Category Archives: Technology

Find out why automation technology can eliminate mundane repetitive tasks so you can focus on value-add analysis and scale your business efficiently.

Technology is at the forefront of minimizing the negative impacts of constant change. We seek out advancements to modernize business, sequence our day, and make our lives easier. Among these advancements in the business world, we often hear and become weary of, is automation technology. Automation technology doesnt always precede a cost reduction, headcount reduction, or elimination of jobs. It can facilitate a streamlined approach to day-to-day repetitive activities so that the time saved can be applied to other value-add activities in the organization.

READ MORE: Robotic Process Automation: 4 Key Considerations For Oil & Gas

An antiquated process in gas scheduling, for example, nomination entry, updating, and actualizing is an ideal candidate for automation. Most organizations are still entering nominations in three places: 1) the pipeline electronic bulletin boards (EBBs) we cant get around this requirement as its at the key data point to move product; 2) an internal position spreadsheet weve found that nearly all front office teams have a position spreadsheet either shared across desks or managed for the best information, and 3) the chosen ETRM a system of record for information to flow from team to team and ultimately for invoicing. Why enter three times when once will get you the same results in less time? What could you do with the time you get back?

Lets look at the benefits that companies can realize with an automated approach to everyday logistics operations without putting jobs at risk.

Bottom line: automation isnt all bad. We simply must be open to change to benefit from innovation.

READ MORE: Robotic Process Automation Technology: Transforming Back-Office Outsourcing

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5 Ways Automation Technology May Save Your Job, Not End It - JD Supra

By Dina Weinstein

Dikshya Baral has long been passionate about technology.

It's been very fascinating how technology and artificial intelligence have flourished and improved, said Baral, a first-generation student who is graduating in May with a bachelors degree in information systems from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business. That really interests me.

Technology hasnt always been accessible to Baral and her family. Baral was born and raised in a bamboo hut in a refugee camp in Nepal because her parents had to flee their native Bhutan as teenagers in 1992 with 100,000 other people because of conflict in that country.

The lack of resources in Nepal not only affected my social life, but also my educational life, Baral said. Even though I had a lot of passion for learning new things, our situation restricted me from increasing my knowledge and basically killed my curiosity because we didn't have any resources there.Myparents held highdreams for me, but our situation simply did not takeus any further.

Her life changed in 2008 when her family resettled to Henrico County, Virginia. Baral was 7.

Shifting to a new country was very hard because it was a very miserable life in the camp, so we thought coming to the United States was a dream come true, Baral said. I realized that it also brought many obstacles, such as language barriers and cultural shock. The most difficult part about going to school in America was trying to blend into the social norms and learning the language. I was always frustrated about not being able to communicate.

Baral powered through those obstacles, which included navigating a new school system with parents whose educational opportunities were cut short and who spoke limited English. She was motivated by her own drive, curiosity and the dreams her parents held for her.

When we came to America, a computer was a new thing to us, Baral said. I never used a computer in my whole life. So, we started using computers a lot, playing games, searching, browsing through YouTube and all the websites. That's probably why I was very much into technology.

In high school, she absorbed more knowledge about computers while studying in a technology-focused medical assistant program. But Baral aspired to go deeper and reach higher into the tech field. At VCU, Baral continued her studies, inspired by her older brother and cousins who also pursued computer science and now work as software engineers. She is proud to have mastered coding and data analysis.

At VCU, when I took an HTML class with professor Elena Olson, I really loved it, so I took another coding class with her, Baral said. She was very helpful.

During her four years at VCU, Baral has worked part time in a hospital kitchen, a restaurant, an Amazon warehouse and interned as an IT help desk analyst in SOAR365, all while studying full time, even taking 21 credits one semester.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she quit a job in a hospital kitchen to make sure she didnt transmit the virus to her grandmother at home. But Baral remained active, helping people in need by shopping for essential items for members of her community through efforts with the Bhutanese Community of Greater Richmond cultural organization.

I've always been a very hard-working person, Baral said. I'm a quick learner. I've always worked hard and got my things done. I've always lived a balanced life; I feel like I know how to prioritize.

Through LinkedIn, Baral was recruited and hired by Capital One for a position as a software engineer that she will begin once she completes their training.

There were many obstacles that I faced, and I believethat my story is very beautiful, said Baral. I feel like I've struggled very much in these past four years just to see where I am right now.

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Class of 2022: Dikshya Baral discovered a love of technology soon after leaving a Nepal refugee camp for the U.S. - VCU News

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools data identified more than 10,000 Chromebooks, iPads, and hotspots considered lost or stolen.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Virtual learning put even more iPads, Chromebooks, and mobile hotspots into the hands of families, but a WCNC Charlotte investigation identified nearly $1.5 million worth of technology issued by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reported as lost or stolen in recent years, including some even taken to pawnshops.

In response, new Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh promised the district will "tighten it up" moving forward.

"We will be looking at how we can do a better job in the future," he told WCNC Charlotte. "It's essential that everybody understands we want to be good stewards of federal, state, and local dollars and to have the processes in place and the systems that we can actually go through and monitor them and get them back."

School system records show since the district started tracking lost and stolen technology in the last few years, CMS has documented more than 10,000 devices as lost or stolen. The data shows Chromebooks account for the majority of lost devices, with more than 6,700 reported missing over the last three years, followed by 2,100 mobile hot spots and more than 1,200 iPads. The numbers account for more than 6% of all CMS-issued devices, most funded by federal COVID-19 dollars.

WCNC Charlotte's analysis of district records revealed the problem is far worse at more than a dozen schools, where at least 20% of computers and hot spots are considered missing. WCNC Charlotte shared the names of most of those schools with CMS two weeks ago.

Use the tool below to search for your child's school and see how many devices are missing or stolen:

"Principals right now are tracking down individuals," Hattabaugh said. "They're making contact trying to track down to retrieve those devices, as well as putting into practice - depending on the situation - retrieving money."

