Empowering office workers
The 'Great Resignation' phenomenon has snowballed in the UK, with almost three-quarters of a million UK workers choosing to change jobs in Q2 2021. High employee turnover is usually a consequence of businesses not providing their workers with the right training, benefits, development opportunities, and job satisfaction. Poly's research confirmed this, with over half (58 percent) of organizations seeing a higher turnover in staff over the course of the pandemic. Now that employees who used to exclusively work in an office have had a taste of what they expect from their workplace in terms of hybrid working opportunities, employers face an enormous challenge: retaining and recruiting talent.
What steps should employees take to ensure that their workforce remains satisfied and motivated when there is no guaranteed blueprint to overcome the challenges of high turnover?
Addressing the tech skills gaps starts at school: How improving accessibility to coding will make a big difference
A recent report by the UK government suggested that strengthening and supporting digital ecosystems could add another £41.5bn to the economy by 2025 and support 678,000 new jobs. Supporting data skills and coding throughout education should be a key part of the school curriculum for young people in order to address the skills gap in the long term.
Theoretically, coding is more accessible than ever before. Nowadays, all that’s needed is a computer and a connection to the internet; these are both now more common than they’ve ever been.
PSTN/ISDN switch-off: What businesses need to know
When it comes to comms, the pace of change is increasing and with a shift to remote working and study, the need to be flexible and fast is more important than ever. In 2015, BT announced that its PSTN/ISDN lines will be turned off in 2025. Given the rapid evolution in the way we communicate, now is as good a time as any to be prepared for this.
The decision to switch off has been made largely due to both technologies becoming outdated and unable to handle the volume, speed and quality of data in today’s increasingly digital world. But what do you need to know, and how can one prepare?
The future of face-to-face meetings in a virtual world
As things are returning to normal it’s clear that businesses are keen to find their footing when it comes to defining the workplace. While the UK Government has urged Civil Servants to return to office working, others are embracing remote working on a part or full-time basis.
Recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the UK is getting back into the office once again. As of February, this year, there has been a decline in the percentage of people working from home -- 15 percent compared with 26 percent in January 2022. And there has been an uptake of people traveling to work over the same time period. On the other hand, the cost of living crisis is also having an impact as a survey of 1,000 UK workers revealed people were apprehensive over the associated costs of working from an office.
Bespoke machine learning is a must to tackle FaaS underworld
When it comes to fraud, you can never be too careful. Especially when you hear about the brass neck of some criminal gangs that are increasingly adopting the persona of legitimate businesses to peddle stolen credit card details and other financial information.
Fraud-as-a-service (FaaS), as it’s known, has become an industry in itself, with criminals able to provide a one-stop-shop for scammers to rip-off customers and businesses. These organized fraud rings -- often manned by career professionals who know how to bypass rules-based systems -- are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
The importance of responsible AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is growing and shows no signs of stopping -- almost. In 2020, IDC estimated global spending on the technology would more than double by 2024 to hit $110 billion. Investors feel the same enthusiasm. CB Insights reported venture capital for AI startups in Q3 2021 reached a record $17.9 billion. Yet, even in the bright light of such success, a shadow is being cast. Even as AI is exploding, trust has leveled out, and that could eventually stall its progress and acceptance if we are not careful.
Given how widely AI is being deployed, many organizations are content to look the other way; so long as there’s value, no need to ask questions. But what about transparency and responsibility? If a company can’t trust its own algorithm, why will consumers? Case in point is the Apple Card launch in 2019 in which a noticeable difference in credit lines offered to men vs. women was revealed. Turns out, a faulty AI design failed to have gender input. Further, Apple hadn’t been following the algorithm closely for bias. That’s how launches and reputations are undermined.
Prioritizing levels of risk in your cybersecurity assessment
Cybersecurity is one of the most pressing issues for businesses. For the first time, it has been identified by security professionals as the single biggest risk to an organization. Cybersecurity risks come in many forms but, while businesses need to protect against all threats, some are more urgent than others.
Prioritizing the levels of risk associated with cybersecurity incidents will help you protect your business from the most pressing threats first. For example, if you have an unsupported operating system (OS) on your PCs, they are very likely to get breached, whereas your up-to-date systems pose less risk. But how do you determine the biggest risks in your business? Read on to find out how.
