Daily Archives: November 27, 2019

Steel resolve

Wood products are enjoying a moment in B.C., where engineered timbers have grabbed the spotlight and provincial regulations are taking them to new heights 12 storeys, to be exact in residential construction.

But technology is giving new life to steel, making it a cost-effective option versus wood, according to advocates. Unlike in the past, steel studs can be tailored to each project, reducing costs and waste.

One proponent is Alessandro Ferrari, president and CEO of Burnaby-based framing company Fins Group Inc. (Fins is short for Framed in Steel). His firm works closely with builders during the design process to develop renderings for the studs a project requires. Theyre manufactured in the U.S. and shipped to the site for assembly, saving time on construction. The integrated design process means the net cost of the studs matches that of wood.

With our technology we produce the steel-stud framing structure tailored to the specific project, Ferrari said. Having the production in-house, it helps a lot in being competitive.

Conventional wisdom holds that steel delivers the most value in projects higher than four storeys; in B.C., steel is typically used for framing buildings of up to 10 storeys. However, some developers have asked Ferrari to evaluate proposals for projects of up to 16 storeys.

Ferraris primary focus is on affordable single-family and multi-family development, including rental and institutional projects in B.C., Alberta and Washington state.

However, any project that requires non-combustible materials and is seeking to reduce maintenance costs related to the building fabric is a candidate.

Dairy churn

Vancouvers Main Street corridor has a venerable history of industrial uses. Travelling south from False Creek to Broadway, there were meat packers, dairies and breweries. Building-supply companies operated showrooms and auto dealers had their lots. Many of the old businesses have decamped to South Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby. The premises that remain have been redeveloped to accommodate the industriousness of the post-industrial era in the form of mixed-use projects with office space, retail and other uses.

The loss of industrial space has put the squeeze on artists, a key issue that artists raised with those attending the Eastside Culture Crawl this year. If property taxes are hitting neighbourhood retail hard, artists that depend on cheap space are taking an even greater hit. Some of those at this years crawl are optimistic Planning Vancouver Together, the citywide planning process the city recently initiated, will fulfil Mayor Kennedy Stewarts ambition to foster a new form of city thats going to work for everybody. However, social proprieties and land economics mean theres a better chance the result will more closely reflect one of former city planning director Brent Toderians favourite sayings: Nobody gets everything, but everyone gets a lot.

Housing, after all, continues to be the hot-button topic, and the fate of the nondescript industrial premises at the corner of Ontario and West 17th is emblematic. Originally home to Turners Dairy, then a jam plant, luggage factory and uses ranging from candle making to publishing, its now set for redevelopment with 13 townhouses. Turners Dairy, as the project is known, will incorporate timbers and trusses from the original 1913 structure.

According to Paige Kraft, who is handling marketing with Ruthie Shugarman, the project is attracting interest from those seeking smaller units and distinctive home design. All units remained available as of last week.

Rising inventory

A report from real state consultants Altus Group Ltd. indicates that the supply of unsold apartments in Metro Vancouver is in line with the seven-year average through 2018.

The end of June 2019 saw eight months worth of units available to buyers, based on the current pace of sales. That works out to about 7,000 unsold units in active projects. This is up from five months worth of inventory at the end of December 2018, and two months worth at the end of June 2018. Supply pressures have now eased, according to Altus, and it considers the supply of new homes balanced relative to the market.

pmitham@telus.net

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Technology helps cut the cost of steel framing in new projects - Business in Vancouver

These technologies enable enterprises to digitally transform the way people interact with each other and their surroundings.

As the decade comes to a close, and we think back to the distant times of 2010, it becomes apparent that the 2010s were a decade of unimaginable digital transformation.

Google, Amazon, Uber, Facebook, and Twitter are some of the major tech companies that have fundamentally changed society. Groundbreaking innovations have revamped actions like communicating with loved ones, ordering food, or hailing a cab. Backing these transformative platforms are thousands of coders, scientists, and researchers, who spend years building new technologies designed to address any and all human concerns or needs.