While every parent and student sign a contract agreeing to pay for lost devices and some schools even list replacement fees, CMS leaves it up to each school to handle any "monetary recourse," which means there hasn't been consistency districtwide or a concerted effort by the central office.

"We'll keep working with those schools individually, giving them more training and keep trying to lift those schools up," Information Systems and Support Director Kenneth Kennedy said. "We have a good system in place that we implemented before COVID. COVID took us off the rails for a bit and now we're back working with schools, training staff on our inventory system, making sure the data's accurate and that's kind of our big thing, keep training staff, lifting them up, following good processes and then, as we mentioned earlier, we'll have a new policy in place in the near future."

Candace Salmon-Hosey, the new Chief Technology Officer for the district, promised better accountability moving forward.

"This opens an opportunity for me coming in new to assess and evaluate and create processes, build those structures of accountability, because there's no doubt we need to tighten up the structures that we have in place and build new structures to ensure there's a level of accountability," she told WCNC Charlotte. "My belief is technology is a service organization and we're here to serve the teaching and learning process and the way we do that is create these structures of accountability, so that next year when you come here in May and June, those numbers are going to look better. On my watch, they will."

Salmon-Hosey said the district has created an internal task force to address the problem and started trying to learn best practices from other large districts. She said the district will need to consider consistency and equity.

"You can have consistency and a demand for payment 'if this then,' but then you have to take in consideration certain situations that come into play for families that don't have the means to pay," she said.

Administrators believe the pandemic, coupled with students' home lives, played a role in the missing technology.

"We've seen technology show up in pawnshops. Absolutely," she said. "Has it been sold? Absolutely. Is it going to another family member? Maybe."

They said remote learning eliminated regular equipment inventory checks and left devices in the hands of students, not just during the school year, but in the summer too.

"That made it very difficult to do the monitoring, the check-ins," Hattabaugh said. "We're still responsible, but I just feel like you put it into the context of this situation and that was a difficult time. There were events that we had no control of, but from here forward we can."

While the technology is worth money, once it's reported lost or stolen, it's basically worthless for anyone without CMS credentials. According to the district, as soon as the district knows Chromebooks or iPads are missing, the school system uses unique ID numbers to disable them.

Chandan Jha is a father of two CMS students, and couldn't believe thousands of families haven't upheld their end of the bargain.

"That's pretty sad," he said. "It's the taxpayers' money and people should be just cognizant of this fact and look after it as if it is their own money."

Brooke Weiss, chairwoman for the Mecklenburg County chapter of Moms for Liberty, was shocked to learn CMS doesn't track what, if any money, individual schools collect to cover the lost technology.

"That's not even fathomable to me," she said. "How can they not be tracking it?"

Weiss said she knows of one parent whose child graduated and the school didn't ask for the computer back.

"That's really a shame and just another example of the mismanagement of funds," she said. "It makes me sad."

Hattabaugh, who just took over last month, acknowledged student movement after graduation likely created an issue as well. He said he does not believe the records analyzed by WCNC Charlotte take into account the 10,000 computers previously donated by the private sector to families for them to keep.

Contact Nate Morabito atnmorabito@wcnc.comand follow him onFacebook,TwitterandInstagram.

WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailingmoney@wcnc.com.

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$1.5 million in CMS-issued computers, technology missing - WCNC.com

CableLabs held a 10G Showcase last week in which Charter Communications and Comcast led demos of DOCSIS 4.0 technology that showed capabilities similar to those of 10G PON -- as well as compatibility with 10G PON. The demos also showed that cable MSOs may be able to deploy the two main versions of DOCSIS 4.0 without fiber deep network extensions to remove DOCSIS amplifiers from their networks.

Charter and Comcast have split on their preferences among the two DOCSIS 4.0 flavors. Charter has preferred Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD), which was designed to be used with amplifiers in place, while Comcast has favored Full Duplex DOCSIS (FDX), which was designed for links with no amplifiers between the final node and the customer.

During the showcase, Charter demonstrated an ESD frequency-division duplex (FDD) implementation that combined 1.8-GHz amplifiers in a Node+4 (meaning a node plus four amplifiers) cascade. With the connection set at 684 MHz upstream and 1794 MHz downstream, Charter showed the ability to support 8.9 Gbps downstream and 6.2 Gbps upstream using 4K QAM modulation. John Williams, vice president of engineering at Charter, said the service provider believes it can employ ESD in links with a greater number of amplifiers, but that Node+4 is typical in Charters network.

Comcast was next up with a multi-faceted demonstration of FDX that leveraged the companys virtual CMTS core. The demonstration covered the delivery of high-speed broadband (approximately 8.5 Gbps downstream and 5 Gbps upstream) via 2K QAM. Rob Howald, Comcast Fellow and vice president of network architecture at Comcast, said that 2K QAM is what Comcast uses currently but that 4K QAM capabilities will be coming in a few months. The demo network distributed capacity to a pair of DOCSIS 4.0 cable modems. Howald showed how the operator could quickly adjust the capacity distributed to each modem.

Another demo used the same vCMTS core with a DOCSIS 3.1 node to support 10G PON via a five-port remote OLT module within the node. Howald said Comcast was seeing around 7.6 Gbps symmetrically in such a setup.

However, Howald raised the most eyebrows when he showed off prototype FDX amplifiers capable of enabling FDX transmission in Node+2 architectures. He said that Comcast will release more details of this work in the second half of this year. However, Elad Nafshi, executive vice president and chief network officer at Comcast Cable, stated that the company is targeting the ability to support Node+6.

The demos bode well for operators who want to upgrade their HFC architectures with DOCSIS 4.0 if theyre willing to wait for technology availability. Curtis Knittle, vice president of wired technologies at CableLabs, said the demos loosely represented the organizations first DOCSIS 4.0 technology interop although it is his expectation that more DOCSIS 4.0 technology will be ready for such exercises later this year.

