Daily Archives: December 19, 2020

A physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is facing disciplinary action for not informing MIT that Epstein was a convicted sex offender.

A majority of members on an MIT panel found that Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems and Physics Seth Lloyd violated the colleges conflict of interest policy in connection with donations he received from Epstein, according to an email sent out by college Provost Martin A. Schmidt.

The five-member panel consisted of Professor Rohan Abeyaratne, Institute Professor Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor Penny Chisholm, Materials Science and Engineering Department Head Jeffrey Grossman and Dean of Science Nergis Mavalvala.

Lloyd accepted donations from Epstein, including two $50,000 contributions in 2012 intended to support his work, according to a Goodwin Procter a report released earlier this year. Lloyd did not inform MIT that Epstein was the source of the donations, the report stated.

The college commissioned Goodwin Procter to conduct the investigation looking at interactions between Jeffrey Epstein and the Institute. MITs president, L. Rafael Reif, requested the probe in September 2019.

But the MIT panel said Lloyd didnt violate MIT policies in accepting a gift from Epstein roughly 15 years ago and the donation in 2017. They also said they dont believe Lloyd attempted to circumvent the MIT vetting process, nor that he tried to conceal the name of the donor.

They did conclude, however, that he failed to reveal crucial information about Epsteins background to anyone at MIT, Schmidt said.

The MIT panel submitted its findings to a separate committee, which comprised Dean of Engineering Anantha Chandrakasan, Mechanical Engineering Department Head Evelyn Wang, Physics Department Head Peter Fisher, Mechanical Engineering Associate Department Head Pierre Lermusiaux and Faculty Chair Rick Danheiser.

Schmidt wrote to the community to detail disciplinary actions taken against Lloyd.

For a period of five years, a set of disciplinary actions will limit Professor Lloyds compensation, his ability to engage in solicitation of donors and foundations, and his involvement in first-year undergraduate advising, and will impose several other restrictions on normal privileges accorded to a faculty member, Schmidt wrote. In addition, Professor Lloyd will be expected to undergo training on professional conduct before resuming certain activities on campus, including teaching.

The Goodwin Procter report found that Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, made 10 donations to the college between 2002 and 2017 totaling $850,000, and that several MIT administrators knew and approved of the contributions. With the exception of one $100,000 donation, all of those contributions had been made after he was convicted of sex crimes.

Schmidt acknowledged that the punitive measures cannot undo the harm that has been done.

Professor Lloyds failure to share what he knew about Epsteins conviction when he accepted his 2012 donations was unacceptable, Schmidt said. His interactions with Epstein and certain of his actions surrounding acceptance of the donations serve to highlight the importance of the current Institute-wide effort to develop clearer guidelines for engaging with donors.

After Goodwin Procter report was released, Reif requested that Schmidt create a process to review its findings and to identify any appropriate action.

Related Content:

See original here:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology disciplining professor with ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein - MassLive.com

Maintaining a safe and reliable warehouse environment for employees is the top priority for facility managers across the supply chain. As a result, companies go to great lengths to foster a culture of safety. With so much unpredictability, safety training must be at the core of successful operations to eliminate workplace accidents.

However, the biggest barrier to delivering this heightened degree of safety is often the high workforce turnover driven by an increasingly competitive industry. It can be difficult to effectively maintain protocols and communicate a consistent level of urgency with a constant rotation of employees.

As a result, leading third-party logistics providers (3PLs) are increasingly turning to the power of technology to reinforce safety protocols and fill any gaps in training created by employee turnover. From advanced Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), 3PLs are optimizing their warehouse safety practices with the latest emerging technologies to create a safer work environment.

Reliable data has proven to be foundational to warehouse safety. Previously, decisions around safety were made by safety managers who physically monitored employees on-site, manually identified hazards and rectified any potential danger. This method is no longer practical during the COVID-19 pandemic; due to social distancing guidelines, security managers are tasked with maintaining a consistent quality of leadership and safety without being physically available on the floor. Fortunately, safety can be remotely monitored through the collection and strategic utilization of data.

Augmenting existing and traditional tools, such as telematics, with advanced IoT sensors, warehouse managers can gather valuable data to make those technologies safer and more productive. For example, sensors added to materials handling equipment (MHE) give 3PLs greater insight into operator activity and performance by instantly measuring and reporting on factors such as speed, proximity and impacts. The simple presence of safety monitoring sensors can have a positive impact and act as a reminder to employees that their MHE performance is being reported. When integrated with additional capabilities, these technologies can transform 3PLs safety strategies.

By employing intelligent AI technology, 3PLs can take their data to the next level by strategically turning their existing data into actionable insights. Leveraging AI and ML, advanced solutions can automatically notify warehouse managers of any safety protocol infractions and provide actionable next steps, such as instructions on additional employee training. Management then has the information it needs to quickly intervene and prevent any additional breaches in safety.

