Category Archives: Automation

One of the biggest shortcomings of modern healthcare is inequality in access to and standards of care.

Too often, rural and underserved communities receive substandard and inadequate care, and sometimes no care at all if they are located in one of many healthcare deserts. Even in metropolitan areas, the digital divide is a major barrier to patients accessing timely and appropriate care, leaving millions of Americans disconnected from their healthcare providers. Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the root cause of many of these gaps; left unaddressed, they threaten to exacerbate health inequities.

SDoH refer to the social and economic conditions that affect health and quality-of-life outcomes and risks, such as access to housing, education and technology; clean air, water and nutritious foods; language and literacy skills; and prevalence of racism, discrimination and violence. Medical research has uncovered the widespread ways in which SDoH influence everything from medication adherence and medical literacy, to chronic disease progression and quality of life.

Unfortunately, advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), can unknowingly perpetuate existing SDoH biases rather than counteracting them. This paradox occurs because probabilistic AI algorithms are trained on data that contain human conscious and subconscious biases and then reflect them into the real world. The AI system accepts these biases as truths and propagates stereotypes, leading to further marginalization of underserved communities. Combining artificial intelligence with automation results in what is called intelligent automation, which may be the key to reversing these inequities. Automation is the completion of a task by an agent without the agent being explicitly instructed to do so in other words, it is the use of technology to reduce human intervention in processes. In this way, automation can expand the capacity of our human workforce allowing them to accomplish more with less. This additional capacity, if channeled appropriately, can be devoted to the patients and populations that are most disadvantaged by the current healthcare ecosystem.

As a physician, Ive been disappointed by how significantly social determinants can influence the ways in which minority populations receive substandard care. Yet in my other role as a medical director at a digital health company, Im optimistic in how intelligent automation can be an instrumental tool in leveling the playing field.

As a hospitalist, I frequently admit patients to the hospital who do not know English and can only communicate in a foreign language. More often than not, the patients care team is not fluent in the patients native language and handles this language divide by simply having fewer and less thorough interactions with the patient. Interpreters are difficult to schedule, phone translators are clunky to use, and families can be tough to get a hold of. As a result, it is not uncommon for providers on rounds to suggest circling back when the family can help translaterather than seeing the patient in person. There are many other examples of how patients who do not speak English receive suboptimal care. For example, consent forms are often only printed in English, which should leave us wondering if a foreign language-speaking patients informed consent was truly ever informed.

Automatic language translation to hundreds of foreign languages is one area where automation can be invaluable in reversing inequities. Training an entire medical staff to speak every foreign language is not just impractical, its impossible. On the flip side, training a digital assistant to learn the most common languages and automatically present material in a patients preferred language is not only possible, its trivial.

Automation is well-equipped to intake large amounts of data, manipulate this data instantly (such as translating it to a foreign language), and present it back to users, all without burdening human staff. Automating routine or manual tasks like patient outreach or clinical documentation in a patients native language can provide a delightful patient experience while simultaneously allowing clinicians to focus on higher-level tasks.

It is well established that some minority populations distrust the medical system, driven by fear of judgment, mistreatment, or stereotyping by healthcare professionals. A consequence of this distrust is that many patients may be less willing to be honest with their providers about sensitive topics like substance use, alcohol consumption and sexual activity.

In my own practice, Ive often had patients tell me that they were taking a certain medication or that they had stopped abusing a particular drug only to find out later that this wasnt the case. I dont blame them for hiding the truth, but not knowing the truth did make it harder to provide them the best care.

Automation can be used to digitally collect patient histories wherein patients answer questions asked by a bot rather than by a human. With automated digital intakes, patients can answer sensitive questions on their own mobile device, in the privacy of their home without the perception of being judged by a physician sitting a few feet away from them. Although this type of digital interaction may seem less compassionate at first glance, there are certain cases in which it can lead to more honest, open and substantive discussions and can allow patients to feel more comfortable than they would sharing this information with an unfamiliar physician.

In healthcare, care teams strive to provide the best outcomes for every patient, but our unconscious biases often cloud our judgment and cause us to deliver substandard care. In contrast to AI alone which perpetuates these biases, rules-based deterministic automations can be used to standardize care regardless of a patients skin color, native language or appearance.

In one recent example, a study found that black and Latinx patients were less likely than white counterparts to be admitted to a cardiology service for heart failure compared to a general medicine service. Being admitted to a cardiology service was associated with fewer readmissions and improved outcomes. This disparity in admission may be a result of hidden biases contained by the admitting providers. In contrast, intelligent automation can be used to establish deterministic rules for when a patient should be admitted to one service or another for example, any patient with objective signs of heart failure such as an elevated NT-proBNP and imaging findings of pulmonary edema may be automatically suggested for admission to the Cardiology service.

As a healthcare system, we have an incredible opportunity to leverage intelligent automation to combat healthcare inequities. Automation expands the capacity of care teams, allowing providers to accomplish more with less. As a result, automation can offer an unbiased and personalized mechanism to reach patients in the manner that best suits them whether thats in the form of their native language, a digital intake, or an unbiased recommendation. It is imperative that we do more to resolve healthcare disparities, and intelligent automation may be an important solution in our toolkit.

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Intelligent automation: The secret to combating health inequities - MedCity News

Following the massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, many healthcare organizations have recognized the value in automation for promoting business continuity and empowering a more thoughtful level of care. With the ability to expedite tedious, time-consuming processes, automation can streamline various healthcare operations so that providers have more valuable time to dedicate to patients. Additionally, with increased support, organizations can mitigate the risk of employee burnouta prominent threat as healthcare workers are pushed to their limits handling emerging demands.

Now, as the world embarks on the largest vaccine rollout in history, automation will again prove invaluable for ensuring rigorous operations in tandem with a seamless patient experience. As healthcare providers navigate rollouts, heres how automation can alleviate some of the common challenges associated with the endeavor.

With vaccination efforts underway, appointment scheduling has proven to be a major obstacle. While some healthcare organizations haveinvested in digital front-door solutions to ensure registrations are synced to patient medical records, many are relying on third-party event platforms to connect members of the public with vaccination centers. This disconnect means healthcare workers then need to complete back-end data entry, followed by clinical coordination, to register and communicate with the patientsdelaying patient access to critical care.

As a solution, automated software robots can be deployed to keep web portals and registration in sync by creating new medical record numbers (MRNs) for each patient when they register, and looking for duplicate patient profiles to avoid system confusion. Additionally, to accommodate the growing demand for outreach solutions featuring interactive voice response (IVR; e.g., to accommodate older or multi-language citizens), robots configured with chat technology can be deployed to help individuals register for the vaccine or simply learn more about it. With IVR, patients will be able to quickly and easily access the information they need when they need it, instead of waiting for an available representative.

Automation can support appointment logistics at the vaccination centers themselves as well. Most vaccination sites are designed to vaccinate 800 to 1,000 patients per day, which means staff must also complete a high volume of clerical tasks like check in, eligibility checks and account activation. Failure to execute these compliantly will impact wait time and downstream processes. To avoid errors and delays, health systems can turn to automation to streamline the end-to-end process and expedite each appointment, starting with the check in to reduce wait time and improve the quality of data collected.