The demonstrations also signaled that deploying DOCSIS 4.0 might be easier and more straightforward, particularly in terms of minimizing tap and amplifier relocation, than previously believed, Jeff Heynen, vice president and head of DellOro Groups Broadband Access and Home Networking market research program, wrote in a blog. However, he remains concerned about the pace of technology commercialization in the current constrained environment.

The net result of both technology demonstrations is that any concerns around the value of upgrading to DOCSIS 4.0 relative to the cost are now taken off the table, he wrote. Instead, the question now shifts to one of timing. Operators around the world were firmly in the camp of one technology or the other, with all agreeing that some level of fiber would be a major part of any future network upgrade. Now, operators have two similarly performing technology options in front of them, each requiring upgrading of existing amplifiers, but with two very large questions around timing and availability of key components.

However, he noted that the DOCSIS 4.0 technology demonstrated during the event showed that cable MSOs wont necessarily have to switch to an all-fiber approach to keep pace with PON-based telco networks. [A]fter todays demonstrations, the value and relevance of DOCSIS 4.0 just improved significantly. With theoretical speeds matching those offered by todays XGS-PON technologies, cable operators can easily buy themselves more time and continue to maximize their DOCSIS networks for many years to come, he concluded.

For related articles, visit the FTTx Topic Center.

For more information on FTTx technology and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyers Guide.

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DOCSIS 4.0 technology demos point to 10G PON-like capabilities - LightWave Online

Best Overall Patient Engagement Company award recognizes Quantum Health's industry-leading, technology-enabled member experience

DUBLIN, Ohio, May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantum Health, the industry-leading healthcare navigation and care coordination company, has received the 2022 MedTech Breakthrough Award for Best Overall Patient Engagement Company. The company is recognized for raising the bar on human-centered healthcare innovation and improving outcomes, by simplifying the healthcare journey with its proprietary combination of technology, data-driven insights and empathy-based care coordination.

MedTech Breakthrough Award 2022

This is the second consecutive year Quantum Health has received this award, which celebrates outstanding digital health and medical technology products, services and companies around the world. This years competition drew more than 3,900 nominations from some of the worlds most recognized and respected medical technology companies, representing more than 15 different countries.

"We are proud to receive this recognition for our commitment to using technology and data to simplify and improve the healthcare journey for our members and their providers," said Drew Domecq, chief technology officer, Quantum Health. "By utilizing leading technology to empower our teams and engage our members, we provide an integrated and more personalized experience at every point in a member's healthcare journey. We proactively reduce members' challenges and enable better, more effective access to care. And most importantly, we deliver results, including improved outcomes and reduced costs."

The key to Quantum Health's successful member engagement and outcomes is found in its open architecture platform, which connects and synchronizes all relevant stakeholders members, clients, providers, payers and third-party solutions and seamlessly synthesizes multiple data sources. This integration creates leading insights and transparency that enable Quantum Health to deliver a personalized and proactive healthcare experience. Quantum Health's proprietary Real-Time Intercept Smart Engine leverages these data insights and enables the company's Healthcare WarriorsTM to proactively identify opportunities, assess risks, and engage benefits plan members up to 120 days before a first claim is received.

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Data and insights also fuel Quantum Health's digital engagement channels, including the MyQHealth app, which gives members always-on access to their current benefit information and in-network providers from any device, at any time.

"While consumers have come to expect convenience and personalization in their daily interactions when it comes to healthcare, the experience can be anything but personalized or convenient," said James Johnson, managing director, MedTech Breakthrough. "Quantum Health is changing this dynamic with breakthrough technology and the industry's best high-touch consumer engagement model, delivering leading engagement and satisfaction, positive health outcomes, and sustained cost savings. Congratulations on being named the 'Best Overall Patient Engagement Company' for the second year in a row."

About Quantum HealthQuantum Health is the industry-leading healthcare navigation and care coordination company that delivers an unparalleled consumer experience to its members, as well as validated claims savings and high satisfaction rates for its self-insured employer clients. Quantum Health's proprietary Real-Time Intercept model identifies opportunities for early intervention in a member's healthcare journey through a human-centered, tech-empowered experience that results in better engagement, outcomes, and cost efficiencies.

The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Dublin, Ohio. Since its inception, Quantum Health has earned numerous awards and honors, including the 2021 MedTech Breakthrough Award for technology innovation, as well as being named among the Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc. 5000, and a Great Place to Work by FORTUNE Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine. The Women Presidents' Organization has ranked Quantum Health as one of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies, and Columbus Business First has honored Quantum Health as a Best Place to Work.

To learn more about the company, visit http://www.Quantum-Health.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About MedTech Breakthrough AwardsPart of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the MedTech Breakthrough Awards program is an independent program devoted to honoring excellence in medical and health-related technology companies, products, services and people. The MedTech Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough health and medical companies and products in categories that include Patient Engagement, mHealth, Health and Fitness, Clinical Administration, Healthcare IoT, Medical Data, Healthcare Cybersecurity and more. For more information, visit MedTechBreakthrough.com.

Media Contact:Susan SimkinsQuantum Health, Corporate CommunicationsSusan.Simkins@quantum-health.com800-257-2038 x 13494

(PRNewsfoto/Quantum Health)

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Quantum Health wins 2022 MedTech Breakthrough Award for technology innovation and excellence in consumer healthcare engagement - Yahoo Finance

Recent technological progress is fundamentally changing working environments by connecting physical and digital spheres. Connecting both spheres is enabled by augmenting automation with digitalization such that technology conducts work processes in a self-contained and automatic manner. Examples of such technologies include cyber-physical and embedded systems, smart factories, big data analytical tools, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR). Such cutting-edge technologies can perform work automatically and autonomously without human intervention, prompting fears of massive employment losses. Theoretically, the link between new technologies and employment is ambiguous. While most theories suggest that employment will grow on net, there is likely heterogeneity across workers, firms, and sectors of the economy (Agrawaletal.,2019; Barbieri et al., 2020).12 A growing literature has empirically investigated these issues mainly based on aggregate data for the economy and in specific industry sectors, but analyses at the level of firms and individual workers are rare (see the survey by FurmanandSeamans,2019).3 One likely reason for this gap in the literature is the scarcity of datasets that provide measures of the usage of advanced technologies at the firm level and accompanying workers outcomes. Such data are important to understand how these new technologies affect workers and firms.

