Category Archives: Technology

Microsoft has cast a look into the future of education as it looks to prepare the classrooms of tomorrow with the technology they need to thrive.

The computing giant has revealed new research at BETT 2020 today that examines just what the teachers of 2030 will require in terms of technological needs.

With millennials and Generation Z set to make up a significant proportion of the teaching workforce by 2030, the needs of students and teachers alike are set to change, and Microsoft wants to be in pole position.

Microsofts study surveyed over a thousand new and early-career teachers around the world in an attempt to work out their needs, but also looked to drill into just what technology can do for the educators of tomorrow.

The company found that technology is set to play an increasingly vital role in the classroom of the future, both in terms of enabling learning but also enriching the student and teacher experiences.

The study found that the largest benefits of education technology were seen as allowing more engaging learning experiences (chosen by 36 percent of the participants), enabling self-directed learning (31 percent) and preparing students for the tech-centric job market (30 percent).

However there were also some concerns surrounding the use of technology in the classroom, with 36 percent of respondents saying they feared it could lead to a loss of traditional skills and knowledge, such as handwriting. 34 percent were worried that students already spent too much time on devices already, and 28 percent said that the technology could be too distracting.

A lack of proper tools was named as the top barrier to achieving positive education outcomes through technology, with inadequate training for teachers on the technology they would be using, and inadequate technical support also ranking highly.

The rest is here:

Why technology could be the key to powering the teachers of tomorrow - Techradar

How is technology changing the enterprise in 2020? It would be tough to pin down an answer that's anything close to comprehensive, but chipping ice chunks off the glacier of "the state of technology and work in 2020" can help us glean insights into the creep and flow of new and developing technologies in the enterprise heading into the new decade.

I caught up with ADP's corporate vice president,Don Weinstein, to get his take on how technology will continue to reshape the workforce over the next 6-12 months. Personalization, AI/ML, predictive analytics, low code technology ... Don's insights, presented below, are far-ranging and offered with an eye toward gleaning insights into the broader trends in technology and the workforce that he's seeing from his perch at ADP.

They're also offered, refreshingly, with an eye toward how the worker will be affected.

First up, Weinstein believes that the efficacy of teams and non-hierarchical working structures will gain even more traction, in large part unlocked by technology.

"The future of work lies in a flat working structure that unlocks the potential of criteria-based teams," he says. "Companies will increasingly look to meet their talent needs by supplementing their staff with highly specialized gig workers; former, returning employees; and retirees that can support nimble work."

Listening to this prediction, an interesting corollary that occurred to me lies in Hollywood. Movies, which are massively complicated endeavors to pull off, rely on teams of gig workers (everyone from actors and filmmakers to set designers and production coordinators) coming together quickly to pull off a herculean task.

Perhaps in contrast to Hollywood, where specialization is paramount, Weinstein believes there will be a loosening of strict job functions to allow for creative problem solving.

"Organizations will need to break down siloes to unlock potential and create a culture of connectivity predicated on engagement and performance. This is even more important for businesses managing multi-generational workers."

At the same time, technology will also enable new personalization opportunities for employees.

"Employers and employees alike will demand app-driven, consumer-grade HCM experiences [Human Capital Management], not monolithic software. The employee experience will evolve through a confluence of emerging technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)."

One result is seemingly banal but actually very impactful: Employees will be able to decide how and when they get paid, potentially alleviating the gnawing pressure that biweekly or monthly paychecks introduce.

"The pay experience will reach a new level of personalization, offering an easier way for workers to be paid, the way they want, anytime they want."

Worker mobility has been a trend for some time, but globalized workforces create compliance nightmares for HR and other partners.

"HCM partners will need to deliver global localization the ability to localize compliance tools that address changing policies, regulations and laws at all levels of regulatory control with ease. As organizational teams continue to become more global with workers logging in from around the world businesses will be increasingly focused on uncovering new, compliant ways to support worker mobility, without creating unnecessary burden."

Technologies coming online to help could enable new flexibility for workers to work where they want.

"The talent war will be fought and won on the ability to unlock and apply actionable insights derived from reliable, decision-quality data. Predictive analytics will be table stakes for any successful business in 2020, providing critical workforce insights such as overtime spikes, excessive turnover, labor costs and even pay equity."

The specific technologies Weinstein mentions suggest a real convergence of functionality.

