Open banking, the practice of sharing third-party access to financial data through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) within data privacy rules is gradually gaining prominence in Africa, which still grapples with several pain points in payments.

Open banking brings the needed agility by fintechs to provide multiple services across borders. It allows you to send money from the US to Malawi as well as pay for your electricity, water, or home internet bills. These APIs enhance contactless payments, further pushing down the cost of transactions, Willie Kanyeki, east and southern Africa regional manager at UK-based fintech Terrapay told Quartz during this years Seamless Africa fintech summit in Nairobi on Oct. 4.

Several startups are already investing on the frontier fintech concept and innovations around it. Last month a McKinsey study projected that Africas e-payments market will see revenues grow by 20% per year, hitting $40 billion by 2025. The global open banking market amassed a revenue of $13.9 billion in 2020, and is expected to hit $123.7 billion by 2031.

With 57% of Africas adult population still underbanked, and many lacking access to affordable credit, the sharing of APIs among banks, fintechs, and mobile money providers, according to fintech experts, presents a huge opportunity for the continent to expand financial inclusion to the rural areas.

Through open banking, Kanyeki says Terrapay has reduced cross-border remittance costs from 7% to 3% is some countries, and has expanded its portfolio to 4.5 billion bank accounts and over 1.5 billion mobile wallets.

Nairobi-based Solve Kenya, a subsidiary of Standard Chartered bank, which has utilized open banking in the past five months to provide over 800 small and medium sized businesses access to credit, believes the era of waiting for days for a business loan to be approved is long gone.

Yes, we use these APIs and machine learning to make the process fastera maximum of 50 minuteswhile eliminating any loopholes for fraud. We have disbursed $1 million and the adoption is high because the APIs have reduced the cost of access to credit by up to 3%. We protect client private data and we have also have integrated zero trust cybersecurity to our platform, CEO Sheila Omukuba tells Quartz.

Kenyas central bank gave open banking a green light in 2020 paving the way for Cooperative Bank of Kenya to pioneer the new business landscape, integrating its systems with 12 APIs to reach more customers.

IBMs Middle east and Africa general manager Saad Toma tells Quartz that open banking creates new revenue streams for financial institutions while creating value for customers through digital personalized financial services experiences. This is all possible by making data available for regulated providers to access, use and share and allows customers to seamlessly interact with multiple forms of personal finance and payment service providers, Toma explains.

IBM says it is currently working with Ethiopian bank Dashen to modernize its cloud integration architecture and enhance its open banking experiences with fintechs, neo-banks, corporates, and telecom partners to improve customer experiences. In southern Africa, we have partnered with Bank Zero to deliver an open-source based banking platform that offers fast, easy, and continuous banking services to digital customers, Toma says.

South African open finance platform truID allows users to securely access consumer financial data from all major banks in the country, with its CEO Paris Valakelis telling Disrupt Africa that open banking is a movement already in motion and one thats picking up pace, eventually, it will become a unified open data framework, encompassing all consumer data safely and securely.

Stitch, also South African, has developed an API that allows developers to connect apps to financial accounts within minutes. There are now six South African banks offering open banking services.

Nigerian startups OnePipe, which aggregates APIs from banks and fintechs into a unified gateway, and Mono which builds open banking infrastructure for banks, are driving the revolution in the country and believe that all financial service providers should allow for free API integrations for inclusion to work in Africa. In May, Nigerias central bank laid down guidelines for open banking in the country.

Moroccos CIH Bank has been working with Finastra, an open banking fintech to digitize its services so customers can access them on a mobile app while improving customer experience and generating more revenue.

Tanzanias most notable pioneer of open banking is NMB Bank, which launched the countrys first fintech sandbox in October 2021 to allow fintechs to access banking APIs meant to make payments faster. CEO Ruth Zaipuna says the sandbox allows startups to experiment, test, and pre-certify integration with our banking services.

Banks in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Malawi are also betting big on APIs to entrench WhatsApp banking, which is meant to make sending and receiving money as easy and fast as chatting on WhatsApp. Open banking is also active in Uganda, Egypt, and Ghana.

However, the continent has the worlds lowest internet speed, many people still rely on feature phones, internet penetration is low, and some countries even censor it.

Some legacy banks are also not ready to open their APIs to fintechs or share customer data with competitors. The lack of regulation is also crippling attempts to make the concept mainstream, as only two countries in AfricaKenya and South Africahave a data privacy and protection law.

One of the hardest things about open banking is that we are asked [as customers] to share more data, in an age where privacy is more valued, says Richard Dent, founder of Finger Finance, a California-based online lending startup.

Andrew Ma, chief operating officer of South Africas Stitch says though Africa is ready for the revolution most regulatory regimes continue to treat third-party open banking players as security and exposure risks, and warn consumers against use of products enabled by them.

But Africas informal economy, which accounts for almost 90% of the economy, remains a prime space for open banking innovation, offering players the chance to provide safe, secure, and innovative financial services to the 370 million unbanked consumers. A reduced cost of mobile internet is expected to raise financial inclusion in Africa and improve the continents GDP by 30%.

Read more here:
Open banking could be what Africa needs to deepen financial inclusion - Quartz

Since its inception in 2007, DevOps has been stirring up the way IT teams handle operations -- and 2022 has been no different.

