This report evaluates the smart buildings market including technologies, players, and solutions. The report analyzes smart buildings challenges and opportunities, assesses market potential, and provides accompanying smart buildings market sizing, globally as well as regionally, and by market segment for 2020 - 2025. The report includes an analysis of technologies supporting smart building automation, IWMS ...and smart workplace applications and services. Smart building technology integration areas addressed within the report include 5G, AI, data analytics, and edge computing.
Leading companies within the commercial real estate sector are realizing tangible benefits by leveraging smart buildings market solutions as owners are able to charge higher fees for technology-enabled intelligent buildings.
Accordingly, over 75% of new construction will involve at least one facet of IoT and/or related smart buildings market-related technologies over the course of the next five years. However, it is important to note that roughly 85% of legacy buildings in developed economies have issues that will require substantial retrofitting. The author sees this statistic improving over time, but remains a major head-wind in terms of capital investment for the smart buildings market.
We anticipate that the economic environment of the next five years will be characterized as asset deflation and commodity inflation, which will place a high degree of emphasis on maximizing the value of depreciating assets while reducing the cost of inputs to production, service delivery, and reducing commodities as a whole. In other words, enterprise asset values will go down while operational input costs for materials and energy will go up.
It is estimated that urbanization will cause up to 47% of global resources to be consumed by residential and commercial buildings by 2027. Of this amount, over 65% of global energy (mostly electricity, but also natural gas and fuel oil) will be used by enterprise and industrial facilities along with over 30% of the overall global water consumed. This will put a substantial drain on increasingly more expensive and scarce resources as well as the bottom line of corporations.
As asset tracking is increasingly becoming an important aspect of overall enterprise and industrial operations, the smart building market is viewed as the focal point for a variety of corporate capital infrastructure governance, including monitoring, traceability, and accountability for custody of care, utilization, and performance. Accordingly, there is an emerging market opportunity for integration of asset tracking solutions with IWMS and other building-related systems.
As companies begin to open up operations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, building operation managers will be tasked with identifying the most efficient and effective means of determining if personnel should be allowed in offices and other places of work. In addition, ongoing monitoring will be required to determine if someone has potentially become ill. Accordingly, many of the smart building systems put in place to monitor workspace utilization will be augmented and expanded to include thermal imaging and other tools to help in this regard.
Report Benefits:
• Smart buildings market sizing from 2020 to 2025
• Market sizing for edge computing in the smart buildings market
• Identify smart buildings market challenges and opportunities
• Understand the smart buildings marketplace including players and solutions
• Identify how key technologies such as AI and IoT support intelligent structures
• Identify how integrated workplace management systems support smart buildings
Select Report Findings:
• Smart building automation software and systems will reach $20.5B in North America by 2027
• AI-enabled IoT (AIoT) systems will drive IWMS efficiencies and automation to an entirely new level by 2026
• Smart facility water management systems will represent an $850M market opportunity in Europe by 2027
• The post-COVID19 world will challenge building operations management in terms of public health compliance
• Life cycle cost management for facilities is becoming a key factor in building selection for corporate giants such as Amazon
• Leading solution providers such as IBM are changing the smart building landscape through a multi-dimensional approach to investment ROI
• The key to success in the smart building market is to intelligently integrate data, systems, processes, and assets for enterprise and industrial operations
Accenture Federal Services was awarded a opportunity to support the United States Patent and Trademark Office with intelligent automation, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other technology services ...Accenture Federal Services (AFS), a subsidiary of Accenture, has been awarded a position on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Intelligent Automation and Innovation Support Services (IAISS) blanket purchase agreement (BPA), a multi-award contract vehicle.
The five-year BPA is valued at up to $50 million and was released by USPTO’s Chief Information Officer. The scope of the work includes piloting, testing and implementing advanced technologies—such as intelligent automation, artificial intelligence (AI), microservices, machine learning, natural language processing, robotic process automation, and blockchain. The goal of IAISS is to transform business processes and enhance mission delivery. It will set a standard framework for innovation for the USPTO and could serve as a model across the federal government.
AFS and Google Cloud started working with the USPTO to help the agency’s more than 9,000 patent examiners rapidly perform more thorough searches by augmenting their on-premise search tools with AI. The new solution—created by merging Google's machine learning models with Accenture's design, prototyping and data science capabilities—helps extend examiners' expertise during the patent search process.