From patient information, to insights into vaccine availability, rollouts require healthcare workers to manage high volumes of dataand efficiency and accuracy are paramount. Unfortunately, data transparency presents a major hurdle to seamless vaccine rollouts. For example, once vaccines are administered, healthcare organizations then need to be able communicate their status to government agencies. Because many older EMR platforms still require manual intervention to update, entering this information can be highly time consuming (not to mention error-prone when executed by overworked employees).

To cut down on time spent inputting data and ensure all necessary parties are updated properly, healthcare providers can use automation to pull data from their digital records and enter it into government web portals. In addition to increasing the speed of this taskwhich helps healthcare organizations meet compliance timelinesautomation can also execute it with improved accuracy, thereby enabling more regulated reporting. In this manner, automation can also be used to assist with sharing occupational health vaccination updates for state employees, clinic state vaccination records for first responders and teachers, as well as vaccine batch tracing updates.

Another data processing concern related to the vaccine is reimbursement integrity. While the public will not be charged with financing the vaccine rollout, U.S. healthcare providers are able to seek reimbursement for administration costs with health insurance companies or through the CARES Act for non-insured patients. However, many are seeing an increase occurrence of claim edit 230, a rejection that commonly occurs when the submitted invoice varies from the expected diagnosis, when submitting the claim to the payer. Due to the scale of the current vaccine effort, frequent occurrence of this error can pull healthcare employees away from their roles to correct. To avoid losing staff to manually revising each claim, organizations can set up automated robots to field requests for edits, audit the forms and correct the coding mistake.

While efficient scheduling and data management have emerged as common challenges for healthcare organizations vaccine rollouts, other challenges are bound to arise amid such unprecedented circumstances. Fortunately, advanced automation programs can be adapted to meet organizations unique needsempowering healthcare workers to address critical concerns as they arise. With automation technology taking care of the behind-the-scenes processes required for effective vaccine administration, healthcare providers can focus on the heart of their jobs: protecting patients.

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Automation and COVID-19 vaccine rollouts | Medical Devices & Pharma - Healthcare Global - Healthcare News, Magazine and Website

By all accounts, the robots had a banner 2020. At least, iRobot did. The company behind household products like the Roomba vacuum and Braava mop celebrated the beginning of 2021 with a 28% increase in year-over-year revenue, according to a media release.

True, the success of iRobot amid a global pandemic could mean nothing. On the other hand, it could illustrate just how comfortable society has become with automation.

After decades of automation, were not at the mercy of robots. Instead, were assigning them to ... [+] cover our most redundant, albeit essential, chores.

No longer only a sci-fi trope, automation has turned mainstream. Consumers eagerly rely on AI and robots to guide their car trips, autocorrect their text messages, and, yes, even scour their kitchen floors. Not surprisingly, theyve brought their appreciation of automation into the workplace.

To be sure, some naysayers grumble that too much automation spoils the human brothor at least puts jobs at risk. The jurys out on whether automation will cause widespread job elimination, though. Some studies cite that for every position lost to automation, more will appear to take care of the automatronic systems. Regardless, it would seem automation is here to stay in all facets of life, including the office.

From delivering personalized email campaigns to using bots to compose sticky headlines, automated software and solutions are hot commodities. However, automation isnt limited to marketing departments and sales proposals. Several trends are lighting up the workflow automation phone lines. Not only should you be aware of them, but you might want to implement them into your individual and team processes.

Far too many people cant help but associate automation with annoying interactions. Case in point: The chatbot that just cant seem to fetch the right answer, or even understand the question. Yet automation can just as easily heighten CX, particularly if the automation softwares augmented by practical AI.

Whats the difference between standard and practical AI? According to cloud-based contact center platform Five9, practical AI is built around not just self-learning but self-correcting. In essence, it recognizes mistakes, diagnoses them with the help of a human employee, and moves ahead.

By including a human component into the AI self-correcting equation, AI software can actuallymake fewer secondary errors. At the same time, the employee gets the opportunity to train and guide the AI software to take over repetitive tasks without fear of constant mishaps.

This is where elevated CX comes into the picture. With practical AI-driven automated processes humming in the background, the employee can recapture time to spend with clients. For instance, a CX representative might be able to speak with 10 rather than eight clients an hour, upping call productivity by 20% without sacrificing quality discussions that can only take place between human beings.

One of the biggest boons of an automated workflow is gaining back precious minutes, which turn into even more precious hours. Accordingly, many workers are asking, What can I do to maximize my newfound time savings? And plenty are coming to the same answer: Start learning.

Its a wise response. Pew Research notes that around eight out of 10 Americans believe a large proportion of work will be handled by bots within the next 30 years. Who could deny that upskilling is a far better choice than just swapping new mundane tasks for old ones? That would be about as smart as eating a cupcake instead of a donut. As such, online training has seen a tremendous increase as more responsibilities move toward automation.

Does this mean people will out-skill themselves to the point where theyre too educated for their positions? Its an interesting notion, but most experts arent worried about workers getting too much knowledge. Rather, some workplace researchers posit that when people have time to improve on themselves and their intellectual pursuits, they experience an uptick in innovative thinking that spills over into their occupational contributions.

If you could get eight hours of work done in four hours with a little automation help, would you? Of course. Anyone would. Thats why so many employees have started investing in automation even if they dont have the backing of their employers. In fact, some workers arent telling their employers theyre using automation at all, which is causing a fascinating debate.

Whats the issue? It stems from employers who feel that the self-hackers might be taking advantage of their companies. Nevertheless, traditionally white collar employees (who are more likely to be in a position to self-hack their to-do lists through automation) argue that theyre being paid for work done, not hours clocked.

Whos right and whos wrong? The dust hasnt totally settled yet. Nevertheless, Its worth noting that some employers are taking a positive approach and encouraging workers to find automation hacks. The reasoning? Once an automation opportunity is identified, it can be shared among teams, making everyone more efficient, including the boss.

After decades of automation, were not at the mercy of robots. Instead, were assigning them to cover our most redundant, albeit essential, chores. So start investigating the latest trends in automated workflows today. You might be surprised how effectively automation allows you and your colleagues to spend more time exploring, exhibiting, and expanding our shared humanity.

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3 Trends In Workflow Automation To Keep Up With - Forbes

For years, companies have been working toward automating repetitive jobs through algorithms that can complete administrative tasks, robots that can streamline manufacturing and drones that can deliver goods.

But while futurists have long warned of "job-stealing robots," the coronavirus pandemic has heightened fears that automation will replace the jobs of workers. Because of social distancing measures, many organizations from restaurants to retailers have been forced to find ways to operate with as few employees physically present as possible. And researchers have found that this kind of automation is more quickly adopted during economic downturns.

Coronavirus "has caused an acceleration of some labor trends like automation," says Karen Fichuk, CEO of Randstad North America, adding that out-of-work Americans may need to develop new skills in order to find new jobs. "What we're seeing is this significant need for massive up-skilling and retraining, especially for workers who have been laid off."

