Whoa! Ready for This? COGNITIVE ELECTRONIC WARFARE... Got it??

Adaptive Communications Jamming Demo
During an airborne test series, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) demonstrated the capability of a cognitive electronic warfare (CogEW) system that learns to dynamically counter adaptive communications threats. DARPA’s Behavioral Learning for Adaptive Electronic Warfare (BLADE) program acted as a pathfinder program in DoD CogEW, detecting, characterizing, and countering advanced wireless communication threats in minutes, not months.
“Our team is proud to be a BLADE performer with DARPA,” said Dr. J. Scott Rodgers, Spectrum Systems Lab Director, Lockheed Martin ATL. “This effort allows us to prove the viability of applying machine learning techniques to spectrum challenges, providing smarter spectrum operation capabilities.”

The BLADE program successfully demonstrated its communications jamming technology at a government test site. Lockheed Martin engineers, joined by representatives from their subcontractor, Raytheon, flew in a modified Piper Navajo aircraft for several hours, collecting over-the-air RF energy from instrumented wireless communications test signals that included military radios, cell phones and specialized datalinks. Raytheon provided their next generation Electronic Warfare System, Silencer, to host the BLADE machine-learning software for the flight test series. More than 25 people representing multiple government organizations watched as the airborne BLADE system dynamically sensed, characterized and jammed adaptive wireless communication threats across various tactical scenarios.

BLADE is enabling a shift from today's manual-intensive, lab-based countermeasure development approach to an adaptive, in-the-field systems approach. 


More importantly, the technology provides the warfighter with increased capability to counter new or advanced threats which can quickly adapt or change its electronic profile.  Lockheed Martin engineers and scientists developed novel machine-learning algorithms and techniques that rapidly detect and characterize new radio threats, dynamically synthesize new countermeasures, and provide accurate electronic battle damage assessment based on over-the-air observable changes in the threat.
Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT)

Marketing firm RnRMarketResearch predicts that the worldwide electronic warfare market will grow at a CAGR of 4.29% during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021 to reach $ 25.36 billion by 2021 with the electronic support segment leading the overall EW market growth.

The growing number of wars and transnational disputes, emergence of cognitive electronic warfare technology, increased system reliability and efficiency due to the introduction of TWT (travelling-wave tube)-based systems, and advancements due to integrated electronic warfare systems are the factors driving the market.

According the the firm, the electronic support is the largest share-contributing segment in the electronic warfare market. This segment plays a significant role in recognizing the threats in tactical environment.

In 2016, the North America region dominates the electronic warfare market, whereas, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to huge population base, booming economy, increasing funding/investments towards the development of EW products, growing focus of both, international and domestic players on the APAC EW market, and a large number of R&D activities.

www.rnrmarketresearch.com

Source: EE Times Europe

 

 

In February 2015, Exelis announced that plans had been approved for the sale of the company through a cash/stock purchase to competitor Harris Corporation. The purchase price of 4.75 billion dollars was reported as being one of the highest such defense company purchases, since the Lockheed/Martin merger. When finalized in June 2015, the purchase was expected to make Harris/Exelis one of the top 10 defense contractors in the United States. ^[6][7]

Article

Harris Corp. To Buy Exelis In Deal Valued At $4.75 Billion  

Harris said it expects to complete the acquisition in June, subject to regulatory and Exelis shareholder approval...

Feb. 6, 2015 | http://aviationweek.com/awin-only/harris-corp-buy-exelis-deal-valued-475-billion

Mulberry Neighborhood by Blandford Homes

As close to Mayberry RFD as suburban housing developers can get

 

Published on Apr 1, 2016

Don’t Miss this Limited Opportunity to
Live in a Fairy-Tale Neighborhood — for Real!

Four collections of homes from 1,700 sq. ft. to just over 4,000 sq. ft.
Starting in the low $200’s to the low $300's

Located in East Mesa, Arizona

480-895-6300
Arbor Collection

480-895-2800
Americana Collection

480-733-9000
Centennial Collection

480-733-9000
Heritage Collection

Tree lined boulevards lead you to the centrally located Club at Mulberry Park, no more than a 5 minute walk from anywhere within the community. Offering Large Aquatic Pool, Fitness Studio, Tennis, Pickelball, Basketball, Party Terrace, Large Indoor Club Room with Kitchen, Playgrounds and Huge Event Lawns with a Professional Lifestyle Director bringing endless fun and life to Mulberry!
http://mulberryneighborhood.com/index...

https://www.facebook.com/MulberryAriz...