These are some of the technologies that enabled digital transformation since 2010.

SEE: Digital transformation: A CXO's guide (ZDNet/TechRepublic special feature) | Download the free PDF version (TechRepublic)

The introduction of widespread cloud computing has democratized data collection and increased the capacity of enterprises, allowing companies of any size to forgo the need for costly IT infrastructures and cumbersome maintenance regimens. According to a TechRepublic survey, nearly 70% of companies are either using or considering cloud services.

By moving most services to the cloud, businesses can stay nimble and better manage scale than ever before. The lowering prices of cloud computing have led to the rapid growth of "as-a-service" systems that have given smaller companies access to tools that were previously far too costly. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft, and Alibaba are the biggest cloud titans battling it out for supremacy over the market.

With Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) systems all gaining popularity, cloud computing will be one of the defining elements of the next decade. A recent report from Forrester said the public cloud market will reach $411 billion by 2022. The report added that the four leading cloud vendors will generate 75% of the entire $75.4 billion global public cloud infrastructure market.

SEE:More from our Decade in Review series(TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Forrester recently said that enterprises across the world are increasingly turning to automation for a variety of tasks that used to be handled by humans. This is changing the workforce on a fundamental level, prompting fears in the next decade of mass job losses.

But the field is also making enterprises better in a variety of concrete ways. Dangerous, time-consuming jobs at factories are increasingly being done by an army of robots, keeping people away from positions that have historically been damaging to their health.

This has even bled into other fields like customer service, where many companies now use automated systems to respond to basic questions and complaints from consumers.

Part of what's spurring the increase in automation is the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), which is equipping robots and machines with a wider set of capabilities. Enterprises are using AI for everything from security to human resources, allowing computers to handle tasks that have become costly or redundant.

While fears of automation and AI are very real, recent studies have shown that people actually like the introduction of automation and are generally happy computers or robots can handle menial tasks.

SEE: Digital Transformation ebook: Guide to becoming a digital transformation champion (TechRepublic Premium)

The last decade has seen an explosion of access to smartphones, bringing whole continents of people onto the web for the first time. The popularity of smartphones has prompted the creation of an entire ecosystem of mobile apps and tools that people now consider integral parts of their lives.

Uber and Lyft have become verbs, while food delivery apps like Seamless and GrubHub are wildly popular. People use apps to regulate and manage every aspect of their lives, using calendar platforms, workout assistants, and voice memo programs.

Even the way we communicate with each other has changed through our increased smartphone usage. Apps like Signal, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger are the primary mode of communication for billions of people, who send secure text messages, photos, and voice messages across the world in seconds.

Google Maps and other transit apps have made it almost impossible to get lost, with some apps even going so far as to let New Yorkers know what end of the subway to sit for the easiest exit. People can send money to each other, buy movie tickets, and watch their favorite show--all from a device the size of their hand.

There are so many apps emerging that their development has become a running joke for millenials, who regardless of industry, can cite it as a potential source of employment. Expect more of our daily problems to find app-based solutions.

4G has become so widespread that people take for granted the fact that wireless internet access is relatively new.

Mobile operators began rolling out 4G widely around 2012, offering more people download and upload speeds several times faster than 3G. 4G was a game changer because it was faster and more reliable that anything 3G could offer, providing somewhat of a replacement for slow fixed-line broadband; it was also significantly cheaper than 3G.

Coverage steadily increased as the decade rolled along and with the introduction of 5G this year, mobile operators are preparing for even more evolution when a wider rollout begins next year. To give people some idea of the scale of the shift between the two, one analyst compared 4G and 5G to the telegraph industry implementing a staged transition to fax at the end of the 19th century.

The onset of 4G coincided with the widespread adoption of smartphones and other devices, increasingly making more people mobile in more settings.