Two German research institutes created a novel linked employer-employee dataset covering all industries in Germany to study the labor market consequences of the latest digital technologies, including AI and smart factories. The evidence from this new dataset suggests that the gains from firms technology adoption are split unevenly across different worker groups. Additionally, it indicates the rising importance of career and occupational changes and the ability to move across multiple employers. Data like this will deepen our understanding of the nuanced relationship between cutting-edge technologies and jobs, helping policymakers develop appropriate policy responses to ensure that workers keep pace with the latest technological progress. In the following, I will summarize the existing theoretical considerations and the empirical evidence on new technologies and jobs, highlighting new insights from the novel German data and suggesting appropriate policy recommendations.

From a theoretical perspective, the net effect of the introduction of advanced technologies is ambiguous. On the one hand, economic theory predicts a negative displacement effect of automation technologies as these technologies have the potential to take over work activities previously performed by human workers, thus reducing employment (e.g., Acemoglu and Restrepo, 2019).4 A typical example of the displacement effect is the introduction of industrial robots that substitute for machine operators. On the other hand, new technologies can be labor-enhancing through several channels. First, advanced technology may reduce firms production costs while enabling higher product customization levels and improving product quality. This potentially increases product demand, which may contribute to rising labor demand for other tasks at the firm or for upstream suppliers of inputs. The net result may be an increase in employment (e.g., Bessen, 2019).5 Smart factories are a suitable example for this channel: assembly lines are connected with customer preferences specified in an online store, allowing factories assembly machines to process personalized products while producing on a large scale. Second, rising digitalization creates jobs in newly emerging business areas. For example, the popularization of e-commerce has led to the emergence of the business model of providing fulfillment services, i.e., a third-party that handles the logistics of e-commerce orders by storing, packing and shipping products. Third, automation and digitalization may create new work activities within existing jobs with a comparative advantage over technologies, fostering labor demand in non-automated tasks (e.g., AcemogluandRestrepo,2019).6 For example, rapid advances in computer programming have led web programmers to specialize increasingly in improving website usability. Thus, economic theory demonstrates multiple channels through which the latest technologies might affect labor demand but leaves the question about the net employment impact open.

In the face of advancing automation, researchers have used the prevalence of industrial robots in the manufacturing sector to empirically measure the employment effects of technological progress. In Europe and several OECD countries, the estimated overall employment effect of robotization is neutral or broadly positive as declining employment in automating industries is offset by countervailing indirect effects such as reallocation of employment to other industries and rising aggregate demand (GraetzandMichaels,2018; AutorandSalomons,2018; Dauthetal., 2021).7 8 9 Conversely, Acemoglu and Restrepo (2020)10 find negative employment effects of industrial robot adoption across U.S. commuting zones. Recent studies increasingly focus on restructuring processes within and between firms, revealing reallocation of labor away from firms that do not adopt industrial robots towards adopting firms (Acemoglu et al., 2020; Kochetal.,2021).1112

Surprisingly little is known about the employment effects of cutting-edge digitalization and automation technologies beyond industrial robots. Using the routine intensity of occupations, which is the share of rule-based activities which computers are able to perform, as a proxy for technological change, studies document a decreasing employment rate of routine, middle-skilled employees while non-routine service jobs and professional and managerial occupations are growing (e.g., Cortes, 2016).13 Similarly, Harrigan et al. (2021)14 use the share of technology-related occupations within firms as a proxy for technology adoption since those workers play a central role in planning, installing, and maintaining modern technologies, as well as in training and assisting other workers in the use of technology. Bessen et al. (2019)15 use expenditures for third-party automation services as a firm-level measure of new technologies and show that Dutch workers are more likely to separate from automated than non-automated firms, especially incumbent workers who have already worked at the firm before the adoption event. By evaluating the potential of existing machine learning (ML) applications to conduct work activities of U.S. occupations, Brynjolfsson et al. (2018)16 hypothesize that ML might have a pervasive effect on employment across all sectors of the economy. However, the realized employment impact in the future will be uneven across occupations. It will depend strongly on the presence of specific work tasks that ML applications can take over and how these tasks will be reorganized in response to this new technology.

The existing empirical evidence draws a very nuanced relation between automation technologies and employment. On the one hand, displacement effects and increased turnover seem to cluster among workers directly exposed to automation. On the other hand, several studies point towards heterogeneous impacts across occupations. Therefore, to determine the employment effects of the latest advanced technologies, it is crucial to empirically examine the labor market consequences beyond industrial robots and across all industries. Looking at more aggregated levels might cover up opposing micro-level effects, and therefore researchers should investigate the individual-level impact of cutting-edge technologies as various types of workers might be differently affected.

Two German research institutesIAB and ZEWdeveloped a novel linked employer-employee dataset to study the labor market consequences of the latest digital technologies, including AI and smart factories, across all industries in Germany.17 The dataset combines an establishment-level survey on the adoption of new technologies with extensive individual-level data from the German Social Security Administration.

The establishment-level data stem from a representative establishment survey conducted in 2016. A single production plant is a typical example of an establishment in the manufacturing industries, whereas sales outlets represent establishments in the service industries. This disaggregated level of data allows for an analysis of the micro-level impact of technology adoption on the workers within specific establishments. In contrast, firm-level data might blur the adjustment margins as it is not possible to differentiate adopting and non-adopting establishments belonging to the same multi-establishment firm.

