical supplies to meet anticipated shortages of PPE (personal protective equipment) for medical professionals. High-end medical equipment such as ventilators and test kits are harder to mass produce with short notice, but thanks to 3-D printing (and old-fashioned sewing), serviceable protective facemasks are being made and delivered to local healthcare providers everywhere. In just one example of this, we see how a friend of The Park is doing her part with a 3-D printer:

Unfortunately, despite everyone in the world being in need of reassurance and a helping hand right now, there are cybercriminals who see an opportunity to capitalize on the fears of the coronavirus pandemic as a big payday for themselves.

Per our Cyber HealthTech Conference and Challenge partners Adams and Reese:

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has seen an uptick in cyber scams in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. … If something is considered a medical device, it is also regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has issued broad guidance on the use of wireless technologies and certain mobile medical apps.”

Verify all links, professionals, and devices that you consider. Fast Company reports that a “digital coronavirus infection kit” disguised as the Johns Hopkins University map (referenced above) is actually a Java-based malware designed to steal sensitive information (cryptocurrency, passwords, credit card numbers, etc.) and leave devices susceptible to similar attacks. Often, the links are shared as emails with attachments and have “coronavirus” in the subject line, according to Fast Company.

As of this writing, there are 593,291 cases of coronavirus confirmed worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. At least 101,657 of those are in the United States, which has the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. (Some good news: 130,915 people have recovered.) What happens between now (March 27, 2020) and the Cyber HealthTech Conference in July 2020 is extremely crucial for the prosperity of humanity and sustainability of the healthcare industry as we know it. If all goes well, there won’t be many more cases or fatalities to report, and we’ll only have permanent HealthTech disruptions to talk about at the event—in addition to everything else that’s going on at The Park.

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Work from Home Tips

By Latest News

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It’s not common when your favorite co-working space (thank you, we’re flattered) gives you advice on how to work from home, because we take pride in being your office of course. However, things are different right now, and even though we’re in the midst of a global pandemic that is unprecedented for just about every single person on Earth, we know that the work of an entrepreneur never stops.

Whether remotely or in office, there is a lot of work for many to still do right now. Working at this time can also be a good escape from the anxiety that has filled our daily lives, which is why The Park will still be accessible for Members during normal business hours through a shutdown. (ATP staff will not be present though.)

For those of our members and guests who are choosing to work from home, we’ve put together a sample routine and cheat sheet of things to consider when working from home to maximize your productivity:

1) Stick to or develop a new routine. Although you’re just working from home, it’s still important to get eight hours of sleep every night. In some cases, this may be more feasible now than before the pandemic started. Take advantage of it.
2) Then, start every day the same way: Commit to working out, emails, the bulk of your work (writing, data, spreadsheets, etc.), or easing into it with coffee first and tackle everything else in order of priority after that.
3) By midday, step away from your designated work space (more on this in a moment) and truly give yourself a break. Mental health is even more of a priority in these trying times.
4) Finish your workday strong by knocking out any incomplete tasks that were started earlier in the day or at the end of the previous days or weeks.

That’s somewhat of a routine. Don’t forget that taking breaks is not only acceptable as part of your routine, but also should be built into it. We recommend writing down the five most important tasks of your day and starting on them from the order of most-to-least important, devoting 25 minutes of focus to the task at hand, then taking five minutes off. Keep that going until your bigger break (lunch or quitting time).

*Bonus: Use some of your “break time” to do things that you couldn’t do around the house when you were at work before. That could be: take the chicken out of the freezer for dinner tonight to let it thaw, do some laundry, wash some dishes, walk the dog, etc. By doing this during your workday, you give yourself plenty of time to relax when it’s time to wind down at night. Make sure you get some sort of exercise in at some point too; this may be the most important WFH tip of all.

Another huge way to have success working from home is by sticking to your normal work hours. Of course, if you know you’re better working at one specific time over another, then now is the time to give yourself the schedule you’ve always wanted to have!

As for your home office set up, we recommend having a designated work space. In other words, no working from your bed! It doesn’t matter if it’s emails to start the day or a quick social media post at the end of the night. Just like the physical distancing we’re all committed to, having boundaries in your home will make it much easier to develop a routine and give your mind a break.

We also recommend “getting dressed” for work every day even if you’re at home. This doesn’t mean you need to put on a business suit, of course, but changing out of the clothes you slept into something slightly less casual (joggers instead of pajamas or a collared shirt instead of a T-shirt, for example) will make you feel as if you’ve gotten “dressed” for the day and have you prepared for the challenges of an abnormal workday ahead.