These technologies can also send helpful reminders of safety best practices to MHE operators mobile devices in real time, maximizing their effectiveness. For instance, back injuries are some of the most common workplace injuries in warehouse environments due to the constant bending, lifting and standing that are required of the job. Wearable IoT sensors are proving to be an innovative solution to avoiding these injuries. Clipped to the back of the shirt collar, these devices use ML capabilities to determine a baseline for normal movements. Should individuals make a movement deemed abnormal and potentially hazardous, the device vibrates, alerting them of hazardous body movement. Dashboards provided by the wearable IoT sensor can provide immediate, in-the-moment feedback and coaching to the individuals. That enables individuals to quickly learn and adapt their behaviors.

When leveraged in conjunction with each other, these technologies contribute to the creation of a smart warehouse. This optimized, highly efficient environment provides the data and ML necessary to predict safety infractions or accidents before they happen. Rather than simply waiting for an incident, warehouse leadership can be proactive, gleaning insight into where additional training is needed. And because these technologies rely on real time and readily available data, they are not impacted by sudden employee turnover. Thanks to technology, safety managers have the tools they need to protect their workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed how businesses across industries operate, and this also rings true for 3PLs. One of the most important trends that has emerged during the pandemic is the convergence of safety and health. Due to COVID-19, no warehouse can truly be considered safe for employees if it is not also a clean, healthy environment. As a result, infection fighting technologies have quickly become best practice for safety-minded 3PLs.

Contact tracing devices have been implemented in warehouses to provide management with granular information about employee interactions while remaining respectful of individual privacy. Should an employee contract COVID-19, managers can quickly trace their contact points to determine who must quarantine, helping to mitigate the spread of infection throughout the warehouse. In addition, the implementation of electronic checklists enables touchless operations, reducing the back-and-forth of paperwork that can require close proximity and could therefore potentially spread disease. Installing thermal camera solutions at warehouse entry points enables automated temperature checks, allowing management to prevent possibly contagious individuals from entering the facility.

Finally, robotic cleaning devices assume the risks of sanitizing the entire warehouse from its human counterparts, ensuring all assets are clean and ready for operation. These technology implementations contribute to a healthier, and therefore safer, workplace for all.

The last few years have seen incredibly rapid innovation in warehouse safety technologies, and this momentum is only expected to accelerate in the future. With emerging solutions ranging from mechanical exoskeletons that augment lifting movements to intelligent dock locking devices, it is clear that 3PLs will continue to turn to technology when crafting their safety strategies.

Whether 3PLs are concerned about workplace injuries or viral infection, there is a technology implementation to meet their needs. By combining a culture of safety with powerful, data-driven technologies, 3PLs can ensure they are providing their workforce with the most comprehensive and resilient safety protocols possible, regardless of workforce turnover.

Ultimately, 3PLs greatest asset is their people, and when 3PLs let data lead the way, they can protect them with a forward-thinking warehouse safety strategy.

Kristi Montgomery is the vice president of innovation; Allen Polk is vice president of sales; and Miguel Trivino is the director of environmental, health & safety at Kenco. Kenco provides integrated logistics solutions that include distribution and fulfillment, comprehensive transportation management, material handling services, real estate management and information technology.

Go here to see the original:

Using Automation Technology to Improve Facility Safety - EHS Today

Parsable's connected worker technology

Assessing the impact of the pandemic on the challenges faced by a wide range of economic industries, Parsable CEO Lawrence Whittle notes that A lot has changed, and a lot hasnt. Something that has not changed, right at the top of his list, is the need for companies to meet a growing talent shortage. In part, this is driven by demographics, as large cohorts of experienced workers have begun to retire and need to be replaced by younger cohorts with different expectations. By 2035, Whittle notes, Millennials will make up three-quarters of the US industrial workforce; and unlike their baby-boomer predecessors, very few of them will stick with the same company for thirty years. This will require a major change in training, retraining and retention strategies.

This workforce transformation has been in the works for several years, but the pandemic has magnified the challenge and made it more complex: all of a sudden companies have had to manage a (partly) remote workforce, implement new safety measures on the factory floor to prevent contagion, and react to sudden changes in product demand and disruptions in supply chains. The crisis has exposed a much greater need for agility, and for many companies it has turned efficiency gains into a survival imperative rather than just a competitive advantage.

Parsable has a front-line seat to this trend: its a connected worker platform that serves a broad spectrum of clients from Suntory to Heineken, from Pirelli to Coca Cola, covering over 400 manufacturing-specific sites in more than 70 countries. During the pandemic, the amount of digital work execution that customer companies do on the Parsable platform has grown by 500%, says Whittle. His company must be doing something right.

Whittle describes the Parsable platform as enabling a real time kaizen the continuous improvement process originally adopted by Japanese companies along four phases: Digitize; Execute; Measure; Transform.