"AI, machine learning, serverless computing, 5G connectivity these macro trends drive innovation as businesses strive to optimize experiences for employees and clients. In the coming year, companies that harness data and action it against emerging technologies will not only survive but thrive."

Adaptability and enterprise technology may seem like a non-sequitur, but Weinstein suggests that demands from workers in a tight labor economy will drive the transition.

"Just as teams will become more agile, so will technology platforms. Cloud-native, low-code technology platforms will receive favorability, as they eliminate maintenance windows, drive scalability and performance, and require less technical fluency from users. Companies will have greater access to technology that provides ever-evolving, personalized solutions to fit their organization."

I'll be tracking more predictions from across the enterprise in future coverage.

Read the original here:

5 ways technology will reshape the workforce in 2020 - ZDNet

Key facts

Financial services technology leader FIS (NYSE: FIS) and the State of Ohio announced today that the company plans to solidify its presence in Cincinnati as a Strategic Technology and Innovation Campus.

The campus in Governors Hill, in Symmes Township, Ohio, previously served as the corporate headquarters of Worldpay, which was acquired by FIS on July 31, 2019.

"Our significant presence in the Cincinnati market and the state of Ohio is integral to our long-term growth plans and goals to deepen our global leadership in financial technology innovation," FIS Chairman, CEO and President Gary Norcross said. "We look forward to our continued partnership with the Cincinnati region and the state as we focus on our mission to advance the way the world pays, banks and invests. We would particularly like to acknowledge JobsOhio and REDI Cincinnati for their leadership and assistance with this agreement."

"The technology provided by FIS and its Worldpay merchant payment solutions is central to the movement of money around the world and much of that technological innovation starts here in Ohio," JobsOhio President and Chief Investment Officer J.P. Nauseef said. "As the expectations of consumers change with new technology, it is exciting to know that a Fortune 500 company that is so influential in driving global commerce has one of its most significant locations right here in Ohio."

"We have a rich history in Cincinnati and are excited about the future impact our Ohio colleagues will have in innovating and advancing the customer experience for our clients all over the world," FIS COO Stephanie Ferris said. "This is all part of a new chapter for us in the Cincinnati region, as we continue to hire the regions top tech talent and will be seeking new ways to collaborate with this community."

FIS also said it will continue to invest in its location at the University of Cincinnatis 1819 Innovation Hub, where the company has plans to employ students to work on FinTech applications. The company also plans to continue to work with the University of Cincinnati and Miami University through its initiative to increase the number of studentsespecially women and underrepresented minoritieswho are pursuing degrees related to the fast-growing technology sector.

"Technology is advancing at a rapid rate, and FIS has been leading the way in its industry for a long time. I am thrilled that it will continue to do that from the Cincinnati region," REDI Cincinnati President and CEO Kimm Lauterbach said. "We expect to build on our relationship with FIS in exciting ways that will drive global innovation from our region and provide opportunities for those who want to work and live here."

About FIS

FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our 55,000 people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poors 500 Index. To learn more, visit http://www.fisglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@FISGlobal).

About REDI Cincinnati

The Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Cincinnati is the first point-of-contact for companies locating or growing in the 16-county region at the heart of southwest Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana. REDI Cincinnati is supported by top business leaders and community partners, and staffed by a team of economic development experts who are uniting the Cincinnati region to compete globally.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200122005060/en/

Contacts

Kim Snider, 904.438.6278Senior Vice PresidentFIS Global Marketing and Communicationskim.snider@fisglobal.com

Originally posted here:

FIS Commits to Cincinnati as a Strategic Technology and Innovation Campus - Yahoo Finance

The available studies rely on data at least two years old and probably understate how rapidly China is leapfrogging into the developed world as a tech power. It has more than tripled research and development over the past decade to $440 billion a year, more than in all of Europe. Today nine of the 20 largest internet companies in the world are Chinese (alongside 10 from the United States and one from Canada).

Explosive growth in online banking is helping to fuel 20 percent annual growth in consumer lending and an overdue shift from export manufacturing to domestic consumption as the main driver of economic growth. Set up in 2015, Alibabas MYbank has extended loans to 16 million customers, including 3-1-0 microloans that require three minutes to apply, one second to approve and zero humans involved.

Automation is killing off jobs. At Hema grocery stores, owned by Alibaba, little white robots work the lunch counter in place of waiters. Gym patrons follow the steps on a giant video screen embedded in the floor, no trainer required. Shenzhen residents say criminals have been driven off the streets by the surveillance cameras.