Ultimately, there’s no telling when life will return to normal (or a “new normal”) as we here in America have barely scratched the surface of what is to come. While we’re all hoping for the best, one way to ensure it happens is by staying home more, and making the most of the time we have to ourselves. Remember all those hours you lost by sitting in Atlanta traffic? They’re yours now! Use them wisely. We hope these tips help you do that!

Don’t get too comfortable at home! We miss you at The Park! When this is all over, we’d love to talk with you about the global response to the coronavirus pandemic during the ATP Cyber HealthTech Conference and Challenge at The Park in July 2020! Needless to say, there will be tons to talk about! We hope to see you there.

Lastly, if you’re looking for something to watch on Netflix during this time—or maybe if you’re just missing ATP—then might we recommend watching the movie Sextuplets, which was filmed at The Park in October 2018.

ATL Cyber HealthTech Conference Rescheduled

By Events, Latest News, The Park

Due to the escalating pandemic known as COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), the Cyber HealthTech Conference and Challenge to be held at Atlanta Tech Park in April 2020 has been rescheduled for July 22-23, 2020.

Rescheduling the event is in the best interest of our members and attendees. Doing so also allows us to discuss the global response to the coronavirus pandemic and examine how innovations in TeleHealth and cybersecurity have revolutionized healthcare and become more important than ever before. In other words, there has never been a better time for medical innovation, and we look forward to covering that in full detail this July.

All tickets purchased for the original Cyber HealthTech date in April will be usable for entry into July’s event. Updates and changes to schedules, speakers, topics, and more will be available to the public in due time. For now, we ask that everyone please use as many precautions as possible and necessary, while still maintaining optimism about our event in July. We promise it will be worth the wait.

Please follow Atlanta Tech Park on Twitter (@107ATP) and Instagram (@atlantatechpark) for the latest updates about happenings at The Park.

Tech Accelerator events at The Park

Atlanta Tech Park to Host Cyber-MedTech Conference

By Events, Latest News, The Park

Building off the success of the ATL Cyber-Fin Global Innovation Challenge, which covered the intersection of the Cyber and FinTech industries, Atlanta Tech Park is excited to host another conference focusing on the MedTech industry.

The ATL Cyber-MedTech Global Innovation Conference & Challenge will take place April 27-29, 2020, at Atlanta Tech Park in Peachtree Corners.

The United States is home to the largest medical device industry in the world, accounting for 40 percent of the global market share in 2017, according to SelectUSA, a subsidiary of the International Trade Administration. Atlanta itself is the fastest-growing life sciences market with pharmaceutical sales expected to grow to $1.2 trillion by 2024.

The Park has been home to two MedTech companies. One of them, ControlRad, recently conducted a clinical use of its radiation reduction technology for fluoroscopically guided procedures (FGP) after receiving FDA clearance in May 2019. Then, in October, ControlRad secured $15 million in Series B financing from Questa Capital.

The second company, AffirmHealth, was one of The Park’s very first members. Its main focus is to ensure healthcare leaders adopt responsible, compliant prescribing practices for patients via technology.

Atlanta Tech Park has assembled a top-notch steering committee to guide the planning and execution of the Cyber-MedTech Conference & Challenge. Steering committee members include: Fred Mindermann of Sertainty, David McCampbell of Sertainty, Benn Konsynski from Emory, Rebecca Rutherfoord from Kennesaw State University, John C. Yates, Andrew Morris from the FinTech Agenda, Cristy McAdams, Saraya from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Ben Dyer, Hossain Shahriar from Kennesaw State University, Ejane Caraway from Georgia Department of Economic Development, Christine Chen from Cox, and DeWayne Addington from Sertainty.

Interested in being a part of the MedTech Conference and Challenge steering committee or programming? Please contact Nashlee Young, Director of Operations at Atlanta Tech Park, directly via email at nashlee@emnovate.com to submit your idea or recommendation. Click here to be taken to the event page.

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Robin Bienfait Set to Speak at CDX Atlanta

By Latest News

LUNCH KEYNOTE: STRATEGIC INNOVATION – BUILD? BUY? PARTNER? OR INVEST?

Labs. Corporate venture. Challenges. Incubators. Accelerators. Partnerships. M&A – And more.

