Connected World

• Residential Construction at a Crossroads

  The residential construction market is sending a message, and it is one we should pay attention to: We cannot build the future of housing the same way we built the past. The latest numbers from the NAHB (National Assn. of Home Builders) make the challenge clear. New single-family home sales fell 10.5% in July to [...]

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• Success Stories: Smarter Ag: Protect the Peanuts!

  Technology continues to transform agriculture, as farmers and researchers look for new ways to protect crops, improve efficiency, and reduce losses. As a result, we are seeing the rise of sensors and other advanced technologies that can provide farmers with valuable information before problems become widespread. As one example, researchers at Virginia Tech are using [...]

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• The Top 5 EPC Trends in 2026

  Digitalization, Transparency, and Beyond Digitalization continues to dominate conversations across the EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) industry. And for good reason. Projects are becoming more complex. Resources are stretched. Expectations keep rising. The conversation is no longer about why digitalization matters. It’s about how effectively EPCs can implement and scale digital initiatives to improve visibility, [...]

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• AI Is Moving to the Factory Floor

  Here at Connected World and The Peggy Smedley Show, we have spent the last few years talking about AI (artificial intelligence), and now there is an AI revolution happening—one that is much more physical, and it is happening on the factory floor. The 2026 Roadmap on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Smart Manufacturing, published [...]

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• Construction: The Happiest Industry?

  For years, construction has had an enviable title: the happiest industry in the workforce. That might sound surprising at first. Construction is hardly synonymous with easy work. Long hours, tight deadlines, unpredictable conditions, and an ongoing battle for skilled talent are all part of the job. But the industry has had something working in its [...]

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