SEE: Mini-glossary: 5G terms you should know (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

The miniaturization of sensors has changed supply chains across the world, allowing for greater information collection and more organized systems.

Industries like manufacturing and retail have outfitted trucks, storage facilities, and factories with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other smart tools that can collect information about how they're used and provide insights into how things can be optimized or streamlined.

The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has even become its own field of expertise, allowing companies to collect data on their machines and tools before using machine learning or artificial intelligence to analyze it and provide recommendations.

These systems can even make the workplace safer for employees in some instances, while highlighting places where costs could potentially be reduced. Businesses can study weak spots and see how to limit interruptions in service or catch problems before they crop up.

As more of the workplace is outfitted with this kind of technology and the tools to analyze data improve, expect companies to find even more avenues to optimize their services.

SEE: Digital transformation in manufacturing: A guide for business pros (TechRepublic Premium)

The value of our data is becoming more apparent as more countries begin to pass laws regulating how companies collect and share it. But the ability to analyze the troves of data websites and services collect on us has been able to help businesses transform and adapt to the changes of their industry.

Morgan Stanley recently called the 2010s "the data decade." The improvements in artificial intelligence and machine learning have given enterprises a way to search and sort through data, pulling the most useful insights that can help businesses change with their customers.

Gartner distinguished analyst in Data Analytics & Strategy Douglas Laney said earlier this year that by 2022, 90% of companies will have detailed business plans that "explicitly mention information as a critical enterprise asset and analytics as an essential competency."

It's easier for enterprises to make sound long-term decisions when leaders are using accurate data that has been analyzed and sorted. Some companies are now looking to data for short-term insights as well, opting for platforms that can give real-time information based on an ever-increasing set of data.

SEE: America's coolest company: How Big Ass Fans went from cooling cows to a multinational tech powerhouse (cover story PDF) (TechRepublic)

While Facebook already existed by 2010, the social media industry looks completely different than it did back then, and some of the biggest sites have since emerged.

Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest all came to fruition after 2010, and both Facebook and Twitter have changed drastically since they first debuted. The numbers are now staggering, with billions of avid users on multiple social media sites across the world sharing their thoughts, photos, and more.

SEE: Facebook data privacy scandal: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

It would be unthinkable to go back in time and explain to people that it is now required for almost all companies and world leaders to have official Twitter and Facebook accounts. Social media has become one of the most important ways for corporations and leaders to communicate with and hear from people, but it has lead to an unprecedented amount of visibility into the whims and moods of the world's most powerful.

While there has been some backlash against social media sites since 2016, user numbers show no signs of decreasing, and the increasing popularization of smartphones will bring billions more online in the next decade.

Blockchain has invaded almost every industry because of its wide applicability to almost any business that needs a more organized supply chain or increase verification.

After debuting in 2008 as part of cryptocurrency efforts, the distributed ledger technology was quickly spun off into its own field and adopted heavily by the financial industry. For more than five years, banks and financial institutions have used it for everything from smart contracts to the simplification of loan applications. A consortium of banks in Canada have even used the technology to give people more power over the data collected by financial institutions.

In the last two to three years, dozens of industries have begun research into the effectiveness of blockchain, and it has had the greatest impact on supply chains.

Huge retailers like Walmart and fast food companies like McDonalds now use blockchain to source materials and food.

Brazil recently hired IBM to create a blockchain system that would manage the country's birth and death record system, which had been rife with abuse for decades.

Discover the secrets to IT leadership success with these tips on project management, budgets, and dealing with day-to-day challenges. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays

Image: metamorworks, Getty Images/iStockphoto

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The top technologies that enabled digital transformation this decade - TechRepublic

"New technologies, and particularly digital technologies, are already having a major impact on the world, affecting all our work on international peace and security, sustainable development and human rights, Secretary-General AntnioGuterres told the first meeting of the Group of Friends on Digital Technologies in New York.