DevOps combines development and operations to promote collaboration and communication. In turn, it can streamline processes and enable companies to keep up with market and customer demands. These benefits keep DevOps relevant and on the rise. Around 77% of companies use a DevOps model to streamline software deployment, Google reported. The market is expected to grow from $6,079.38 million to $14,554.23 million by 2027, according to 360iResearch's DevOps market forecast.

The majority of DevOps articles TechTarget published in 2022 focus on the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful DevOps engineer and have a competitive advantage in the job market. IT professionals also need strategies and tools to promote individual and organizational growth -- for organizations just beginning their adoption journey or refining a DevOps environment.

As we move into fall 2022, let's review the top 10 DevOps articles from the last six months that dive into everything from DevOps runbooks and preferred programming languages to adoption and desirable skills.

Every organization expects different skills and education levels from their DevOps engineers, but some qualifications are universal. In this article, former associate site editor Alyssa Fallon interviewed Matthew Grasberger, a DevOps engineer at Imperfect Foods and TechTarget contributor, and Mirco Hering, a global transformation lead at Accenture, about the top skills DevOps admins should have and their key responsibilities. Both found that DevOps engineers need cloud experience and should be acquainted with cloud-native platforms, such as Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. In addition to tool knowledge, they must be adaptable and able to balance regular responsibilities with unexpected tasks.

In a DevOps engineering role, interpersonal skills -- such as listening, curiosity and communication -- are just as important as technical skills. Collaboration and teamwork drive DevOps projects forward because they promote creativity and problem-solving. In an interview conducted for the article, Kyle Fossum, senior DevOps engineer at The Predictive Index, said, "I've heard DevOps defined as people, processes and technology -- in that order, so people come first." Review this article from March to determine what soft skills look like for DevOps engineers and how to translate them onto a resume.

DevOps runbooks focus on a single workflow process and address issues IT teams encounter. With a proper runbook, IT admins can create repeatable processes to help eliminate avoidable issues. In his article on runbook development, analyst Kurt Marko explained why you must record each task step before deploying automation and place it into a runbook. Explore the who, what, when, where and why of runbooks and how to automate them.

Every complex procedure should have a runbook that describes detailed steps for continual consistency and accuracy across an organization. Creating a template strengthens existing runbooks and eliminates confusion by explaining what is going on and why. DevOps runbooks provide teams with clear DevOps process descriptions and detail what each process accomplishes. Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corporation, covered what organizations should include in a runbook template, rules for the structure and how to test it before implementation.

To keep on top of the variety of tasks DevOps requires, DevOps engineers must have some code knowledge -- using programming skills to implement CI/CD and infrastructure as code, for example. Grasberger unpacked which languages are the most useful, from his experience as a DevOps engineer and shared how to best improve your skills -- through practice, practice and more practice.

The programming language Go, commonly referred to as Golang, can be a good fit when speed, concurrency and developer experience are a top priority. This strongly typed programming language makes it easier to use, write and read concurrent code than with JavaScript. Go's features also include readable code, extensive documentation and a command-line tool. This tutorial by Grasberger unpacked Go's benefits and teaches readers how to get started.

DevOps architect and engineering roles seem similar upon first glance but they differ greatly. In the simplest terms, DevOps architects create the framework and an engineer works to fill it in. An organization needs a DevOps architect if it already has software or enterprise architects. If there is a DevOps team of any kind, it needs engineers. In this article, Nolle explained where the architect and engineer roles diverge and come together in areas such as cloud knowledge and experience levels.

Many factors come into play when choosing an orchestration tool, but organizations can turn to open source tools to alleviate costs. When choosing the right tool, keep in mind an organization's size and the extent of its DevOps capabilities. Orchestration tools coordinate all the automated tasks necessary for a deployment. Once DevOps teams implement automation, they can integrate more DevOps processes. In this comparison piece, analyst Kerry Doyle dove into detail about open source orchestration options, such as Rancher, HashiCorp Nomad, Jenkins and GitLab CI.

Just because an organization has implemented a DevOps framework does not guarantee its success. Factors such as unclear definitions, deeply rooted silos, legacy commitments and missing actionable metrics can all contribute to a lackluster and inconsistent DevOps adoption process. For DevOps success, TechTarget senior technology editor Stephen Bigelow recommended ways to set reachable DevOps goals and six steps for a smooth adoption.

Self-service portals standardize build tools, technology, configurations, infrastructure and design patterns across an organization with a centralized dashboard system. In this article, Doyle has laid out the primary benefits of working with a DevOps self-service portal, its key elements and how to best prepare for adoption.

Read the rest here:
What we can learn from the top DevOps articles of 2022 - TechTarget

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bonitasoft, the leading open-source digital process automation company, today announced the first release of the Bonita Digital Business Process Management platform that includes native integration with tools produced by the Process Analytics project. With these tools, users can better customize their visualization of processes and cases for improved process monitoring, giving businesses a deeper understanding of how processes are performing as they run.

The Process Analytics project is an open source project, distributed under the Apache license, that is developing tools to help developers to visualize and monitor process execution data using the BPMN2 standard notation. After two years of development, the Process Analytics project is now advanced enough to offer a set of re-usable, embeddable libraries that can be easily integrated into other existing BPM, RPA, iPaaS, and process mining applications and platforms.

We see process analytics as a sub-segment of the Data Analytics market, in which the data model is related to process execution use cases, said Charles Souillard, CEO and co-founder of Bonitasoft. The more data about business processes that the platform can mine and offer to business users in an easy-to-consume format, the better decisions they can take about where to optimize, improve, and innovate.

