L O N G R E A D

The World's MostInnovative CompaniesWe canvassed the experts, analyzed the products,and crunched the numbers. From visionary upstartsto storied stalwarts, here are companies that dazzlewith new ideas — and prove beyond a doubt howbusiness is a force for change. We call them the Fast50.

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F A S T C O M P A N Y : T H E W O R L D ' S M O S T I N N O V A T I V E C O M P A N I E SM E N U S U B S C R I B E

Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry of Method | photo by Suzy PolingEric Ryan and Adam Lowry of Method | photo by Suzy Poling

M A R K B O R D E N , B I L L B R E E N , J E F F C H U , J O S HD E A N , R E B E C C A F A N N I N , A M Y F E L D M A N ,

C H A R L E S F I S H M A N , P A U L H O C H M A N , D A V I DK U S H N E R , M A R K L A C T E R , R O B E R T L E V I N E ,

D A V I D L I D S K Y, E L L E N M C G I R T, D A N I E L L ES A C K S , C H U C K S A L T E R , E L I Z A B E T H

S V O B O D A , L I N D A T I S C H L E R 0 3 . 0 1 . 0 8 5 : 0 0A M

#1 GOOGLEThe faces and voices of the world's mostinnovative company.

#2 APPLECareful readers of this magazine may be scratchingtheir heads right now, in light of our recent coverstory laying out the many challenges facing Apple.But the company has had, indisputably, one hell ofa run. In the past year alone, three major newproducts — iPhone, iPod Touch, and Leopard OS —fueled triple-digit revenue growth. So whileanalysts forecast a more earthbound Apple in2008, it deserves praise. And extra points for style.

#3 FACEBOOKIn 2007, the social-networking juggernaut hadvariously impressed with its ability to reinvent thewheel (opening its platform to outside developers)and drawn cyberpickets with its boneheadedmissteps (trying to sell advertising by telegraphing

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its users' every move). But after a year liveddangerously, Facebook is officially A-list, with a$15 billion valuation to boot, thanks to Microsoft's$240 million investment. That's nothing to throw asheep at.

#4 GEGE makes our list not on reputation but on thestrength of its breakthrough products. Amongthem: an HD CT scanner that reduces radiationexposure by half, a reengineering of the best-selling CF34 jet engine for the booming Chineseaviation market, and a hybrid locomotive that cutsemissions by 50% — evidence that Ecomaginationis more than just marketing babble. Coming up,commercially viable OLED lighting by 2010.

#5 IDEONobody can accuse the Palo Alto — based designfirm of taking on easy clients in 2007. The CDCasked Ideo to help tackle childhood obesity; theAcumen Fund enlisted the shop to collaborate ondelivering clean water in the developing world; andthe Red Cross hired it to help encourage blooddonations. "As social issues increasingly becomebusiness issues," says Ideo CEO Tim Brown, "thiswill be a critical new direction for design." Ofcourse, there were awards too. The company'sdesigns for the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet cabin andcockpit instrument panel won IDEA Gold medals,

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as did its LCD monitor for Samsung. But it wasIdeo's "Keep the Change" campaign for Bank ofAmerica that had perhaps the most impact. Basedon research showing that boomer women withkids tend to round up their financial transactions,Ideo developed a service that rounds up debit cardpurchases to the nearest dollar, then transfers themonetary difference from the customer's checkingaccount to her savings. In its first year, 2.5 millioncustomers signed up.

#6 NIKEYou expect fancy footwear from Nike. But its latestmasterstroke is social networking, online and off.From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nikeis blurring the line between brand andexperience.Mark Borden

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#7 NOKIAOnce a maker of wood products and tires, theFinnish firm has thrived in the wireless world.Today, Nokia has a 37% (and growing) share of theglobal cell-phone market, more than twice that ofits closest competitor, Motorola. How? A two-tiereddesign process that identifies the "remarkablesimilarities in what global consumers want andneed in their mobile devices," says senior design

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manager Rhys Newman, then adds local insight.Bright colors are key to success in India, China, andthe Middle East, "where a phone can show status,"he says. Markets with low literacy rates get phoneswithout written menus. The company’s nextchallenge is to gain momentum in the U.S., whereit has less than 10% of the market. It’s betting bigon the feature-rich N95 smartphone — and astrategy of welcoming third-party apps.

#8 ALIBABAWhen Alibaba went public last November andraised a stunning $1.5 billion — the biggestInternet IPO since Google’s — it also raisedeyebrows around the world. But probably not thoseof founder Jack Ma, who back in 1999 recognizedthat China’s 42 million small and medium-sizecompanies (the vast majority of businesses in thecountry) just might create some opportunities fore-commerce. Alibaba provides a point-and-clicksystem for suppliers to get online and connect withdistributors and consumers all over the world. TheChinese site today boasts 16 million users, and theEnglish iteration has 9 million. Watch out, eBay.

#9 AMAZONWithout much fanfare, Amazon has more thantripled its revenues since 2002, to $13 billion. Thekey: giving customers choices, not just amongproducts, but also between buying from Amazon

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directly or from outside vendors on the site.Amazon’s new digital offerings — in e-books,videos, and music — present a fresh menu ofoptions. The company’s digital music store,launched in May, already comprises 3 millionsongs, all compatible with any device and anymusic software. Similarly, Unbox allows Amazoncustomers to rent or buy films and TV shows, andwatch them on a variety of players. In an era offighting formats and fears of piracy, that’suncommonly ecumenical.

#10 NINTENDOBy now you know the story: After Sony andMicrosoft kicked the Mario out of Nintendo’sGameCube in the Video Game War of 2001, thecutest and smallest of the three platform makersneeded a new plan. "Nintendo took a step backfrom the technology arms race and chose to focuson the fun of playing, rather than cold tech specs,"says Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo ofAmerica. The resulting Wii system, with itsintuitive motion-sensitive controller andinteractive games, appealed not only to teen boysbut also to their sisters, moms, and dads. In 2007,Wii outsold both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.But get this: Unlike its competitors—which losemoney on each console and earn it back onsoftware — Nintendo turns a profit on its consoles,makes more selling games, then takes in still morein licensing fees. "Not to sound too obvious," Fils-

Aimé says, "but it makes good business sense tomake a profit on the products you sell." Wall Streetthinks so too. The company’s stock has more thandoubled over the past year. Nintendo’s upset isdoing more than attracting new gamers andbruising Sony and Microsoft. Says Sega of Americapresident Simon Jefferey: "It has opened doors ofcreativity throughout the video-game business."

#11 PROCTER & GAMBLEWhen Procter & Gamble’s stock tanked by morethan half in 2000, CEO A.G. Lafley knew he wasfacing the dilemma of giant companieseverywhere: Despite pouring money into R&D,P&G couldn’t create new products fast enough tokeep growing. The only way out, Lafley realized,was to innovate innovation. So he launched theConnect + Develop program, which allows outsidedevelopers to get their concepts and designs intoP&G’s product pipeline. An applicator developed byCardinal Health (now Catalent), for example,helped P&G launch Olay Regenerist Eye Derma-Pods, now its top-selling skin-care item. Today,42% of P&G products have an externally sourcedcomponent. And this giant is growing: Revenuesrose 8%, to $78 billion, last fiscal year, while profitsclimbed 14%, to $11 billion.

#12 NEWS CORP.As if buying MySpace didn’t cement News Corp. as

a maverick, Murdoch & Co. last year pledged to gocarbon neutral by 2010, launched the Fox BusinessNetwork, and, oh yeah, snapped up Dow Jones andThe Wall Street Journal.

