Evolving Technologies: The Future is Now By Natalie Hope McDonald H a rlan, Iowa, a town with a population of less than 6,000 along the West Noshnabotna River, isn’t the sort of place you might think of as a hotbed of tech innovation. Its downtown of small century-old storefronts tends to inspire more nostalgia than much else. But this is where Arlin Sorensen is changing the way people think about farming. As the founder and CEO of HTS Ag, a precision farming technology company and CompTIA Premier Member, Sorensen is experimenting with the newest technology to reap both healthy crops and major economic rewards. How three companies are poised to change the way we do business – from deep in the Earth to high in the sky.
“We’re focused on helping farmers [who] are involved in production agriculture to leverage technology to drive their farming business forward,” Sorensen said. As he was getting ready to head out to work on his own farmland, where he experiments with some of the newest GPS and drone technology, he said he ultimately wants to help fellow farmers apply technology quickly and affordably as it comes to market. Sorensen’s long been interested in fostering professional relationships ever since opening Sorensen’s Computer Connection in 1985. It’s one of the reasons he also founded Heartland Tech Groups (HTG), an umbrella organization of IT peer-mentoring groups, in 2010. HTG currently has more than 500 member companies – many of them small businesses – from throughout North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
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CompTIAWorld | SPRING 2018
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