Stop Dark Money in Arizona

Published on May 24, 2016

Say NO to SB1516. Learn more at http://StopCorruptionNowAZ.com

Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, is leading a campaign to stop the Dark Money bills with a citizen’s referendum that will require 75,321 signatures by Aug. 15 to get on the ballot. This is not specifically a partisan issue — Democrats are taking Dark Money, too. Rather, it’s an issue of staggering ethical concern. Every single voter will be impacted if it is allowed to stand. Effectively, elections in Arizona could be bought by the highest bidder.

Clark will be appearing Saturday, June 25, at the Mesa Public Library, 64 E. 1st Street in Mesa in the Saguaro Room, 10:30 a.m. Paid and volunteer petitioners are circulating the petitions to put a referendum on the law onto the November ballot at the courthouse plaza and in the Yavapai County Democratic offices. If you would like to sign, or circulate a petition, email DWPrescottArea@gmail.com, and we will get in touch with you.
 

Careful With Your Eggs > Don't Get Scrambled In A Business Incubator

A business incubator in business speak is a company that helps new and startup companies to develop by providing services such as management training or office space.
Your MesaZona blogger uploaded a post on June 13, 2016 featuring a crowd-funding campaign for $30,000 [flexible amount] on IndieGOGO that was uploaded to YouTube on June 6 by Pam Slim for an office offering services for potential startups that's located in what is classified as a commercial/retail district.  

It is unusual for just one individual to get into this new business model since most Business incubation programs are often sponsored by private companies or municipal entities and public institutions, such as colleges and universities. Their goal is to help create and grow young businesses by providing them with necessary support and financial and technical services. Take a look at the schematic to the right and you will see an important element in this business model: the incubation fee.

Here in Mesa so-called "business accelerators" have delivered mixed results, even when the City of Mesa and ASU with all their resources opened one at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in December 2013.

Mesa business accelerator LaunchPoint stuck in low gear

www.azcentral.com/story/news/...launchpoint.../79305872/

 

 

One person commented that Launch Point it isn't free, it isn't for fledgling startups that have big ideas and little else.

It isn't universally welcoming,

Source: Feb 11, 2016 - Mesa business accelerator LaunchPoint, located at Arizona State University ...

Maria Polletta, The Republic | azcentral.com 2:52 p.m. MST

Your MesaZona blogger published a post on the fund-raiser for K'e on June 13 - nine days ago

Guest blogger Francine Hardaway published an article yesterday in Phoenix Business Journal claiming she was "leaking the news in advance"

Mesa small businesses to see new 'system of kinship' this summer

with new incubator space

Jun 21, 2016, 1:48pm MST

Notable entrepreneur, business coach and author of “Escape From Cubicle Nation” and “Body of Work” Pam Slim is opening a space for small businesses to grow in downtown Mesa. Although the grand opening isn’t until Aug. 13, I’m leaking her news in advance so that everyone knows this space exists.
Her new space, K’e, fits in so well with what Stealthmode, the West Mesa CDC, and the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation have been jointly doing in west Mesa for the past five years, and the combined effort is beginning to make a difference. (If you don’t know Cynthia Dunham, who runs the West Mesa CDC, you should. She’s amazing.)

STEALTHMODE??

". . . Pam is a kick-ass coach. . . Pam says Downtown Mesa is undergoing tremendous positive change. There is a large and vibrant small business community, and loads of creative talent in the city. . . But unlike many of its sister cities like Chandler, Gilbert, Phoenix and Tempe, Mesa does not (yet) have the support, investment and mentoring required to maximize the potential of the small business community. ??? true or not

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/techflash/2016/06/mesa-small-businesses-to-see-new-system-of-kinship.html 

No matter how this newest fund-raising by an individual works out [or doesn't] as you can see in this infographic the number of business incubators worldwide has been growing at a good clip since 1990 after getting off to a slow start - figures for after 2013 may tell a different story.