“We’re excited to help the USPTO, through the collaborative environment of the Accenture Federal Digital Studio, to leverage innovative solutions to enhance mission operations,” said Ira Entis, Accenture Federal Services’ Growth and Strategy lead. “Our studio teams use advanced software prototyping, applied data intelligence, and the service design expertise of Fjord — Accenture Interactive’s design and innovation consultancy — to help clients across all sectors of the federal government create citizen-and people-centric tools.”
Mike Daniels, vice president for Google Cloud’s Global Public Sector, said, “We are excited to apply our scalable, secure infrastructure and latest AI solutions toward helping USPTO improve how it performs patent searches. Our hope is that these tools will deliver everyone —from startups to large businesses—higher quality patent search results, which means more reliable patents overall.”
This Intelligent Process Automation report studies the market status, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, and distributors with Porter’s Five Forces analysis. This global Intelligent Process Automation market research report encompasses the drivers and restraints for the market which are derived from the well-established SWOT analysis...It also puts a light on the recent developments, product launches, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions that have been adopted by the several key players and brands. Systemic gathering of company profiles that are driving the market is also performed in this report. The competitive analysis carried out in this Intelligent Process Automation report includes strategic profiling of key market players, their core competencies, their strong and weak points, and competitive landscape of the market which supports businesses illustrate their individual strategies. This Intelligent Process Automation report also takes into account an analysis of existing major challenges faced by the business and the probable future challenges that the business may have to face while operating in this market. Global Intelligent Process Automation Market is driven by better optimization in the organization and to gain a major competitive edge within the market. Intelligent process automation is more focused towards reducing the costs and increasing the revenue. This is projecting a rise in estimated value from USD 7.34 billion in 2018 to an estimated value of USD 19.79 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 13.2% in the forecast period of 2020-2026. Major Industry Competitors: Intelligent Process Automation Market Few of the major competitors currently working in intelligent process automation market are Automation Anywhere, Inc., UiPath., Blue Prism, Pegasystems Inc., AntWorks, NICE Robotic Automation, KOFAX INC., softmotive, SAP SE, AutomationEdge, Eggplant, LarcAI, Kryon Systems, Autologyx Ltd., Echelon, Sanbot Innovation Technology. Ltd, Cinnamon, Inc. and Crowd Computing Systems, Inc Revealing the Competitive scenario In today’s competitive world you need to think one step ahead to chase your competitors, our research offers reviews about key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies to present better insights to drive the business into right direction Key Segmentation: Intelligent Process Automation Market By Technology (Natural Language Processing, Machine and Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Virtual Agents, Mini Bots and RPA, Computer Vision, Others), Component (Solutions, Services), Vertical (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, Telecommunications and IT, Transport and Logistics, Media and Entertainment, Retail and E-Commerce, Manufacturing, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Others), Application (IT Operations, Business Process Automation, Application Management, Content Management, Security, Others), Regional Outlook North America (US, Canada, Mexico) South America (Brazil, Argentina, rest of south America) Asia and Pacific region (Japan, china, India, New Zealand, Vietnam, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, etc) Middle east and Africa (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, etc) Europe (Germany, Italy, U.K, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Russia, etc) Rapid Business Growth Factors In addition, the market is growing at a fast pace and the report shows us that there are a couple of key factors behind that. The most important factor that’s helping the market grow faster than usual is the tough competition. What are the major market growth drivers? Rapid increase in scope and usage of IT and automation within the globe with high acceptance ratio in the market Automation with artificial intelligence helps in better customer experience and to grow in systematic manner Minimizing the human work and error with optimum utilization of resources to earn greater efficiency of business enterprise in the market Research strategies and tools used of Intelligent Process Automation Market: This Intelligent Process Automation market research report helps the readers to know about the overall market scenario, strategy to further decide on this market project. It utilizes SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and PEST analysis. Key Points of this Report: The depth industry chain include analysis value chain analysis, porter five forces model analysis and cost structure analysis. The report covers North America and country-wise market of Intelligent Process Automation It describes present situation, historical background and future forecast Comprehensive data showing Intelligent Process Automation capacities, production, consumption, trade statistics, and prices in the recent years are provided The report indicates a wealth of information on Intelligent Process Automation manufacturer Intelligent Process Automation market forecast for next five years, including market volumes and prices is also provided Raw Material Supply and Downstream Consumer Information is also included Any other user’s requirements which is feasible for us "Key Developments in the Market:" In October 2018, Automation Anywhere launched Apeople – an online community, for the experts and practitioners of robotic process automation, business process automation and artificial intelligence In September 2018, Eggplant RPA by eggplant has been launched which can do or automate the work which is being done by the human using DAI technology. It has the capability of conversion and migration of 500,000 files which reduce the chances of overlapping of work using DAI technology What Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Analysis Provides? Supplier power:- An assessment of how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. This is driven by the: number of suppliers of each essential input; uniqueness of their product or service; relative size and strength of the supplier; and cost of switching from one supplier to another. Buyer power:- An assessment of how easy it is for buyers to drive prices down. This is driven by the: number of buyers in the market; importance of each individual buyer to the organisation; and cost to the buyer of switching from one supplier to another. If a business has just a few powerful buyers, they are often able to dictate terms. Competitive rivalry:- The main driver is the number and capability of competitors in the market. Many competitors, offering undifferentiated products and services, will reduce market attractiveness. Threat of substitution:- Where close substitute products exist in a market, it increases the likelihood of customers switching to alternatives in response to price increases. This reduces both the power of suppliers and the attractiveness of the market. Threat of new entry:- Profitable markets attract new entrants, which erodes profitability. Unless incumbents have strong and durable barriers to entry, for example, patents, economies of scale, capital requirements or government policies, then profitability will decline to a competitive rate. Five forces analysis helps organizations to understand the factors affecting profitability in a specific industry, and can help to inform decisions relating to: whether to enter a specific industry; whether to increase capacity in a specific industry; and developing competitive strategies.