Now, a new report from The Brookings Institution indicates that Black and Latino workers are among those most likely to have their jobs replaced.

"Both advances in automation and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affect Black and Latino workers. These workers are more likely to be employed in jobs that are at high risk of being automated in the next two decades and that cannot be done remotely," reads the report. "Of the five occupations that employ the highest number of Black and Latino workers, four have experienced the highest losses during the pandemic: retail salespersons, cashiers, cooks, and waiters and waitresses."

"The impact is likely to be greater for Black and Latino workers and communities because Black and Latino workers are overrepresented in 11 and 13 respectively of the 30 jobs that employ the most workers in the U.S. that are at high risk of being significantly changed or eliminated due to automation," explains Kristen Broady, lead author of the report and policy director of The Hamilton Project at Brookings.

Self checkout terminals inside a supermarket.

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The jobs most at risk of automation often share one thing in common: repetition.

"People who are employed in jobs that entail a single, repetitive task like toll booth operators who collect money and provide change, are already being replaced by automated vehicle identification electronic toll collection systems," explains Broady. "People who are employed in production jobs like order fillers, packers, sorters and stockers are being replaced by various types of robots that can pick specific products, stack items including pallets, sort packages and organize warehouse inventory. Workers employed in repetitive data entry positions are being replaced by automated software programs that can process orders and run payroll functions among other tasks."

To address the potentially negative impacts of automation, the report calls for skills training.

"Labor organizations can encourage companies to provide workforce training so that employees can work with automation, instead of being replaced by it," adds Broady. "Automation will create a need for new tasks, for workers who can develop, program and work with various types of automated technology if they have the necessary training and skills."

And many labor organizations hope they can play an active role in reskilling workers rather than replacing them. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that union membership among Black and Latino workers is growing faster than other racial groups. Across all U.S. workers, Black workers have the highest union membership rate. An estimated 12.3% of Black workers and 9.8% of Latino workers are members of a union.

"When technology comes into a union worksite, we're able to negotiate to get a fair share of the increased productivity and make sure it's healthy and safe it's called bargaining acquiescence. We bargain to get a fair share for workers. But society as a whole doesn't have that," says Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. "Technology can either lessen or increase the trajectory of inequality. Technology is neither good nor bad, it's how it's deployed and it's who gets the benefit of it. If the people at the top get all the benefits from it, then it's bad. If it gets shared equally, then it can be good."

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The pandemic accelerated job automation and Black and Latino workers are most likely to be replaced - CNBC

Packaging automation is rocking ahead in 2021, and it's not just because of the pandemic.

Automated technology, in everything from robots to remote equipment repairs, has matured to the point that packaging automation is not just possible it's a necessity to just keep up with the competition.

"Everything we talked about before COVID just became accelerated," said Alicemarie Geoffrion, vice president of packaging operations in North America at DHL Supply Chain. "If you have an operation that is heavily reliant on labor and something like COVID occurs, you have a weak link in the supply chain."

Secondary, or exterior,packaging is a prime target for automation because it's a continuous and repetitive task. In an October report on Secondary Packaging Trends by PMMI, an industry group representing packaging and processing technologies,67% of brand manufacturers said that their end-of-line operations are already heavily automated.

But there's also room for automated growth, with 85% of manufacturers still looking to expand their current portfolio of automated solutions in secondary packaging, according to the report.

"Automation is certainly a necessity going forward, as this transition from brick and mortar to e-commerce balances out that channel delivery."

Scott Keefauver

Global Marketing Director in Fulfillment at Sealed Air

Much of that drive is coming from the profliferation of SKUs. Faster and shorter production runs have meant more SKUs, but that also means more production changeovers.

"Any changeover will slow down your line and will take down productivity," said Jorge Izquierdo, vice president for marketing development at PMMI. According to the report, 65% of consumer packaged goods companies said they would like to changeover lines faster through automation upgrades.

The pandemic pushed forward a demand for e-commerce, which is not always the most effective, affordable or efficient delivery method in getting products to consumers. It's not as easy as shipping a bunch of the same product to a store for customers to pick up. But it's also not going away anytime soon.

"Automation is certainly a necessity going forward, as this transition from brick and mortar to e-commerce balances out that channel delivery," particularly in addressing inefficiencies with e-commerce fulfillment, Scott Keefauver, global marketing director in fulfillment at Sealed Air, told Supply Chain Dive last month.

"Because of the additional burdens placed on delivery to that process, automation is an answer to help address that," he said.

Sealed Air said it is serving a market that typically grows at 1%-3% a year, according to its Q4 2020 earnings report. It's looking to accelerate that growth to 2%-4%on its base business, and another 100 points with automation. About 40% of its capital expenditures is focused on growth, including breakthrough, production process, automation and digital.

This demand for automated packaging equipment has created its own backlog. Geoffrion said that lead times for equipment from vendors has gone from three weeks to 10 weeks.

"Everyone took a step back over the last 12 months and said, 'We need to make sure we protect our supply chain,'" she said.

The PMMI report found that 21% of brand manufacturers said that some of their operations rely on human labor. This became a problem during the pandemic.

"Where before you were trying to have eight to 10 people on a packaging line, maybe you're trying to have four to five people," due to social distancing,said Izquierdo.

Staffing becomes inconsistent if people get sick or have to quaratine due to potential COVID-19 exposures. While extremely necessary for the health and safety of their worforces, it presented problems for manufacturers in keeping their production lines going.

Plus, manfacturing was already facing a labor shortage before the pandemic. The National Association of Manufacturers was ringing alarm bells in 2019 about a labor shortage exacerbated by gradual retirement of the baby boomer generation.

"Theres still aspects where manual labor allows you to be much more creative, sometimes making changes on the fly."

Alicemarie Geoffrion

Vice President of Packaging Operations in North America at DHL Supply Chain

Automated technology has matured, particularly with collaborative robots, called cobots, making it easier to fit automation into the packaging process.

The pandemic also made companies realize the potential for remote repairs, Izquierdo said. Service technicians and sales representatives were denied access to manufacturing floors during the pandemic due to safety restrictions. In September, that rejection rate hit 75%, he said.

"Because of that, the use of remote access has increased significantly," he said. Much of the equipment already installed came with remote technology, but it just hadn't been accessed before.

Geoffrion said that, while automating packaging helps keep the suply chain steady, humans will never disappear from the process, especially because brands still want to have flexibility in their packaging designs.

"There's still aspects where manual labor allows you to be much more creative, sometimes making changs on the fly," she said. "There are absolutely reasons you don't want to automate everything."

Matt Leonard contributed to this report.

This story was first published in our weekly newsletter, Supply Chain Dive: Operations.Sign up here.

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Packaging automation hits fast track in 2021 - Supply Chain Dive

Just three years ago, Gartner found that up to 85% of businesses IT budget was being spent on just keeping the lights on. Now, as the pandemic has thrown up new challenges and squeezed capacity levels and resources, IT automation offers a way for both private sector and public sector organisations to streamline their operations.