For the survey, the production or general manager was interviewed about the establishments degree of digitalization, and the questions covered (1) the relevance and perception of cutting-edge digital technologies, (2) the technology level of the entire work equipment, (3) changes in labor demand regarding skills and competencies, as well as (4)background characteristics including sales and profits.

The worker-level data stems from the social security records of the German Federal Employment Agency and covers the universe of German employees liable to social security contributions, benefit recipients, unemployed job seekers, and participants in active labor market policy measures. The data makes it possible to track the employment status of each person in the active labor force in Germany. For employed persons, the data contains comprehensive and accurate worker and job information, including workers education, occupational titles, and several measures of the tasks workers have to complete on the job, allowing researchers to study the individual-level impact of digital technologies across various types of workers.

Germany is a highly relevant country for studying the adoption of cutting-edge autonomous technologies given its long-term pioneering role in developing and applying innovative technologies. Previous research has demonstrated that Germany holds the highest number of automation patents in worldwide machinery (Dechezleprtreetal.,2020)18 and the highest robot density in Europe, which is even three times higher than in the U.S. (Dauthetal.,2021; Graetz and Michaels, 2018).19 20 The linked employer-employee dataset provides a novel means to measure the introduction of cutting-edge technologies beyond industrial robots at the establishment level and across all industries of the German economy.

Two recent studies based on the German linked employer-employee data do not support fears that cutting-edge technologies severely substitute for human labor (Genz et al., 2021; Genz and Schnabel, 2021).21 22 Instead, they find that the average employment adjustments to the latest technologies, including AR and AI, are modest. However, the gains of firms adoption of technology are split unevenly across different worker groups.

Empirical evidence by Genz et al. (2021)23 suggests that IT workers across all industries in Germany experience the most substantial employment stability in firms that adopt cutting-edge digital technologies. Additionally, IT workers face a higher probability of entering adopting firms than non-adopting firms, confirming the crucial role of IT occupations for firm-level technology adoption.

Additional evidence related to new hires of adopting and non-adopting firms indicates that workers who conduct business services jobs, such as human resources development, customer management, or public relations, experience a higher probability of entering adopting than non-adopting firms. Hiring workers in these occupations might indicate that technology adopters generally expand their business or restructure their value chains in ways that require more workers (Genz et al., 2021).24

The nuanced impact of firms adoption of new technologies necessitates that policymakers take steps to prepare the workforce for the future.

Further empirical evidence by Genz et al. (2021)25 indicates that working with the latest technologies requires workers to conduct highly complex job activities. On the one hand, workers who conduct simple work tasks of low complexity experience lower employment stability at adopting firms than workers at non-adopters. On the other hand, expert workers whose responsibilities include highly complex tasks that require a very high standard of knowledge and abilities experience significantly higher employment stability at adopting compared to non-adopting firms.

Further evidence from a related paper by Genz and Schnabel (2021)26 suggests that technology adoption involves restructuring the occupational composition within adopting firms. Even workers in occupations that in the past were regarded as safe havens of employment, such as non-routine cognitive workers, experience increasing separation from the adopting employers that implement for the first time cutting-edge digital technologies. However, most separating non-routine cognitive workers take up jobs at other firms, such that differences in non-employment days between workers from adopting and non-adopting firms are small.

One of the main challenges for todays policymakers is identifying the most significant impact of the latest technologies on the workforce and preparing individuals to obtain skills required in a work world with AI and AR, keeping their skills up to date and remaining employable in the long run. There is a unique opportunity for policymakers, educational institutions, training providers, industry, and academia to work closely together to find creative solutions to ensure that the workforce successfully keeps pace with technological progress. The nuanced impact of firms adoption of new technologies that split unevenly across different occupations and worker types necessitates that policymakers take steps to prepare the workforce for the future including encouraging enrollment in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, promoting lifelong learning, facilitating occupational retraining, and generally working to reduce labor market frictions, as has already been initiated in several countries.

Technology adoption creates new jobs for IT-related occupations such as software developers, data analysts, cybersecurity managers, and others across all sectors of the economy. Consequently, labor market entrants must possess up-to-date skills that cutting-edge, technology-adopting firms demand. Therefore, as a prerequisite, education systems should strengthen STEM subjects and technological understanding. One example is Denmarks Technology Pact to promote enrollment in STEM subjects and integrate IT skills in primary and lower-secondary education.27 In primary schools, new optional subjects in technological understanding have been introduced to bring children in touch with technology, and projects like the Techie childrens newspaper foster playful learning about science and technology. At Danish universities, several new machine learning and data science bachelor of science programs have been launched, and partnership agreements with elite American universities have been created to promote the exchange of Ph.D. students and researchers with experts at, for example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Furthermore, additional funds have been allocated to support admissions for higher education in technical, digital, and natural science subjects to achieve higher enrollment in STEM subjects.

The concept of converting early occupational aspirations into a single occupational choice that provides employment throughout ones life no longer meets the labor markets current requirements. Workers need to continue to learn after entering the labor market as, over time, the fast penetration rate of new technologies requires that workers skills evolve accordingly. Therefore, governments need to prepare and offer re-skilling programs at a larger scale. In Germany, the Federal Employment Agency has already acknowledged the need for lifelong career counseling and has offered professional reorientation and continuing professional development for the German population.28 Singapores government goes one step further and has created lifelong learning accounts which provide direct financial funding to upgrade existing skills or gain new ones over a workers lifetime.29 Ideally, education systems offer flexible solutions that facilitate skill upgrading within short time periods to meet current industry needs quickly, as has been pointed out by OECDs Skill Strategy.30

Such a rapidly evolving labor market characterized by frequent career changes among workers will require workers to remain flexible, mentally resilient, and be prepared to move in and out of the labor market. The government should support transitions between employment and non-employment periods with adequate social security policies. For example, distributing relocation allowances to unemployed job seekers would incentivize employment in different regions or introducing individual activity accounts as has been done in France and Germany would link accumulated benefit entitlements to individuals rather than employment relationships.31