Parsable's apps guide workers through complex procedures

In the first step, Parsable Digitizes all the paper-based knowledge and procedures that guide work throughout a company and make them accessible to employees in real time through user-friendly mobile apps. Through the apps, workers can get training on demand, when and where they need it, and can collaborate with each other; this is phase two, where the digital platform helps workers Execute, and at the same time collects new data on operations and performance.

This data become the input for phase three, where the analytics Measures execution and performance. This is where the Parsable platform can yield crucial insights for better performance and safety. Phase three can be a multi-step procedure. A customer company will start with what it already knows, and Parsable will build a library of analytics to assess the usual or most likely sources of inefficiencies; but it can then go beyond it, analyzing the data collected by the platform to uncover correlations or sources of inefficiency that it had not identified before. The data collected on the platform allows for a much more rigorous analysis of how different worker practices map to different outcomes; this can for example highlight cases where workers in one facility have come up with a better way of performing certain operations, fueling a rise in productivity; or cases where insufficient training results in lower efficiency. These insights open the way for phase four, where the company can Transform its operations by disseminating best practices and addressing key sources of inefficiency.

New insights and greater visibility across operations and production processes also make it much easier for a company to react and adapt to sudden changes in demand and to supply chain disruptions: changing strategy is a lot easier if you can very quickly identify, for example, how shifting to a different production line will reverberate through your entire operations and can make sure your workers have updated instructions at their fingertips.

Analytics and data visualization play a key role here, but the worker is at the center of it all Parsable is a connected worker platform. The secret sauce is the intuitive user interface on mobile devices, which guides workers through their tasks while sharing information across teams to facilitate collaboration. This new working environment feels second nature to the digital native younger generations accelerating adoption of the technology and allowing them to learn on the job at a faster pace.

Lawrence Whittle believes that 2020 has marked the rebirth (or rediscovery) of the importance of humans in manufacturing. After long years of excitement and handwringing about the growing role of automation and robots, this past year has demonstrated that humans are indispensable, and that the key to success lies in upgrading simultaneously technology and human capital.

Besides leading Parsable, Whittle is an active member of the World Economic Forums New Generation Manufacturing Leaders initiative, which aims at making manufacturing not only more advanced and sustainable, but also more attractive to new generations of workers and leaders.

With the global economy caught between rising unemployment and a widening skills gap, turning manufacturing into a faster-growing creator of high-quality job attractive to younger generations is crucial to a sustainable recovery. Putting the right technology platforms in place will be a key enabler.

View original post here:

Parsables Connected Worker Technology: The Human-Centric Manufacturing Revolution - Forbes

Inspiring the next generation of female technology talent is vital in Malaysia. Digital technologies will be a critical foundation as the country moves towards developed-nation status, as connected technologies drive forward economic opportunity.

Malaysias digital economy grew 9% annually in value-added terms between 2010 and 2016, higher than overall GDP growth. It is estimated the digital economy now contributes as much as one-fifth of GDP. If the nation is to maintain this growth, and catalyse plans to become the regions digital economy hub, ensuring the right talent access is vital. We must leverage the full value of our workforce opportunity.

In order to understand how to enhance this opportunity, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) partnered with Singapores Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and SG Women in Tech to assess the landscape of women in technology. This seminal study Boosting Women in Technology surveyed 1,650 women holding technology roles across Southeast Asia, complemented by interviews with key female leaders in tech. The findings offer an encouraging picture, and route map to wider success in engaging women in technology.

Education and engagement are two pillars of a strong female technology workforce. Women make up 56% of those in higher education across all majors in Southeast Asia, echoing the international norm. The share falls to 39% in technology-based degrees; however, that is 4% higher than the global average (see chart 1).

When it comes to workforce participation, that education often fails to translate fully into job roles. Thirty-eight per cent of the total workforce in Southeast Asia is female. That falls to 32% of the technology workforce, though higher than Australia and the UK. In Malaysia, women make up 35% of the technology workforce.

The imperative to boost female engagement is clear. BCG research shows that gender diversity can make companies more innovative and agile, improving business performance. Those companies in which women account for more than 20% of the management team have about 10% higher innovation revenues than male-dominated peers.

Increasing female engagement unlocks further benefits through diversity driving improvements in customer service and generating a more positive brand image. This also positions an enterprise as a more attractive employer for diverse digital talent, creating a virtuous circle of benefits for the company.

Diversity offers a remarkable opportunity, and one that can be engaged through support during three key moments of truth (see chart 2).

Inspiring women to pursue a technology degree in higher education is a critical first step towards a long-term technology career. Fifty-six per cent of women across the region cited personal interest as the driver of this choice.

The second moment of truth comes in crucial first job selection. This is influenced both by personal interest and a natural pathway from education. Companies that offer a rewarding work-life balance are particularly attractive in Malaysia. Perceived difficulties or limits to a technology career path can discourage women at this stage.