Government IT systems have long been heavily reliant on decades-old legacy technology, which requires considerable time and resource to operate and maintain. Since lockdown, many government departments have been forced to operate shift-based resourcing (alternating which teams are in the office), which has meant that departments, IT teams especially, have struggled to carry out their tasks as normal.

A step towards alleviating pressure on stretched IT teams is to consider how to streamline operational processes. According to recent Dods Research, operational efficiency (90%) and simplification (78%) make up two of the top three digital goals for government organisations over the next five years.

So, what should public sector IT leaders consider when making the transition to automated processes?

As time and human resource is at a premium, it is important to identify which tasks are regular, standard system maintenance processes, and which tasks require a more creative, human approach. In many cases, non-urgent projects and innovations have been placed on hold as resources have been diverted to carry out essential maintenance.

Knowing which tasks are more time-consuming, repetitive and manual will enable IT leaders to focus on finding the right automation solution for these. This will free up time to dedicate to working on new capabilities and innovations.

IT automation was once considered as a nice to have to complement ongoing internal operations if you could afford it. Many decision-makers have regarded it as too expensive for government budgets, without considering the cost savings in the long-term.

Looking longer-term, especially in the context of current pandemic pressures, automation is increasingly being regarded as a must-have and a key component for an efficient and effective IT strategy. Indeed, when accounting for lengthy manual work and staff resource allocation, automation solutions can present considerable cost savings.

For example, departments have tended to operate discrete platforms, with applications strictly locked to either Windows or Linux, rarely both together and this could prove costly as well as restrictive. The demands of managing an MS SQL server and an SAP database could mean twice as much manpower is needed. Automation ensures platforms can all be managed as a single entity. The management time saved through making platforms consistent in this way often converts to significant cost savings.

The speed of technological advancement means that legacy technology can be a severe disadvantage, particularly as it encounters problems with drift. As applications encounter inconsistencies across different servers and networks, they can begin to look and perform differently from when they were originally installed. Over time, this can lead to irregular versions and footprints, creating huge inefficiencies. Automation solutions can help to bridge the gap between discrepancies and inconsistent applications.

As with unifying varied platforms, automating systems to maintain legacy hardware can save teams time by ensuring repetitive tasks or standard updates, like regular patching, can be carried out automatically. It also increases security standards and practices, as modules and roles can be coordinated across servers. The British Army is one example of a government department that has embraced automation in this way, cutting the time to deploy critical patches from three days to three hours. Now it is able to channel vital time and resources into innovating and driving forward new capabilities because its small IT team is not overwhelmed with system management demands.

When looking to implement an automation strategy, it is important to take things one step at a time, particularly when working across a large scale organisation. In the first instance, assess the department or organisations IT strategy, and identify which areas are in most need of automation solutions.

Splitting up a large process into smaller, more manageable jobs will make implementing automation solutions easier. Focus on the tasks that will be most simple to automate this will help to create a robust foundation, develop employee experience with automation solutions and build confidence among the team. With time will come greater standardisation across processes and infrastructure, allowing teams to scale and adapt more effectively.

Many government technology leaders have already started taking these initial steps. 65% of those surveyed by Dods Research are either currently implementing, or plan to implement Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) as part of their shift to automated systems.

With a solid IT foundation at their core, organisations can apply automation not only to backend processes but for multiple use-cases, from financial tasks and application administration to agricultural innovations and geospatial products.

Government departments are always in need of more resources, with regards to both budget allocation and manpower. Especially in the wake of the disruption brought by Covid-19, intelligent and automated processes are going to be vital to enable teams to efficiently carry out all tasks in a timely manner.

Of course, planning and budgeting for regular maintenance is essential. But with IT automation technologies, the public sector will be able to stretch well above and beyond the basic maintenance of standard operations. Automation can no longer be considered a nice to have, as the efficiencies, consistencies and streamlining it enables, while reducing costs, open up a whole world of potential innovation.

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Why governments should look to IT automation, now and in the future - Open Access Government

Redding, California, March 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new market research report titled Food Automation Marketby Component (Plant-level Controls, Enterprise-level Controls), Mode of Automation (Semi-automatic, Fully-automatic), Application (Packaging and Repacking, Butchery), and End-use (Beverages and Distilleries) - Global Forecast to 2027, published by Meticulous Research, the food automation market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.5% from 2020 to 2027 to reach $29.4 billion by 2027. The food automation market is expected to grow owing to factors such as the high adoption of automated solutions and robotics in the F&B processing sector, which is supported by the increased demand for packaged & ready to eat foods. The consumers rising disposable incomes, growing urban population, and changing lifestyles, especially in developing countries, have led to an increase in the demand for processed and packaged foods. As the demand for production is increasing, companies are realizing the need and acknowledging the benefits of automation technologies, thereby increasing the demand for automated systems to ensure the availability of high-quality and affordable processed food products.

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The food & beverage industry consists of various industries, such as dairy, meat, and brewing. Each industry has its own requirements and challenges, and thus, one technology or solution does not fit all the requirements. Digitalization has transformed every industry vertical and has proven to offer significant opportunities, owing to which the key players are emphasizing investments in digitalization strategies to boost operational efficiency and ensure a competitive position in the market. Digitalization has allowed the restructuring of value chains by incorporating advanced technologies such as the cloud, intelligent sensors, virtualization, communication networks, and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) in the food & beverage industry. Advanced data analytics solutions analyze the data captured through sensors to obtain business insights and help the food & beverage enterprises make informed decisions to drive sales.

The impact of COVID-19 on the food automation market

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a widespread economic downturn as several countries imposed strict lockdowns to contain the infection. These lockdowns have affected diverse industries, primarily due to the impact on manufacturing operations. There has been a significant impact on supply chains globally. Food & beverage processing and packaging companies faced huge losses during the first and second quarters of 2020 due to disrupted supply chains and delayed production schedules. The rapid spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., Europe, and Asian countries resulted in nationwide lockdowns and a temporary halting of production facilities to prevent further spread.

With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases globally, the demand for alcohol-based sanitizers and basic food commodities gained pace due to panic among the consumers. High consumption of essential food products led to grocery scarcity on retail shelves, disturbance in supply chains, and immediate demand for high volumes of raw materials for the food & beverage sector. In the first and second quarters of 2020, consumers stored huge quantities of grocery and other food commodities due to the lockdowns and the limited availability of food items across retail stores. This situation resulted in a demand-supply gap and hampered production due to limited workforce availability, further limiting the demand for automation in the food & beverage sector.

The food & beverage sector also faced huge losses due to the ban on imports & exports, travel, and tourism across several continents and countries. Major food-exporting countries, including the U.S., Germany, U.K., China, France, Canada, and Japan, faced losses due to the restriction on logistics and supply in several user countries. This situation was severe in the first and second quarters of 2020. Relaxation of the restrictions in the third quarter of 2020 led to high demand for food products and increased commodity prices, which is expected to help in the slow recovery of the food automation market. Additionally, local manufacturing facilities that were temporarily shut down in the first six months of 2020 resumed operations in the third quarter due to the removal of lockdowns and the need for economic growth.