#13 AFFYMETRIXImagine going for a half-hour doctor’s visit andcoming out with a treatment plan tailored to yourunique genetic blueprint. That’s the vision at SantaClara, California–based Affymetrix, which makeslab tests that scan tissue samples for variations inthousands of genes. The company banked anestimated $405 million in revenue last year,spurred by its AmpliChip test, which identifiespeople who metabolize drugs slowly. Now the raceis on to develop advanced tests for geneticpredisposition to heart disease and the mostcommon types of cancer.

Photograph: Chris Greenberg/The New YorkTimes/Redux

#14 DISNEYTwo years into the job, CEO Bob Iger continues tomold Disney into the digital-media innovator towatch. ABC was the first network to sell TVepisodes on iTunes and to stream them for free onits Web site. Pirates of the Caribbean and HighSchool Musical showed multiplatform agility. AndPixar’s latest hit, Ratatouille, was a masterful blend

of technical brilliance, artistry, and narrative thatevoked Walt’s original magic. Pixar cofounder EdCatmull, now president of Pixar and DisneyAnimation Studios, is encouraging the Big Mouseto rediscover and build on its rich tradition.

FC: How are you reviving hand-drawnanimation?EC: People focus on the art of the old Disney films,not the interplay between art and technology.Disney did the first blue-screen matting, the firstmultiplane camera. We brought back thatinterplay. The art and technology inspire eachother. One of our experiments is going paperless.Changes are easier on a digital tablet.

What worked at Pixar that is now helpingDisney?We’ve made two short films at Disney like we do atPixar. A small team does everything—the story, thetechnology—and it allows them to stretch. "Glago’sGuest" is more somber and realistic than the usualDisney look.

How do you encourage innovation?In a hierarchy, everyone is working for the personmaking the film, but we push control far down intothe organization. Does everyone own the project?Are we taking an honest-to-goodness risk? If we’renot scared, really scared, we’re not doing a goodproject.

#15 SAMSUNGThe first bendable OLED screen. An ultrathindouble-sided LCD. A solid-state drive to replace thehard disk in your laptop. And soon, in acollaboration with game company Reactrix: a TVthat lets viewers move what’s on the screen withthe wave of a hand. Just a taste of the impact of theworld’s fastest-growing consumer-electronicscompany.

#16 METHOD"I describe it as green trench warfare," says AdamLowry, cofounder of Method, the San Francisco–based company that makes ecologically soundcleaning products. Last February, Lowry and hispartner, Eric Ryan, launched an assault againstProcter & Gamble’s blockbuster Swiffer. Method’sOmop, a sleek silver reusable mop, employssweeping cloths made from corn-based plastic(PLA). Instead of clogging landfills, they’re 100%biodegradable — and just as effective.

This isn’t the first time Lowry, a 6-foot-6-inchchemical engineer who founded Method with hishighschool buddy Ryan eight years ago, has giventhe middle finger to the consumer-productsplaybook. Two years ago, Method rolled out dryersheets that use plant-based oil instead of theindustry standard, beef fat. The company had atriple-concentrated laundry detergent a full twoyears before Unilever and P&G started crowing

about all the water and shipping waste they wouldeliminate with their own. Meanwhile, Method’swere also nontoxic, and packaged in bottles thatlook more MoMA than Kmart.

Last year’s numbers were a landmark for Method,proving to the industry that clean products are asviable as conventional ones and that slick designcan transform even the most mundanecommodities into objects of desire — all whilepriced for the masses. In 2005, Method’s salesclocked in at a mere $15.3 million. In 2007, theyhit nearly $100 million. Seventh Generation, thegreen products pioneer, hit $100 million last yeartoo, but it took nearly two decades to get there. Thefast-rising Method is on a completely differenttrajectory.

"Method changed consumers’ viewpoint from‘This [cleaning product] is something necessaryand not good-looking’ to ‘This is something that’salmost an art object that I want everyone whowalks into my house to see,’ " says LynnDornblaser, who tracks consumer-product trendsat global research house Mintel. "They’ve luredshoppers who hadn’t thought aboutenvironmental cleaners by getting them to comein through the back door." Method’s minimalistbottles of surface cleaner, detergent, soap, and airfreshener — originally designed by Karim Rashid,now designed in-house — can be foundeverywhere from Whole Foods and Target toDuane Reade and Staples. Last year, Lowry and

Ryan opened their first European office, in London;in January, they launched a television show on theHome Shopping Network; and in May, they willrelease their first book, Squeaky Green, a home-detox guide that reveals some of the industry’snastier secrets.

None of it has been easy. Ryan, a former ad guywho sports skinny ties and metal-frame glasses,explains that in 2005, when they first set out tocreate the Omop, he and Lowry met with every U.S.manufacturer of Swiffer-style cloths. "Every singleone of them said you cannot make [the cloths] outof PLA," Lowry says. So the duo scouted out afactory in China that was willing to take on thechallenge. Now that Method has proven theformula works and there’s consumer demand forit, Lowry says, the manufacturers who snubbedthem are crawling back.

The trench warfare with the majors is only going tointensify, though. Last December, Clorox launchedGreen Works, the first entirely new plant-basedline to emerge from one of the dominant firms.Instead of heading for cover, Lowry and Ryan planto stay ahead of the competition as they alwayshave—by using ingenuity to feed the product line."When we started this company, we had a sayingthat we were never going to try to out-CloroxClorox," says Ryan. "We shifted the playing fieldwhere now companies are trying to out-MethodMethod." — Danielle Sacks

#17 TARGETTarget’s strategy of rolling out capsule collectionsby well-known designers has kept the store’sfashion merchandise leading the trends. In 2008,that strategy will take the form of vintage-inspiredsports apparel and footwear with Converse, and aline of bedding, linens, and baby goods designedby StudioDwell. Target’s appetite for hip designalso extends to its marketing initiatives, such as2007’s "model-less" fashion show at New York’sGrand Central Terminal (think holograms struttingdown virtual runways) and a 2005 "vertical fashionshow" at Rockefeller Center (left). Internally, thecompany encourages non-big-box thinking with aquarterly Big Idea contest. Winners don’t just get astar on their performance reviews; they get a cashprize and a chance to see their ideas brought tolife.

#18 HPWhen CEO Mark Hurd took over the demoralizedpost–Carly Fiorina company in 2005, he knew itwould be a messy job — and that was before thespying scandal. But in just two years, HP has stolenDell’s leadership in the PC market, tripled its ownstock price, and grabbed some heat with an adcampaign that features Gwen Stefani and Jay-Z.Then there are the new products, such as Blackbird002, an extreme-performance gaming computerthat has opened a new market in high-margin,

premium PCs.

#19 TESCOTwo or three times a week since November, a Fresh& Easy grocery has opened in California, Arizona,or Nevada. It’s part of a plan to open 200 stores intwo years envisioned by the chain’s British parent,Tesco, the world’s third-largest retailer. If Tesco’spast is precedent, the U.S. grocery business oughtto pay attention: Tesco has already quashedchallenges from Wal-Mart in the U.K., andoverseas expansion is its biggest growth generator.With more selection than a 7-Eleven but less thana standard supermarket, Fresh & Easy is gearedtoward the typical American shopper who buysonly a few hundred products. The company plansto keep costs low by centralizing distribution,selling more store-brand items, and relying solelyon automated checkout. By 2011, sales areprojected to reach $4 billion, according to TNSRetail Forward.