Security alert: Fake Windows exploits the InfoSec community with a Cobalt Strike
On May 19th, 2022, researchers identified two Proof-of-Concept exploits (malicious software) hosted by the popular software development hosting provider, GitHub. The software targeted members of the InfoSec community in an attack known as a Cobalt Strike.
The two files were disguised as Windows vulnerabilities fixed by Microsoft in April 2022. It is unknown how many people may have executed the malicious files and if any systems were compromised, but it is likely that the files will be tested in a sandbox environment so that any potential impact will be limited.
What does the end of third-party cookies mean for consumers?
If all goes according to plan, Google will phase out third-party cookies by the end of 2023.
These cookies, which brands use to track consumers’ browsing habits across the web, have long been controversial. Recently, the developers of major browsers have begun to block them entirely, preventing websites from saving third-party cookies on users’ systems. The end of these cookies may have big implications for privacy on the web.
How the metaverse could impact employee mental health
We’re spending more time online than ever before in both our professional and personal lives. This could be set to increase even further with the introduction of the metaverse.
A much-hyped concept, the metaverse is, in simple terms, a virtual world for gaming, socializing, and even interacting with businesses. Meta calls it "the next evolution of social connection", with tech businesses scrambling to create virtual spaces for users. But what impact will these new digital spaces have on people in their working lives?
Interoperability and basic data are key to future of Smart Hospitals
In June 2021, the UK government announced a plan to transform how data is used across the health and care sectors. The goal is to give patients control of their health data and enable staff to save more lives through improved care and treatment.
One aspect of this strategy is the development of Smart Hospitals, which will use digital interoperability to redesign traditional hospital processes, systems, and infrastructures. The NHS is currently being urged to invest in Smart Hospitals -- both when building new hospitals, and when upgrading existing facilities with smart infrastructure.
Zero Trust: A business imperative to enable the secure, hybrid-working enterprise
Without a doubt, cybersecurity will continue to be a topic riding high on the C-Suite agenda throughout 2022. With intensifying trade disputes, an escalating threat landscape, a highly distributed workforce, supply chains stretched to breaking point by the pandemic, and extra pressure exerted by the ongoing effects of Brexit in the UK and other geo-political issues, having a secure, productive, agile and cost-effective security framework in place will be paramount.
It’s evident that today’s enterprises conduct business and use digital technologies in ways that are evolving constantly. This digital transformation is making traditional perimeter-based cybersecurity IT infrastructure redundant. The days when every user and every device operating from within an organization’s premises or firewall could be automatically trusted, are over for good.
The technology turning point: Five key tech trends that will define the next decade
The central theme of this year’s World Economic Forum is how history is at a 'turning point', based on the era-defining impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This moment is not just a turning point in history, but also for technology: businesses and society are in the midst of a digital revolution.
To underline just how much change is afoot, Gartner says worldwide IT spending will increase 5 percent this year, hitting $4.5 trillion. With so much going on, it can be hard to focus on what the key technology developments are, meaning there is a risk of spreading yourself too thinly. To help cut through the noise and prioritize the biggest technology trends, here are five key technology trends that look set to define the next decade, and beyond.
Why business technologists hold the key to long-term digital success
Digital transformation supported many organizations through the pandemic. Now the world is reopening, it’s enabling first-movers to adapt once again to changing market conditions. This is about more than survival. It’s about creating exceptional customer experiences, while becoming a more nimble, agile, and resilient organization. To do so, IT and business teams must come together to break down traditional silos and equip the entire workforce with the tools they need to deliver fast and continuous digital innovation.
That means empowering business technologists -- employees from the wider business who can compose new digital products and services from reusable "building blocks". This composable enterprise model is fast taking hold across many industries, and may ultimately define the winners and losers of the post-pandemic era.
Demonstrating business resilience in an ever-changing world
Has the world around us ever felt so uncertain? It’s a pertinent question to ask with the world still reeling from the once-in-a-lifetime disruption of the pandemic, and facing the threats of climate change, war in Europe and almost unprecedented levels of inflation which is placing a squeeze on even the most robust of household budgets.
Since the turn of the new decade, businesses have had to deal with a number of challenges, often adapting to huge turns of events with minimal warning. If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s reaffirmed the fact that all businesses of all shapes and sizes need to be able to demonstrate a high degree of business resilience, so they can continue to operate effectively in times of great change and uncertainty.
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.