The complete ecosystem of the food & beverage sector, from raw material providers to foodservice & delivery companies, has been severely impacted by the pandemic. The F&B industry is handling the situation, ensuring precautionary measures, and minimal human contact with the final products by deploying automated systems. The industry is, however, expected to gain pace in 2021. Thus, the need to limit human contact for curbing the further spread of COVID-19 is projected to result in the implementation of food automation systems across various end-user facilities globally.

Rapid adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in F&B industry to support the market growth

Governments of several countries are emphasizing digitalization and the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies as they play a vital role in transforming the manufacturing and supply chain landscapes using the IoT, blockchain, mobility solutions, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, big data analytics & business intelligence, and advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics and 3D printing. These advanced technologies offer higher visibility and surveillance of the entire business process and help businesses optimize the performance at various levels, such as manufacturing operations, management, business systems, and equipment. The use of intelligent sensors, connected devices, and software solutions holds immense possibilities for the use of the IIoT in the food industry. Implementing IIoT in the F&B factories helps in raw material & inventory planning. It tracks consumer demand using analytical software, automatically matches schedules and orders with production speed to minimize downtime and increase production efficiency. These benefits are supporting the adoption of Industry 4.0 solutions in the F&B industry.

Increasing food safety regulations promotes the adoption of food automation solutions

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 600 million people worldwide fall ill after eating contaminated food, and 4,20,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years. Thus, increasing concerns regarding food safety and hygiene have fueled the usage of automation in the food & beverage industry to ensure hygiene levels. Food products with different nutritional values and flavors are distributed globally depending upon the environmental conditions. These food products require hygienic storage and processing to increase shelf life so they can be consumed in other places and seasons across the year. Also, food products require proper handling and packaging as they are perishable. Regulatory authorities such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) have imposed strict regulations on food safety and packaging. The FDAs food safety authority has enhanced the mandates of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to protect both consumer and public health.

Key questions answered in the report-

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The food automation market is segmented on the basis of component, mode of automation, application, end-use, and geography. The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyzes the market at the country level.

Based on component, the overall food automation market is segmented into enterprise-level controls, plant instrumentation, and plant-level controls. The plant instrumentation segment is expected to grow considerably over the forecast years due to increasing adoption of robots, machine vision systems, and sensors in the food processing solutions. These components help in controlling processes and integrating them with the overall manufacturing control system and the logistics chain. Food & beverage applications demand extreme plant instrument performance standards for accurately monitoring and controlling the machines. The equipment needs to interface smoothly with the mechanical process connectivity to deliver optimal plant performance and process security and maintain the highest hygiene standards.

Based on mode of automation, the semi-automatic mode commanded the largest share in 2020, due to the adoption of several semi-automatic processing systems in small manufacturing & processing facilities. These systems require a human operator at the beginning and end of the process to check proper functioning of the production lines. Food & beverage companies adopt semi-automatic machines to make significant process improvements while retaining the adaptability of an operators input for additional human inspection.

Based on end-use, the beverages & distilleries segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period in the global food automation market. The high growth rate is attributed to the rapid digitization of beverage manufacturing across the globe and the adoption of ERP and SCADA solutions to maintain production quality. Companies such as ABB, Schneider, Siemens, Emerson, and GEA have developed various automation solutions that control raw material wastage and reduce production costs for beverage manufacturers. Moreover, the bakery & confectionery segment will witness a considerable growth due to high implementation of food processing solutions for making breads and bakery foods. Rising urbanization and changing consumer preference have increased the demand for bakery & confectionery items such as pies, pizzas, cakes, pastries, gums, candies, and lollipops. Automated systems for conveyor tracking, material sorting, picking & placing, cutting, and palletizing are used in the bakery & confectionery industry. These systems help in the efficient handling of complex processes such as bakery & confectionery product processing, bulk handling, liquid and powder processing, refrigeration, and packaging.

Geographically, the global food automation market is segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific region is the largest market for food automation, followed by Europe. The Asia-Pacific region is also expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period owing to increasing investment in the automation industry, growing FDI in the food sector, increasing food safety regulations, and rising demand for packaged foods. Europe holds the second largest share in the overall food automation market. The European food & beverage industry is the largest manufacturing sector in terms of job and value. The F&B industry is one of the biggest and most economically important in EU countries. In the last ten years, Europe food & drink exports have doubled. The European Commission is working to improve the competitiveness of the regional food sector and create new trade opportunities for food and drink products, thereby driving automation solutions in the region. Moreover, a high focus on maintaining quality and hygiene further drives the adoption of automation solutions in the region.

Competitive Landscape

The major companies in the global food automation market have implemented various strategies over the years such as new product launches; acquisitions; expansions; and partnerships, collaborations, & agreements to expand their product offerings, global footprint, and augment their market share. New product launches & enhancements accounted for the largest share of total strategic developments undertaken by key players during 20182020. This strategy enabled companies to reinforce their product portfolios and enhance their geographic reach.

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The key players operating in the global food automation market are ABB Group (Switzerland), Rockwell Automation (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Yaskawa Electric Corporation (Japan), Schneider Electric (France), Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan), KUKA AG (Germany), Emerson Electric (U.S.), Fanuc Corporation (Japan), Honeywell International (U.S.), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), GEA Group (Germany), JLS Automation (U.S.), Falcon Autotech Pvt. Ltd (India), and Food Automation Pty. Ltd (Australia) among others.

The top four players in the global food automation market include ABB Group (Switzerland), Rockwell Automation (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), and Fanuc Corporation (Japan).

ABB Group (Switzerland): ABB has a robust product portfolio, which includes control technologies, software and lifecycle services, measurement and analytics products, Human Machine Interfaces (HMI), and integrated safety technology for the food automation market. The company offers a comprehensive automation portfolio, including robotics for the process & discrete industries, to improve safety, uptime, energy efficiency, and productivity of industrial processes. ABB has a robust channel partner ecosystem, including distributors, system integrators, and OEMs, and a direct sales channel to help its products reach consumers. The company has a strong geographic presence across North America, Europe, Asia-pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.

Rockwell Automation (U.S.): The company offers a strong product portfolio for the food automation market, which includes programmable controllers, distributed control systems, motion control systems, advanced process control, visualization & HMI, and manufacturing execution systems. The company focuses on developing & manufacturing innovative products to obtain a competitive position in the market, for which it invests heavily in its research & development capabilities and modifies and expands its production facilities to meet the growing demand. The company continually develops its offerings and releases new updates for its solutions by integrating advanced features to boost the overall user experience.

Siemens AG (Germany): The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of automation equipment for the food & beverage industry. The company collaborates with key technology giants to offer innovative solutions to leverage advanced technologies such as cloud and AI. For instance, its collaboration with SAP SE allowed the company to deliver an end-to-end integrated software solution over the Siemens Teamcenter software for product lifecycle, supply chain, and asset management.

