In their end-of-year wrap-up, UVA Darden School of Business professors Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Mike Lenox discuss the impact of AI, and the rise of digital keys and AI in household use. They also discuss the future of cryptocurrency, the rapid adoption of autonomous vehicles, the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, and revisit the potential of digital fashion and vertical farming. The Good Disruption Podcast wishes all of our listeners a safe and happy holiday season!

From “hanging chads” to claims of “rigged” Dominion voting machines, the technological improvements to voting technology aimed at improving efficiency and securing trust in the electoral process have been marred in controversy.

Yet, more countries around the world are shifting to electronic voting. In the U.S., most votes will be counted using a touch screen or optical scanner on-site. In the United Arab Emirates and Estonia all votes are submitted online.

David Nemer, UVA Associate Professor in the Department of Media Studies, joins Yael and Mike for this special early edition of November's Good Disruption episode as we head into the U.S. Presidential Election. Together they discuss how culture and trust plays a critical role in the acceptance of electronic voting and the need to protect the entire electoral process from beginning to end.

For more than a century, utility-scale power plants have delivered electricity to millions of customers through a vast grid of connected substations, transmission lines, and distribution lines. This one-way generator-to-customer business model is shifting due to a rapid increase in DERs like rooftop solar and energy storage systems, capable of localized generation and transacting on the grid.

This is disruption in the purest sense, where poor planning and mismanagement of DERs can result in disruption to the current grid system. Yet, if done right, DERs can add cost-efficiency and resiliency to the grid.

Mike and Yael are joined by the Executive Director of the Dominion Energy Innovation Center, Adam Sledd, to discuss DERs and important considerations for a modernized electrical grid.