The current release of Bonita 2022.2 also has a brand-new Reporting Application that includes process execution reports, with relevant historical data of processes and cases, for analysis of past process performance that will aid in pinpointing areas for improvement.

Further, Bonitasoft also announces that it has achieved ISO 27001 certification for its Bonita Cloud development, user support, and operations. 27001 certification was confirmed by Bureau Veritas, the world leader in certification, after performing a successful audit of Bonitasofts information security practices.

We are pleased to have earned this certification for Bonita, added Nicolas Chabanoles, Chief Product & Technology Officer for Bonitasoft. We are committed to providing highly secure business process automation for our Bonita customers, partners, and users.

The Bonita Community open-source edition includes all capabilities required to develop and deploy process automation projects, and can be downloaded here.

About Bonitasoft

Bonitasoft fully supports digital operations and modernization of information systems with Bonita, an open-source and extensible platform for automation and optimization of business processes. The Bonita platform accelerates development and production with a clear separation between visual programming and coding capabilities. Bonita integrates with existing information systems, orchestrates heterogeneous systems and provides deep visibility across all enterprise processes.

Read the rest here:
Bonitasoft Introduces New Tools That Offer Visualization and Monitoring With Business Process Automation - Business Wire

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK WRAL TechWire keeps tabs on the latest and greatest meetups, panels, workshops, conferences, application deadlines and all things happening in the entrepreneurial, technology and business communities in the Triangle and across North Carolina.

Following is a list of events coming up across Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the greater Triangle area through the end of October. Many events will be held in person, as some organizers are returning to a live format.

If youd like to suggest an event for WRAL TechWires statewide events calendar, feel free to reach out here.

The Launch Places annual Big Launch Challenge event is returning this fall, offering an opportunity for 10 promising startups to compete for $15,000 in prize money. The 2022 Big Launch Challenge will be held on Nov. 17 in RTP.

The Downtown Techies Happy Hour event series is back at Raleighs Lynnwood Brewing Concern. Join to network with peers.

Code for Durham brings together technologists, designers, developers, data scientists, map makers, and activists to collaborate on civic technology projects. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month.

Cary Chambers next economic development meeting will be held at ABBs American headquarters, located in Cary.

NC TECHs Job Expo allows job seekers and employers to connect live via chat and video. Employers will host virtual booths describing employee benefits/perks, job vacancies and more. While the event mainly focuses on candidates seeking tech-related jobs and internships, many employers have openings in non-technical roles.

1 Million Cups, presented by Kauffman, is a weekly informal pitch event for the startup community. Join for free coffee and entrepreneurial support as local startups deliver their presentations.

Featuring panel discussions, networking and more sessions, this event will highlight the importance of manufacturing and technology, and the intersection of the two.

The AgTech Investor Symposium will feature a full day of discussions covering the growing opportunities for agtech deals and investments.

This hybrid workshop will focus on emotional intelligence and leadership, covering its benefits and approaches to managing stress, burnout and other critical challenges, and more.

Join this event to hear pitches from the latest cohort of CEDs 12-week GRO Incubator. (Read more coverage of the participating startups here.)

CEDs GRO incubator selects nine startups here they are

American Underground is hosting a founder-focused happy hour on its rooftop. Join to meet the 10 Black-led startups participating in the annual Black Founders Exchange accelerator, as well as other local entrepreneurs and startup teams from across the Triangle.

This conference, hosted by the NC Global Health Alliance, will bring together business leaders, policymakers, students and researchers to discuss the global impact of North Carolinas health organizations.

Raleigh Chambers next C-Suite Perspectives event will feature a talk from J. Blount Williams, the chairman and CEO of Alfred Williams & Company.

This free monthly interactive webinar provides participants with an overview of NC TECHs activities, resources and member offerings.

Join Raleigh Founded for an evening celebrating its 10th anniversary of serving the Triangles startup and tech communities.

The City of Raleighs Building Up-fit Grant helps fund interior improvements to commercial property owned by local businesses. Applications for the next round of grants are open now.

Raleigh Chamber will bring together local professionals and business leaders for an evening of networking at the states largest indoor shooting range of its kind.

Connect with other nonprofit leaders around the Triangle at Raleigh Foundeds free coworking day, featuring complimentary food, networking and a lineup of programming.

Triangle Biotech Tuesday is a monthly meetup that connects scientific professionals across the RTP/greater Triangle area. Join to network with professionals from different industries. The group meets on the second Tuesday of every month.

The sixth annual Ecosystem Builders (e.Builders) Forum will convene entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders from around the country to enhance their professional skills and make new connections.

Now in its 5th year, the annual Microbiome Movement Animal Health & Nutrition Summit convenes microbiome experts from livestock, companion animal and aquaculture indications to discuss the latest scientific developments and tackle the industrys challenges.

The NC Biosciences Organization will host its annual meeting this fall, featuring a keynote address, panel discussions and networking.

In this virtual event, NC TECH will present its annual North Carolina Tech Innovation Index, a report detailing how the states metros compare nationally in tech talent supply, talent demand and innovation.

In this in-person workshop, entrepreneur Neal McTighe will lead a panel discussion on business funding opportunities.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Centers Innovation Impact Grant provides up to $150,000 in funding for acquiring research equipment for university core facilities or nonprofit organizations engaged in life science research.