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Scope of the Report:

Food Automation Market, by Component

Food Automation Market, by Mode of Operation

Food Automation Market, by Application

Food Automation Market, by End-use

Food Automation Market, by Geography

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Food Automation Market to Grow at a CAGR of 9.5% From 2020 to Reach $29.4 billion by 2027, Says Meticulous Research - GlobeNewswire

Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images

Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images

Are robots coming for your job? New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose says companies and governments are increasingly using automation and artificial intelligence to cut costs, transform workplaces and eliminate jobs and more changes are coming.

"We need to prepare for the possibility that a lot of people are going to fall through the cracks of this technological transformation," Roose says. "It's happened during every technological transformation we've ever had, and it's going to happen this time. And in fact, it already is happening."

In his new book, Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, Roose examines the benefits and pitfalls of automation and reflects on how we as a society could responsibly manage technological innovation.

Roose notes that automation could lead to tremendous scientific breakthroughs. "It could help us cure rare diseases. It could help us fix the climate crisis. It could do any number of amazing things that we really, really need," he says.

But Roose adds that he worries about the motivations of the humans in charge, particularly "the executives at large companies who are using automation to replace workers without transforming their companies, without developing new products."

"They're not trying to innovate and transform their businesses," he says. "They're purely trying to do the same amount of work with fewer people.

On the argument that as technology changes, new jobs emerge

I was very optimistic about this technology because of that argument ... that automation and artificial intelligence will destroy some jobs, but they will create other jobs and those jobs will replace the lost ones. But as I started looking more into the present of A.I. and also the past of automation, I learned that it's not always that smooth.

During the Industrial Revolution, for example, there were people who didn't find work for a long time. Wages for workers didn't catch up to corporate profits for something like 50 years. So a lot of the people who went through those technological transformations ... didn't have a good time. They weren't necessarily happier, or living better lives, or wealthier as a result of this new technology.

But there's also a difference today, which is that artificial intelligence is not just replacing repetitive manual labor. It's also replacing repetitive cognitive labor. It's able to do higher value tasks, not just moving data around on a spreadsheet or moving car parts around in a factory. It's able to do the work of white-collar workers in fields that generally require college educations and specialized training. That's one difference.

Then the other difference is there's been some new research out about the effect that automation has been having in the economy. And it's shown that while for much of the 20th century, automation was creating new jobs faster than it was destroying old jobs, for the last few decades, the opposite has been true: Old jobs have been disappearing faster than new jobs have been created.

On how "bureaucratic bots" and algorithms are used to determine some government assistance programs and criminal justice decisions

Kevin Roose is the host of Rabbit Hole, an eight-part podcast series about how the internet affects our lives. His previous books include The Unlikely Disciple and Young Money. Brian Desimone/Penguin Random House hide caption

Kevin Roose is the host of Rabbit Hole, an eight-part podcast series about how the internet affects our lives. His previous books include The Unlikely Disciple and Young Money.

I don't think people fully appreciate the extent to which things like benefits, who qualifies for nutrition assistance, who qualifies for public housing, are determined by algorithms now. And sometimes that works fine and some other times it doesn't work so great. There was a case a few years ago in Michigan where an algorithm that the state was using to determine benefits eligibility misfired, and it kicked a lot of people off their benefits wrongly and that affected people's lives in real, tangible ways.

There are other kinds of bots and automation being used by governments in the criminal justice system, for example, to predict whether a given defendant is likely to re-offend if you put them out on parole. These algorithms are generally not open and inspected by the public they're sort of 'black boxes' and we don't really know how they work and there's not a lot of accountability for them. And so as a result, we end up with these mysterious machines making these decisions that affect millions ... of people's lives and we don't really understand what they're doing.

On the power and danger of the YouTube algorithm

YouTube is owned by Google and Google has the best A.I. research team in America. They produce the most award winning papers. They have the best PhDs. They're at the vanguard of artificial intelligence. And a lot of that research and expertise for the last decade has been going into honing this YouTube algorithm with these techniques that are brand new and that are making it much more effective. Something like 70 percent of all the time that people spend on YouTube is directly related to recommendations that come from this algorithm. ...

Maximizing watch time is the No. 1 goal of this algorithm. And so some of the ways that it's learned that it can keep people on YouTube for a long time are by introducing them to new ideas, maybe to conspiracy theories, maybe to more extreme versions of something that they already believe, things that will sort of lead them down these rabbit holes. And so this has had an effect on politics. This has had an effect on our culture. And it's resulted in some cases where people have been radicalized because the algorithm thought that radicalizing them would be a good way to keep them watching YouTube.

On the jobs that are relatively safe from automation

The more A.I. experts and computer scientists I talked to, the more sure I became that we have been preparing people for the future in exactly the wrong way: We've been telling them [to] develop these technical skills in fields like computer science and engineering. We've been telling people to become as productive as possible to optimize their lives, to squeeze out all the inefficiency and spend their time as effectively as possible, in essence, to become more like machines. And really, what we should be teaching people is to be more like humans, to do the things that machines can't do. ...

We have been preparing people for the future in exactly the wrong way. ... What we should be teaching people is to be more like humans, to do the things that machines can't do.

Kevin Roose

There are three categories of work that I think is unlikely to be automated in the near future. One is "surprising work." So this is work that involves complex rules, changing environments, unexpected variables. A.I. and automation really like regularity. They like concrete rules, bounded environments and repetitive action. So this is why A.I. can beat a human in chess, but if you asked an algorithm to teach a kindergarten class, it would fail miserably because that's a very irregular environment with lots of surprises going on. So those surprising jobs are the first jobs I think are relatively safe.

The second category is what I call "social jobs," jobs that involve making people feel things rather than making things. So these would be the jobs in social services and health care, nursing therapists, ministers, but also people who perform sort of emotional labor as part of their jobs, people like flight attendants and baristas, people we don't typically think of as being "social" workers, but their jobs do involve an element of making people feel things.

And the third category of work that I think is safe is what I call "scarce work." And this is work that involves sort of high stakes situations, rare combinations of skills, or just people who are experts in their fields. This would include jobs that we have decided are unacceptable to automate. We could replace all of the human 911 operators with robots. That technology exists. But if you call 911 today, you will get a human because we want humans to be doing that job when we're in trouble. We want a human to pick up the phone and help us to deal with our problems.

Sam Briger and Kayla Lattimore produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.

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Kevin Roose's 'Futureproof' Offers Rules To Thrive In The Age Of Automation - NPR

DUBLIN, March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Integrated Marine Automation Systems Market by Autonomy (Autonomous, Remotely-operated, Partial Automation), Ship Type (Commercial, Defense, Unmanned), End-user (OEM, Aftermarket), Solution (Products, Services), System and Region - Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global integrated marine automation system is projected to grow from USD 4,906 million in 2020 to USD 7,889 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 10% from 2020 to 2025.

The demand for new ships and the retrofitting of existing ships with advanced technologies is expected to grow with the increase in trade activities.