Strategic innovation has become more complex in an age where accelerating technology and consumer adoption cycles have increased the threat of disruption and compressed the exercise of strategic planning and corporate development. What are the respective roles of incubation, corporate venturing, academic partnerships, start-up ecosystem engagement, and M&A as the cycles of innovation only continue to accelerate? Does a single enterprise need technology scouts and an incubator and a lab and a corporate venture unit and corporate M&A to understand the rapidly evolving technology innovation landscape and stave off disruption? Should you build? Buy? Partner? Invest? Or all of the above?

Request an Invitation

Robin Bienfait to Speak at CDX Atlanta Open Innovation Summit

The 2019 CDX Atlanta Open Innovation Summit – set for November 7, 2019 – will focus on how leading brands from across a range of industries and verticals are leveraging external open innovation best practices and operating principles to stay competitive and drive corporate innovation and strategic digital transformation.  The theme for the event is “Innovation @ Scale”.  With the final agenda set, is was announced that Robin Bienfait will join the panel to discuss Strategic Innovation.  As a pioneer in innovation with companies like AT&T, Blackberry, Samsung and now Atlanta Tech Park, this will be an excellent opportunity for Robin to share her experiences that span her 30+ year career in the innovation sector.

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Atlanta Tech Park success stories: AffirmHealth

By Latest News, Member Spotlight, The Park

Welcome to our Atlanta Tech Park Success Stories series! This content (blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc.) is a way for us to highlight the members, companies, and more that Atlanta Tech Park a great place to work, network, and even have some fun! The first edition of our Success Stories installment is about AffirmHealth, which was one of the very first companies at Atlanta Tech Park. AffirmHealth uses technology to better facilitate prescriber compliance, which makes the fight against the opioid epidemic significantly more manageable. Our many thanks go to John Cole, AffirmHealth COO and Founder, for taking time out of his schedule to talk about his time at Atlanta Tech Park with us! (Pictured below is John conducting business during the very early days of The Park.)

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ATP: Why did you choose Atlanta Tech Park?
John: I met Robin and Nashlee at an Atlanta Technology Angels meeting. This is when they were in their early stages, having just remodeled and not formally launched. We chatted before the meeting, and I had been working from home in Atlanta and was looking for a place to set up shop away from my office at home. From our conversation, I felt really comfortable about a) the space and b) what they were doing and Robin’s vision for Atlanta Tech Park. I jumped on really early and was one of the first members to start going on a daily basis and was really pleased and happy to do so in the beginning stages of what I think is going to be a powerful community for entrepreneurs in Atlanta.

Where were you as a company when you first arrived at ATP?
We launched our company in April of 2016. We were a year-and-a-half to two years in and had bootstrapped heavily until then. There’s a two year process of figuring out what you don’t know and really understanding what it is—specifically in healthcare—what you need to build to be able to scale. We were at that point where we knew what we needed to build and were almost there in terms of product development and pilots. We had a product that worked well with small and independent practices and needed to figure out what the best way to scale that technology was. That’s where we were when we moved into Atlanta Tech Park.

How did your conversations with Robin change your company’s trajectory and impact its growth?
More so than anything, it was a shift in mindset, which is what Robin is so excellent at doing in terms of being able to meet you where you are and provide the insight to take your company to the next level. She has accomplished a lot professionally, so she brings that experience and success to where you are and gets you to think about how to scale your business and also what steps you need to take in order to get there. Her effective communication and ability to deliver a message to an audience is also something I was able to refine and practice myself after several meetings with her.

Can you provide a specific example of something Robin did or said to help you all with that change in mindset?
We had been selling to small and independent practices, with the largest one being 200 doctors or so. When we shifted to enterprise, we thought we were becoming a SaaS product: it will be an iterative rollout based on a new provider (client) per month basis. “Robin painted the picture of what a true enterprise contract is.” … You can deliver something that’s powerful without taking the iterative approach if you display that your technology is powerful enough. The enterprise contract and getting senior leadership excited about the innovation are enough to land the enterprise deal. From a cashflow standpoint, that helps tremendously. It really just takes that mindset shift to think about.

So essentially Robin taught you to think more like a seasoned executive and showed you what she looks for from that position?
That’s exactly right. What’s so incredible (about Robin) is she doesn’t have a whole lot of healthcare experience. Most of it is on the security side, but basically, every other industry has experienced “tech disruption” that has changed them. Healthcare is the only industry where that hasn’t happened (yet). In healthcare, people think the way things have always been done are the way have to continue being done. You almost have to flip that on its end and question if that is always the right way. When you do, people are skeptical, but changing our mindset enabled us to stand up to those challenges and be successful.