Techstars Startup Weekend returns to the Triangle this month with another 54-hour hackathon focused on social innovation.

NC State students/alumni and employers in the data science field are invited to attend this in-person career expo at the Hunt Library.

NC TECHs Government Vendor Network is a forum for member companies interested in doing business with the state government.

1 Million Cups, presented by Kauffman, is a weekly informal pitch event for the startup community. Join for free coffee and entrepreneurial support as local startups deliver their presentations.

Join this free webinar to learn about the wealth of career and educational opportunities available in the Triangles life science sector.

Raleigh Founded is hosting an Instagram-focused social media strategy session with Emily Winters, founder of The Social Rising.

This webinar will show small business owners and startups how to employ YouTube to boost brand awareness, generate leads, grow sales and connect with audiences.

Cary Chambers next Business of Women event will feature a talk from Meena Patel, owner of the Preston Dental Loft in Cary.

The next RTP180 event will bring in a panel of experts to discuss the latest findings in forensic anthropology, forensic toxicology, thanatology and more.

Hosted by NC State Entrepreneurship, the Albright Entrepreneurs Village, and Women in Science and Engineering, this in-person event will feature a panel discussion with women in leadership and entrepreneurial roles.

The NC Sustainable Energy Associations annual Making Energy Work Conference covers policy areas that are driving North Carolinas clean energy economy, from regulatory reform to policies enhancing access to new technologies.

This virtual lunch and learn will discuss ways to prepare for the impending 5G rollout, the technical challenges involved and more.

In this in-person event, a panel of farmers and food business owners will discuss the industrys impact in the region and throughout North Carolina.

Raleigh Founded will host a Halloween-themed networking event with festive food and drinks, face painting and a costume contest.

ProductCampRTP and PDMA Carolinas are hosting a free virtual conference tailored for professionals who plan, design, build, market or manage a product/service.

The East Coasts largest open-source technology conference returns this year with an engaging program for designers, developers, entrepreneurs, technologists and business leaders.

Held in conjunction with All Things Open, this event will feature moderated and facilitated discussions and pre-scheduled talks geared toward community leaders, organizers and managers.

Excerpt from:
October headliners, part I: Noteworthy events & program deadlines in the Triangle - WRAL TechWire

Washington University in St. Louis has announced a transformative fundraising initiative that aims not only to increase financial resources for students at every level of need, including middle-income students, but also to provide a best-in-class experience for all students to learn, develop and flourish while on campus and beyond.

Called Make Way: Our Student Initiative, it will build financial resources for undergraduate scholarships, graduate scholarships and fellowships, and the student experience, helping Washington University remove financial barriers for the most qualified students and offer every student the freedom to navigate an educational path.

With Make Way, we aim to be the most supportive university in the country for all of our students, including first-generation and lower-income students as well as those from middle-income families for whom a WashU education is a significant financial stretch, said Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.

And not only will we help them get here, but well also help them thrive here, so they will leave prepared to make their unique mark on the world, Martin added. It is imperative for us to remain competitive, increase our distinction and live up to our moral obligation as a university to open our doors as fully as possible.

Martin announced Make Way Oct. 6 during a celebratory event in Tisch Park heralded by WashU cheerleaders and the Bear Nation Varsity Band. Faculty, students, donors and friends attended individual school receptions before joining university administrators and Board of Trustees members at the east end of the Danforth Campus for the announcement.

The goal is to raise a minimum of $600 million in gifts and commitments. More than $315 million has been raised already for the initiative thanks to the generosity of alumni, parents and friends. Gifts from some donors encourage others to give. WashU Trustee Lee Fixel, BSBA 02, and his wife, Lauren, of New York, established the Catalyst Challenge, which provides matching funds for new endowed undergraduate scholarships of $200,000 or more. And Trustee Larry Thomas, BSBA 77, created the Step Up Challenge to inspire annual scholarship donors to increase their level of support.

Thomas, a retired general partner at Edward Jones in St. Louis, is also helping lead Make Way. He serves as co-chair of the initiative with alumni Carrie Johnson, BArch 89, a design strategist and social activist in Baltimore; Merry Mosbacher, MBA 82, a retired partner at Edward Jones in St. Louis; and Eric Upin, AB 83, parent of a current student, Washington University Investment Management Company board chair, and co-founder of Point Olema Capital Partners in the San Francisco area.

Make Way follows years of concerted efforts to increase access for bright and motivated students who want to study at WashU regardless of their financial situations. Under Martins leadership since 2019, the university has redoubled those efforts.

A major step forward was Gateway to Success, a $1 billion investment in financial aid and student support for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. That historic investment, announced last fall, allowed the university to achieve its longtime goal of adopting a need-blind undergraduate admissions policy. It was made possible largely through an extraordinary 65% return on WashUs endowment in fiscal year 2020-21.

The university hit a major milestone this fall in its quest to enroll more students with limited resources: 20% of the incoming Class of 2026 is Pell Grant-eligible, a 15 percentage-point increase from 10 years ago.

Martin acknowledged that there remains a significant gap between the universitys endowment resources for undergraduate scholarships and graduate student support and students demonstrated needs. By further growing endowment resources through Make Way, we can bring our scholarship and fellowship packages into alignment with our closest competitors.