New defense and commercial vessels are equipped with advanced systems for improved safety and efficiency. The implementation of advanced systems acts as an important driver for the integrated marine automation system market. Integrated marine automation system is one of the variants of automated vessels. These ships involve integrating various systems and subsystems, enabling effective decision-making based on sensor fusion technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for processing the data, hence reducing or eliminating human intervention.

Based on autonomy, remotely-operated segment projected to lead integrated marine automation system market during the forecast period

Based on autonomy, the integrated marine automation system market is segmented into fully autonomous, remotely-operated and partial automation. The growth of the remotely-operated segment of the integrated marine automation system market can be attributed to the increased investments in developing unmanned and remotely-controlled vessel operations.

Based on ship type, commercial segment projected to dominate integrated marine automation system market during the forecast period

Based on ship type, the integrated marine automation system market is segmented into commercial and defense. The commercial segment is expected to dominate the market, owing to the rising seaborne trade and tourism across the globe.

Based on end-user, the OEM segment accounts for the largest market size during the forecast period

Based on end-user, the integrated marine automation system market is segmented into OEM and aftermarket. The OEM segment is estimated to account for a largest share in 2020 as compared to the aftermarket segment. The growth of the OEM segment can be attributed to the increased investments in naval defense by various countries and rise in seaborne trade activities across the globe.

Asia-Pacific is expected to account for the largest share in 2020

The integrated marine automation system market has been studied for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. Asia-Pacific is estimated to account for the largest share of the global market in 2020. Shipbuilding companies from Japan, South Korea, and China, are also among the largest players in each of the four major segments, namely, tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, and offshore vessels. Asia-Pacific has witnessed rapid economic development over the years, increasing maritime trade. This rise in sea trade has subsequently led to an increasing demand for ships to transport manufactured goods worldwide. Thus, the rising number of ships has increased the demand for integrated marine automation system in the Asia-Pacific region.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights4.1 Attractive Opportunities in Integrated Marine Automation System Market4.2 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by Ship Type4.3 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by End-user4.4 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by Country

5 Market Overview5.1 Introduction5.2 Market Dynamics5.2.1 Drivers5.2.1.1 Adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) for Real-Time Decision Making5.2.1.2 Increasing Software Development5.2.1.3 Increasing Use of Automated Systems to Reduce Human Errors and Risks5.2.1.4 Increased Budgets of Shipping Companies for the Incorporation of Ict in Vessels5.2.1.5 Increasing Demand for Situational Awareness in Vessels5.2.2 Restraints5.2.2.1 Vulnerability Associated with Cyber Threats5.2.3 Opportunities5.2.3.1 Development of New Port Cities in Emerging Economies5.2.3.2 Initiatives for the Development of Autonomous Ships5.2.3.3 Revision and Formulation of Marine Safety Regulations in Several Countries5.2.3.4 Advancement in Sensor Technologies for Improved Navigation Systems in Vessels5.2.3.5 Development of Propulsion Systems5.2.4 Challenges5.2.4.1 Cost-Intensive Customization of Marine Automation Systems5.2.4.2 Lack of Skilled Personnel to Handle and Operate Marine Automation Systems5.2.4.3 Lack of Common Standards for Data Generated from Different Subsystems in a Ship5.3 Range/Scenarios5.4 COVID-19 Impact on Integrated Marine Automation System Market5.5 Trends/Disruptions Impacting Customers' Business5.5.1 Revenue Shift and New Revenue Pockets for Integrated Marine Automation System Market5.6 Market Ecosystem5.6.1 Prominent Companies5.6.2 Private and Small Enterprises5.6.3 End-users5.7 Pricing Analysis5.8 Value Chain Analysis5.9 Tariff Regulatory Landscape for Automation in Marine Industry5.10 Trade Data5.10.1 International Maritime Trade Data, 2010-20195.10.2 World Sea-Borne Trade, 2015-20195.11 Porter's Five Forces Model5.12 Technology Analysis5.13 Use Cases5.14 Operational Data

6 Industry Trends6.1 Introduction6.2 Technology Roadmap6.3 Technological Advancements in the Marine Industry6.3.1 Artificial Intelligence6.3.2 Big Data Analytics6.3.3 Internet of Things (IoT)6.3.4 Augmented Reality6.3.5 Predictive Maintenance6.4 Technology Trends6.4.1 Digital Marine Automation System (DBS)6.4.1.1 Conning System6.4.1.2 Autopilot6.4.1.3 Mooring Control and Monitoring System6.4.1.4 Automated Radar Plotting Aid/Navigation Radar Servers (NRS)6.4.1.5 Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS)6.4.1.6 Communication System6.4.1.7 Voyage Data Recorder6.4.1.8 Decision Support System6.4.2 Sensor Fusion Solutions6.4.3 Control Algorithms6.5 Innovations and Patent Registrations, 2012-2020

7 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by Autonomy7.1 Introduction7.2 Partial Automation7.2.1 Increasing Demand for Onboard Automation Systems is Expected to Drive this Segment7.3 Remotely- Operated7.3.1 Increasing Investments in Remotely-Operated Ships is Expected to Drive this Segment7.4 Autonomous7.4.1 Increasing Investments on Developing Autonomous Ships is Expected to Fuel this Segment

8 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by Solution8.1 Introduction8.2 Products8.2.1 Increasing Investment in Automated Process is Driving the Growth of the Segment8.2.1.1 Hardware8.2.1.1.1 Displays8.2.1.1.2 Control Unit8.2.1.1.3 Data Storage Devices8.2.1.1.4 Sensors8.2.1.1.5 Alarms8.2.1.1.6 Others8.2.1.2 Software8.2.1.2.1 Analytical Software8.2.1.2.2 Monitoring Software8.2.1.3 Datalink & Connectivity8.2.1.3.1 Open Platform Communications (OPC)8.2.1.3.2 Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)8.2.1.3.3 Controller Area Network (CAN)8.2.1.3.4 Process Field Bus (PROFIBUS)8.2.1.3.5 Modular Digital Controller (ModCon)8.3 Services8.3.1 Services are Essential for Smooth Functioning of System8.3.1.1 Maintenance Services8.3.1.2 Support Services

9 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by Ship Type9.1 Introduction9.2 Commercial9.3 Defense9.4 Unmanned

10 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by End-user10.1 Introduction10.1.1 Impact of COVID-19 on End-user10.1.1.1 Most Impacted End-user10.1.1.2 Least Impacted End-user10.2 OEM10.2.1 Increasing Installation of Advanced Automation Systems in Ships is Expected to Drive the Market10.3 Aftermarket10.3.1 Maintenance and Repair Services of Systems is Expected to Drive the Growth of this Segment