 

 

 

 

Frontline: Incubators Help Startups to Grow and Succeed

Dale D. Buss, Staff Editor, Area Development

Q1 2016

"Startup fever is exploding across America, as a slow-growth economy, corporate job cutbacks, and the work ethos and expectations of the burgeoning millennial generation reshape the business landscape. Cities, states, universities, and private interests are all scrambling to provide these lean startups with petri dishes in the form of incubators and other programs that help them succeed, keep them happy — and begin to derive economic development benefits out of the relationships.
Interestingly, many of the incubators that have opened to meet the needs of startups are situated in places not traditionally associated with entrepreneurial fervor. While it’s no surprise to see incubator spaces and small-company networking centers thriving in tech centers such as Silicon Valley; Austin, Texas; and the Research Triangle of North Carolina, the latest generation of incubator fever is taking root in places such as Des Moines; Kansas City; Gainesville, Fla.; and Grand Rapids, Michigan . . .

. . . Sometimes incubation occurs in the minds of entrepreneurs as much as in a physical space, and that’s why there’s a proliferation of programs such as the Executive Training Class at the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. The five-month experience equips executives with business-growth skills and leadership training. . . "

Source: Area Development Workplace Trends

 

Why startup incubators don’t work

by Vanessa Butz — 1 year ago in Insider

A recent Forbes article, which changed its title in response to the internet backlash, has brought up a recurring discussion around the value-add and available data for incubators and accelerators. . .  it is clear that even industry insiders have an ongoing debate on the difference and real value of incubators and accelerators. So maybe it’s time for alternative models to disrupt this space.

 

The Data Problem is Huge
The problem around data in startup ecosystems is far deeper. How can diligent research be undertaken, if it is not even possible to gather accurate data on how many “accelerators” or “incubators” there are?
With the lack of data, the market mirroring a “winner takes it all” investment landscape and many programs having shut down: why is the accelerator and incubator model still being copied blindly across the globe?

Accelerators and Incubators – Disruption has started
If global innovation through entrepreneurship is the goal and startup support programs, as the name suggests, want to facilitate this through the best possible support, it’s essential that they keep iterating on alternative models to find product-market fit in their local ecosystems. Tech ecosystems across the globe are so diverse, that startups face very different challenges and are equipped with varying skill sets and knowledge levels from the offset.
Some of these alternative models are moving away from strict predefined curricula, yet still offer similar added value such as a strong network, experienced mentorship and knowledge transfers such as designing proximity and serendipity through real estate. We call this organic acceleration. Serendipity, creativity or entrepreneurship cannot be taught – so why are programs still trying to emulate schooling environments for startups?
I am not advocating a definite solution – of course I’m biased towards our organic acceleration approach, but the point I would like to make is that programs, just like startups, need to learn from failure, iterate and iterate fast to continuously improve existing models so that they fit their local target market and are able to provide the best possible support systems for innovation through entrepreneurship.

" The Mesa business accelerator  Launch Point isn't free. " The Mesa business accelerator  Launch Point isn't free. It isn't for fledgling startups that have big ideas and little else. It isn't universally welcoming,

Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority > $779K in Grants

Maricopa County IDA Approves $779K in Grants
MARICOPA COUNTYOffice of Communications 
            
301 W. Jefferson Street, 10th Floor
Phoenix, AZ  85003
Ph 602-506-7232
Fields Moseley, Communications Director
(602) 506-6453
Andrew Tucker, Communications Manager
(602) 506-7232
www.maricopa.gov

Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority Approves $779K in Grants to Community Groups

PHOENIX, Ariz. – June 21, 2016 – The Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has approved a series of grants totaling $779K to help local community groups move their mission forward.
Local First Arizona is a non-profit organization working to strengthen communities and local economies through growing, supporting, and celebrating locally owned businesses. The IDA approved the $144,000 grant to expand the Fuerza Local Accelerator program, a Spanish language accelerator program that small, under-served business owners use to be more competitive, while helping them establish credit that will allow them to borrow capital at fair market rates to grow their businesses. The grant will support 72 businesses in Mesa, Avondale, and Maryvale.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” said Clint Hickman, Chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and District 4 Supervisor. “When we support them, we ensure that our community attracts even more entrepreneurs and businesses to set up shop in Maricopa County.”
First Place is a Phoenix-based group that will be one of the nation’s first residential projects for adults living with autism. The IDA approved the $335,000 grant to be applied to the First Place Leadership Institute, whose goal is to develop a field of leaders to advance promising and best practices that support adults with autism through education, training, and research.
“First Place is a top notch program critical to the growing population of adults with autism,” said Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri, District 2. “They provide a supportive community for individuals promoting life skills and transitions when family members are no longer able to care for their loved ones.”
Year Up provides urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. The IDA approved $300,000 to support the delivery of a one-year program to 320 Opportunity Youth. This general operating support will allow us to position young adults who are unemployed or underemployed, with no degree beyond a diploma or GED, to compete for jobs in growing industries that offer family-sustaining wages.
“I have learned that the number one driver for economic development is talent,” said Victor Vidales, IDA Board President. “It’s a great day when we can provide capital to support organizations like Year Up, who help urban young adults with the skills, education and experiences they need to reach their full potential, become employable and ultimately achieve a better standard of living and way of life. That’s our mission!”
The Maricopa IDA’s mission is to create and maintain jobs within the County, and assist residents of the County to achieve a better standard of living and way of life. From May 1975, the IDA has helped spur economic development and increased the availability of affordable housing. www.mcida.com.