He pointed out that while it took 50 years for electricity to reach the first 50 million users worldwide, it has taken half that time for digital technologies to reach three billion across the planet. And while the UN is engaged in many important initiatives, Mr. Guterres maintained that they are not enough, and they are not coordinated.

Our thinking and action are not keeping pace with the challenge, he asserted.

He said that the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation aimed at strengthening coordination between Governments, the private sector and international organizations emphasized the need, among other things, to close the digital gap, recognize human rights in digital contexts, build cyber trust and security and agree on a new global architecture.

The UN is currently finalizing small groups of champions for each of these recommendations who will lead key groups, including from the Organization, governments, industry and civil society to ensure tangible action with real impact.

Beyond these immediate priorities, the UN chief urged the Group of Friends to pursue a long-term vision.

We, the international community, urgently need to broaden and deepen our engagement to ensure that we are making maximum use of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, cyber tools, blockchain and robotics, while mitigating risks, he spelled out.

Noting that digital technologies are easily accessible and have very serious cross-border impacts, Mr. Guterres maintained that decisions taken at the global level will help determine whether they are used in ways that are harmful or beneficial, and how risks and benefits are distributed across the world.

We cannot allow digital technology to undermine our human rights and fundamental freedoms, he spelled out. Nor can we allow it to reinforce and amplify existing inequalities based on gender, income, ethnicity, region, development status or any other factor.

He said as national and regional measures often lag behind innovation and international cooperation is giving way to isolationism and populism, joint action is vital to mitigate risks and ensure that systems are interoperable and inclusive, providing access across sectors and borders.

Fragmented regulation of digital space puts a free, secure internet at risk, and will fail to provide adequate guardrails, he warned.

Success depends on our ability to work together across disciplines and stakeholder groups, across nations and political divides UN chief

Success depends on our ability to work together across disciplines and stakeholder groups, across nations and political divides, he underscored.

And harnessing digital technology is essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

While the Global South stands to gain or lose the most from new technologies, he highlighted that affluent countries have a disproportionate input into regulatory discourse.

I urge this Group of Friends to address these discrepancies, he said. Unless we do so, the high price of access and the centralization of digital infrastructure and capacity could lead to monopolization by mature economies.

Calling the Group of Friends a formidable global force for inclusivity and diversity, he encouraged them to seize the initiative, address the biggest questions, and to cross political and regional boundaries.

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'Maximize the positive' from new technologies, for our digital future, Guterres urges - UN News

WASHINGTON Republicans made a point of emphasizing during the impeachment hearings that President Donald Trump provided sophisticated weapons to Ukraine to deter Russian aggression, in contrast to the Obama administration, which declined to do so.

President Obama's decision was portrayed as an example of his timidity in foreign policy. But the story is more complicated than that, said former CIA Director John Brennan.

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In particular, said Brennan, now an NBC News analyst, the military was opposed to providing Javelin anti-tank missiles to the Ukrainians during the Obama administration "because of fear that the Russians would get access to Javelin's sensitive technology," he said.

"The Russians had deep penetrations of Ukrainian intelligence, security, and military forces in the aftermath" of that country's 2014 revolution that overthrew a pro-Russian government he said, "and it took time to rid those forces of Russian moles, agents, and spies. That was the purpose of my visit to Kiev less than eight weeks after the Revolution of Dignity."

A robust debate ensued within the Obama administration about the provision of lethal aid, he said, and there were some who argued it would escalate the situation and provoke Russia. That's how Russian expert Fiona Hill described the Obama administration's thinking in her testimony.

"Some [officials] argued strenuously to provide lethal assistance, but the ultimate decision made by [Obama] was to provide only non-lethal military and economic assistance," Brennan said. "It was a tough decision. The Javelin issue is being misrepresented as a simple decision devoid of other considerations, and that was not the case."

Brennan points out that the Javelins are currently "under lock and key in Ukrainian rear areas, not on the front lines. Their presence in Ukraine, however, does send a strong deterrent signal to Moscow, which is good."