#20 AUSRAGive Ausra CEO Bob Fishman a 92-by-92-mileexpanse of desert land — an area less than one-tenth the size of Nevada — and he could power theentire United States. Fishman doesn’t control thatmuch land, of course, and transporting electricityall over the country would get tricky. But thatdoesn’t make the power of Ausra’s solar technology

any less mind-boggling.

While most older solar setups depend on priceyphotovoltaic panels, Ausra’s installations boastmass-produced mirror clusters that focus the sun’srays onto water-filled tubes. When the waterbegins to boil, it produces enough steam to turn anarray of turbines. Fishman estimates electricitygenerated this way will cost 10 to 12 cents perkilowatt-hour — on par with power from pollutingsources such as coal, and 50% less thanphotovoltaic power. "Photovoltaic is constrainedbecause it uses high-grade silicon," he says. "We’reusing everyday materials — just steel, glass, andwater."

VC extraordinaire Vinod Khosla invested $25million in Ausra last year, and Kleiner, Perkins,Caulfield, & Byers kicked in another $15 million, acolossal vote of confidence that has provencontagious. In November 2007, Pacific Gas &Electric signed a 20-year power purchasingagreement with the company that will generatemore than $1 billion in revenue (Ausra’s firstCalifornia plant is slated to be up and running by2010), and Ausra officials are in talks with utilitiesin Florida and Nevada to cement similar deals. "Idon’t think it’s out of the question for us to get 30%of the national grid within 20 years," Fishmansays.

#21 TIMBERLANDRather than just going carbon neutral (which itaims to do by 2010) or using sustainable materials(which it does in everything from its products andpackaging to its factories and stores), NewHampshire–based Timberland has taken the bullypulpit in its environmental efforts, leading the wayto greater responsibility even as it strugglesfinancially. The company aims to influence itsconsumers’ and employees’ behavior with bigbenefits for hybrid-car buyers, community-serviceincentives, green scorecards on its products —even recycling its billboards into tote bags.

#22 IBMIBM racked up 3,125 U.S. patents in 2007, morethan any other company — for the 15th year in arow. It also celebrated the first anniversary ofInnovationJam: CEO Sam Palmisano pledged $100million for the best ideas at the companywidebrainstorm; he ultimately funded 10 of the 37,000submitted, including five new businesses."Everyone’s trying to figure out the holy grail ofcollaborative innovation," says IBM VP David Yaun.So now IBM is selling the InnovationJammethodology itself.

#23 ARUPFounded 62 years ago, Arup is the graybeard ofeco-sensitive engineering and design. Its work

represents a world tour of avant-garde architecture— Paris’s Pompidou Center, the Sydney OperaHouse, the London Eye. Arup’s latest work is noless ambitious: A massive Beijing airportexpansion, opening in time for the Olympics, willaccommodate 55 million passengers; an eco-village in England will include zero-carbon homes;a "personal rapid transit" system will shuttleHeathrow passengers in driverless pods. Arup hasdone projects in 160 countries, but its Google-likegoverning philosophy (set down 38 years ago byfounder Sir Ove Arup, a Danish philosopher andengineer) has remained constant: "Our pursuit ofquality should in itself be useful."

#24 ANOMALYThere’s a dead body lying on the floor — no actualflesh, just the crime-scene white-tape outline of a6-foot-tall man frozen in a mad dash. "Here it is,death of the old advertising model," smirks JasonDeLand, a partner at Anomaly, pointing at the floorof his company’s Soho loft space. "Shot as he wasrunning out."

It’s worth a chuckle, despite the cliché of yetanother new-breed creative agency taking a shot atits predecessors. Unlike most of the hot shops thathave emerged in recent years premised on thedemise of the 30-second spot, Anomaly hasdefinitely earned its bragging rights.

Instead of claiming to reinvent advertising,Anomaly shirks the ad categorization altogether. In2004, DeLand set out with four former colleaguesfrom Chiat\Day and Wieden+Kennedy to build anew kind of company: part branding firm, partdesign shop, part innovation think tank, part VCfirm. Anomaly has created a model that attacks thefundamental flaws of the agency machine. Mostad agencies still earn their paychecks from timesheets and media spend, which means they’remotivated to be inefficient and to produce ideasthat are wedded to expensive media. Anomalytakes a different approach, negotiating upfronteither a predetermined fee or, better yet, royaltiesor an equity stake in a product. So when a clientcomes in with an advertising problem, Anomolyaddresses it more broadly as a business issue,analyzing everything from design to productdevelopment. "They have a talent that goes beyondyour typical artist or creative," says Brian Kelley,president of Coca-Cola’s Still Beverages, a client."It’s an eclectic group of people who think aboutdriving every piece of your business."

In thinking about their own business, the partnersrecognized that as branding experts, they couldjust as well create original products too. "We wouldrather invent the next VitaminWater than do theads for VitaminWater," says partner Carl Johnson.So while half of Anomaly’s business is doing clientwork, the other half is building brands fromscratch. "What we’re really doing is generating

profit from clients, then reinvesting in a venturefund for our intellectual properties," Johnson says.

Anomaly’s Sand Hill Road–meets–MadisonAvenue approach isn’t yet ubiquitous — ordominant — but it is showing results. Profitable inits first year of business, the New York–basedagency has doubled its revenue every year since. In2007, Anomaly brought in nearly $20 million, withnew clients including Converse and Bluetooth-headset maker Jawbone. New businesses it haslaunched include Avec Eric, a culinary line with LeBernardin chef Eric Ripert; Eu, a high-end skincare line with former Neutrogena chemist TammyHa; and EOS, a mass-market skin-care line. As thefirm has gained momentum, the ad industry hastaken notice: At least two of the major agencyholding companies have offered to buy Anomaly inthe past two years. Instead, after reaching theirself-imposed max of 100 staffers this year, DeLandand crew opted to take an innovative approach totheir own growth. Wary of becoming another largeagency where creativity suffers with scale,Anomaly launched an offspring: Another Anomaly,an autonomous company with its own balancesheet, partners, clients, and an office just a few cityblocks away.

The venture that best illustrates the Anomalymodel is the luggage it created for Virgin Americalast year. Richard Branson’s new airline hired theteam in 2005 to feed ideas into every part of itsoperations. Anomaly realized it could use the

crew’s luggage as branding medium and broughtin snowboard company Burton to help craft anedgy black suitcase with skateboard wheels and aremovable cosmetics pouch. Sales from theluggage, which will be available commercially laterthis year, will be shared three ways among thecompanies. "What would have been a cost forVirgin is now an additional revenue stream," sayspartner Johnny Vulkan. — Danielle Sacks

#25 AUTODESKSince 1982, designers, engineers, and architectshave made Autodesk’s 2-D AutoCAD draftingprograms the default choice for creating anythingfrom buildings to sailboards. Last year, sales grewby more than 20%, and revenue reached $1.84billion. Now Autodesk is targeting the latestgrowth area in product design: 3-D virtualprototyping that eliminates the need for buildingphysical models. With the company’s Inventorsoftware, designers can not only create a renderingthat shows how a product will look (as with theWuhan Blue Sky Chinese apartment project at left),but they can subject it to tests that show howdifferent elements will respond to gravity ortorque. What’s more, whereas competitors’ foraysinto 3-D prototyping were prohibitively expensiveand hard to use, Inventor costs $5,300 and usesclick-and-drag functionality that allows objects tobe changed, redrawn, and saved as easily as in aWord document. As Buzz Kross, a VP at Autodesk,

brags: "We’ve delivered this tool into the hands ofdesigners. It has become one everybody can use."

