Every hackathon is literally a race against time, regardless of where they’re held, the skill level of the participants or the technology involved. When Daisy recently hosted a hackathon with the University of Toronto’s Division of Engineering Science, however, we presented students with a particularly challenging problem that put their mental pedals to the metal. Over a 24-hour period, we asked the students to apply artificial intelligence to determine the best way to get a racecar around a track. The winners would receive a paid internship, cash prizes, and bragging rights.

Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. It’s an important opportunity to talk about mental health and put the spotlight on the need to take action to help people lead better and more productive lives. Far too many people suffer in silence about mental health or they’re afraid to tell family and friends about their struggles, whether it’s mental illness, addiction or anxiety. Mental health includes your emotional, psychological and social well-being. It impacts how we think, feel, and act, and how we handle stress and make choices.

If you were among the thousands who gathered two weeks ago in the Jacob Javits Center in New York City for the “Big Show” produced by the National Retail Federation (NRF), you probably saw things that looked a lot different than a few years ago. To put in grocery industry terms, it was like seeing a downtrodden store with not a lot left on the shelves suddenly spruced up and freshly stocked. The exhibit hall was full. Visitor attendance appeared higher than ever. There was also, for lack of a better word, a different vibe at NRF in 2019.

Ask the average person what they picture when they hear the word “innovation” and they’ll probably describe a scene in the R&D lab of a large organization, teeming with technology specialists. Or they might conjure up an image of a recent university grad developing a startup in their parent’s garage. Innovation born within the aisles of a grocery store, though? Probably a little less likely. Regardless of the preconceptions, grocery retailers need to make innovation a high priority in 2019, based on what experts are saying.

Soups, frozen dinners, and hot chocolate are some of the staples that consumers will likely stock up on as they face the cold winter months in many places in North America. In 2019, grocery retailers no longer have to make assumptions about what consumers will buy; they can leverage technologies like artificial intelligence to optimize consumer spending through compelling price and promotion coupled with effective allocation of inventory to meet the needs of customers.