He added, "I believe it is appropriate that Ukrainian forces have Javelins now because of the work that has been done over the past five years to reduce Russian presence and influence, but giving Javelins to the Ukrainians earlier would have risked compromising a very important and sensitive weapon system that could have come back to haunt U.S. forces on the battlefield."

Ken Dilanian is a correspondent covering intelligence and national security for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

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Former CIA Director: We worried arming Ukraine would hand technology to Russian spies - NBC News

A strong pool of talent and relatively manageable costs have propelled Victoria to seventh spot in Canada in a new report on tech talent from real estate services firm CBRE.

Due to its size, the report notes Toronto still dominates Canadas tech scene, but smaller markets such as Victoria are making inroads as companies compete to find talent.

The report points out Torontostech talent pool grew by 54 per cent between 2013 and 2018 to reach 228,500.

Victoria has jumped three spots in the report as its tech talent pool grew by 1,300 between 2013 and 2018 to 9,600 people, while it compares favourably with the tech hubs it competes with for talent and capital when it comes to the cost of rent and wages.

Victoria is ranked ninth in Canada and 16th in North America in terms of the total average annual cost to run a large tech firm [500 employees in 75,000 square feet of space] and while Victoria has few firms that size, its costs are half of that faced by firms in places such as Silicon Valley and Seattle.

Dan Gunn, chief executive of the Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology and Entrepreneurship Council, said the report shines a positive light on Victoria, adding its difficult for the city to compete when some of the metrics used are based on head count.

He suggested that given Victoria showed well in the categories of quality of available talent, opportunity and relative value, theres probably a good formula to show Victoria is a standout.

Not that long ago, people didnt think of Victoria as a tech city, but now anyone looking at this will see that there are the biggest cities in the country ahead of us, but we are the No. 1 small market city in the nation and one of the strongest in North America, he said. Its great news. We are part of the conversation and weve been invited to the party.

Paul Morassutti, vice-chairman of CBRE Canada, said companies are looking further afield as the competition for talent rises. Increasingly both established firms and startup firms are understanding that there is a significant pool of untapped tech talent in other parts of the country.

Morassutti said attracting talent was the key concern for companies so they arent particularly concerned with office costs, but with high housing prices in Vancouver and Toronto, tech workers and the companies seeking them are looking at other cities.

All of a sudden these smaller and mid-sized markets are beginning to make a lot of sense.

Theres been a shift from the past where smaller cities simply tried to compete on the very weak argument of cost to attract tech companies, and are increasingly working with various levels of government as well as accelerators and incubators to create ecosystems, said Morassutti.

They are creating specialized hubs, such as artificial intelligence in Montreal and Edmonton, automotive in Hamilton and Oshawa, Ont., and ocean-focused tech in Victoria and Halifax, and Calgary with clean tech.

To the extent that each local market has been able to differentiate itself, you know that has attracted attention from the larger players and the smaller startups, he said.

Some smaller markets also find it helpful to not be on the radar of big global tech firms that can poach talent, said Morassutti, noting an executive in Halifax said it is a plus that the city didnt have direct flights to Seattle or San Francisco.

Were not just competing with Vancouver or Toronto or with San Francisco or Seattle, were competing with Israel, were competing with Germany, with China, he said.

The report ranks Toronto, which added 80,100 tech jobs in the five-year period, as the top tech city overall. Ottawa, which lost 3,600 workers to sit at 64,500, was ranked second, while Vancouver, which added 22,300 workers to reach 74,700, was ranked third.

Guelphs talent pool rose 94.7 per cent over the five years to 3,700, Regina rose 68.1 per cent to 7,900, Hamilton was up 52.9 per cent to 18,200, and the Waterloo Region was up 39.7 per cent to 20,400.

with files from The Canadian Press

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Technology talent pool on the rise in Greater Victoria - Times Colonist