DC daily roundup: Smithsonian heads into the cloud; Google invests; NASA looks back to the moon

Smithsonian and Salesforce team up

Right now, finding different exhibits across the 21 Smithsonian museums can be a daunting task. But Salesforce hopes to make it easier for visitors to access the museum network’s many paintings, fossils and ancient objects by developing a system to bring together different data from various sources — including ticketing and donation history.

One of the collaboration’s goals is for museum employees and volunteers to better help visitors find certain exhibits at other locations. A user visiting the Hirshhorn can ask someone at the information desk if a certain piece of art exists at the National Museum of American History, for example.

“Smithsonian is so progressive. They have all this content, they have all this history, they have incredible tools,” said Lori Freeman, Salesforce’s vice president and general manager of nonprofit industry solutions and strategy. “So this technology is going to enable them to reach audiences they would never get to.”

➡️ Read more about the plans for the data cloud in my latest report here.

A bear wanders through Delaware

In 2019, a black bear was seen on a deck in Wilmington, only to disappear back into the wild shortly after.

The beloved bear’s legacy lived on as memes went viral, with local businesses selling branded “Delabear” ice cream and t-shirts. Fast forward to 2024, when another black bear has been spotted nearby. Will this creature go viral? Other local meme-like moments certainly have, like the dancing Amazon driver and the alphabet baby.

➡️ Check out Technical.ly reporter Holly Quinn’s favorite viral moments in the state.

News Incubator: What else to know today

• Montgomery County is aiming to simplify the process of getting rooftop solar panels approved. [MYMCM]

• Northern Virginia-based Trustible, a 2024 RealLIST Startup whose tech helps companies with AI regulatory compliance, just received $150,000 through the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund. The fund is part of the tech giant’s bigger initiatives to support companies with Black and Latino founders. [Technical.ly/Trustible/Google for Startups]

• DC cyber company Adlumin launched a new feature for its ransomware prevention tool, which benchmark tests say saves 99% of file systems on average. Now, it will also stop data exfiltration. [Technical.ly/Adlumin]

• The McLean-based fintech firm Verituity raised $18.8 million to build out its customer base. [Washington Biz Journal]

• Three Prince George’s County businesses focused on infrastructure development in different tech sectors received new grants from the Maryland Department of Commerce. One of them, the battery manufacturer Ion Storage Systems, won $1 million to continue research and development. [Maryland Department of Commerce]

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the US is “right on schedule” to fly astronauts to the moon after a spacecraft from China landed for the fourth time earlier this month. [Washington Post]

🗓️ On the Calendar