Rendering: Courtesy of Anderson AndersonArchitecture. Photograph: Herman Miller Inc.

#26 HERMAN MILLERThe first product to emerge from Herman Miller’ssecret R&D lab in Michigan just over a year ago hasnothing to do with the company’s signature Aeronchairs or modular office furniture. ConviaProgrammable Infrastructure transforms the waycompanies install electrical systems, letting youreconfigure an entire building — lighting, outlets,even heat and A/C — with only a two-button point-and-click wand. The result? Not just flexibility inmanaging space, but also up to 30% energysavings. Times are good at Herman Miller. Amongthe dozens of fresh developments in 2007 were apersonal climate control unit adapted fromautomotive technology and a voice privacy systemthat scrambles cell-phone users’ voices to the earsof random passersby. Coming soon: office furniturewith built-in cordless charging technology.

#27 REALNETWORKS"There should never be a day when you don’t haveyour music wherever you are," says Michael Bloom,general manager of Rhapsody, RealNetworks’subscription music service. As a PC-tethered

offering, Rhapsody couldn’t overcome a century ofingrained music-buying behavior. But with itsDNA now embedded in MTV, Facebook, and techgadgets from TiVo to Nokia Internet tablets toVerizon VCast cell phones (coming soon),Rhapsody’s ubiquity is starting to seem inevitable.

#28 LG ELECTRONICSEarly on, LG, then a tiny Korean electronicsmanufacturer, was known as the "lucky group." Itsure looks that way now: Half a century old, LG isone of the world’s biggest producers of cell-phonehandsets, air-conditioners, front-loading washingmachines, DVD players, and flat-panel TVs. It hasgone from near anonymity here just three yearsago to $11.5 billion in North American sales in2007. LG’s killer app, slated for 2009 release, isrumored to be a mobile TV, dubbed MPH, that canpick up robust digital high-def broadcasts — evenfrom the backseat of a car going as fast as 100miles per hour.

#29 BOEINGNot long ago, Boeing seemed destined for a futureof eating Airbus’s jetwash. But the 787 Dreamlinerput the Seattle jumbo back in contention. Fiftypercent of the Dreamliner’s fuselage is built fromlightweight composite materials, helping shave20% off fuel consumption. The 787 is also 60%quieter than similar planes and emits cleaner

exhaust. Inside, in a bid to reduce the headaches,dry mouth, and general misery of the long-haulhangover, higher cabin pressure and humiditybetter imitate life on the ground, and lightingadjusts with time-zone shifts. By January, 55customers had ordered more than 800Dreamliners, making it the fastest-sellingcommercial jet ever.

#30 OMNITUREOmniture is like an intelligence upgrade for theWeb. It provides thousands of clients, from Bank ofAmerica to JetBlue, with real-time informationabout how visitors use their Web sites; thosevisitors, meanwhile, find an increasingly personalexperience rooted in previous behavior andinterests. And the data derived from this sort ofhigh-IQ interaction have made Omniture anessential tool for improving its return on online adspending.Last year, it managed $500 million inkeyword spending that led to $10 billion in actualcommerce. "We want to change the onlineexperience," CEO Josh James says. "If consumersare happy, everyone is happy." James certainly is:Omniture grew about 80% in 2007, with salestopping $140 million.

#31 IROBOTIt seemed beyond the call of duty. But when iRobot,a technology company in Burlington,

Massachusetts, was testing new versions of itsmilitary robot, it joined the Army. Specifically, thecompany sent engineer Tom Frost to basic trainingand on to Afghanistan, where he helped soldiersclear caves with iRobot’s PackBot, a nimblecreature that can shoot audio and video and climbstairs (it even works underwater). Frost, whosearmy nickname morphed from "Sweet Cheeks" to"Tommy Gun" as he grew into his deployment, sentimmediate feedback: "This thing has got to belighter."

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have provided asad laboratory for iRobot, a company better knownfor the Roomba, a robot that vacuums floors, thencruises back to its charger base like a dutiful pet.For Helen Greiner, one of iRobot’s three founders,the war has provided the impetus for the militaryto fast-track the adoption of new technology."There is no reason to send a person into adangerous situation when a robot can help," shesays.

Before robots, the state of the art for cave clearingwas to tie a rope around a solider’s waist and havehim crawl around with a grappling hook. While inthe field, Frost was able to improve the machine inreal time, downloading code updates via satellite,cobbling together solutions to signal problems thatoccur in caves, and suggesting improvements,such as switching from a laptop interface to a morefamiliar joystick control. The result is the firstinfantry bot, priced to move at around $50,000 and

weighing in at about 40 pounds. In December, thecompany won a $286 million contract to deliver asmany as 3,000 of them to the U.S. Army.

IRobot was born of the purest geek passion. Thethree founders met at MIT and bonded over theirlove of robots: Greiner and CEO Colin Angle wereundergrads together; CTO Rod Brooks was Angle’sthesis adviser. (Angle’s senior project with Brooks,a six-legged autonomous walking robot namedGenghis, was later installed at the Smithsonian’sNational Air and Space Museum.) Ultimately, thetrio decided it wanted to build robots that realpeople could use — better living through robotics."The challenge was that robots cost more to buildthan they delivered in value," Angle says. "Whatwould it take to have them touch people’s lives on adaily basis?" The founders left the rarefied air ofacademia and went into business in 1990.Government and university projects sustainedthem initially — they built the behavior-controlledrovers for NASA that led to the Mars explorer — butthey were seriously strapped for cash. "We wentsix-and-a-half years never starting the month withenough money in the bank to make payroll," Anglerecalls. "But we always made it."

While Greiner deepened the company’s militaryrelationships — iRobot joined a DARPA program forrobotics in 1997 — Angle spearheaded theconsumer division. IRobot spent part of the 1990smaking industrial cleaning robots for SC Johnsonand toys for Hasbro; when both contracts expired,

Greiner and Angle decided to combine what they’dlearned into the Roomba. The company raised $38million in investor cash in 1998, starteddeveloping the cute digital domestic (most usersname them, as they would a pet) in 1999, anddebuted its first version in 2002. The Roomba nowaccounts for around 2% of the vacuum market.

As the company has grown — it went public inNovember 2005 — innovation has become apriority. The consumer side runs periodic "bakeoffs" where inter-disciplinary teams develop ideasthat have been languishing in-house. The lastround produced the Looj, a gizmo that cleansgutters, currently in beta. The government-and-industrial arm opened the platform for its basicPackBot to outside developers last year as a way ofdriving innovation based on iRobot’s proprietaryoperating system. The move paid off quickly. "Wepartnered with an explosives-sensor company thatwas able to hook into our onboard computer,"Angle says. The resulting bomb-sniffing botgenerated 25% of the revenue for the G&I divisionlast year: "We shipped 150 in 2007," mostly toBaghdad.

"Nobody wants war," Angle says, but "the nature ofconflict has changed forever." That’s true of manyaspects of life, and the team is always thinkingabout the future, about a world where houses cleanthemselves and an aging population uses robots tohelp them manage the small but frustratingchores of daily life. Says Greiner: "We’ve got the

technology. How do we get there first?" — EllenMcGirt

#32 WAL-MARTIn 2007, Wal-Mart came to symbolize corporateenvironmental transformation. Most famously, thecompany doubled the U.S. market for energy-saving CFL lightbulbs, selling 100 million in ninemonths. It rolled out an online system for trackinghow its suppliers reduce their packaging, launcheda nationwide program to teach employees aboutsustainability, installed solar-power systems onsome stores and warehouses—the scale isastonishing. But there’s also this: Last year, Wal-Mart hit sales of $1 billion a day, a world record. Itwas only in 1980 that Wal-Mart broke $1 billion ayear.