Ronn Turner, vice provost for admissions and financial aid, said that because WashU falls behind other top-tier universities in the amount of scholarships and fellowships offered, Were missing out on educating and learning from some of the brightest students with the greatest potential to contribute to our community and our world.

By building a more diverse student body that reflects the racial, socioeconomic and geographic diversity of our region, country and world, we will be enriching the educational experience for all of our students.

By building a more diverse student body that reflects the racial, socioeconomic and geographic diversity of our region, country and world, we will be enriching the educational experience for all of our students, Turner added.

We need to ensure that the strength of our scholarship and fellowship support is equal to the exceptional quality of a WashU education and that we can expand access and opportunity for students at every income level.

Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, said that Make Way will make it possible for more financial aid resources to come from the endowment instead of schools operating budgets.

Freeing up their operating funds will allow schools to reinvest in their academic programs, advancing excellence in academics, research and innovation and capitalizing on new opportunities for growth and excellence, Wendland said. Stronger schools and departments will attract stronger students and faculty.

Make Way also will provide resources to recruit, train and support the most highly qualified graduate students.

To attract the best graduate students, it is critical that we offer competitive stipends and fellowships, as well as provide top-notch professional development and career guidance, Wendland said. This includes providing our graduate students with opportunities to attend academic conferences, learn about various career pathways, and receive faculty mentoring and well-being services.

Another key goal of Make Way is to provide students with comprehensive support or as Anna Gonzalez, vice chancellor for student affairs, affectionately calls it, a big hug of wraparound support.

Providing increased support for the experiences that contribute to educating and caring for the whole student at WashU is essential, Gonzalez said.

We need to level the playing field for all students so that each graduate leaves equally equipped to connect, contribute and succeed, she said.

The need is great, and all WashU students would benefit from better connections to internships, research opportunities, study abroad and other meaningful experiences to ensure they are fully engaged and thriving at Washington University.

Comprehensive student support, such as student health and well-being resources, career advising, leadership training and programming that fosters diversity and inclusion, will help students become changemakers in their families, their professions and their communities, Gonzalez said.

In addition, programs that focus on student success such as student and family orientation; funds for necessities such as computers, textbooks and emergencies; winter and spring break career and leadership opportunities; and life skills seminars will be transformational and change the trajectory not only for thousands of students, but also for their families and communities for generations, Gonzalez said.

Make Way is how well remove the obstacles that stand in their way.

Tuition could have been a roadblock between senior Emma D. McMillian and a WashU education. But thanks to the Stefanie Hill and John Pickett Scholarship, McMillian, of Chevy Chase, Md., is working toward a bachelors degree in computer science and mathematics and a masters degree in computer science at the McKelvey School of Engineering.

The daughter of older parents on the cusp of retirement when she was looking at colleges, McMillian said she doesnt know what she would have done without scholarship support.

I would have had a lot of student debt. Scholarships allowed me to not worry about paying off loans after graduation. I am so grateful for this big gift in my life.

Being awarded this scholarship gave me a lot of confidence, added McMillian, who is in NASAs Pathways Engineering Internship program and is passionate about using computer science and artificial intelligence to make the world better.

First-year students can feel very out of place or alone. But coming to WashU, meeting others with scholarships and feeling supported by faculty, staff and administrators made me feel like Im supposed to be here. I do belong here. Im not just a number.

For Washington University to live up to its full potential both in terms of educational programs and research, and for us to serve the community and the world, its absolutely crucial that our doors are open to students with incredible talent, regardless of their opportunity.

Make Way will help support key aspects of the universitys 10-year strategic plan, Here and Next, which Wendland unveiled Oct. 3. Of the strategic plans five guiding principles, two of them academic distinction and equity, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of Make Way.

Make Way also addresses four of the strategic plans nine topic areas that represent the universitys highest priorities campus wellness, graduate and professional education, personal and professional growth, and undergraduate education.

For Washington University to live up to its full potential both in terms of educational programs and research, and for us to serve the community and the world, its absolutely crucial that our doors are open to students with incredible talent, regardless of their opportunity, Martin said. And we need to have the resources to ensure that every one of our students can thrive.

To learn more about Make Way and how to support the initiative, visit the Make Way website.

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Transformative fundraising initiative 'makes way' for top applicants - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis - Washington University in St....

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., Oct. 6, 2022 The IEEE Computer Society has named ETH Zurich professor, Torsten Hoefler as the recipient of the 2022Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award for his pioneering contributions to large-scale parallel processing systems and supercomputers.

Established in 1992 in memory of high-performance computing pioneer Sidney Fernbach, the Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the application of high-performance computers using innovative approaches.

The ideas and software professor Hoefler and his group developed are actively used by tens of thousands of scientists today to power large-scale scientific simulations and artificial intelligence systems. Hoefler has been cited for application-aware design of HPC algorithms, systems and architectures, and transformative impact on scientific computing and industry.

Heading up ETH Zurichs Scalable Parallel Computing Lab, Hoefler and his team have been instrumental in developing techniques to improve the efficiency of high-performance computing and large cloud data center systems. Many of the developed ideas form core components for constructing, running, and programming supercomputers such as the Alps system set to come online at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in spring 2023.