The third inflection point comes from moments of continuation in a long-term technology career. These considerations are heavily influenced by compensation and benefits, career advancement opportunities and work-life balance. Financial rewards play an increasingly influential role through work lifecycles in Malaysia.

Each of these three moments of intervention offers an opportunity to support better engagement with women in technology. An appropriate end-to-end approach that spans these three critical moments of truth can help build a more positive ecosystem, and contribute to Malaysias ultimate goals as a digital nation.

Government, companies, educational institutions and women themselves are all fundamental to deepening female participation in technology.

Structured and thoughtful diversity programmes are a valuable route to encourage female talent. Eighty to ninety per cent of respondents who were provided with these programmes noted that they had personally benefited, yet about one-third of companies do not offer them yet.

Promoting women leadership in technology is also essential. This not only boosts visibility, inspiring the next generation, but provides a route towards the many benefits of leadership diversity in your business. The importance of role models and mentoring was particularly pronounced in Malaysia.

When you look at improving gender diversity in your company, you need to start from the top, says Anika Grant, global director of HR at Dyson. Senior women leaders help change the culture, the tone, the type of decision-making and the way communication is done. That creates a cycle that helps attract women across different levels of the company going forward.

Companies should look beyond traditional roles to build out talent pipelines. Onboarding new talent through non-traditional pathways will be particularly valuable in an evolving industry in which lifelong learning underpins future-ready talent.

As was noted, government and schools offer a valuable foundation to unlocking opportunity for women in technology. It is important to start technology in a curriculum as early as possible. Encouraging female educators also helps provide a more inspirational and supportive attitude for young women planning future careers.

Establishing industry partnerships is another step the government can take. These help build strong womens networks, which are an important part of the mentorship and inspiration noted as key drivers in Malaysia.

Government also has a fundamental obligation to build a supportive working ecosystem through appropriate regulatory guidelines. These include legislation around structural workplace benefits such as maternity and paternity leave, nursing rooms and childcare support. Promoting community awareness around gender diversity and opportunity also represents a valuable opportunity.

With these structures in place, women should be empowered to drive forward change. This should include promotion of internal company initiatives, and at the same time building out and accessing external networks and opportunities.

Women within the technology workforce should seek to inspire and boost other women entering the industry. Find your own successful balance in navigating this landscape in order to better empower you to help others, and leverage that status to promote and support the women around you.

We need to champion women by encouraging them to take up responsibilities that help them progress forward and advocate them for promotions when the moment arises, says Pauline Wray, head of Asia for Expand Research and global lead for BCGs FinTech Control Tower.

Men within the workforce should be encouraged as allies. This is not just a womens issue, but a case of equal opportunity that can drive shared success. Millennial workers show encouraging signs of acknowledging this shared responsibility.

Gender diversity is a rare issue where the solutions benefit everyone. It can boost business performance, unlock valuable new talent and provide equal opportunity for women in the workforce. That is not just an opportunity for a more productive Malaysia but an avenue to a fairer nation that provides women with the fair shot they deserve.

Vaishali Rastogi is managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group. She is also the firms global leader for the Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice.

Read more:

Growing Champions: Building digital success with women in technology in Malaysia - The Edge Markets MY

Secure-IC makes it easy to use its security technologieson Cloud platforms.

Rennes (France), December 18th, 2020 Secure-IC, the rising leader and the only global provider of end-to-end cybersecurity solutions for embedded systems and connected objects, announces today the availability of its protection technologies ("Silicon Intellectual Property" - IPs) in the Cloud.

Starting first with Xilinx App Store launched on December 9th (https://appstore.xilinx.com/), a new service that allows millions of Xilinx customers to securely find and use third-party IPs in the Cloud, and powered by Accelizes Digital Rights Management technology, Secure-IC is now able to offer its clients the possibility to test protection technologies in the Cloud before deploying them.

Through this Cloud-based platform, clients around the globe will be able to build, test and run instantly, agilely and securely new solutions without needing the traditional required hardware to support their applications.

Security IPs as a service

Secure-IC leverages the reach of its technologies through the scale of Cloud. The pay-per-use model could also foster innovation and new models to emerge, using secure functions as a service.

Xilinx Cloud-based App Store and Secure-ICs IPs technologies available as a service will enhance the clients user experience. Indeed, when a client will be willing to launch a new application that needs secure elements, he will now be able to test the functions in advance by calling the IP directly in the Cloud, using the secure software framework (SecuryzrTM Firmware Framework), Secure-IC will deliver.

Customers will be provided with a very simple API and activation process to use Secure-ICs technologies.

This new value proposal will allow customers to accelerate design cycles thanks to the scalability of the Cloud and meet their demanding schedules and help them achieve their crucial time-to-market goals when deploying new technologies.