#33 LIVE NATIONA lot of fuss was made when Live Nation signedMadonna to a reported $120 million deal last year.The Material Matron dropped Warner — her labelof 25 years, which still owns her catalog and willget two more albums — and made the ClearChannel spin-off her exclusive music partner:record label, concert promoter, ticket vendor, andmerch agent. The usual phrases were thrownaround: "paradigm shift," "artist empowerment,""death of the label." But the real big news is whatcomes next. Live Nation plans to go solo and end

its partnership with Ticketmaster at the end of thisyear. In doing so, it will break up a long-runningduopoly, keep a larger share of lucrative ticket feesfor itself, and crucially, cut Ticketmaster off fromkey customer data. "Forty million fans werecoming to our door, and we let Ticketmaster havetheir addresses and email," says Live Nation CEOMichael Rapino (left). "That’s ludicrous."

#34 INTELIntel had a rough 2006: Its slipping market shareforced layoffs, a reorg, and a complete overhaul ofits chip offerings. But adversity fired Intel’scompetitive metabolism (even if it did torch a feel-good partnership with Nicholas Negroponte’s OneLaptop Per Child, which Intel came to see as acompetitor to its own Classmate PC). By the end of2007, Intel had 83% of the chip market and a new45-nanometer core processor that has double thenumber of transistors and uses 30% less energy.

#35 BURTONThe earth is warming. The snow is vanishing. Sosnowboard maker Burton now owns ... a surfboardmanufacturer, Channel Islands. A year after that2006 purchase, Burton opened a 11,500-square-foot combo surf, skate, and snow mega-store onL.A.’s Melrose Avenue, part of a strategy forbreaking down the boundaries that traditionallyseparated the categories—and for rolling out

product year-round in the process. And roll it outBurton does: some 45,000 different items, eachreplaced annually. We’re not sure if it offers aGreenland longboard yet, but for Burton, there isno bad weather.

#36 WHOLE FOODSSure, CEO John Mackey got spanked in 2007 for hisanonymous posts on message boards, but the realWhole Foods story remains its relentless drive toraise the bar in terms of the foods it offers, theirpresentation, and how they’re transported to thestore. Sometimes that leadership verges on silly(e.g.,"butter bars," at which customers can havetheir butters custom-mixed with special herbs andsalts). But more often, Whole Foods’ innovationsfoster social responsibility — such as its "WholeTrade" concept, which certifies that products fromdeveloping countries are produced in economicallyand environmentally sustainable ways. Perhapsthe most innovative Whole Foods effort of the pastyear was a loan program for its food suppliers. Thecompany, which will pass $7 billion in sales in2008, created a pool of $10 million per year toprovide low-interest loans to small food producersto encourage the local-agriculture movement.

#37 CISCO SYSTEMSBack in the dotcom boom-boom days, CiscoSystems was synonymous with back-end

infrastructure. It built devices consumers neversaw that connected Internet servers and made theinformation superhighway run at autobahn speed.Routers, modems, switches — strictly behind-the-scenes action. But growth stopped with the crash,and Cisco needed a front-end strategy. Badly.Today, the company's Linksys brand is sellingphones and Webcams in addition to its ubiquitouswireless products. And by employing the sameEthernet strategy it used to cash in on connectingoffice printers and computers in the '90s, Cisconow plans to use its Scientific Atlanta TV-set-topbox to network home computers, entertainmentsystems, and phones. The new consumerbusinesses accounted for $3.5 billion in 2007sales, 10% of the total. Next up: a videoconferencetechnology called TelePresence 3000, whichemploys flat-panel screens on each end,microphone speakers, cameras, and speciallighting rigs. In its debut year, TelePresence wasinstalled in more than 40 countries. Now thecompany is building a family-friendly version ithopes will one day complete the homeentertainment — communication loop and(finally) make Cisco a household name.

#38 CORNINGMost companies don’t change the world even once.With its role in technologies that light our homes,reduce air pollution, and entertain us, Corning hastransformed our lives repeatedly. This year marks

the 100th anniversary of Corning’s storied R&Doperation, now called "Sullivan Park," after EugeneSullivan, who created the firm’s first lab andcultivated the firm’s innovative culture. Corningnow spends more than $2 million each workday onR&D, employing 1,800 researchers and a processthat’s both rigorously disciplined and near Google-like in its openness. That’s how it hasdemocratized technology over the past century,bringing to ordinary people everything fromlightbulbs to light-speed communication. —Charles Fishman

Read More:

#39 TOYOTAThe year 2007 will go down as a historic one forToyota, its 50th in the United States. The companywon 16% of the American market — more thandouble its share 10 years ago — and passed Ford totake the number-two spot in U.S. car sales, despitean uncharacteristic slip in quality ratings. Thecompany unveiled its next-gen Prius (due in 2010),a plug-in with a carbon-fiber body, but ironically,its most successful rollout was the redesignedTundra pickup. Toyota sold 3,800 of the jumbo 18-mpg trucks per week this year — 300 more thanPrius.

#40 REAL D

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's History

Corning's HistoryCorning's History

When Beowulf hit theaters in November, it markedthe dawn of the next — some say ultimate — waveof 3-D movies. Making the display possible was aCalifornia outfit called Real D, whose technologyuses circularly polarized light from digitalprojectors, avoiding the eye fatigue of the old 3-D.Theaters are banking that the technology will stopthe box-office slide, and Hollywood’s biggestplayers have projects in the pipeline. That’s notenough for Real D: "Our view is that 3-D imageschange the business on all visual displays," saysCEO Michael Lewis, who envisions Real D at homeand even on mobile screens. The company isalready experimenting with alternative content,from multiplayer in-theater video games to an NBAgame converted into 3-D in real-time. A U2 3-Dconcert film (above) is out now.

#41 MICROSOFTCritics like to crow about Redmond’s stumbles. Thestruggling Zune. The Xbox 360’s "red ring ofdeath." And as for Vista, well, cue the clearing ofthroats. Then again, ever hear of a little gamecalled Halo 3? And maybe you missed the biggestsurpise to emerge out of the PR squall this year, thetabletop computer Surface, a foray into multitouchtechnology that rivals the iPhone in coolness.Windows and Office continue their dominance, ofcourse, and Microsoft’s stock was up about 20% in2007.

#42 PAYLESS

Last September, when actresses Sophia Bush (OneTree Hill) and Brittany Snow (Hairspray) landedbackstage in Lela Rose’s showroom at New YorkFashion Week, they swooned over the designer’snew shoe collection that was about to debut on therunway. Rose, best known for $1,500 frocks,happily handed pairs of navy peep-toe pumps andpolka-dot round-toe pumps over to the youngcelebs, who would soon be flaunting them on thesidelines of the catwalk. "Did they know they werePayless shoes?" says Rose, who’s now designing herfifth exclusive line for the discounter. "Absolutely.They didn’t care. They looked cute to them andthat’s all that mattered."