Closely related to lifelong learning are retraining programs that offer a solution for motivated employees and job seekers who do not have the knowledge or the proper education to perform jobs that gain importance with the adoption of new technologies. Government-funded retraining programs may support career changes to remain employable. One example is the large retraining scheme NL leert door The Netherlands keeps on learning founded by the Dutch government.32 Anyone with ties to the Dutch labor market and over eighteen years old can participate for free in retraining programs or online training programs ranging from a week to several months. A particular emphasis lies in acquiring digital skills such as programming, software development, cybersecurity, and the design and development of blockchain applications. Another example is Germanys active labor market policy that includes a long-term retraining program for unemployed job seekers.33 The German government provides extensive two- to three-year vocational training to eligible, low-qualified unemployed individuals in order to enhance their job-finding probabilities. By increasing public spending on labor force retraining, policymakers can help smooth occupation switching in the workforce.

The adoption of digital technologies does not happen evenly across industries and occupations. Some countries acknowledge the burden for particular types of workers who are most at risk of being laid off as automation advances. For example, the Australian government introduced the Automotive Industry Structural Adjustment Programme to support blue collar workers who have been affected by plant closures of Australias car manufacturing industry.34 The government supports affected job seekers in the job application process by offering job interview training, job retraining opportunities, and by checking application documents. This tailor-made support acknowledges the existing skill set of workers in the manufacturing industry and tries to smooth the transition to other jobs with a comparable degree of complexity in industries less prone to automation. The Australian government thereby provides specific assistance to workers directly affected by introducing automation technologies to ease worker transitions.

One obvious yet often overlooked implication of rising AI applications across all industries is integrating cutting-edge technologies and services into labor market platforms. Individuals should quickly obtain information regarding the latest high-quality skill updates and providers of such services. Furthermore, employment agencies should work efficiently, for example, by providing and autonomously updating digital platforms and posting online job positions for employment seekers. For example, the Flemish public employment service VDAB has launched a digital platform that offers job seekers an orientation test that automatically provides personalized job suggestions and training programs using AI and ML.35 This is one example of how applying the latest technological innovations might reduce search frictions in labor markets.

The relationship between new technologies and jobs is complex, as rapidly spreading, cutting-edge technologies such as AI and AR lead to uneven impacts across workers. Recent research suggests that career changes, switching occupations, and moving across multiple employers and even across industries will increasingly become important for workers to remain employed. Policymakers should invest in measuring how these new technologies are adopted and used in firms to facilitate future research on the drivers of nuanced adjustments across different workers.36 It is equally important for policymakers to invest in labor market policies that help individuals prepare for the changing demands of work environments of the future.

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The nuanced relationship between cutting-edge technologies and jobs: Evidence from Germany - Brookings Institution

The awards from trade publication NewscastStudio honor the best in creative production and technical achievement from across the broadcasting industry. Honorees include Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CBS News, ESPN, Nexstar Media Group and NFL Network.

ST. LOUIS, May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NewscastStudio, the trade publication for broadcast professionals in production, design and engineering, has announced the winners of its Broadcast Production Awards.

The annual competition, which saw nearly 300 entries from around the globe, honors the best in creative production and technical achievement across news, sports and entertainment.

Top winners in this year's program include Al Jazeera Media Network, Asharq News and VideoHelper, with Al Jazeera's 25th anniversary rebrand of its Arabic news channel seeing multiple accolades across scenic design, on-air design and music composition.

NBCUniversal saw top honors for three scenic projects, including NBC Olympics, MSNBC and Telemundo, while Nexstar Media Group's KHON took home awards for scenic design and studio technology.

TVNZ's Olympic coverage also saw multiple honors, as did the NFL's new Los Angeles broadcast facility.

"As broadcasters returned to the studio this past year, they rolled out bold new designs and production tools that really elevated storytelling in new and flexible ways," said Michael P. Hill, founder and publisher of NewscastStudio.

Broadcasters and media organizations represented in this year's winning work include Al Jazeera Media Network, Asharq News, CBS News, CNN, Cox Media Group, ESPN, France Tlvisions, MSNBC, NBC Olympics, NBC Sports, NBCUniversal Media, NewsNation, Nexstar Media Group, NFL Network, Polsat Sport, PUBG Global Championship, Riot Games, RTBF, Spectrum News, TBS, Telemundo, TNT, Turner Sports and TVNZ.

"Virtual production and new techniques are helping make broadcast compelling for the next generation of viewers," said Dak Dillon, NewscastStudio's editor in chief and host of the Broadcast Exchange podcast. "The winners represent broadcasters from around the globe and their shifting approaches to production, including a rapid adoption of remote production tools and techniques."

Winning vendors and companies include Astucemedia, Audio Design Desk, Blackmagic Design, CGLA Studios, Clickspring Design, Cris Mercado Design, Dalet, DCLighting, Dejero, Devlin Design Group, Digital Nirvana, Disguise, Dream Chip, Dreamwall, Eastern Lighting Design, Flowics, FX Design Group, Girraphic, Got It Moving Ideas, HD Studio, Imagine Communications, Jack Morton, Krafton, latakoo, Lonnie Juli, Mo-Sys Engineering, Perception, Planar, Platige Image, Showman Fabricators, Stephen Arnold Music, The Lighting Design Group, TVNZ Blacksand, TVU Networks, VideoHelper, Vizrt, WorldCast Systems and TAG Video Systems.

The awards were judged by a panel of over 40 industry veterans who evaluated the 40-plus categories on aesthetics, design intent, technology integration, use of new concepts and projectbudget.

The complete list of winnersis available online at broadcastproductionawards.com.