Hassan Triqui, co-founder and CEO at Secure-IC explains: Through Xilinx App Store and our partnership with Accelize, our clients can now really experience the benefit of our solutions as they are able to evaluate quickly and efficiently our secure functions. This is a major benefit for us to demonstrate and disseminate broadly our technologies. It represents also an important milestone for Secure-IC in line with our strategic vision to accelerate the deployment of our protection technologies and deliver security life cycle management of devices from Chip to Cloud.

The first IP to be available is "Digital True Random Number Generator". This choice is meaningful since the ability to generate true randomness with a very unique stochastic model represents the very essence of every security mechanism. It will be followed shortly by other Secure-ICs technologies made available to Cloud-end users. Secure-IC will also deploy its Cloud strategy on various platforms in the coming months.

Access to our Cloud solutions here: https://www.secure-ic.com/security-science-factory-ssf/advanced-rd/cloud

About Secure-IC

With presence and customers across 5 continents, Secure-IC is the rising leader and the only global provider of end-to-end cybersecurity solutions for embedded systems and connected objects.

Driven by a unique approach called PESC (Protect, Evaluate, Service & Certify), Secure-IC positions itself as a partner to support its clients throughout and beyond the IC design process. Relying on innovation and research activities, Secure-IC provides Silicon-proven and cutting-edge protection technologies, integrated Secure Elements and security evaluation platforms to reach compliance with the highest level of certification for different markets (such as automotive, AIoT, defense, payments & transactions, memory & storage, server & cloud).

More information on https://www.secure-ic.com

Press Contacts

Julie PAUL-COUVERT

Content & Communication Manager

julie.paulcouvert@secure-ic.com

T. +33 (0)2 99 12 18 72

Yan-Tar CLOCHARD

Corporate Marketing Director

Sales Director North Asia

yan-taro.clochard@secure-ic.com

T. +81(0)3 6717 6477 / +81(0)80 9456 3535

Follow this link:

Secure-IC announces the availability of its protection technologies in the Cloud - GlobeNewswire

Arlington, VA, Dec. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LiveSafe, the Vector Solutions brand for mobile risk intelligence solutions for safety and security incident prevention, response, and communication, is pleased to announce that the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) has selected LiveSafe for its 100 most innovative technology companies in 2020, as well as recognized LiveSafe CEO Carolyn Parent as a NVTC Tech 100 Executive. This is LiveSafes third year making the list.

The NVTC Tech 100 honors the most groundbreaking companies, leaders and innovators within the Greater Washington regions technology community. This years program attracted nearly 200 nominations that were carefully reviewed and considered by a panel of independent judges including Joel Kallett, Managing Director of Clearsight Advisors; Sam Maness, Managing Director of Defense and Government Services Investment Banking at Raymond James & Associates, Inc.; and Jean Stack, Managing Director Global Technology and Services team and Co-Head of Government Services Investment Banking practice at Baird.

While this year has presented numerous challenges to every organization and individual, it is encouraging to see so many of the areas tech companies and executives remain resilient and committed to the health and wellbeing of their employees, the success of their companies, and industry achievement. Congratulations to LiveSafe and Leader Carolyn Parent for being named a 2020 NVTC Tech 100 honoree and for the positive impact theyve made in our region, said Jennifer Taylor, NVTC President and CEO.

Vector Solutions celebrates this impressive accomplishment by the LiveSafe brand, and we are honored to have them as part of our team, said Vector Solutions CEO Marc Scheipe. Under Carolyn Parents leadership, LiveSafe has continued to deliver word-class solutions to protect communities and serve everyday heroes, empowering them to make safer, smarter, and better decisions for their organizations, employees, and customers. Congratulations to Carolyn and our entire LiveSafe team on being recognized as groundbreaking leaders within the technology industry.

This year, LiveSafe expanded its products and offerings during the global COVID-19 pandemic with the launch of the popular WorkSafe back-to-work product, which enables organizations to detect potential COVID-19 infections, prevent outbreaks, and reduce legal liability, while maintaining the privacy and security of employee health information. LiveSafe also experienced tremendous user growth, with an increase of nearly 63 percent over last year. LiveSafe now actively protects nearly 6 million people across commercial enterprises, educational institutions, and government agencies.

In October 2020, LiveSafe was acquired by Vector Solutions, the leading provider of software solutions for learning, operational readiness, workforce management, and risk reduction, adding LiveSafes award-winning real-time mobile risk prevention, reporting, and response capabilities into the Vector Solutions product portfolio. LiveSafe customers will be presented with even more solutions and products in 2021 as the LiveSafe brand transitions to Vector Solutions, bringing more resources to businesses, government agencies, and school communities. The LiveSafe product will keep its name and become Vector LiveSafe, providing the same great solutions and functionality releases, including the Vector WorkSafe solution. Additionally, LiveSafe customers will now have access to Vectors entire suite of solutions to help manage and report training, credentials, incidents, hazards, schedules, shifts, and more. Learn more here.