One key architectural feature that distinguishes standard computers and commodity clouds with modern supercomputers that consist of millions of tightly coupled processors is networking, and Prof. Hoefler has made numerous innovative, groundbreaking contributions to enable high performance and programmability in such machines, said Satoshi Matsuoka, director or Riken R-CCS and Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, the recipient of the 2014 Sidney Fernbach award, In fact his contributions have been comprehensive, from work on innovative and scalable network topologies, various network routing algorithms, performance modeling, to making key contributions to the MPI standard, on which practically every scalable parallel codes are programmed upon. As scalability becomes significant in nontraditional HPC areas such as deep learning, Prof. Hoeflers work will continue to be increasingly impactful for HPC and ultimately to the society.

Hoeflers work includes a focus on improving the performance of highly scalable parallel systems and developing numerous applications in the areas of weather and climate simulation, and machine learning. His contributions range from hardware and systems design for HPC to middleware, applications, as well as algorithms.

David Keyes, Director of the Extreme Computing Research Center at KAUST and 2007 Sidney Fernbach Award recipient, commented: Torstens contributions to the analysis of parallel algorithms in terms of I/O complexity and data movement influence the approach of many scientists and, hopefully, will lead to a new understanding of algorithm design techniques for the next generation. He works not only on theory, but also on practical implementations, both aspects being important for continued scaling progress. Torsten also sets the standard, not only in terms of the software itself, but also in how performance is measured and reported, and even in how rigorous reviews should be conducted. He is an interdisciplinary integrator. His influence across many forms of computation has been truly transformative.

Specifically, his contributions to the Message Passing Interface had a significant impact on computing.

Jack Dongarra, 2003 Sidney Fernbach awardee and winner of the 2021 Turing Award said: Torsten played a significant role in shaping the Message Passing Interface (MPI-3) specification, the de-facto standard for programming distributed memory clusters and supercomputers. As an author of both the Collective Communication as well as Process Topologies chapters, he introduced key concepts such as non-blocking collective communication operations. His ideas have been adopted far beyond MPI as non-blocking all-reduce operations and are used in tens of thousands of deep-learning workloads. His reference implementation found its way into most open-source and commercial MPI implementations. His code is used on essentially all clusters and supercomputers by tens of thousands of researchers and practitioners.

Hoefler has won numerous awards for his work, including being named as an IEEE Fellow and a member of Academia Europaea. He also received the Latsis Prize from ETH Zurich, the ACM Gordon Bell Prize, and two European Research Council (ERC) Grants.

His life work accelerates scientific research and applications of neural networks, making them more efficient and less costly. The impact of which will unlock new computational capabilities that enable breakthrough technologies in modern science.

I am genuinely grateful to my mentors and the scientific community for their support and encouragement. I hope to continue Sidney Fernbachs innovative path by combining computer architecture and applications, said Hoefler.

With an eye on the future Hoefler anticipates tremendous growth, but also some of the challenges society faces in developing efficient large-scale deep learning training and small-scale inference systems. He believes that learning methods will have a fundamental impact on traditional simulation sciences such as weather and climate predictions, topics in which he is deeply invested.

The Sidney Fernbach award consists of a certificate and a $2,000 honorarium. The award will be presented to Hoefler at the SC22 Conference awards opening session in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday morning, November 15, 2022. He will also present an invited talk during the plenary session scheduled from 8:30 10:00am on Wednesday, November 16.

About the IEEE Computer Society

The IEEE Computer Society is the worlds home for computer science, engineering, and technology. A global leader in providing access to computer science research, analysis, and information, the IEEE Computer Society offers a comprehensive array of unmatched products, services, and opportunities for individuals at all stages of their professional careers. Known as the premier organization that empowers the people who drive technology, the IEEE Computer Society offers international conferences, peer-reviewed publications, a unique digital library, and training programs.

Source: IEEE Computer Society

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Torsten Hoefler to Receive the IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award 2022 - HPCwire

After what seems like a lifetime, the Connectivity Standards Alliance has launched the Matter 1.0 smart home accessory standard. This brings in a new chapter in the smart home story, but how might it affect you? Lets look at what Matter does, who the key players are, and what it might mean for you.

Up until now, the key players in smart home technology had their own proprietary standards and communications protocols. Apple has HomeKit, Google uses its own system, and so does Amazon. Lets not forget Samsungs Smart Things ecosystem, either.

While smart home accessories exist that support all of the above, theyre not as common as we might like. Thats where Matter comes in, offering a communications standard for all to use. A large number of tech giants are behind it, too, including the aforementioned Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung.

Furthermore, some of the top smart home accessory makers are adopting Matter. These include Eve, Nanoleaf, Wemo and more.

With the rollout of Matter, many smart home accessories that arent specifically noted as being HomeKit compatible can now be added to your Apple Home app anyways.

While the supporting companies have been working on integrating Matter for months, the standard hadnt officially launched. That meant these companies could say they would support Matter, but couldnt fully roll it out.

The day has finally come when the standard is live, and integration can begin. Authorized test labs are now available to certify products as Matter-compatible and the open-source programming kit is complete.

Apple has already begun laying the groundwork for this, with the iOS 16.1 beta.

In its first version, Matter already supports a wide variety of smart home products. These include lighting, HVAC controls, window coverings, smart door locks, and safety and security sensors. Theres also support for media devices, controllers and bridges.

Matter operates over both Wi-Fi and Thread. This means devices can communicate with the cloud, but the inclusion of Thread also allows for an energy-efficient and reliable mesh network of smart home devices throughout your home.