The other thing is truly understanding your customer. In healthcare technology it is has often been the case that when building a HealthTech product, the active clinician (or “power user”) is not at the table when building the product, so we have been incredibly intentional to make sure that the user of the product is actually helping to customize the solution alongside with us, and we’re taking their active feedback as we’re building the product. So when you launch the product, for them it’s a matter of “we helped build this product, we know how to use it, let’s go.”
Having an intentional focus on the customer and how they use the product when building the product has been in an invaluable lesson Robin taught us.

In summary…
From the very beginning, it was very clear that Robin was thinking about things differently. She was thinking about building The Park in a way that you would think about building a business in making sure that she was fostering a culture and environment where companies and entrepreneurs can go to thrive. From my entire time there–when they were getting ATP off the ground until when I left [to move back home to Nashville]—it was abundantly clear that was the culture she was creating. When I was there, both Nashlee and Robin were available, and I felt they had both myself and my company’s best interest at heart and were willing to help out in any way they could. For a company or an entrepreneur looking to go somewhere where you really have that sense of community and are surrounded by positive, supportive energy, that is what Atlanta Tech Park epitomizes.

Sertainty Awards RotoMaire $10K at Global Challenge

By Events, Latest News, The Park

Sertainty Tech recently partnered with Atlanta Tech Park to sponsor the Developers Challenge at the 2019 ATL Cyber-FinTech Global Innovation Challenge in September of this year. The competition’s six finalists competed for an opportunity to win $10,000. Challenge companies included RotoMaire, Cyber Investigations & Intelligence Agency (CI2A), Modern Radio, Vallum Software, Nugo Tech, and American Renaissance Technology (ART).

RotoMaire won the $10,000 grand prize for the best utilization of the Sertainty UXP Technology.

RotoMaire provides a product recall platform solution for retailers and distributors that lets them communicate directly with their customers. By using proprietary, cloud-driven data solutions, automation, and actual human support, RotoMaire mitigates risk and protects consumers from product recalls. As part of the challenge, RotoMaire utilized the Sertainty Workflow Data Protector and Software Developer’s Kit to build security into their platform in order to protect and audit sensitive data.

“At RotoMaire, keeping our customers’ data safe and secure is our first mission,” Jehan Luth, RotoMaire CEO and Founder said. “We are pleased to have won the Global Cyber-FinTech Challenge sponsored by Sertainty Corporation. They have an incredible suite of products that every software developer needs to check out.”

“The best cyber defense is built-in verses bolted on,” Robin Bienfait, Founder of Atlanta Tech Park and Advising Chief Technology Officer for Sertainty, said before the winner was announced. As a result of the Global Innovation Challenge’s success, Sertainty has been able to continue building the Developer Ecosystem.

The event also inspired both Sertainty and Atlanta Tech Park to host another challenge targeting the MedTech industry. The ATL Cyber-MedTech Global Innovation Challenge is scheduled for April 27-29, 2020.

The 2020 ATL Cyber-Fin Global Innovation Challenge will take place September 15-18 at Atlanta Tech Park. Check out the full recap of the 2019 event HERE.

The Park finalist for Gwinnett Small Business Awards

By Latest News, The Park

The Gwinnett Chamber’s inaugural Small Business Awards will showcase those that dare to start, sustain and succeed and the community that supports them. Recognized as an industry leader, Atlanta Tech Park has been named a finalist for the Advocate Award in the Small Business Awards category.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the Gwinnett Chamber for our hard work and commitment to the local community,” said Nashlee Young, Director of Operations for Atlanta Tech Park. “Our views align closely with those of the Chamber and this nomination validates everything that we have worked hard to achieve this year,” Young said.

“At the Gwinnett Chamber, we believe small business is big business,” said Nick Masino, President & CEO, Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett. “We understand that entrepreneurs are the engines of our economy and we are excited to celebrate their contributions.”

Honoring individuals and organizations alike, designations will be given in the following areas:

• Advocate Award
• Community Contributor Award
• Culture Creator Award
• Emerging Entrepreneur Award
• Founder Award
• Launch Award
• Minority-Owned/Women-Owned Small Business Award
• Small Business Award
• Support System Award

The awards ceremony will be held Wednesday, October 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Infinite Energy Forum. Visit the Small Business Awards page on the Gwinnett Chamber website for more information.