---

Please visit www.maricopa.gov/bos for information about each member of the Board of Supervisors.

State Personal Income Data for Q1 2016 Released Today

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release today:   
State personal income grew 1.0 percent on average in the first quarter of 2016, the same pace as in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Personal income grew in every state except Wyoming and North Dakota with first-quarter personal income growth rates ranging from -1.3 percent in North Dakota to 1.5 percent in Washington.
[Blogger Note: not a statistical difference for usual margin of error in measurement]

The full text of the release on BEA's Web site can be found at www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/sqpi_newsrelease.htm
Revisions. Today, BEA also released revised quarterly personal income estimates for 2015:I to 2015:IV. Revisions were made to incorporate source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available, and to align the states with revised national estimates.

Upcoming Annual Revision of the State Personal Income Accounts. The annual revision of the state personal income accounts will be released along with estimates for the second quarter of 2016 on September 28. In addition to the regular revision of the estimates for the most recent 3 years and for the first quarter of 2016, some series will be revised back further. The July Survey of Current Business will contain an article that previews the annual revision, and the October Survey will contain an article that describes the results.

Earnings. Overall, earnings increased 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016 (table 5) and was the leading contributor to growth in personal income in most states.

• Earnings in Washington grew 2.1 percent, faster than in any other state, largely due to stock grants in the information sector.
• Growth in health care earnings was the leading contributor to above average earnings growth in Oregon.
• Growth in farm earnings was the leading contributor to above average earnings growth in Arkansas.
• Growth in durable manufacturing earnings was the leading contributor to above average earnings growth in Michigan due in part to profit sharing payments by motor vehicle manufacturers.
• Growth in construction earnings was the leading contributor to above average earnings growth in Utah.

Definitions
Personal income is the income received by all persons from all sources. Personal income is the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income, and personal current transfer receipts.
Per capita personal income is calculated as the total personal income of the residents of a state divided by the population of the state. In computing per capita personal income, BEA uses mid-quarter population estimates based on unpublished Census Bureau data.
Net earnings by place of residence is earnings by place of work (the sum of wages and salaries, supplements to wages and salaries, and proprietors’ income) less contributions for government social insurance, plus an adjustment to convert earnings by place of work to a place-of-residence basis.
Property income is rental income of persons, personal dividend income, and personal interest income.
Personal current transfer receipts are benefits received by persons from federal, state, and local governments and from businesses for which no current services are performed. They include retirement and disability insurance benefits (mainly Social Security), medical benefits (mainly Medicare and Medicaid), income maintenance benefits, unemployment insurance compensation, veterans’ benefits, and federal education and training assistance.
Personal income is measured before the deduction of personal income taxes and other personal taxes and is reported in current dollars (no adjustment is made for price changes).
The estimate of personal income for the United States is the sum of the state estimates and the estimate for the District of Columbia; it differs slightly from the estimate of personal income in the national income and product accounts (NIPAs) because of differences in coverage, in the methodologies used to prepare the estimates, and in the timing of the availability of source data.

Technical Contact
Media Contact
Jeannine Aversa	(301) 278-9003	jeannine.aversa@bea.gov
Thomas Dail		thomas.dail@bea.gov
twitter.com/BEA_News	blog.bea.gov	www.bea.gov/_subscribe

DTMesa: Monkey-See/Monkey-Do // CopyCat PHX Urban Dev Formula

Do Phoenix and Mesa Seek The Same Urban Future?