About Vector LiveSafe

LiveSafe, a Vector Solutions product, is a leading mobile risk intelligence solution for safety and security incident prevention, response and communication. Its platform surfaces early warning insights and prevents serious safety and security incidents to mitigate operational risks, reduce financial losses, and make places safer for people to work, learn, and live. LiveSafes popular WorkSafe back-to-work options and packages enable organizations to detect potential COVID-19 infections, prevent outbreaks, and reduce legal liability, while maintaining the privacy and security of employee health information. Learn more at http://www.livesafemobile.com

About Vector Solutions

Vector Solutions is the leading provider of award-winning, intelligent SaaS solutions that help organizations and individuals operate at the highest level and prepare for more challenging workplaces and environments. Providing industry-focused solutions that connect content and technology, its unique product set includes learning management, continuing education (CE), compliance training, workforce scheduling, safety management and more. Its extensive online and mobile learning library features carefully curated world-class content to meet the unique needs of professionals in the industrial, engineering, education, and public safety industries. Reaching more than 19 thousand clients and 14 million users worldwide, Vectors mission is to serve everyday heroes by delivering intelligent software solutions that empower them to make safer, smarter, better decisions. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit http://www.vectorsolutions.com. Follow us on Twitter @VectorPerform and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/VectorPerformance.

Read the original:

LiveSafe Named to Northern Virginia Technology Council's 100 Most Innovative Technology Companies of 2020 - GlobeNewswire

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded USD 21 million in funding for three projects supporting offshore wind energy technology demonstration and resource characterization.

The projects will support offshore wind development by demonstrating innovative technologies not previously commercially used in the U.S. and by improving the ability to forecast energy production, DOE said.

Atkins will develop a full-scale design of a floating offshore wind platform capable of supporting a 10+ MW turbine, using a scale model testing and simulation methodology previously used for oil & gas floating production facilities. It is planned for installation and grid connection at the Mayflower Wind lease area.

The University of Maine will design, demonstrate, and validate a synthetic rope mooring for floating wind turbines, which is expected to reduce the impact of offshore wind development on commercial fishing and reduce costs. It will be demonstrated on a full-scale turbine at the Aqua Ventus I project.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Massachusetts will collect offshore wind resource data off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and use it to improve atmosphere-ocean simulation tools and reduce uncertainty in offshore wind resource assessment and forecasting.

Demonstrating innovative technologies not yet deployed at commercial scale will lower the cost of energy and lend confidence to future investment decisions, said Daniel R Simmons, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Improving the ability to accurately forecast wind power with enhanced weather models and demonstrating innovative energy production technologies can help reduce the cost of offshore wind.

Read the rest here:

US DOE Gives $21 Million for Innovative Offshore Wind Technologies - Offshore WIND

Dr. Mark Lewis

Since the onset of COVID-19, the government and industry have expedited the development process of new technologies and offerings to remain competitive in the evolving landscape. Innovation units across the nation have focused on artificial intelligence, autonomy and robotics, to support data and networks.

During Potomac Officers Clubs 7th Annual Defense Research and Development (R&D) Summit, notable federal and industry leaders will meet to discuss the latest priorities across the R&D landscape.

Featuring Dr. Mark Lewis, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and director of defense research and engineering for modernization, as keynote speaker, the summit will also address advancements and challenges within the development and delivery of innovative solutions.

To register for the 7th Annual Defense R&D Summit, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit Potomac Officers Clubs Event Page.

In his role, Lewis is responsible for research, development, and prototyping activities across the Department of Defense (DoD) enterprise.

In addition, he oversees the activities of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Space Development Agency (SDA), the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), and other agencies that are focused on developing advanced technology and capability for the U.S. military.

The DoD recently announced the reorganization of its R&D priorities as it develops new roadmaps to advance future capabilities. Lewis said microelectronics will be the Pentagons top priority. Lewis noted DoD considers 5G communications as its second R&D priority followed by hypersonic weapons. He added that the department plans to procure large quantities of hypersonic weapons.

We want to move away from trusted foundries and instead move towards technologies that allow us to operate and develop trusted components in zero-trust environments, Lewis said of microelectronics. He added that Nicole Petta, assistant director for microelectronics, is working on a roadmap to meet this goal by 2023.

DoDs research and engineering office is also advancing other modernization priorities, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber, autonomy, directed energy, biotechnology, quantum science, directed energy, space as well as fully networked command, control and communications.

Were not interested in prototype programs that terminate at onesies and twosies, he said of hypersonics. You want weapons at scale. And by scale, we mean hundreds of systems. Eventually, down the line, you need thousands.