11 Integrated Marine Automation System Market, by System11.1 Introduction11.2 Power Management System11.2.1 Power Management System is Responsible for Controlling the Performance of Vessels Engines11.2.1.1 Engine Monitoring and Control System11.2.1.2 Power Distribution Management11.2.1.3 Diesel Generator Monitoring (DGMS)11.3 Vessel Management System11.3.1 Use of Advanced Technological Equipment to Monitor the Vessels11.3.1.1 Machinery Management System11.3.1.2 Alarm Monitoring System11.3.1.3 Ballast Water Management System11.3.1.4 Propulsion Control System11.3.1.5 Remote Monitoring System11.3.1.6 Dynamic Positioning System11.3.1.7 Security Management System11.3.1.8 Thrust Control System11.3.1.9 Information Management System11.4 Process Control System11.4.1 Communication is Enable due to Process Control System11.4.1.1 HVAC Control11.4.1.2 Drilling Driver Control System11.5 Safety System11.5.1 Safety System Ensure Safety of the Ship and Marine Environment11.5.1.1 Fire Protection System11.5.1.2 Emergency Shutdown System

12 Regional Analysis12.1 Introduction12.2 Global Scenarios of Integrated Marine Automation System Market12.3 North America12.4 Europe12.5 Asia-Pacific12.6 Middle East & Africa12.7 Latin America

13 Competitive Landscape13.1 Introduction13.2 Ranking of Leading Players, 201913.3 Market Share Analysis of Leading Players, 201913.4 Revenue Analysis of Top 5 Market Players, 201913.5 Competitive Overview13.6 Company Product Footprint Analysis13.7 Company Evaluation Quadrant13.7.1 Star13.7.2 Emerging Leader13.7.3 Pervasive13.7.4 Participant13.8 Integrated Marine Automation System Market Competitive Leadership Mapping (Start-ups)13.8.1 Progressive Companies13.8.2 Responsive Companies13.8.3 Dynamic Companies13.8.4 Starting Blocks13.9 Competitive Scenario13.9.1 Deals13.9.2 Product Launches

14 Company Profiles14.1 Introduction14.2 Key Players14.2.1 ABB14.2.2 Honeywell International Inc.14.2.3 Rolls-Royce plc14.2.4 Wartsila14.2.5 Kongsberg14.2.6 Siemens14.2.7 Hyundai Heavy Industries14.2.8 General Electric14.2.9 Northrop Grumman Corporation14.2.10 Tokyo Keiki14.2.11 Consilium14.2.12 Fincantieri S.p.A14.2.13 Rockwell Automation, Inc.14.2.14 Jason Marine Group14.2.15 Thales Group14.2.16 Marine Technologies LLC14.2.17 Praxis Automation & Technology B.V.14.2.18 L3Harris ASV14.2.19 Mitsui E&S Holdings Co. Ltd.14.2.20 DNV GL14.2.21 Fugro14.2.22 Valmet14.2.23 Aselsan A.S.14.2.24 Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.14.2.25 Ulstein14.3 Other Players14.3.1 API Marine, Inc.14.3.2 RH Marine14.3.3 MTU Friedrichshafen14.3.4 Marlink14.3.5 SMEC Automation Pvt. Ltd.14.3.6 Logimatic14.3.7 Sedni Marine Systems14.3.8 Sea Machines Robotics, Inc.14.3.9 Shone, Automation Inc.14.3.10 Buffalo Automation

15 Appendix15.1 Discussion Guide15.2 Knowledge Store: The Subscription Portal15.3 Available Customization

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1ae0co

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

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Global Integrated Marine Automation Systems Market (2020 to 2025) - Initiatives for the Development of Autonomous Ships Presents Opportunities -...

Cities remain the economic engine of Canada. Through lockdowns and travel restrictions, the march of urbanization with all of its benefits and daunting challenges barely missed a step. Canadas urban areas continued to grow in 2020 and today four out of five Canadians live in cities.

While COVID-19 will not reverse urbanization trends, it has exposed the vast inequalities of urban housing. The gap between the demand and supply of affordable housing has only widened over the course of the pandemic as real estate prices hit historic highs. According to a new report from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Vancouver and Toronto are now two of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world (no Canadian city housing market is deemed affordable by the report). In Toronto, current demand for housing is expanding at an annual rate of 50,000 units. Over the past five years, however, new construction has averaged under 9,000 units. Simply put, the construction industry cannot keep pace.

Meanwhile, the industry faces an environmental reckoning. Buildings generate nearly 40 per cent of annual global greenhouse-gas emissions, and material production, transportation, and the construction processes accounts for about one-quarter of a buildings total carbon emissions. Inevitably, to meet Canadas carbon-reduction targets, builders must address the waste and inefficiencies that have become inherent in any construction project.

When it comes to increasing supply through more sustainable processes, the housing industry continues to deploy 19th-century approaches to tackle 21st-century problems. Construction remains among the very least digitized sectors of the economy, just above hunting and agriculture. Low profit margins, complex supply chains and the cyclical nature of the business model have prevented the industry from adopting new technologies that could bring higher productivity. Not surprisingly, the construction industry is the only sector to have experienced a decline in labour productivity since the 1960s.

Compounding the industrys stalled productivity is a growing shortage of skilled labour. Over 20 per cent of skilled labour in housing construction is expected to retire in the coming years. In Toronto alone, the housing sector faces job shortages of over 100,000 skilled workers. If alternatives to how homes are built are not embraced, these labour realities will further strain Canadas housing market.

Now is the time for the industry to embrace the opportunities afforded by deeper digital integration. From manufacturing to mining, almost every facet of our economy has made use of the efficiencies and scale afforded by technology. Bringing robotics, AI and advanced manufacturing to housing construction will usher in a new era of sustainable construction. It will create new categories of jobs, generate significantly less waste and, ultimately, add more buildings much faster to Canadas housing stock.

Weve seen how applying automation to housing can work. One of the most advanced prefab factories in North America, responsible for over six million square feet of some of the highest quality and sustainable homes constructed in North America, was built in Edmonton. This real-world proof of concept was the brainchild of Reza Nasseri, a pioneer in industrialized construction and homebuilding. Today, with investments from PSP Investments and Radical Ventures, he and I are launching Promise Robotics, a robotics platform to help the construction industry access new methods of production in homebuilding.

There is no reason why building affordable homes cannot resemble the highly automated factory floors of the worlds most advanced manufacturing facilities, using computer vision and AI-powered robotics to create sustainable custom homes in a fraction of the current time. Canada is well-positioned to seize upon this opportunity home to one of the largest concentrations of AI talent, the country is a world leader in fundamental AI research that could be leveraged for advanced automation.

Looking further down the supply chain, Canada has the raw materials to support a massive expansion in affordable and sustainable housing construction. Housing presents a unique opportunity to bridge our vast resource economy with the tech talent of Canadas innovation economy. By helping builders, real estate developers and other industry professionals leverage the efficiencies of industrialized automation, we will usher in a new era of sustainable construction.

Affordable housing is not a challenge unique to Canada. Anemic housing construction is a global crisis in the making. Today, four billion people live in cities around the world. That number will swell to seven billion by 2050. Canada has the know-how to become a global leader in 21st-century sustainable housing. We can start by addressing the affordable housing crisis in our own backyard.

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Ramtin Attar is co-founder (with and Reza Nasseri) of Promise Robotics, an automation platform for the construction of more affordable and sustainable homes.

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Housing crisis requires builders to embrace AI and automation - Toronto Star