The age of artificial intelligence is here, and it will eventually change how most businesses and industries operate. With so much potential, AI could prove a powerful tool in addressing certain societal problems; however, as with any new technology, it may cause problems, too. As prominent tech leaders, the members of Forbes Technology Council are keeping their eye on the rapid evolution of AI and assessing its potential impact...We asked 15 of them to share their thoughts on whether artificial intelligence will help or hurt society in the long run. Here’s what they had to say. 1. Accelerated Economic Inequality AI will be an accelerant for further economic inequality in our society. While it’s a competitive advantage for those who can harness it for data-driven decision-making, AI remains most accessible to the very well-resourced due to highly compensated practitioners. The financial rewards are increasingly consolidated to a few leaders while AI disrupts labor markets through the automation of jobs. - Andrew Sellers, QOMPLX, Inc. 2. Augmented Human Intelligence If the goal is to replace people at every turn, I think AI is headed in the wrong direction. The key to successful AI will be augmented intelligence, in which AI can empower humans by amplifying their skills to make better decisions. This will drive efficiency in so many areas in society and has the power to change things for the positive. The key is to remember that technology is here to assist us, not replace us. - Ernie Bray, AutoClaims Direct Inc. (ACD) 3. Easier Identification Of Anomalous Behavior Machine learning and analytics are both being used to set a baseline of normal behavior, which makes identifying threats and anomalous behavior easier and faster. Systems that can detect and escalate unusual patterns and help pinpoint event timelines provide deep insight into security events that may be the source of the anomalies. - Stephen Moore, Exabeam 4. Smarter Career Paths AI can recognize patterns that we cannot. It’s already a core element of most companies’ hiring processes thanks to the widespread use of applicant tracking systems. In the years to come, job seekers will turn the tables and begin using AI to find smarter career-development opportunities. This will lead to greater employee satisfaction and retention—and make the world a better place to work. - Gergo Vari, Lensa, Inc. 5. Faster Healthcare Advancements AI has been called on to speed up drug development through deep learning as well as to distill Covid-19-related information in the media and reduce the sharing of misinformation. While applications of AI may not work miracles in the fight against the virus, they’re proving to be extremely valuable and will bring into focus further advancements over time. - Harinder Takhar, Paytm Labs 6. Enhanced Cybersecurity AI is very important to our future given the increase in cyberattacks and the reduced time to breach by cybercriminals. AI can go beyond what automated systems can do by learning as the threat landscape evolves. With the right training, over time AI is capable of hunting for, detecting and responding to incidents or breaches with little human intervention. This can save lives, resources and time. - Michael Xie, Fortinet 7. Better Financial Modeling When humans try to predict the long-term impact of financial decisions they are constrained by two things: the plethora of data that must be accounted for and the human error factor. Thus, a well-trained AI model that automates this process by flawlessly analyzing large amounts of information will benefit society by saving a lot of time and money. - Ashwini Choudhary, Recogni 8. Worker Empowerment AI implementation should augment human intelligence, not replace humans. That means helping more people to unleash their creativity or do jobs that would otherwise be beyond their cognitive ability. Replacing humans will only increase the pool of people who won’t be able to function in a technology-driven society. For now, let’s use technology to empower humans to be better. - Vaclav Vincalek, Future Infinitive 9. Increased Bottlenecks No matter how much we want AI to be the next best thing, it might create even more bottlenecks in the industries that actively implement it. It is quite possible that AI is going to require more control in order not to fail us. Its complexity and the amount of hope we put into it may bring more questions than answers and create more bottlenecks than we have ever seen. - Daria Leshchenko, SupportYourApp Inc. 10. More Efficient Big Data Management We now live in a world awash in data—so much that we can’t even put it all to good use in many cases. AI is already working to change that. As a component of big data management systems, AI can classify, aggregate, normalize and analyze large data sets more quickly and accurately than a human could ever hope to. Once that’s complete, we can step in to make the higher-order decisions. - Ron Cogburn, Exela Technologies 11. A Double-Edged Sword For Crime Prevention When it comes to crime, AI is a double-edged sword. On one hand, financial institutions are already using this tech’s incredible data-analyzing ability to identify fraudulent activity. AI is also helping to stop various other cybercrimes. But in the real world, policing should never be automated by AI. There’s too much potential for information misuse and violation of ethical boundaries. - Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC 12. More Opportunities For Engagement