Yet on balance, tech is probably creating more professions than it destroys. A recent International Monetary Fund paper estimates that after subtracting the jobs it eliminates, digitalization accounts for up to half of all job growth. Alibaba platforms alone host millions of small companies, which over the past decade have added 30 million jobs more than China has lost in heavy industry.

Chinas tech revolution was made possible by two of the forces that were expected to slow the economy. The population may be aging, but it still provides a vast market in which tech start-ups can blossom. And though growth normally slows when countries attain a middle-class income, in China the new middle class provides the main customers for new mobile internet services.

No other country has this combination. India has the population, not the income. Brazil has the income, not the population. And these democratic societies are also far more suspicious of government surveillance than China is. Witness the widespread controversy over the rollout of biometric IDs in India.

In China, at least outside Xinjiang, the relatively mild concern about personal data has helped fuel the boom in digital payments and e-commerce. China is the worlds largest e-commerce market by far, and fleets of motorbikes painted in the colors of online delivery companies park five to six rows deep outside malls and office towers.

See the article here:

How Technology Saved Chinas Economy - The New York Times

USD$9.5million capital raise set to fuel IMAGR's expansion

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shoppers are one step closer to skipping checkout queues forever with New Zealand technology start-up IMAGR raising USD$9.5m in its pre-series A funding round.

IMAGR is the creator of the SmartCart intelligent shopping trolley. Harnessing computer vision technology and AI, this queue-busting solution automates checkouts and payments for a frictionless shopping experience.

William Chomley, IMAGR CEO, says the funding was led by global industry giant Toshiba Tec Corporation.

"It's thrilling to be backed by an international point-of-sale leader like Toshiba Tec which owns 96 percent of the convenience market in Japan (FY2017 Shipment in Japan).

Its support of IMAGR shows we have the right technology in place to change how retail shopping is done across the world."

Masami Uchiyama, Toshiba Tec Senior Vice President, says they underwent a rigorous due diligence process before deciding to support IMAGR.

"We looked globally for the most promising automated checkout provider and settled on IMAGR as the most advanced technology of its kind."

"Its computer vision and AI technology is industry-leading, outperforming other AI retail systems we have seen, and the integration into existing stores is simple and scalable. We can't wait to see IMAGR change the retail industry in the 2020s."

The funding round was also backed by Sage Capital and Harald McPike, both existing IMAGR shareholders.

Chomley says: "We were overwhelmed with support during this capital raise, with an over subscription nearly doubling the amount we initially set out for."

Next year, IMAGR's SmartCarts will launch in Japan with H2O RETAILING CORPORATION and in New Zealand with Farro Fresh.

Chomley says the funding from the capital raise will benefit execution in the Japanese and New Zealand markets, as well further international expansion.

"Since starting up in 2017 we've experienced rapid expansion, as well as interest and commitment for our product. We've always had a simple goal: to make it easier for people around the world to shop. This funding will allow us to accelerate our plans, ensuring more people will be skipping queues by utilising our SmartCarts in 2020 and beyond."

About IMAGR

IMAGR is a retail technology start-up based in Auckland, New Zealand. It was founded in 2017 by William Chomley and the company has since gone from strength to strength.

IMAGR is the creator of the SmartCart, a checkout-less shopping experience which is made possible through computer vision technology. SmartCart's contain four cameras, coupled with the world's most powerful AI vision recognition system. As a result, SmartCart knows what a customer puts in, or removes from, their carts. Self-contained in a robust trolley which is visually indistinguishable from a regular shopping cart, the cameras examine, recognise and account for goods as they are added or removed.

About Toshiba Tec

The Toshiba Tec Group, the worldwide leading brand in the retail market aims to be a company that can continually provide the best solutions to customers, which include the retail, food and beverage industries, as well as logistics, manufacturing industries, and offices. Their Group conduct business operations in over 100 countries and regions.