Reference to this article in New York Times June 20, 2016, 7am PDT | Irvin Dawid
Phoenix, once described as 'the world’s least sustainable city' is focusing growth on its downtown and investing in light rail and bike share to attract high tech companies and workers.

Blogger's Notes & Video Inserts:
Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the U.S.
While Mesa is classified as "a city", with about 465,000 residents most live in master-planned suburban sprawl outside of downtown [population less than 3,000].

Mesa is a suburb located about 20 miles (32 km) east of Phoenix.
As of the 2010 Census Mesa became Arizona's center of population.
Mesa is the third-largest city in Arizona, after Phoenix and Tucson, and the 38th-largest city in the US.
Growth in the East Valley - like the 3,000-acre Eastmark shown in the image to the right is the standard land-use pattern for economic development.

Unlike Mesa that has a big inventory of vacant parcels of mostly city-owned land ripe for in-fill development, in downtown Phoenix "These days, there is hardly an empty lot left in the city’s core, and there are as many apartments under construction, or about to be built, as all of those that were built from 1996 to 2008. But, are there enough people to fill them? That is a multibillion-dollar gamble, and Phoenix has gone all in.

First, let's go back and take a look at the rapid expansion in urban Phoenix growth from 1972-2011 in time-lapse Landsat images from nasa.gov

Published on May 22, 2013

Timelapse of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Ariz., from 1972-2011. In
these Landsat images, vegetation (that is, plant growth) appears red.

Or this

Published on Jun 6, 2012

Most people think of urban sprawl as the construction of roads and buildings at a rate that exceeds population growth. Phoenix, Arizona, however, offers a contrasting model of sprawl. Its metropolitan area has grown more than 300 percent in recent decades, but its population has grown even faster. Since the mid-1980's, the city's population density has increased as people continue to move to the region even as the urban area's boundaries have grown more slowly. This trend is by necessity, since the water supply cannot feed an ever-expanding metropolitan area.

Or this [ 22:48 ]

Published on Aug 21, 2013

A narration from the book: Suburban Nation, from the chapter: The House That Sprawl Built. Music: This Will Destroy You - They Move on Never-Ending Tracks of Light, Hammock - I Can Almost See You, Pulsar47 - Myriad Creatures, Ben Harper - The Three of Us, Ben Harper - Give a Man a Home.

The city bought entire blocks of empty land to entice three state universities to build their campuses downtown, increasing the number of students to 12,000 this year from 400 just 10 years ago. It has given developers tax breaks and other incentives to build, build, build.
 

"Phoenix that has been disparaged by so many is undergoing a change," writes Fernanda Santos, Phoenix bureau chief for The New York Times. Santos includes not one but four references to the city's negative reputation.

The change "began when the housing bubble burst and affordable home after affordable home went into foreclosure," adds Santos. "The collapse started in new-housing areas on the fringes [in 2007] and then swept inward, hitting more established areas as the unemployment rate climbed," according to The Arizona Republic
"City officials, intent on revitalizing the place, searched for a new formula, one that focused not on the outer edges of the desert, where there remains plenty of room to expand outward, but on the long-neglected downtown," continues Santos.

These days, there is hardly an empty lot left in the city’s core, and there are as many apartments under construction, or about to be built, as all of those that were built from 1996 to 2008. But, are there enough people to fill them? That is a multibillion-dollar gamble, and Phoenix has gone all in.

Mayor Greg Stanton added transportation to the effort with a successful sales tax measure last summer for extending light rail.

A bike-sharing program survived its first summer, a time of the year when riding a bike, or doing any other outdoor activity for that matter, is borderline heroic.

The thrust of the article is on Stanton attempting to attract Silicon Valley businesses, workers, and millennials to the city, by building a vibrant, dense downtown.

“I don’t want people to move here because we have great golf courses and cheap homes,” Mr. Stanton said in an interview. “What I want is young college graduates from the East Coast moving here, and our college graduates staying here because they see their future here and we have a great urban community.”

Full Story:

Phoenix Focuses on Rebuilding Downtown, Wooing Silicon Valley

Published on Saturday, June 18, 2016 in The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/us/phoenix-focuses-on-rebuilding-downtown-wooing-silicon-valley.html?_r=0

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa,_Arizona