About NewscastStudio

For nearly 20 years, NewscastStudio has served as the leading trade publication for broadcast production, at the center of broadcast technology, creative design and engineering. NewscastStudio covers the tools and techniques that make storytelling possible and features the largest database of design and studio examples in thousands of galleries. The sitecovers the changing landscape of media from software-defined production and IP to the latest equipment, case studies, thought leadership and industry roundtables.

Media contact:Jason Marks[emailprotected](415) 915-8855

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NewscastStudio's Broadcast Production Awards Recognize Top Projects, Technology and Innovation - PR Newswire

Technology is everywhere and used for everything. When walking around campus or in the dining halls, many students are tuned into their devices. Technology is used to communicate for work, school, entertainment, research and more. On paper, this sounds like a wonderful advancement that enhances daily living. However, when thinking about how rapidly technology has advanced and how people have become so engrossed into their devices, various problems surface.

The firstcomputer that was used for public use was invented in 1974 by a small firm named MITS, also known as Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, according to Brittanica. It was called the Altair and though it was popular among computer hobbyists, it had low commercial use. Computers werent mass produced for the public until the Apple II, the Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 and the Personal Electronic Transactor were created in 1977.

The firstflip phone was created 22 years later in 1996. The size and convenience became incredibly popular and with the blink of an eye, everyone had one.

By 2007, technology had advanced so much that Steve Jobs presented thefirst iPhone to the Macworld conference, according to an article from Wired. After presenting all the accessibility features this phone had, it was approved and put on the market six months later. These were a hit, with Apple selling 270,000 iPhones the first weekend they were put on the shelves.

Other companies like Samsung started mass-producing smartphones to keep up with this fast-paced market. By 2010 the original flip phones massively declined in popularity as smartphones took over, according to NBC News.

When looking at the timeline of how technology has advanced from the first computer, its remarkable. Consumers upgraded from using desktop computers at home for a few tasks, to having portable phones that could make texts and phone calls, to high-tech laptops and smartphones that access everything with a few clicks.

Peter Lunenfeldis a professor of design, media arts and digital humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles. According to a Pew Research Center article, Lunenfeld said that with every advancement technology makes, a separate issue arises.

We will use technology to solve the problems the use of technology creates, but the new fixes will bring new issues, Lunenfeld said. Every design solution creates a new design problem, and so it is with the ways we have built our global networks.

With technology becoming more accessible to the younger generations, more problems arise as developing children and teens succumb to the addiction of technology. Gen Z spends an average7.2 hours on their phones each day, according to the L.A. Times. Thats one-third of the day spent solely on phones, not including other devices. This increase in screen timecontributes to the issues of low academic performance, lack of attention, low creativity, delays in language development, physical inactivity and social issues.

Another issue is the rise in social media. According to Pew Research Center,69% of adults and 81% of teens use social media. While social media can be a convenient platform to connect with family and friends by sharing pictures, videos and comments, its turned into something much darker many people seek validation through social media and being exposed to false information, according to MIT Management.

Theres also been a drastic change in how tech developers view their own platforms. According to "The Social Dilemma", Jaron Lainer, computer scientist and virtual pioneer, said they initially created something great that made online connection crucial for daily tasks, but now it's generated another problem of manipulation and true privacy.

Weve created a world in which online connection has become primary, Lainer said in the film. Especially for younger generations. And yet, in that world, any time two people connect, the only way its financed is through a sneaky third person whos paying to manipulate those two people. So weve created an entire global generation of people who were raised within a context with the very meaning of communication, the very meaning of culture, is manipulation.

Peter Korenko, a sophomore at JMU, gives a more positive outlook on technology usage.

I spend an average of six hours daily on my phone, Korenko said. Though, I think technology has a dual effect on people, I mainly see a large step towards rapid innovation in communications.

While there are both positives and negatives to rapid technological innovation, it's necessary to not lose touch with whats important in life. JMU is a place to connect with others, whether its in class, clubs or organizations. These available resources to socialize are being overshadowed by the addiction to devices and face-to-face communication will decrease, negatively impacting students social skills.

Contact Oriana Lukas at lukasok@dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @Breeze_Opinion.

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Opinion | Technology is consuming students | Opinion | breezejmu.org - The Breeze

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--airSlate, a global leader in workflow automation solutions, was recently recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the market. It was named to the FT ranking of The Americas Fastest-Growing Companies 2022 list by the Financial Times and the Boston Business Journals exclusive 2022 Fast 50 list. The company also picked up two wins with the 2022 American Business Awards, collecting for a second consecutive year a Gold Stevie for Technical Innovation of the Year and a Silver Stevie for Company of the Year in the computer software, large category.

The recognitions follow a banner year of growth and company milestones in 2021. As businesses across all industries forcefully embraced digital transformation, airSlate saw a 42% increase in CAGR from 2017-2020 and more than 100 million users across its award-winning portfolio of electronic signature, PDF editing, and no-code workflow automation solutions - signNow, pdfFiller, and airSlate.

Were thankful for these recognitions and are proud of the work weve done to achieve this growth, said Borya Shakhnovich, CEO and co-founder, airSlate. Many industries were forced to embrace remote and digital work over the last two years, and airSlate has been at the forefront, leading this change with technology that meets the needs of businesses across industries. Were grateful to our team for the hard work that led to these accomplishments, and were excited for whats to come.

airSlate adds these wins to its growing list of industry accolades. The collection of accomplishments highlight how airSlate leads the space as a company to watch, poised for future growth and as a standout organization for company culture and technology innovation. In the last year, the company was recognized in the following programs:

For more information on airSlate, visit http://www.airslate.com or follow the company on its social media channels: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

About airSlate

airSlate is a global SaaS technology company that serves tens of millions of innovators worldwide with its no-code workflow automation, electronic signature, and document management solutions. The companys portfolio of award-winning products, airSlate, signNow, and pdfFiller, empower teams to create, innovate, and automate to digitally transform their organizations to run faster and easier.