Payless? Since when did the dusty dungeon ofcheap footwear have anything to do with the frontlines of fashion? Since 2005, when Matt Rubel,who previously turned around Cole Haan, took thehelm of the now $3.5 billion company and decidedit needed a design intervention. While the 4,500-store chain had thrived for years on the low-price,self-service model it pioneered in the 1950s, thelast decade saw the company losing the discountwars to beasts such as Wal-Mart. If thrift was nolonger its competitive edge, reasoned Rubel, thenPayless would have to design shoes that Sex andthe City’s Carrie Bradshaw would drool over atprices Roseanne could afford.

To do that, Rubel has injected a fashion sensibilityinto every arm of the Topeka, Kansas–basedcompany. Last year, he built its first design studioin Manhattan and recruited Robert Mingione,Kenneth Cole’s head of footwear, and BernardFigueroa, top footwear designer for Michael Kors,to run it. Taking a cue from fashion democratizerslike Target and H&M, he has lured up-and-comerssuch as Rose, Laura Poretzky, and Alice + Olivia’sStacey Bendet — even Sex and the City’s very ownPatricia Field — to design exclusive shoe andhandbag lines that sell at higher prices and employsophisticated materials such as silk crepe, snakeskin, and perforated kidskin. At the retail level,Rubel has given a 21st-century facelift to thechain’s 1970s-hued stores with two new formats.He has opened 22 "fashion labs" — more-upscalehubs, with modern décor bathed in pristine white,that offer the pricier fashion-forward lines — andretooled nearly 400 existing locations with anairier design that puts trendy collections in thespotlight. "More and more women who neverwould have shopped at Payless are becomingPayless customers," says Lori Holliday Banks, asenior analyst at fashion consultancy the TobeReport. "Rubel’s reinventing the whole self-servicebusiness."

Rubel, crowned Footwear News’s Person of the Yearfor 2007, isn’t stopping the extreme makeoverthere. In 2006, Payless nearly doubled its earnings.Then last spring, the CEO shook up the industry

with two major acquisitions: $91 million forCollective Licensing International, a brand-management company that owns names such asAirwalk and American Eagle, and $800 million forStride Rite Corp., whose brands include Keds andSaucony. Collective Brands Inc. (the parentcompany’s new name) is now the largest non-athletic-shoe company in the western hemisphere,giving Rubel a triple threat of retail, wholesale, andlicensing leverage. Says Rubel, who has become aregular at Fashion Week: "Initially it was prettydifficult getting designers on board to sell cheapshoes. Now we’re getting phone calls fromdesigners who want to work with us." — DanielleSacks

#43 AIRASIASeven years ago, former music exec TonyFernandes paid 25 cents for an ailing carrier withtwo creaky planes and $12 million in debt. Today,AirAsia’s bottom-of-the-pyramid strategy hascreated one of the world’s fastest-growing, most-profitable carriers, with the lowest operating costsin the industry and fares as cheap as $3. "It’s likeour bus," says Yap Choo Ying, who runs a marketstall in eastern Malaysia and now regularly jets toKuala Lumpur to see her grandkids. In November,the Malaysian company made a risky bet by goinglong-haul, adding flights to Australia; this year, itwill add flights to China and India, where billionsof people have yet to take to the skies.

#44 CURRENT TV"We wanted to democratize television," Al Gore toldus last summer, of his quest to create a cablenetwork that piped content pitched to — andcreated by — young people. But if the initial ideawas Gore’s, credit for Current TV’s subsequenttraction goes to CEO Joel Hyatt. Launched inAugust 2005, Current became profitable in 18months. "I knew nothing, and I mean nothing,about the cable industry," Hyatt says. But thatignorance freed his team to dream big, and by theend of 2007, more than a third of Currentprogramming was being created by viewers anddelivered to Current via the Web. Hyatt reinventedthe ad model as well, inviting the likes of Sony andToyota to tap his audience’s creativity; to date, 39viewer-generated ads have aired.

#45 SUN MICROSYSTEMSData centers account for some 3% of world energyuse, and Sun has taken that as a dare. Last year, itsmad-scientist approach to energy efficiency — and$2 billion R&D budget—caused ripples across theindustry as the company released the UltraSPARCT2, the world’s most efficient processor; ProjectBlackbox, the first modular data center; and a newSilicon Valley data center that increases computerpower by 456% while cutting energy costs by morethan 60%. With four straight profitable quartersfor the first time since 2001 and 6% revenue

growth, the forecast is sunny.

#46 BMWThe opening of the new $275 million BMW Welt(BMW World) in Munich was a high-water markfor the automaker’s marketing department. Some1 million pilgrims a year are expected to push theirnoses to the glass; 45,000 customers will pick uptheir cars here. But there’s a better reason BMWremains the world’s number-one premiummarque. After overhauling its much-criticizedonboard computer, the company has refocused onwhat’s important: the badass automobile. Look forthe $30,000 rear-wheel-drive 1-Series coupe(debuting in the United States this year), the 2008Mini Clubman (a supersize version of the Cooper),and, most impressive, the prototype Hydrogen 7.Yes, Honda has a hydrogen car too — but if you’regoing to be stranded by the roadside for lack of H,wouldn’t you rather it be in a BMW?

#47 TATA GROUPWithin the first 10 days of 2008, Ratan Tata, themagnate behind India’s $72.8 billion Tata Group,made a reported $2 billion bid for Ford’s Jaguarand Land Rover brands and unveiled its longanticipated $2,500 "People’s Car" (called Nano) at aNew Delhi auto show. Think about it: In the sameweek, India’s largest conglomerate shook up boththe high-end and the rock-bottom car markets, and

made a clear statement that Indian business is notjust a tech and outsourcing ghetto.

In truth, it wasn’t the first time that Tata himself,the fifth generation in his family to run thecompany, had demonstrated his global savvy. Inthe 1990s, when he first took the helm of Tata, itstrucking unit was posting the biggest losses inIndia’s history. Since then, through a series ofinternational acquisitions (Tetley Teas, steelmakerCorus), the 70-year-old has transformed thecompany into a mosaic of 100 diverse businesses.Clearly, Tata knows what India’s 300-million-strong emerging middle class is hungry for.Apparently he knows the rest of us, too: This year,more than half of the company’s revenue isexpected to come from non-Indian operations.

#48 AKQAMost interactive-ad shops master either thecreative or the technical; AKQA is expert at both.Whether building a Pixar-quality interactiveonline universe for Coke’s breathtaking "HappinessFactory" campaign (below), or masterminding amultimedia "alternate reality game" for Microsoft’sHalo 3, the digital powerhouse doesn’t just dreamup mind-bending ideas, it actually writes the codethat brings them to life. Which is why, after fiveconsecutive years of profitability, AKQA is one ofthe most dangerous global forces in the adindustry. While ad holding companies and tech

firms spent billions in 2007 to snap up digitalshops, AKQA fended them off, opting instead for a$250 million investment from private-equity firmGeneral Atlantic. In the meantime, the 700-personagency boosted revenues 39% to $100 million andadded new clients such as Unilever, DoubleClick,and Cadbury Schweppes — on top of existingaccounts with Nike and McDonald’s.

#49 PROSPER"What we’re really trying to do is to create an eBayfor money and credit," says Chris Larsen, CEO oftwo-year-old Prosper (and founder of E-Loan,which he sold in 2005). The company melds thedebt market with online social networking,allowing people to borrow money from oneanother without any banks in the middle. So far,Prosper has facilitated the transfer of more than$100 million, and delinquency rates have beenlow. Borrowers include stretched homeowners,college-goers, credit-card junkies, andentrepreneurs; lenders are average folks, includingLarsen himself (who has funded more than 450loans).