In Sept. 2020, Lewis spoke about the DoD's modernization strategy, including the development and procurement of high priority systems, such as artificial intelligence, directed energy, small satellites, hypersonics, a 5G network and unmanned aerial systems.

The modernization strategy could potentially offer game-changing results on the battlefield. Lewis noted that the second strategy of the department is ensuring each of the services and DoD organizations, including the DARPA, are researching and developing systems that are complementary across the department and are not duplicated.

The third strategy is partnering with industry and academia on important research or technologies that could benefit the warfighter, as well as allies and partners across the globe. The strategy will benefit the DoD because it will receive a variety of perspectives and viewpoints.

The department's modernization priorities are rapidly developing, Lewis said. "The most important thing is that we're moving beyond the research lab. We're moving beyond the development phase. We're really moving to actual procurement."

DoDs R&E office is also working on a series of best practices and technical standards for its artificial intelligence initiatives amid a rising number of AI efforts spread across the Pentagon. Lewis said that the department aims to remove stovepipes to facilitate sharing of databases and applications in order to identify AI applications that would have the biggest impact on troops.

In some cases that means getting [the technologies] in the hands of the war fighter and having them play with them, experiment with them, and figure out what makes their job more effective, what makes your job easier. And frankly, to enable them to discard the things that dont buy their way into the war fight, Lewis said.

Join Potomac Officers Club to learn about research and development within the defense sector as competition rises across emerging technologies. As new capabilities continue to influence every aspect of the GovCon and industry, top executives must stay ahead of the curve to defeat adversaries.

To register for the 7th Annual Defense R&D Summit, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit Potomac Officers Clubs Event Page.

Original post:

DoD's Dr. Mark Lewis to Discuss Development of Innovative Technologies During Potomac Officers Club's 7th Annual Defense R&D Summit - GovConWire

Jason Reed| For the Daily Press

Riverside Prep cross country and track and field star Thomas Long can officially sayhe is a college athlete.

Long signed his National Letter of Intentwith the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Oregon on Thursday, sealing the deal for the four-minute, thirty-five-second mile runner to take his abilities to the collegiatelevel.

It absolutely excites me to go to that next level. I am giddy, Long said.

Long, like every other high school athlete in California, had to overcome new hurdles in the recruiting process. The coronavirus pandemic prematurely shut down Longs junior track and field season and completely eliminated his senior year cross country season.

That means that Long, who has gotten better year-over-year, had to use his sophomore year track and field personal records during the recruiting process.

No colleges offered before the pandemic began, Long explained. All of my personal records were from my sophomore year. They werent bad, but that is the difference between a person who has been practicing for two years opposed to a person practicing for three years.

Longs resume still spoke for itself as he was offered scholarships from several other out-of-state schools. He chose Oregon Tech because it was the closest to home.

Family is very important to me, and I wanted to be somewhere close enough where I could drive down if anything were to happen, Long said.

Long is not just an excellent athlete, either.He is also a fantastic student. On top of the athletic scholarship he received, he also received one foracademics. Long plans on entering the medical field and has his eyes set on being a respiratory therapist.

While that is Longs long-term career goal, he has long-term athletic goals, too. Long wantsto continue to push his body tosee how far he can take himself. In the short-term, he wants to continue maximizing the three pillars of fitness good recovery, good diet and good sleep to aid him in his quest.

Long isappreciative of everyone who has helped him along the way on his journey. From coach Andrew Soto, to Julia Gutierrez, to the entire cross country coaching staff, athletic director andtrainers at Riverside Prep, among others.

Most of all, he thanked his mom.

If it was not for my mom putting in her work and motivating me I would not even be where I am today, Long said. If I could thank anyone first, it would be my mom.

Jason Reed is a freelance journalist for the Daily Press. Follow him on Twitter @EatYourReedies.

More:

Riverside Prep's Thomas Long runs his way to Oregon Institute of Technology - VVdailypress.com

Nearly a week after the US government announced that multiple federal agencies had been targeted by a sweeping cyber attack, the full scope and consequences of the suspected Russian hack remain unknown.

Key federal agencies, from the Department of Homeland Security to the agency that oversees Americas nuclear weapons arsenal, were reportedly targeted, as were powerful tech and security companies, including Microsoft. Investigators are still trying to determine what information the hackers may have stolen, and what they could do with it.

Donald Trump has still said nothing about the attack, which federal officials said posed a grave risk to every level of government. Joe Biden has promised a tougher response to cyber attacks but offered no specifics. Members of Congress are demanding more information about what happened, even as officials scrambling for answers call the attack significant and ongoing.

Heres a look at what we know, and what we still dont, about the worst-ever cyber attack on US federal agencies.

The hack began as early as March, when malicious code was snuck into updates to a popular software called Orion, made by the company SolarWinds, which provides network-monitoring and other technical services to hundreds of thousands of organizations around the world, including most Fortune 500 companies and government agencies in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

That malware in the updates gave elite hackers remote access to an organizations networks so they could steal information. The apparent months-long timeline gave the hackers ample opportunity to extract information from many targets, including monitoring email and other internal communications.