If all of your smart home accessories are HomeKit devices, Matters launch doesnt affect you yet. If you dont plan on adding any non-HomeKit devices to your home, the new standard still doesnt affect you. However, its there if you need it.

If a device is Matter-compatible, that means its effectively compatible with HomeKit, too, once iOS 16.1 launches. If you find a smart home accessory you want to incorporate into your setup, it wont matter if the manufacturer has included HomeKit support. As long as the accessory supports Matter, adding it into the Home app should be simple and painless.

As TechRadars Jeremy Kaplan recently said, Todays smart gadgets kinda suck. Kaplans more optimistic now that Matter is live, saying that shaky smart home could soon become something really livable.

From our perspective, simply knowing that a smart home accessory will work with Apples HomeKit without having to jump through a bunch of ever-changing hoops is a net positive.

Continued here:
Matter Has Officially Launched, But Does It Matter For You? - The Mac Observer

Hello and welcome to Protocol Enterprise! Today: how UiPath co-CEO Rob Enslin thinks process automation will evolve inside the enterprise, how Suses Melissa Di Donato decided to leave the U.S. and build a career in Europe, and new steps toward securing open-source software start to emerge.

UiPath has had a shaky history. The company, which helps companies automate business processes, went public in 2021 at a valuation of more than $30 billion, but now the companys market capitalization is only around $7 billion.

Now UiPath is hoping the addition of Rob Enslin as co-CEO can turn things around through financial discipline and an increased focus on global expansion. I recently spoke with Enslin about why he joined UiPath, the untapped potential of automation, and how he plans to lead alongside founder Daniel Dines.

Read the full Q&A here.

Aisha Counts (email | twitter)

Digital is an ongoing process, not a destination. West Monroe knows that becoming a digital organization requires a mindset shift that will impact processes and employees at all levels, and that success can be achieved if the organization is aligned toward a clear vision.

Learn more

A native New Yorker, Melissa Di Donato made a life-changing decision back in 2005 when she packed up for Europe to further her career in technology. Then with IBM, she made London her new home base.

Today, Di Donato is CEO of Germanys Suse, now a 30-year-old, open-source enterprise software company that specializes in Linux operating systems, container management, storage, and edge computing. As the companys first female leader, she has led Suse through the coronavirus pandemic, a 2021 IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and the acquisitions of Kubernetes management startup Rancher Labs and container security company NeuVector.

Being an American in Europe is unique, Di Donato said. Being an American leading a tech company thats listed in Germany is unique. Being a female American running a German tech company on the SDAX is even more unique at the size of our company.

Read the full collection of Di Donatos comments on building a business and a career in Europe here.

In todays global landscape, cybersecurity threats are something that every business operating on the internet must face, not just enormous tech companies. In this Protocol virtual event on Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. PT, well examine the current best practices for securing both large and small to medium-sized businesses, providing viewers with a true threat landscape and information they can use to make decisions about the strategy that best supports their business goals.

Protocol Enterprises Kyle Alspach will be joined by a great panel of speakers: Andrew Rubin, co-founder and CEO, Illumio; Alex Weinert, vice president and director of identity security, Microsoft; Jameeka Green Aaron, chief information security officer, Auth0; and Devdatta Akhawe, head of security, Figma.

RSVP here.

As any DevOps team knows, when creating an application, there's a lot more involved than just writing some code. And that means there's a lot more to secure, too.

So, yes, addressing the various challenges around code security are important; the latest effort along these lines, a bill aimed at securing the use of open-source software in the federal government and critical infrastructure, just cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today, in fact.

But as necessary as it is, this covers just one piece of what's known as the "software supply chain." And as supply chains are known to be, it's pretty complicated: Even a small software development environment can have five to seven different tools, with a number of different phases required to create a piece of software, Aqua Security's Eilon Elhadad told me. "You need to secure the process, you need to secure the tools themselves," Elhadad said. "You need to secure a lot of things."

Aqua is among the vendors aiming to help with that: Last week, the company debuted what it's calling an "end-to-end software supply chain security solution" covering the multiple software development phases that need to be protected against attacks. Elhadad pointed to the most infamous software supply chain attack in the U.S., the SolarWinds breach in 2020, as supporting evidence for this type of approach.

Investigators believe the initial compromise of SolarWinds happened after the code was written, during what's known as the build phase; at that point, the code was already in the process of being converted into an executable program. In other words, efforts to use only secure open-source code, or to employ a standard software bill of materials to check for vulnerable components, are great but they're not going to help with that particular type of attack.

Digital is an ongoing process, not a destination. West Monroe knows that becoming a digital organization requires a mindset shift that will impact processes and employees at all levels, and that success can be achieved if the organization is aligned toward a clear vision.

Learn more

Thanks for reading see you tomorrow!

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Finding the path for UiPath - Protocol

In March 2022, the author of node-ipc, a software library with over a million weekly downloads, deliberately broke their code. If the code discovers it is running within Russia or Belarus, it attempts to replace the contents of every file on the users computer with a heart emoji.

A software library is a collection of code other programmers can use for their purposes. The library node-ipc is used by Vue.js, a framework that powers millions of websites for businesses such as Google, Facebook, and Netflix.

This critical security vulnerability is just one example of a growing trend of programmers self-sabotaging their own code for political purposes. When programmers protest through their code a phenomenon known as protestware it can have consequences for the people and businesses who rely on the code they create.

