Features Region: West

The flashing lights and ringing bells still let everyone know you’ve won big at the slot machine. But there are subtler ways guests benefit when they visit casinos run by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, says Bill Oliver. The nation’s CIO since 2005, he’s adding features like wireless technology and easier payments, timing […]

Watching cases of padlocks glide down the conveyor belt at Hampton Products International’s distribution facility can be mesmerizing, especially with the hum of the machinery in the background. It’s a setting always gets Brian Millsap thinking about how to make the company more efficient. No doubt, there’s a lot for the company’s CIO to track. […]

The view from a dental chair has long remained the same. A yellow-tinted lamp above beams into the recesses of your mouth. A tray of drills, gadgets and sharp-pointed scrapers sits to one side, ready for the hygienist. Now, though, there’s also interactive viewing for the patients. A screen at the foot of the chair […]

In 2017, when Brook Conner came to work at the Hawaii State Department of Education, he knew his work was cut out for him. A major tipoff was that the department was using antiquated Lotus Notes, in some cases on SunOS—an operating system replaced in the ‘90s. Soon, he had filled a white board with […]

In the backyard of the tech industry, one California school district’s tech is undergoing a huge transformation. From the fiber and Wi-Fi connections making a network possible to the laser projectors making learning vivid, Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District is upping its game with the guidance of an IT veteran who’s focused on […]

Imagine you’re in middle school and your teacher says it’s time to study ancient Egypt. Moments later, you find yourself descending the sandy steps into King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Or maybe your science teacher says it’s time to check out the inside of an erupting volcano. Shortly after, you see […]

If you want a snapshot showing what happens to companies that resist the tides of change, ask Barbara Kunkel about her days at Eastman Kodak, the company that put cameras in the hands of millions until the tide came rushing in. “They missed the mark in innovation and it cost them because the business model […]

The February 2019 landslide brought chunky boulders, splintered tree limbs and goopy piles of soil down from the steep hills above the Pali Highway, which links Honolulu to the east side of Oahu. Damages closed the road for nine months as the state’s Department of Transportation rebuilt the road, extended a shed-type roof to better […]

As LeBron James hits his fourth consecutive three-pointer, bringing the Los Angeles Lakers to within a bucket of your beloved Utah Jazz, your hands heave in disbelief. Within seconds, the right side of the screen flashes a fascinating stat: It’s the first time in three years that James has hit four straight treys. After the […]

Brian Anderson has spent a whole lot of time in kitchens, and one recent afternoon was no different. Except, on this particular day, the one he was sitting in was a rough-hewn mock-up made of plywood, blue painter’s tape and hand-written signs designating where items such as “future braise #1” and “soup #3” would go. […]