The Supreme Court has spoken. In a 5-4 decision unveiled Thursday, the court ended months of media-hyped, politically charged speculation and upheld President Barack Obama’s healthcare law.  Today though, as democrats celebrate and republicans vow to continue the fight, I would like to turn our attention to the one common ground in this battle – technology innovation – and the incredible progress that is being made amidst the partisan impasse.  The reason?

Every business wants to be secure. Every business needs to be productive. But in practice, the way we manage access too often forces a choice between the two.

With a wealth of sensitive patient data and aging complex technology ecosystems, healthcare organizations are a gold mine for cyber attackers. Healthcare breaches are consistently more expensive than breaches in any other industry, costing on average $9.8 million per incident in 2024 — $3.7 million more than the next most costly industry.

Manufacturers today depend on complex networks of specialized devices, backed by an even more complex network of third-party vendors – it drives operational efficiency but also increases vulnerability to cyber threats. A recent Imprivata study found that 42 percent of industrial organizations experienced a data breach or cyberattack involving a third-party vendor accessing the organization's network in the last 12 months.

 The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust (Royal Liverpool) says an implementation of secure access and collaboration software has substantially improved productivity, allowing clinicians to spend less time on authenticating to the system and more time with patients.  Following the implementation of a clinical portal that allows a single view of a patient's information aggregated from 200 disparate clinical and administration systems, Royal Liverpool required a single sign-on to enable users fast

As manufacturers race toward Industry 4.0—driven by smart factories, connected devices, and AI-powered automation—one goal stands above the rest: efficiency. But while digital transformation promises productivity and innovation, it also opens the door to new cybersecurity threats. And without the right access controls in place, those gains can quickly turn into liabilities.