My colleague Raula Gaikovina Kula and I have identified three main types of protestware.

Malignant protestware is software that intentionally damages or takes control of a users device without their knowledge or consent.

Benign protestware is software created to raise awareness about a social or political issue, but does not damage or take control of a users device.

Developer sanctions are instances of programmers accounts being suspended by the internet hosting service that provides them with a space to store their code and collaborate with others.

Modern software systems are prone to vulnerabilities because they rely on third-party libraries. These libraries are made of code that performs particular functions, created by someone else. Using this code lets programmers add existing functions into their own software without having to reinvent the wheel.

The use of third-party libraries is common among programmers it speeds up the development process and reduces costs. For example, libraries listed in the popular NPM registry, which contains more than 1 million libraries, rely on an average of five to six other libraries from the same ecosystem. Its like a car manufacturer who uses parts from other manufacturers to complete their vehicles.

These libraries are typically maintained by one or a handful of volunteers and made available to other programmers for free under an open-source software license.

The success of a third-party library is based on its reputation among programmers. A library builds its reputation over time, as programmers gain trust in its capabilities and the responsiveness of its maintainers to reported defects and feature requests.

If third-party library weaknesses are exploited, it could give attackers access to a software system. For example, a critical security vulnerability was recently discovered in the popular Log4j library. This flaw could allow a remote attacker to access sensitive information that was logged by applications using Log4j such as passwords or other sensitive data.

What if vulnerabilities are not created by an attacker looking for passwords, but by the programmer themselves with the intention to make users of their library aware of a political opinion? The emergence of protestware is giving rise to such questions, and responses are mixed.

Read more: What is Log4j? A cybersecurity expert explains the latest internet vulnerability, how bad it is and what's at stake

A blog post on the Open Source Initiative site responds to the rise of protestware stating protest is an important element of free speech that should be protected but concludes with a warning:

The downsides of vandalising open source projects far outweigh any possible benefit, and the blowback will ultimately damage the projects and contributors responsible.

What is the main ethical question behind protestware? Is it ethical to make something worse in order to make a point? The answer to this question largely depends on the individuals personal ethical beliefs.

Some people may see the impact of the software on its users and argue protestware is unethical if its designed to make life more difficult for them. Others may argue that if the software is designed to make a point or raise awareness about an issue, it may be seen as more ethically acceptable.

From a utilitarian perspective, one might argue that if a form of protestware is effective in bringing about a greater good (such as political change), then it can be morally justified.

From a technical standpoint, we are developing ways to automatically detect and counteract protestware. Protestware would be an unusual or surprising event in the change history of a third-party library. Mitigation is possible through redundancies for example, code that is similar or identical to other code in the same or different libraries.

The rise of protestware is a symptom of a larger social problem. When people feel they are not being heard, they may resort to different measures to get their message across. In the case of programmers, they have the unique ability to protest through their code.

While protestware may be a new phenomenon, it is likely here to stay. We need to be aware of the ethical implications of this trend and take steps to ensure software development remains a stable and secure field.

We rely on software to run our businesses and our lives. But every time we use software, were putting our trust in the people who wrote it. The emergence of protestware threatens to destabilise this trust if we dont take action.

Read more: What does the Optus data breach mean for you and how can you protect yourself? A step-by-step guide

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'Protestware' is on the rise, with programmers self-sabotaging their own code. Should we be worried? - The Conversation Indonesia

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zenhub, the leading productivity management solution for software teams, today announced it has released the 2022 Software Developer Happiness survey report, focusing on the priorities, goals, and challenges of software developers. This inaugural report provides insights into what software developers look for in their careers, organizational culture, and the tools they use to complete their jobs. The 2022 Software Developer Happiness survey report can be downloaded here.

Now more than ever, a happy development team is critical to a businesss bottom line, said Aaron Upright, Zenhubs co-founder However, we found there was almost no existing data on what makes developers happy and satisfied at work. This report quantitatively demonstrates a connection between developer happiness and the technologies and tools they use every day. Were excited to give engineering leads pragmatic, definitive recommendations they can use to immediately improve the happiness of their team, and, ultimately, its productivity.

This survey aims to understand how developers view their world and what makes them happy and fulfilled in their careers. Zenhub surveyed 380 English-speaking software developers throughout March 2022. Key findings include:

In addition to these detailed survey findings, Zenhub provides specific recommendations based on these results for developers and project management leaders to optimize the Developer Experience. CTOs, engineering managers, project management leaders, and others can find out more by downloading their own copy of the survey report here.

Over 8,000 software-focused startups, high-growth companies, agile teams, and open source projects use Zenhubs productivity management solution to deliver software innovation faster. Zenhub helps strategic firms foster effective communication among team members, set goals, plan with greater transparency and participation, and ship software releases more predictably. Interested parties that wish to learn more about how Zenhub helps its customers boost developer productivity while delivering transformational value can click here for more information.

About ZenHubZenHub enables software teams at high-growth organizations to build better code more quickly by providing a developer-friendly productivity management platform. ZenHub connects the dots across all teams with automated agile features, real-time roadmap visibility, and team productivity insights. More than 8,000 disruptive teams worldwide rely on ZenHub to ship great code faster.

Media Contact:Nichols Communications for ZenHubJay Nichols+1 408 772 1551jay@nicholscomm.com

Originally posted here:

Zenhub Releases the Industry's First Software Developer - GlobeNewswire