Rather than continue as an extension of the past, they are actively striving to anticipate ever-changing market needs by looking at ways to enhance our creativity and adaptability, thereby enabling a swift response to these changes. By providing solutions that are one step ahead to all the customers, and endeavour to contribute to the realization of a better society.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kiwi-automated-checkout-start-up-imagr-announces-backing-from-global-technology-heavy-weight-300990837.html

SOURCE Imagr

See more here:

Kiwi automated checkout start-up IMAGR announces backing from global technology heavy-weight - Yahoo Finance

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The molecular structure of Graphene, which is made up of extremely thin layers of carbon. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user AlexanderAlUS.

two-dimensional materials will be the linchpin of the internet of everything. They will be painted on bridges and form the sensors to watch for strain and cracks. They will cover windows with transparent layers that become visible only when information is displayed. And if his teams radio wave-absorber succeeds, it will power those ever-present electronics. Increasingly, the future looks flat. The New York Times

Amos Zeeberg of The New York Timestakes a look at the wide world of super-thin materials, a growing class of substances that have the potential to reshape humanity's technological capabilities.

The materials include graphene, an incredibly strong and conductive "2-D form of carbon" that can be used to create electronics, including fast-charging batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. Other materials, likemolybdenum disulfide(MoS2), can be embedded within concrete to create stress sensors or "painted" on to surfaces to, for example, convert table tops into battery charging membranes.

"Increasingly," as Zeeberg puts it, "the future looks flat."

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Ultra-thin materials are poised to transform technology - Archinect

NEW YORK & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BigID, the leader in personal data privacy and protection, today announced their Discovery-In-Depth technology to provide organizations with unprecedented visibility and insight into personal and crown jewel data.

The new technology builds on BigIDs patented Correlation technology for finding any Personal Information (PI) and sensitive data, across any data store or pipeline, and correlating it back to a person so as to address critical CCPA and GDPR use cases like personal data rights. It introduces three new ML-based data intelligence modalities to help organizations know their data for privacy, protection and perspective.

Data is the lifeblood of a modern business. However, traditional approaches to data discovery lack the detail, context, coverage or privacy-awareness to address modern regulatory and security needs, explained Nimrod Vax, BigIDs Head of Product. BigIDs next generation Discovery-in-Depth technology is the first and only data intelligence platform to combine ML-based Cataloging, Classification, Cluster Analysis and Correlation to give enterprises unmatched situational awareness and actionability across a modern enterprise data landscape.

To learn more, please visit bigid.com/demo.

About BigID:

Based in New York and Tel Aviv, BigID uses advanced machine learning and identity intelligence to help enterprises better protect their customer and employee data at petabyte scale. Using BigID, enterprises can better safeguard and assure the privacy of their most sensitive data, reducing breach risk and enabling compliance with emerging data protection regulations like the EUs General Data Protection Regulation and California Consumer Privacy Act. BigID has raised $146 million in funding since its founding in 2016 and has been recognized for its privacy innovation as the 2018 RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox winner, a CB Insights 2018 Cyber Defender, Network Products Guide 2018 IT World Awards Hot Company of the Year winner, a 2019 InformationWeek Vendor to Watch, a 2019 Business Insider enterprise vendor to bet your career on, and a 2019 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. Learn more at http://bigid.com or visit us at http://bigid.com/demo to schedule a demo.

Originally posted here:

BigID Introduces New Discovery-in-Depth Technology to Give Organizations Unmatched Data Intelligence for Privacy, Protection and Perspective -...

For those looking to find strong Computer and Technology stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Momo (MOMO) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Momo is one of 630 individual stocks in the Computer and Technology sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. MOMO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MOMO's full-year earnings has moved 9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, MOMO has moved about 6.96% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Computer and Technology group have gained about 6.13% on average. This shows that Momo is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, MOMO belongs to the Internet - Software and Services industry, a group that includes 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 9.91% so far this year, so MOMO is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Computer and Technology stocks should continue to pay close attention to MOMO as it looks to continue its solid performance.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportMomo Inc. (MOMO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.

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Is Momo (MOMO) Outperforming Other Computer and Technology Stocks This Year? - Yahoo Finance

Commuters riding the Port Authoritys PATH system are familiar with a myriad of reasons for delayed trains from track problems to balky trains to that maddening unattended package.

But commuters are now experiencing a new reason for delays that might sound more like an error message from a laptop and it has to do with PATHs 21st Century signal system that is supposed to wring extra capacity out of the system by allowing trains to run closer.

On Tuesday, commuters were told network communications problems was the reason for what turned into an almost three-hour delay. The same problem was blamed for delays that only lasted for 40 minutes Wednesday morning. But PATH had similar problems on Jan. 17, Jan. 15 and on Jan. 7 and 6, according to agency alerts.

It usually means there is an issue with our Communications Based Train Control system (CBTC), said Scott Ladd, a Port Authority spokesman.