Many tools are available to learn about a person’s personality and workstyle, yet few companies have learned to optimize the use of these tools to build trust and engagement. Companies that use AI to engage with their employees, investors, vendors, customers, acquisition targets and other stakeholders have a big advantage as they improve the experience of the people they interact with. - Michael Levine, Advantage Talent, Inc. 13. More Accurate Natural Disaster Prediction As climate change continues to affect the world, society faces more natural disasters, more often. AI is helping specialists across a variety of domains predict large-scale events that can dramatically impact people. While we can’t prepare for everything all the time, scientists are using AI-powered tools to better forecast future disasters, saving larger portions of people than they could before. - Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster 14. Voice-Interactive Back-Office Systems Speech-to-text is a powerful application of machine learning technology. Today, 20% of all Google searches are done via voice. An entire generation of users is growing accustomed to leveraging conversational interfaces with technology. As this user expectation permeates into enterprise software, workers will expect to interact with back-office systems using spoken queries and commands. - Sean Maday, Google 15. Faster Access To Information AI benefits include “connecting the dots” to infer and make better decisions. AI will be used to get people to the right information, avoid false information and show how information can be linked together to make better decisions. Investors, planners and medical professionals will more quickly enhance their knowledge. Too much time is lost searching. Instead, AI can enable more decisions. - Steven Gustafson, Noonum
An open letter from a growing coalition of AI researchers is calling out scientific publisher Springer Nature for a conference paper it reportedly planned to include in its forthcoming book Transactions on Computational Science & Computational Intelligence. The paper, titled “A Deep Neural Network Model to Predict Criminality Using Image Processing,” presents a face recognition system purportedly capable of predicting whether someone is a criminal, according to the original press release. It was developed by researchers at Harrisburg University and was due to be presented at a forthcoming conference....The demands: Citing the work of leading Black AI scholars, the letter debunks the scientific basis of the paper and asserts that crime-prediction technologies are racist. It also lists three demands: 1) for Springer Nature to rescind its offer to publish the study; 2) for it to issue a statement condemning the use of statistical techniques such as machine learning to predict criminality and acknowledging its role in incentivizing such research; and 3) for all scientific publishers to commit to not publishing similar papers in the future. The letter, which was sent to Springer Nature on Monday, was originally written by five researchers at MIT, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, McGill University, and the AI Now Institute. In a matter of days, it gained more than 600 signatures and counting across the AI ethics and academic communities, including from leading figures like Meredith Whittaker, cofounder of the AI Now Institute, and Ethan Zuckerman, former director of the Center for Civic Media at the MIT Media Lab. Why it matters: While the letter highlights a specific paper, the authors’ goal is to demonstrate a systematic issue with the way scientific publishing incentivizes researchers to perpetuate unethical norms. “This is why we keep seeing race science emerging time and again,” said Chelsea Barabas, a PhD student at MIT and one of the letter’s coauthors. “It’s because publishers publish it.” “The real significance of this Springer piece is that it’s not unique whatsoever,” echoed Theodora Dryer, a postdoctoral researcher at AI Now and another coauthor. “It’s emblematic of a problem and a critique that has gone on for so, so long.” Springer’s response: In response to the letter, Springer said that it would not be publishing the paper. “The paper you are referring to was submitted to a forthcoming conference for which Springer had planned to publish the proceedings,” it said. “After a thorough peer review process the paper was rejected.” Harrisburg University also took down its press release, stating that “the faculty are updating the paper to address concerns raised.” Harrisburg University and a coauthor of the paper denied a request for comment as well as a request for a copy of the original paper. The letter’s signatories said they will continue to push for a fulfillment of their second and third demands. The bigger picture: Since George Floyd’s death sparked an international movement for racial justice, the AI field and the tech industry at large have faced a reckoning about the role they have played in reinforcing structural racism. During the week of June 8, for example, IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon all announced the end or partial suspension of their face recognition products. The move was a culmination of two years of advocacy from researchers and activists to demonstrate a link between these technologies and the overpolicing of minority communities. The open letter is the latest development in this movement toward greater ethical accountability in AI. “We really