#50 BAIDUWe started this list with Google; we end it with astartup that has dared to go up against Google —and has won the first round. Baidu, the king ofChinese search (60% market share in 2007),

performs better in Mandarin and has morefeatures customized for locals. Cofounder Robin Liis convinced that Baidu will "become bigger thanGoogle," and he is in a hurry to get there: Herecently launched a Japanese search engine,introduced search for ad-supported streamingmusic, and was first to offer mobile search inChina.

A version of this article appeared in the issue of Fast Company magazine.

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6 M I N U T E R E A D T E C H N O L O G Y

How Disaster Apps

Y O U R @ E M A I L . C O M

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Work—And Don't

The scene in Nice the morning after the July 14 terror attack during whichan emergency-warning app failed to give timely notice.[Photo: Michel Abada

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A new survey of disaster apps finds many options—some prone to failure—and much more to come.

, warned people in and aroundNice of the danger on the city’s waterfront duringBastille Day festivities.

This aspect of the tragedy highlights an emergingelement of disaster preparation and response: thepotential for smartphone apps, social media sites,and information technology to assist bothemergency responders and the public at large infiguring out what is happening and what to doabout it.

A group I am in, with researchers from varieddisaster-response backgrounds (includingmilitary, urban, wilderness, and hospital service),has surveyed what’s already available on themarket and found

. Some help medicalprofessionals deal with ordinary day-to-day work,viewing guidelines and medication databases,performing calculations, remotely monitoringpatients’ vital signs, and displaying radiologyimages. Others can help responders deal withchemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, andexplosive disasters, which is useful for members of

. Apps for thepublic help them prepare for disasters, notify themof imminent problems, reconnect them withfamily members, and even help keep track of petsduring emergencies.

But as the failure of theFrench app during the

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Among the highest-quality apps wesurveyed, of 219 total:

Nice attack illustrates,

during disasters—nomatter what kind ofproblem it is: weather-related, an attack of somekind, or even just a poweroutage. Effectivecommunication, such asan evacuation alert as ahurricane approaches,can save lives.Unfortunately, as we sawduring HurricaneKatrina, disasters can themselves cause

. Thisproblem is best solved by emergency plannersusing the same strategy individuals figured out forthemselves in Nice: create multiple independentsystems to ensure connectivity.

PLANNING FOR REDUNDANCYIn disasters, many emergency responders alreadyanticipate communication failure and employmultiple systems. Hospitals, for example, handlemost communication with paging systems and in-building intercoms. If those go down, doctors,nurses, and other staff can reach each other ontheir cellular phones. Should those fail, manyhospitals keep closets full of radios charged andready for use.

The CommunityEmergency ResponseTeams and FEMA hadthe best apps forNational DisasterMedical Systemresponders. TheCenters for DiseaseControl and Prevention(CDC) had high-qualityapps for emergencyresponders in a varietyof fields. The NationalLibrary of Medicine’sWireless InformationSystem for EmergencyResponders (WISER)app was an excellentapp for HazMatresponders. TheAmerican Red Crosshad the most usefulapps for naturaldisasters

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This principle holds true for social media andsmartphone apps, too. The SAIP app’s failure wasdue in part to its developer’s lack of attention toredundancy, , aswell as an accidentally severed fiber-optic cableand a software error.

Although the SAIP app failed,citizens were able tocommunicate via social media.Citizens of Nice took to Facebookto use its feature topost that they were safe, and tomake sure friends and familyhad checked in OK.

also happened after the BostonMarathon bombing: People near the explosionsquickly posted Twitter messages identifying thelocation and specifics of events, as well as theirown whereabouts and safety.

Most of the newest technologies incommunication and disaster response employ thiscrowdsourcing technique. The allowsusers to upload pictures and information aboutdisasters, in addition to sending out informationfrom the National Weather Service and othergovernment agencies.

The workssimilarly, saying in its promotional material that itcan "create the world’s largest, most reliable, all-

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ubAlert—Disaster Alert Network App

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hazard disaster alerting network by combiningdata from global institutions and data providerswith crowd-sourced user accounts."Many regionalapps operate this way too. For example, thegovernment-run has a "seesomething send something" function, allowingusers to send in information about suspiciousactivity or even dial 911 directly from the app. Hadthe SAIP app been similarly equipped, its userscould have been more rapidly informed by fellowcitizens, despite the delay in the officialnotification process.

STORING DATA IN THE APP, VERSUS ONLINEWhen we did our analysis ofsmartphone apps for disasters,we found that many of theapps aimed at use byemergency responders did notuse much communication.Rather, they were referencematerials, such as guidelinesfor medical triage or referenceson infectious agents. Forexample, the

is designed to assistfirst responders toemergencies involvinghazardous materials. It offersinformation about various

substances from the National Library of Medicine

Safer Ohio App

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However, new apps are increasingly includingcommunication features. In addition to connectingusers to each other, they can ensure referencematerial is up to date. These functions primarilyrely on Wi-Fi, cellular data, or Bluetoothconnections. Smart app developers are includingredundancy, like in the .Its Flood app, for example, lets users notify othersthey are safe via social media, text message, andemail.

CREATING NEW COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKSBeyond building communications redundancyinto apps, some companies are building systemsthat will allow responders and the lay public aliketo communicate without cellular data or Wi-Fi. An

, for example, can connectnearby phones directly via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Thisallows the users to create their own network.

According to FireChat’s developer, Open Garden,the app can combine multiple devices to create areal network, passing a message from one to thenext until it reaches the intended recipient. Thistype of system can be an excellent substitute in

.

This approach doesn’t just involve smartphoneapplications. A device called a "goTenna" canconnect to a smartphone via Bluetooth and

American Red Cross apps

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app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

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situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communicationssituations where normal communicationscapabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limitedcapabilities are limited

up to severalmiles away. This works onlybetween people who havegoTenna devices, but isanother way people can createwhat the company calls"people-powered" networksthat do not need towers,routers, or satellites. The

obvious downside is that only people with thedevices are able to communicate—having just oneduring a disaster is not enough, and in fact thecompany only sells them in pairs.

In addition, there are devices emergencyresponders use that are also available to the public.Some members of my FEMA team use a

, which allows users tosend text messages over the

. It’s expensive, but in majordisasters it is a potentially valuable backup link.

When communications break down in a crisis, it’sa problem for emergency responders and regularpeople alike. With more reliable connections,responders can be better informed about thesituations they’ll face and the public can benotified of ways to help and how to avoid furtherproblems. Sadly, disasters will keep occurring. Butthe future is bright for improved communicationwhen they happen. It’s even possible that someday

A backpack with agoTenna deviceattached. Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

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Flickr userFlickr userdopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslife

dopieslifedopieslife

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with othercommunicate with othergoTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

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Delorme

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inReach Communicator

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inReach Communicator

inReach Communicator

inReach Communicator

inReach Communicator

inReach CommunicatorinReach Communicatorglobal Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridium

global Iridiumglobal Iridiumsatellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite network

satellite networksatellite network

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor thesmartphones may be able to monitor the

and contribute todisaster alert systems on their own.

Dr. Nicholas Kman is an Associate Professor ofEmergency Medicine at The Ohio State University.

This story originally .

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appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

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appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversationappeared at The Conversation

� � � *

6 M I N U T E R E A D T E C H N O L O G Y

How Disaster AppsWork—And Don't

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A new survey of disaster apps finds many options—some prone to failure—and much more to come.