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airSlate Recognized for Company Growth and Technology Achievements in Recent Award Wins - Business Wire

While there are many ways to improve the unit economics of cultivated meat, from reducing the cost of producing expensive growth factors used in cell culture media, to exploring ways to recycle media, to developing more efficient cell lines; ProFuse Technologyis addressing the process of skeletal muscle tissue formation (myogenesis) such that firms can produce more meat, more quickly.

Phase one of the myogenesis process begins with rapid cell division and multiplication (the proliferation phase) of myoblasts (muscle stem cells) in a nutrient-rich media.

In the second phase (the differentiation phase), the myoblasts stop dividing and start to differentiate by fusing to form nascent myotubes (developing muscle fibers with a tubular appearance). Next, in a secondary fusion stage, these small myotubes start fusing with myoblasts to form bigger myotubes, which finally mature into muscle fibers (the maturation phase).

Typically, to move from the proliferation phase to the differentiation phase, companies will reduce the growth factors in the media and the cells will stop dividing in this depleted or reduced media and gradually start to differentiate and mature.

Depending on the species, this differentiation and maturation phase can take days or even weeks, and is not always super-efficient, in that only a certain percentage of myoblasts will fuse to form muscle fibers in any given production cycle, says ProFuse Technology, which was formed last summer to apply science developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

By administering a cocktail of small molecules (a media supplement) that target a molecular signaling pathwayregulated by an enzymecalled ERK, ProFuse effectively flicks a biological switch that triggers all the myoblasts to immediately start to differentiate, and activates another protein (CaMKII or Cam kinase) that is involved in the secondary fusion phase, where small myotubes fuse with myoblasts to create bigger muscle fibers, co-founder Tamar Eigler-Hirsh, PhD, told FoodNavigator-USA.

Its the natural process of myogenesis to activate cam kinase, so that takes place naturally, but we've found a way to enhance the signaling process so that it happens bigger and better.

VIDEO: The video above, courtesy of Dr. Tamar Eigler-Hirsh, shows muscle stem cells under a microscope: "When exposed to a molecule blocking the ERK enzyme (right panel), the cells differentiate and undergo massive fusion..."

For poultry cells, in a laboratory setting at least, ProFuses media supplement can slash the length of the differentiation and maturation stage from seven days to three days, and cause muscle fibers to bulk up more, improving protein and texture at the same time, which could have exciting implications for the cultivated meat industry if these effects can be replicated in an industrial setting, said Dr Eigler-Hirsh.

All we do is add our media supplement, and we are able to get this process started at a much earlier time point, so already by 24 hours after treatment, you can see the initiation of muscle fiber formation. And if you look at the endpoint at 72 hours post treatment, we've reached a maximum threshold.

If you just run out the growth factors and dont add ProFuses media supplement, she said, differentiation willstill take place, it will just be much less efficient. There's a maximum capacity that you can get just by serum reduction. Where the common practice is getting about 10%, we're getting about 60% efficiency in the process.

Without ProFuse, she claimed, You would never get to this threshold of 60% fusion, it just doesnt happen.

She said:So not only are we accelerating the process, we are also increasing the amount of differentiation and increasing the amount of fusion, and we've tested it on mouse, chicken, bovine and sheep cells with similar effects across all four species, and are now just diving into fish.

Undifferentiated myoblasts that have not fused in the first production cycle still have the ability to turn into muscle in future production cycles, but there are obvious benefits to increasing the fusion index first time around, she said, noting that ProFuse Technologys small molecules reduce the number of required production cycles, and enhance the meat production in each cycle, improving the quality of the muscle fibers, and increasing protein content.

In data we acquired from chicken cultures, using ProFuse, the muscle fibers are larger; we're getting about a four and a half fold increase in protein content using ProFuse compared to the common practice and we are seeing similar data in bovine [muscle tissue].

Before we start cracking open the champagne, however, its important to stress that all of these numbers could change dramatically in an industrial setting, cautioned scientific co-founder Professor Eldad Tzahor.

It's important to remember that what we are talking here is based on basic research in a laboratory, not in an industrial setting. Every company and every cell type is different, and we havent tested this in a 10,000 liter bioreactor or in a 3D printing setting and so on.

So what happens next?

Probably within a few months,said CEO Guy Nevo Michrowski, we will announce our generation two cocktail.

In the meantime, he said:We are engaged in collaboration with some of the cultivated meat companies, testing the efficiency and the effect of our cocktails in their production environment.

Asked about the regulatory status of the small molecules in the ProFuse cocktail, he said: The big challenge is regulation, but we're very optimistic we're going to be considered as a GRAS material in the US or as some kind of processing aid in other countries, at the beginning of next year.

When you test the residual level in the[final]meat product, it's extremely low to almost undetectable.

Asked for his take on the significance of ProFuse Technologys work, Elliot Swartz, PhD, lead scientist, cultivated meat, at the Good Food Institute, told FoodNavigator-USA that its data and results were impressive.

He added:Having full control over the skeletal muscle differentiation pathway is an important scientific advance. Skeletal muscle differentiation is typically a fairly slow process (days to even weeks long), and the ProFuse additive cuts down this time significantly, which could translate to cost savings, as shorter timeframes mean that fewer bioreactors and less media will be needed to create a given quantity of cultivated meat.

Meanwhile, as the muscle fibers bulk up more quickly, which means that amino acids are efficiently being converted into biomass,he said, this in turn could translate into better protein and nutritional content as well as texture for structured products.

Another important factor, he added, is that the additive is still effective in an otherwise proliferation media formulation. This means that cultivated meat manufacturers can easily attain differentiation without dramatically altering the formulation of the media. In general, a less complex media is likely to be desirable for supply chain and other practical considerations.

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More meat, more quickly: Could ProFuse Technology's small molecule cocktail help to transform the economics of cultivated meat? -...