wanted to contribute to this growing movement,” said Sonja Solomun, the research director of the Centre for Media, Technology, and Democracy at McGill University. “Particularly when we look outside our windows and see what’s going on right now in the US and globally, the stakes are just so high.” Update: After publication, Springer Nature issued a statement clarifying that "at no time was [the paper] accepted for publication...The series editor’s decision to reject the final paper was made on Tuesday 16th June and was officially communicated to the authors on Monday 22nd June." AI and innovation take spotlight at Vision China 23june Artificial intelligence has played a vital role in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and been widely applied in various sectors with tremendous potential, becoming the driving force for scientific and technological development, according to speakers at the 14th Vision China event. Organized by China Daily and the Information Office of Tianjin Municipal People's Government, the event, "Intelligence New Era: Innovation, Energization and Ecology", was broadcast online to a global audience on Tuesday night. It coincided with the ongoing Fourth World Intelligence Congress, an online event that started on the same day and runs until Wednesday in Tianjin. The city's future development relies on the guidance of intelligent technology, said Chen Zhemin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Tianjin Municipal Committee and head of the Committee's Publicity Department, while underlining "Tianjin has given great importance to intelligent manufacturing and AI, which play a leading role in socio-economic development." According to Chen, the city has transformed and upgraded all factors in the whole process, the industrial chain and the life cycle of its manufacturing industry. It has completed four groups of 911 intelligent transformation projects, and cooperated with enterprises to sign 200 cooperation agreements, with a total investment of 261 billion yuan ($36.9 billion). Chen added that they will unswervingly promote technological innovation, develop intelligent industries and promote the intelligent upgrade of Tianjin's manufacturing industry. Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said during the pandemic a host of AI technologies have come to the fore, which have become key for China in the fight against the virus. "AI has become a major driving force for the new round of technological and industrial revolution. It is profoundly changing the way people work, live and learn, pushing human society toward an intelligent era of human-computer cooperation, cross-sector collaboration and joint creation and sharing," Zhou added. In particular, Zhou noted Tianjin is a pioneer in AI city construction and has become a leader in China's AI development. The intelligent technology industry gives strong impetus for Tianjin to achieve high-quality development. Now, Tianjin is shaping up to become a high-tech hub and has rolled out a series of supportive policies to develop the AI sector. In December 2018, the city unveiled a three-year plan to boost the innovative development of seven AI-related industrial chains, including an independent and controllable information system, intelligent security, big data, advanced communications, intelligent connected vehicles, industrial robots and intelligent terminals. It has also set up a special 10-billion-yuan fund for intelligent manufacturing and a 100-billion-yuan industry fund for the new generation of AI. "AI is helping a lot to deal with unprecedented situations, situations where human experience cannot help," said Ehud Levy, managing partner at Canaan Partners Israel and venture partner at Lenovo Capital, adding AI is playing an increasingly important role in various sectors across the world. As a veteran investor, Levy pointed out that AI companies tend to have much higher valuations than other companies. "We also see that in our deal flow, about 90 percent are AI related," he said. Public health authorities used AI to predict the spread of the disease. They also used AI to develop vaccines and model molecular structures that could result in effective drugs to treat the novel coronavirus, he added. China has taken the lead in many areas of financial technologies, such as mobile payments and e-commerce, said Paul Schulte, founder of Schulte Research, an institute focusing on the research of financial institutions and financial technology. He said one of the reasons for the popularity of digital payment in China is that the country doesn't have large credit card companies trying to maintain market share. As a result, China was able to create a new type of payment infrastructure from scratch, Schulte said. In addition, the country is moving ahead in autonomous cars, battery storage and certainly in superfast 5G technology, Schulte said. "China's move into 5G is very much geared toward an industrial build to address industrial issues, like smart cities, urban planning and the integration of healthcare systems." "AI has built a solid foundation for the intelligent system. Otherwise, relying on big data alone is like building on a foundation of soil, which is dangerous and impossible," said Wang Feiyue, director of the state key laboratory for management and control of complex systems at the Institute of Automation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wang added while AI is intended to reduce the use of manpower, it will result