Penny Shikowitz, OnTrack Technologies, Inc. Founder and CEO: ‘With The Art of Possible Mindset, We Take a Unique Approach to Support our Clients’ Specific Needs—Instead of Offering a Cookie-Cutter, One-Size-Fits-All Solution’

“Our long and successful track record within government and military agencies demonstrates that our patented technology is proven, agile, scalable, and applicable for a variety of scenarios.”

 OnTrack Technologies, Inc. provides secure, scalable, cloud-agnostic Adaptive Data Exchange (ADE) technology, previously adopted by government and military agencies. OnTrack is now making this technology commercially available. Combined with Data-Delivery-as-a-Service (DDaaS), OnTrack’s technology provides unprecedented access to data from a wide variety of sensing modalities (location, biometrics, inertial forces, etc.) with the ability to trigger real-time insights (geospatial, calendaring, alerting, monitoring, and notifications).

Some of OnTrack’s use cases include personal security, asset tracking and geo-location, remote medical monitoring, and Alzheimer’s patient tracking.

The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Durham, NC.

Penny Shikowitz, OnTrack Technologies, Inc. Founder and CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Q. What inspired you to start OnTrack Technologies, Inc.? Was there any prior experience that led to the establishment of the company?

In the 1990s, I was part of a business that developed and sold an image archive system for CT and MRI scanners. When the mother of one of my business partners developed Alzheimer’s, our team decided to develop a wearable personal location device to help her and her caregivers. Although it was never commercialized, we patented it as an Intelligent Remote Location System. By 2005, there still weren’t any products on the market that offered the same type of support, so I started the company that year and incorporated it in 2006.

Q. Brief us about the journey so far.

Initially, I focused on enhancing the product design for the Intelligent Remote Location System. This resulted in garnering attention from government and military organizations that recognized the value of the technology to support forward-operating units. As the need for information from various types of sensors grew, our system features and functionality rapidly expanded to capture and transmit other related data. When mobile phones became ubiquitous, we shifted from focusing on hardware to concentrate on backend systems and mobile apps.

Q. Delineate a short overview of the services your company offer.

With our proven ADE technology, we Deliver-Data-as-a-Service (DDaaS) to support results-oriented decision-making based on real-time data. Our cloud and device-agnostic solutions mean that we can adapt any type of data without requiring modifications to the client’s system.

Q. What can you tell us about your Adaptive Data Exchange (ADE) technology? And how does it benefit your clients?

OnTrack’s Adaptive Data Exchange (ADE) technology enables easy assimilation and real-time processing of any type of data, in any format, between multiple receivers and systems. ADE applies real-time geospatial awareness capabilities linked to date and time calendaring with customizable alerts and notifications to support any number of verticals such as healthcare, chronic disease management, asset and supply chain management, and workspace operations, to name a few.

Q. Your Data-Delivery-as-a-Service utilizes your ADE technology to provide unprecedented access to data from a wide variety of sensing modalities with the ability to trigger real-time insights. How uniquely do you address your customers’ pain points per this?

DDaaS provides our customers with a flexible, subscription-based model that allows them to access, analyze, and apply their unique data to drive positive results and increase revenue opportunities—whether in the critical context of patient care or the competitive landscape of business. Our solution addresses multiple pain points for clients, including easy assimilation into existing systems without the need for modifications; data delivery that facilitates ML and AI based analytics; data exchange that is device and cloud-agnostic; and customization that supports their unique alerting and notification needs.

Q. “We deliver The Art of Possible.” How do you interpret this further?

Many companies struggle to embrace new opportunities if it means breaking from “the way things have always been done.” They’re trying to forge a new path with an old map, and that’s a recipe for disaster. Instead of relying on old methodologies, we embrace and imagine The Art of Possible by asking ourselves, “given current technological advancements and clients’ ever-changing needs, what can we do to help them in a way that wasn’t possible before?” That’s how great organizations achieve market leadership and drive significant disruption.

Q. What are the key factors that determine your company’s success? Share an overview.

With The Art of Possible mindset, we take a unique approach to support our clients’ specific needs—instead of offering a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all solution. We start by taking the time needed to understand each client’s unique business challenges. Then we apply our expertise and agile technologies to create customized solutions to address them. That type of collaborative approach ensures a win-win, long-term business partnership that results in ongoing, mutual success.

Q. Where do you stand as a company in the current market landscape? And what are you doing to stay ahead of the curve?

OnTrack’s long and successful track record within government and military agencies demonstrates that our patented technology is proven, agile, scalable, and applicable for a variety of scenarios. Since we’ve identified similar opportunities within the commercial space, OnTrack is building significant momentum throughout the market by applying our solutions to a number of commercial initiatives that are currently underway.

Q. Briefly walk us through your plans. Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

We’ve had considerable interest in our capabilities related to real-time remote biometrics and sensor data management to address chronic health conditions and the workplace environmental challenges that have accelerated during the COVID-19 era. We plan to continue delivering The Art of Possible by understanding the most challenging and complex problems facing our clients—and then honing our technologies to address them.

The Leader at the Helm of OnTrack Technologies, Inc.

Penny Shikowitz is the Founder and CEO of OnTrack Technologies, Inc. She is a thought leader and expert in the application of multi-modal methodologies to address challenges in commercial markets spanning engineering/construction, manufacturing, healthcare, facilities management, logistics, and more. For over 25 years, she has been a serial entrepreneur involved in developing cutting-edge technologies. She holds five patents and has an established track record related to bringing innovative technologies to market, propelling rapid adoption, and achieving successful exits for investors

“Our cloud and device-agnostic solutions mean that we can adapt any type of data without requiring modifications to the client’s system.”