CBTC is the new signal system that started to be installed in 2018 to replace the worn out early 20th century signal system. This system uses a network of computers on and off trains that allows trains to communicate their locations with each other. That allows PATH to run more trains as frequently as every three minutes.

Construction crews are replacing temporary signals with permanent signals which will result in suspending service on the 33rd Street line this weekend.

PATH suspended service on the 33rd Street line in 2016 to allow installation of Positive Train Control, a federally mandated safety system, which includes installing some CBTC signals.

This is the railway signaling program that is in wide use throughout our system that manages digital communications between track equipment and trains. In most cases, any network problem is usually resolved quickly, Ladd said.

That is the ideal situation, however, on Tuesday, network communication problems caused delays for three hours, until officials found the problem was due to one train, which was taken out-of-service.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Whats the newest reason for your delayed PATH train? Blame technology. - NJ.com

The roughly 300,000 marchers that filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles for the third annual Womens March received more than just an opportunity to hear from some of the states high powered politicians, they were also part of a new experiment from local March organizers in bringing technology into the movement.

Using an organizational tool called SameSide, whose launch coincided with the Womens March and a joint effort with RockTheVote, Womens March organizers are hoping to transfer excitement about the march into broader political engagement with local and national womens issues in this Presidential election year.

At the same time, the March organizers were trying to find a way to incorporate art and artists into the event, while being respectful of public spaces. Thats where a new, pre-launch application called Mark, came into the picture.

Mark, a joint venture between the Danish game development firm Sybo and the Chinese mobile game publisher iDreamSky, uses augmented reality to permanent installations of digital street art. The two year old company is still in beta, but decided to work with the Womens March as an initial test of its product.

The company agreed to donate up to $300,000 in total, and up to $100 per-person for new users who downloaded the application. Mark donated $1 per download and initial share by a user for an account created during the march. Subsequent donations will be made fo consecutive days in app and multiple shares of posts made using MARK, according to the company. Login for 60 straight days and share 20 Mark AR posts and the company agreed to donate $100 to The Womens March.

Image courtesy of Mark

Any movement encompasses art, says Womens March Los Angeles Foundation executive director Emiliana Guereca. Social justice art and technology and the movement really melded for us. Even though its technology, its organic.

Using Googles persistent cloud anchors in ARCore, Mark users are able to create permanent images that can be viewed and modified through the companys app. In Los Angeles, the company worked with American and international artists Amy Sol,Sam Kirk ,Faith XLVII,Ledania, andFatma Al-Remaihi to create pieces that would be available at specific sites throughout the march route.

Though the Womens March may serve as Marks debut, the company intends to avoid picking political sides. We want to be as politically neutral as possible, says Marks chief executive Jeff Lyndon Ko. The former founder of the publicly traded Shenzhen-based gaming publisher iDreamSky, acknowledged that his new company couldnt work in Chinas tightly controlled social media market.

This project will have a lot more legs outside of the Greater China reach, Ko said. As for the companys Chinese shareholders (iDreamSky is an investor in Mark), the politics of the womens movement in the U.S. were a foreign concept. MyChina team was like, What is that?' Ko said.

If the collaboration with Mark was designed to inspire, the work that The Womens March Foundation Los Angeles is doing with SameSide is intended to incite action.

A graduate of the politically focused accelerator, Higher Ground Labs, Sameside is the work of Nicole aBeckett and her brother, a former Navy Seal. Together the two worked to create a social network that would combine political engagement and social activities to develop communities built around shared ideologies and purpose.

The company offers push notifications and reminders of important dates as well as a database of potentially engaged activists who could be organized around social events. Its kind of like a politically focused Meetup with the added ability to message members about important dates and include calls to action for future activity.

The Womens March is the unofficial launch of SameSide, and is making the Womens March in Los Angeles a catalyst for action by providing a platform for people everywhere to set up affiliated events things like sign making parties, meet-up coffee parties the morning of the march, house parties for those who cant attend a march and delivering a voter registration action kit powered by Rock the Vote to everyone who RSVPs to any affiliated events or the Los Angeles Womens March, wrote aBeckett in an email.

The Womens March Foundation Los Angeles organizers view political engagement as a crucial next step for march participants. There is a to-do list after marching, says Guereca. The draw to Sameside is now people can plug in. How to continue the movement via your phone is critical.

Go here to read the rest:

In Los Angeles, the Womens March embraces technology to organize and inspire - TechCrunch