in more employment. With the growth of big data, cloud computing and other cutting-edge technologies, AI is gradually becoming a key driving force of economic growth In 2017, the State Council issued a plan that set benchmarks for China's AI sector, with the value of core AI industries predicted to exceed 1 trillion yuan and make the country a global leader in AI innovation by 2030. Jose Pedro Magalhaes Lucas, dean of the Luban Workshop at the Polytechnic Institute of Setubal in Portugal, said they will strengthen cooperation with China to cultivate more high-end technical talents. The workshop was jointly built by the Tianjin Vocational College of Mechanics and Electricity in China and Polytechnic Institute of Setubal in Portugal, to cultivate high-quality technical professionals familiar with Chinese technology, products and standards. "The Luban Workshop is a major achievement of Tianjin's international exchanges and cooperation in vocational education. It is a wide and very complete Industry 4.0 engineering infrastructure, with full potential for collaboration with industry," said Lucas, referring to the new phase of industrial development that focuses on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data. Launched in 2018 by China Daily, Vision China invites renowned political, business and academic speakers to tell China's story from a global perspective and discuss major China-related topics of international interest. It is a broad platform to make China's voice better heard around the world, as well as build a new channel to respond to global concerns on major China-related issues. Vision China has been held in several places, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Macao, New York, London and Johannesburg. The Tuesday event is the fifth Vision China session that moved online due to COVID-19.
Before it became a news source, or a legal database, or a Twitter presence often mistaken for the court itself, SCOTUSblog was a tool. It was created to give the public a way to access and understand, in real time, how the work of the justices affects their daily lives. Over the years, the blog has evolved significantly, but its usefulness as a resource for information about the Supreme Court remains fundamental....Technology has always driven our mission. Ever since Amy Howe and I founded SCOTUSblog 18 years ago, lawyers and lay readers have been able to turn to the blog for links to briefs in merits cases and petitions, an option that was particularly useful before the court established an electronic docketing system three years ago. Our case pages still include not only all the filings in every case and every significant cert petition, color-coded to be easily identifiable, but links to our case coverage. We live blog every opinion day to make the answer to the question, “What did the Supreme Court decide?” easy both to find and understand. Any tool is only as good as the technology it’s built on. This is why we chose to partner with Casetext, the leading legal research database and a true technological pioneer. Just as SCOTUSblog is an essential resource for those who follow the court closely, Casetext’s latest tool – Compose – promises to be indispensable for all our readers who litigate for a living, and to usher in a new era in legal briefing. Compose is litigation automation technology that enables an attorney to prepare a well-supported first draft of a brief in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take. The attorney picks the type of brief that he or she needs to write and the jurisdiction in which the brief will be filed, and Compose provides a list of arguments and relevant legal standards. The attorney can then build a scaffolding of the brief by simply pointing and clicking. It is the smoothest brief-drafting experience I have encountered. The real strength of Compose, though, lies in its newest – and most technologically advanced – feature, Parallel Search. Parallel Search allows attorneys to discover relevant caselaw in seconds, without leaving the drafting process, by entering a plain English sentence related to the legal standard they are looking for. Under the hood, Parallel Search leverages the latest natural language processing methods, including the most robust concept map of the English language ever assembled, and applies them to the law. While drafting in Compose, litigators can also search the docket in a related case. Simply type in a case number and Compose will pull an updated docket from PACER. You’ll be able to refer to it as you draft, and even add one-click citations – all this, again, without leaving your draft. These features will soon be integrated with another indispensable tool, Microsoft Word. Docket search and other features are currently available in Word via the new Compose add-on, and the full functionality will appear in coming iterations of the software. Of course, Compose cannot supplant good lawyering, and it isn’t intended to. Rather, Compose offers a savvy litigator a streamlined process of arriving at a workable first draft. The attorney can take it from there. I know that the readers of this blog include litigators working at all levels of the court system who are interested in the Supreme Court. For those of you who do this work, my hope is that Compose can elevate your practice, just as I believe that our continued partnership with Casetext will bolster the ability of all our readers, lawyers and nonlawyers alike, to access and understand the law.
