Digital mapping company Esri has announced a partnership with crowdsourcing traffic app maker Waze to help city governments and drivers communicate more efficiently about traffic conditions, including construction delays and accidents. By using Esri ArcGIS (geographic information system) software to connect to a new Waze connected citizens program, cities can share data about the conditions of their roads with drivers, while drivers can anonymously report accidents, potholes and other road condition information.

It might not come as much of a surprise to learn that the more companies spend on analytics technology, the better the performance of their financial planning and analysis functions. What might be less intuitive is just how extreme the advantage is when using more FP&A-oriented technology, according to a survey by the Association for Finance Professionals.

Thanks to dramatic reductions in price and rapid advances in open-source development, 3D printers have gained ground at both mainstream manufacturing plants and boutique design shops. Even models priced below $1,000 can print ever faster, bigger, and at a higher quality, meaning that households may soon choose to invest in a printer and make, rather than buy, more of the products they use, researchers say.

The vision of the so-called internet of things - giving all sorts of physical things a digital makeover - has been years ahead of reality. But that gap is closing fast, according to Gartner, a research firm. Today, the range of things being computerized and connected to networks is stunning, from watches, appliances and clothing to cars, jet engines and factory equipment. Even roadways and farm fields are being upgraded with digital sensors. In the last two years, the number of internet-of-things devices in the world has surged nearly 70 percent to 6.4 billion, Gartner says. By 2020, the firm forecasts, the internet-of-things population will reach 20.8 billion.