digital_transformation

St. Louis – September 07, 2026 -- Seventy-seven percent of commercial fleet drivers say the benefits of safety technology outweigh privacy concerns, according to a new survey of 267 field service professionals from GPS tracking firm Linxup.

Nearly half of drivers report dash cam footage cleared them in accident disputes

Forty-four percent of respondents said they or a coworker had been involved in an accident where dash cam footage or GPS tracking worked in their favor during an insurance claim or legal dispute. When asked what would most improve their day-to-day work, 29% ranked "protection if something goes wrong" as their top choice, followed by 27% who cited "fewer accidents."

Charlotte, N.C. – September 07, 2026 -- Lucid Bots has launched the Power Tether, a ground-powered continuous-power system for its Sherpa cleaning and spraying drone, eliminating the battery-swap interruptions that have long constrained commercial drone operations.

Fleet logs 8,760 cumulative flight hours across 600-plus drones

Telemetry data measured as of August 17 shows Lucid Bots' connected network of more than 600 Sherpa drones has accumulated over 8,760 flight hours, the equivalent of a full calendar year in the air. The figure aggregates activity across the fleet rather than reflecting a single continuous flight or exclusive Power Tether usage.

San Mateo, Calif. – September 07, 2026 -- California Pool Partners (CPP) has formally launched an owner-centric platform positioned as an alternative to traditional private equity roll-ups in the pool service industry, with operations now established in Los Angeles and San Diego and a third California market targeted for expansion this fall.

CPP acquires Payan Pools, a business built from a $23,000 route in 1987

The platform's recent acquisition of Payan Pools, described as one of San Diego County's most respected pool service companies, illustrates its approach. Founder Javier Payan grew the business over nearly four decades after purchasing the original route in 1987 and was not actively seeking a sale when CPP approached him.

"If I was to write down what it would take for me to sell this business, it was all right there. They checked all my boxes," Payan said of the deal.

Wuxi – September 07, 2026 -- A global leadership delegation from KUKA, led by a Midea Group vice president, toured Centron's manufacturing facility in Wuxi, China last week to exchange views on intelligent assembly manufacturing and global market trends.

KUKA delegation includes headquarters executives and regional leaders

The delegation comprised members of KUKA Group's headquarters leadership team alongside executives from multiple countries and regions. KUKA, a leading global supplier of industrial robots and automation solutions, sent a delegation of this seniority to Centron, reflecting mutual interest in intelligent assembly manufacturing development.

New York – September 07, 2026 -- Claroty scored the highest mark possible in nine separate evaluation criteria, earning both a Leader and a Customer Favorite distinction in The Forrester Wave: Operational Technology Security Solutions, Q3 2026.

Forrester awards top scores across current offering and strategy categories

The nine top scores span vulnerability management, risk modeling and exposure prioritization, secured access management, reporting, IT/OT convergence support, SOC integration depth, and OT-safe deployment models within the current offering category. On the strategy side, Claroty received top marks for innovation, adoption, and pricing flexibility and transparency.

New York – September 07, 2026 -- S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) has completed the divestiture of its geoscience and petroleum engineering software portfolio to SLB, the oilfield technology company operating in more than 100 countries. Financial terms of the deal, first announced in April 2026, were not disclosed, and S&P Global said the transaction is not expected to materially impact its financial results or those of its Energy division.

SLB absorbs upstream workflow tools while S&P Global retains data distribution rights

Under the agreement, S&P Global Energy will continue supplying its proprietary data through the divested geoscience and petroleum engineering workflow tools now owned by SLB. The arrangement creates a strategic alliance designed to keep customers accessing S&P Global's datasets within the same tools they use for daily upstream operations.

Riyadh – September 07, 2026 -- HUMAIN has named Compal Electronics (TWSE:2324) as its long-term strategic ODM partner to build AI infrastructure spanning cloud data centers to edge devices, with the deal signed and showcased at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

HUMAIN and Compal sign roadmap covering AI servers, edge computing and Physical AI

Tony Bonadero, CEO of Compal Electronics, and Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, signed the strategic partnership agreement at LEAP 2026. The collaboration establishes a long-term roadmap covering cloud AI infrastructure, edge computing, Physical AI, and future intelligent computing technologies to support HUMAIN's regional AI ambitions.

San Francisco – – September 07, 2026 -- Nura Studios has opened public access to Nura Showcraft, a production platform that stitches AI-generated shots into full-length animated and live-action projects, as one director reports the tool has cut production costs in half.

Platform targets the gap between AI shot generation and full production workflows

Nura Showcraft lets filmmakers move from script or shot list through storyboard, animatic, animation and final edit inside one connected environment. The platform integrates multiple AI image and video models alongside ACES colour management with HDR/SDR output, with local real-time 4K upscaling planned. "AI can generate a shot. The harder problem is turning thousands of shots into a coherent production," said Sylvio Drouin, CEO and co-founder of Nura Studios.

Andover, Mass. – September 07, 2026 -- ALKU, a specialized staffing firm, has acquired rockITdata, a technology consulting firm focused on artificial intelligence, digital transformation and data analytics, financial terms were not disclosed.

ALKU gains project-delivery capability beyond staffing

The deal pairs ALKU's talent-sourcing model with rockITdata's solutions expertise, allowing the combined firm to offer end-to-end project ownership rather than staffing placements alone. ALKU CEO Andrew Bull said the acquisition lets the company solve larger, more complex client problems by combining rockITdata's technical execution in AI, data and federal health with ALKU's talent reach.

Denver – September 07, 2026 -- AirDNA has launched Adapt, an AI-native revenue management system for short-term rental (STR) hosts and property managers, drawing on data from 15 million listings the company tracks to set nightly rates and minimum stays.

More than 14,000 listings tested Adapt before public launch

The tool was developed after feedback from thousands of STR hosts identified a recurring problem: operators often cannot tell whether their pricing is working or why a rate changed. AirDNA connected more than 14,000 listings to Adapt during private and public betas to refine the product.