The scene in Nice the morning after the July 14 terror attack during whichan emergency-warning app failed to give timely notice. [Photo: Michel

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via Wikipedia via Wikipedia]

N I C H O L A S K M A N 0 8 . 1 1 . 1 6 6 : 0 0 P M

When a terrorist struck a designed to alert

people failed. before , warned people in and around

Nice of the danger on the city’s waterfront duringBastille Day festivities.

This aspect of the tragedy highlights an emergingelement of disaster preparation and response: the

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Nice, France, on July

Nice, France, on July

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new French government app

new French government app

new French government app

new French government app

new French government app

new French government app

new French government app

new French government app

new French government appnew French government appThree hours passed

Three hours passed

Three hours passed

Three hours passed

Three hours passed

Three hours passed

Three hours passed

Three hours passed

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potential for smartphone apps, social media sites,and information technology to assist bothemergency responders and the public at large infiguring out what is happening and what to doabout it.

A group I am in, with researchers from varieddisaster-response backgrounds (includingmilitary, urban, wilderness, and hospital service),has surveyed what’s already available on themarket and found

. Some help medicalprofessionals deal with ordinary day-to-day work,viewing guidelines and medication databases,performing calculations, remotely monitoringpatients’ vital signs, and displaying radiologyimages. Others can help responders deal withchemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, andexplosive disasters, which is useful for members of

. Apps for thepublic help them prepare for disasters, notify themof imminent problems, reconnect them withfamily members, and even help keep track of petsduring emergencies.

But as the failure of theFrench app during theNice attack illustrates,

during disasters—nomatter what kind ofproblem it is: weather-

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can help

smartphone apps that can helpsmartphone apps that can helpproviders and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alike

providers and the public alikeproviders and the public alike

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m on

FEMA teams like the one I’m onFEMA teams like the one I’m on

Among the highest-quality apps wesurveyed, of 219 total:The CommunityEmergency ResponseTeams and FEMA hadthe best apps forNational DisasterMedical Systemresponders. TheCenters for DiseaseControl and Prevention

communication is

communication is

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related, an attack of somekind, or even just a poweroutage. Effectivecommunication, such asan evacuation alert as ahurricane approaches,can save lives.Unfortunately, as we sawduring HurricaneKatrina, disasters canthemselves cause

. This problem isbest solved by emergency planners using the samestrategy individuals figured out for themselves inNice: create multiple independent systems toensure connectivity.

PLANNING FOR REDUNDANCYIn disasters, many emergency responders alreadyanticipate communication failure and employmultiple systems. Hospitals, for example, handlemost communication with paging systems and in-building intercoms. If those go down, doctors,nurses, and other staff can reach each other ontheir cellular phones. Should those fail, manyhospitals keep closets full of radios charged andready for use.

This principle holds true for social media andsmartphone apps, too. The SAIP app’s failure wasdue in part to its developer’s lack of attention toredundancy, , aswell as an accidentally severed fiber-optic cable

(CDC) had high-qualityapps for emergencyresponders in a varietyof fields. The NationalLibrary of Medicine’sWireless InformationSystem for EmergencyResponders (WISER)app was an excellentapp for HazMatresponders. TheAmerican Red Crosshad the most usefulapps for naturaldisasters

damage resulting in

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according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reports

according to French news reportsaccording to French news reports

and a software error.

Although the SAIP app failed,citizens were able tocommunicate via social media.Citizens of Nice took to Facebookto use its feature topost that they were safe, and tomake sure friends and familyhad checked in OK.

also happened after the BostonMarathon bombing: People near the explosionsquickly posted Twitter messages identifying thelocation and specifics of events, as well as theirown whereabouts and safety.

Most of the newest technologies incommunication and disaster response employ thiscrowdsourcing technique. The allowsusers to upload pictures and information aboutdisasters, in addition to sending out informationfrom the National Weather Service and othergovernment agencies.

The workssimilarly, saying in its promotional material that itcan "create the world’s largest, most reliable, all-hazard disaster alerting network by combiningdata from global institutions and data providerswith crowd-sourced user accounts."Many regionalapps operate this way too. For example, thegovernment-run has a "see

What "Safety Check"

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ubAlert—Disaster Alert Network App

ubAlert—Disaster Alert Network App

ubAlert—Disaster Alert Network App

ubAlert—Disaster Alert Network App

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Safer Ohio App

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something send something" function, allowingusers to send in information about suspiciousactivity or even dial 911 directly from the app. Hadthe SAIP app been similarly equipped, its userscould have been more rapidly informed by fellowcitizens, despite the delay in the officialnotification process.

STORING DATA IN THE APP, VERSUS ONLINEWhen we did our analysis ofsmartphone apps for disasters,we found that many of theapps aimed at use byemergency responders did notuse much communication.Rather, they were referencematerials, such as guidelinesfor medical triage or referenceson infectious agents. Forexample, the

is designed to assistfirst responders toemergencies involvinghazardous materials. It offersinformation about various

substances from the National Library of MedicineHazardous Substances DataBank.

However, new apps are increasingly includingcommunication features. In addition to connectingusers to each other, they can ensure referencematerial is up to date. These functions primarily

A screen from theWISER app, whichassists first respondersduring emergenciesinvolving hazardousmaterials. National

National

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NationalNationalLibrary of Medicine

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rely on Wi-Fi, cellular data, or Bluetoothconnections. Smart app developers are includingredundancy, like in the .Its Flood app, for example, lets users notify othersthey are safe via social media, text message, andemail.

CREATING NEW COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKSBeyond building communications redundancyinto apps, some companies are building systemsthat will allow responders and the lay public aliketo communicate without cellular data or Wi-Fi. An

, for example, can connectnearby phones directly via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Thisallows the users to create their own network.

According to FireChat’s developer, Open Garden,the app can combine multiple devices to create areal network, passing a message from one to thenext until it reaches the intended recipient. Thistype of system can be an excellent substitute in

.

This approach doesn’t justinvolve smartphoneapplications. A device called a"goTenna" can connect to asmartphone via Bluetooth and

up to severalmiles away. This works onlybetween people who have

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross apps

American Red Cross appsAmerican Red Cross apps

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChat

app called FireChatapp called FireChat

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communications

situations where normal communicationssituations where normal communicationscapabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limited

capabilities are limitedcapabilities are limited

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

communicate with other

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communicate with other

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goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna users

goTenna usersgoTenna users

goTenna devices, but isanother way people can createwhat the company calls"people-powered" networks

that do not need towers, routers, or satellites. Theobvious downside is that only people with thedevices are able to communicate—having just oneduring a disaster is not enough, and in fact thecompany only sells them in pairs.

In addition, there are devices emergencyresponders use that are also available to the public.Some members of my FEMA team use a

, which allows users tosend text messages over the

. It’s expensive, but in majordisasters it is a potentially valuable backup link.

When communications break down in a crisis, it’sa problem for emergency responders and regularpeople alike. With more reliable connections,responders can be better informed about thesituations they’ll face and the public can benotified of ways to help and how to avoid furtherproblems. Sadly, disasters will keep occurring. Butthe future is bright for improved communicationwhen they happen. It’s even possible that someday

and contribute todisaster alert systems on their own.

Dr. Nicholas Kman is an Associate Professor ofEmergency Medicine at The Ohio State University.

A backpack with agoTenna deviceattached. Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

Flickr user

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satellite network

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smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

smartphones may be able to monitor the

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smartphones may be able to monitor the

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This story originally . appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversation

appeared at The Conversationappeared at The Conversation

� � � *

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