Microsoft called it an attack that is remarkable for its scope, sophistication and impact.

At least six US government departments, including the energy, commerce, treasury and state departments, are reported to have been breached. The National Nuclear Security Administrations networks were also breached, Politico reported on Thursday.

Dozens of security and other technology firms, as well as non-governmental organizations, were also affected, Microsoft said in a statement Thursday. While most of those affected by the attack were in the US, Microsoft said it had identified additional victims in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Its certain that the number and location of victims will keep growing, Microsoft added.

While the US government has not yet officially named who is responsible for the attack, US officials have told media outlets they believe Russia is the culprit, specifically SVR, Russias foreign intelligence outfit.

Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russias spy agencies and the author of The Red Web, told the Guardian he believes the hack was more likely a joint effort of Russias SVR and FSB, the domestic spy agency Putin once headed.

Russia has denied involvement: One shouldnt unfoundedly blame the Russians for everything, a Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.

The infiltration tactic involved in the current hack, known as the supply-chain method, recalled the technique Russian military hackers used in 2016 to infect companies that do business in Ukraine with the hard-drive-wiping NotPetya virus the most damaging cyber-attack to date.

Thats remains deeply unclear.

This hack was so big in scope that even our cybersecurity experts dont have a real sense yet in the terms of the breadth of the intrusion itself, Stephen Lynch, the head of the House of Representatives oversight and reform committee, said after attending a classified briefing Friday.

Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins cyberconflict expert, told the Associated Press that it was likely that the hackers had harvested such a vast quantity of data that they themselves most likely dont know yet what useful information theyve stolen.

Thats also unclear, and potentially very difficult.

Removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations, said a statement from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) on Thursday.

One of Trumps former homeland security advisers, Thomas Bossert, has already said publicly that a real fix may take years, and be both costly and challenging.

It will take years to know for certain which networks the Russians control and which ones they just occupy, Bossert wrote in a New York Times op-ed on Wednesday. The logical conclusion is that we must act as if the Russian government has control of all the networks it has penetrated.

A do-over is mandatory and entire new networks need to be built and isolated from compromised networks, he wrote.

As of Friday afternoon, the US president had still said nothing to address the attack.

The Republican senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney has criticized Trumps silence as unacceptable, particularly in response to an attack he said was like Russian bombers have been repeatedly flying undetected over our entire country.

Not to have the White House aggressively speaking out and protesting and taking punitive action is really, really quite extraordinary, Romney said.

So far, theres been tough talk but no clear plan from the president-elect.

We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place, Biden said. We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners.

Theres a lot we dont yet know, but what we do know is a matter of great concern, Biden said.

What we could have done is had a coherent approach and not been at odds with each other, said Fiona Hill, a Russia expert and former Trump National Security Council member, to PBS NewsHour this week, criticizing conflict and dysfunction within the Trump administration and between the US and its allies on Russia-related issues.

If we dont have the president on one page and everybody else on another, and were working together with our allies to push back on this, that would have a serious deterrent effect, Hill said.

Other cybersecurity experts said the federal government could also do more to simply keep up to date on cybersecurity issues, and said the Trump administration had failed on this front, including by eliminating the positions of White House cybersecurity coordinator and state department cybersecurity policy chief.

Its been a frustrating time, the last four years. I mean, nothing has happened seriously at all in cybersecurity, said Brandon Valeriano, a Marine Corps University scholar and adviser to a US cyber defense commission, to the Associated Press.

Some experts are arguing that the US government needs to do more to punish Russia for its apparent interference. The federal government could impose formal sanctions on Russia, as when the Obama administration expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation for Kremlin military hackers meddling in Donald Trumps favor in the 2016 election. Or the US could fight back more covertly by, for instance, making public details of Putins own financial dealings.

But, as the Guardians Luke Harding pointed out, cyber attacks are cheap, deniable, and psychologically effective, and Bidens options for responding to Russias aggression are limited.

The answer eluded Barack Obama, who tried unsuccessfully to reset relations with Putin. The person who led this doomed mission was the then secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, herself a Russian hacking victim in 2016, Harding wrote.

SolarWinds may face legal action from private customers and government entities affected by the breach. The company filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday detailing the hack.

In it, the company said total revenue from affected products was about $343m, or roughly 45% of the firms total revenue. SolarWinds stock price has fallen 25% since news of the breach first broke.

Moodys Investors Service said Wednesday it was looking to downgrade its rating for the company, citing the potential for reputational damage, material loss of customers, a slowdown in business performance and high remediation and legal costs.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

See the original post:

What we know and still dont about the worst-ever US government cyber attack - The Guardian