Over a third of IT leaders state their remote workers have knowingly put corporate data at risk

Over a third of IT leaders state their remote workers have knowingly put corporate data at risk

remote workersMore than a third (35 percent) of UK IT decision makers admitted that their remote workers have already knowingly put corporate data at risk of a breach in the last year according to an annual survey – conducted by Apricorn. This is concerning given that over one in ten surveyed IT decision makers also noted that they either have no control over where company data goes or where it is stored (15 percent) and their technology does not support secure mobile/remote working (12 percent). More →

Workers do double the work because of disconnected tech

Workers do double the work because of disconnected tech

New research by Templafy claims over a third (37 percent) of UK employees do around double the amount of work because their technology stack lacks useful integrations in its business enablement report. This leaves UK workers spending large amounts of time switching between applications, with over one in four, 27 percent, using six to ten different applications each week. More →

Buildings with a digital twin have a lot to tell us

Buildings with a digital twin have a lot to tell us

digital twinThe expression “if these walls could talk” is taking on an entirely new meaning with the emerging opportunity to create digital twins for buildings. Across the entire lifecycle of structures such as office buildings, hospitals, airports and hotels, creating a digital twin can significantly reduce costs, improve efficiencies, speed construction delivery, as well as enhance performance and the user experience. More →

The digital world is not necessarily greener than the physical world

The digital world is not necessarily greener than the physical world

No sooner had the world learned about the existence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) than we also learned how much of a problem they could be for the environment. An NFT is digital token in a similar way to Bitcoin, except there’s only one of each NFT. It is associated with a piece of content, guaranteed unique and so is worth whatever somebody will pay for it. In the case of a digital artist called Beeplewho had only ever previously sold a piece for $100, this was $69 million for an NFT for a digital collage of images called Everydays: The First 5000 Days sold at Christie’s in MarchBought by a collector in Singapore, this made him one of the world’s “top three most valuable living artists,” according to the auction house.  More →

The digital transformation dilemma: UK employees want pandemic-era tech to stay

The digital transformation dilemma: UK employees want pandemic-era tech to stay

digital transformationAs the UK prepares to return to normal in the coming months and industries reopen, research from The Workforce Institute at UKG claims that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 87 percent of UK workers have been propelled into the future of work by accelerating their digital transformation projects. Furthermore, 86 percent are enjoying the benefits of these new technologies, and 38 percent are fearful that their organisation will go back to the “old way” of doing things post-pandemic. More →

Employee experience is top priority for CIO’s but UK held back by lack of tools

Employee experience is top priority for CIO’s but UK held back by lack of tools

Employee experienceElastic (NYSE: ESTC), the company behind Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack, have announced a new study, claiming that employee experience has become a new priority for IT leaders as they reinvent their infrastructures to support remote workforces. The Changing Role of the IT Leader was conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Elastic in February 2021, one year into the global pandemic, and published in April.
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People judge the actions of robots based on their appearance

People judge the actions of robots based on their appearance

If a robot worker makes a mistake on the job, or annoys customers, businesses may not give it a pink slip and a cardboard box for its office belongings, but companies may be forced to shut down these expensive machines, according to a team of researchers. Knowing how to better design and manage these robots may help service industry firms both avoid losing their investments in the robots, as well as secure an increasingly necessary source of extra help, the team added. More →

Working from home surveillance drives rise of digital presenteeism

Working from home surveillance drives rise of digital presenteeism

Lockdown has meant the majority of UK office-based employees have taken up working from home arrangements over the last year, and it seems that many employers lack trust in their employees when they can’t physically see them. Last year saw a rise in the implementation of surveillance software, to ensure that workers are acting in best corporate interests. However, this is having a negative impact on some employees – who are feeling forced to work longer hours due to a new perceived need to remain visible to their manager or team leader, revealed in a survey by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. With remote working set to stay post-COVID, these findings indicate a worrying growing trend around broken working from home employee trust. More →

Employee buy-in crucial to digital transformation success

Employee buy-in crucial to digital transformation success

digitalFacilities management businesses are failing to keep their workforce at the heart of their digital transformations, leading to employee dissatisfaction and hindering the success of digitalisation initiatives, claims new research by Nexer, in partnership with applied futurist Tom Cheesewright. More →

Women in tech more likely to have career progression impacted by pandemic

Women in tech more likely to have career progression impacted by pandemic

womenA survey by Talent Works claims that the pandemic has negatively impacted the career progression for more women (33 percent) than men (21 percent). The research, which surveyed UK developers, also claims that 23 percent of women have seen their potential to earn negatively affected compared to 11 percent of men, with under 35s (21 percent) also having more pay cuts than over 35s (11 percent). More →

UK tech jobs declined in 2020, but AI, cloud and robotics skills are on the rise

UK tech jobs declined in 2020, but AI, cloud and robotics skills are on the rise

roboticsThe number of technology job listings in the UK declined by 57 percent during the past year, with fewer than 55,000 open roles advertised, according to the latest UK Tech Talent Tracker from Accenture (NYSE: ACN). Despite this, demand for skills in cutting-edge technologies such as cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics saw a resurgence in many cities across the country. More →

From the archive: Escaping the gravity of the fixed times and places of work

From the archive: Escaping the gravity of the fixed times and places of work

In November 2019, just before that thing happened, there was this… The worst workplace related news story of 2019 is also one of the most widely reported. I’m not linking to it because I don’t want to give it any credibility, but it has been discharged into the ether by Fellowes along with a ‘behavioural futurist’ called William Higham. I will say only two things about it. Firstly, we flatly refused to publish a story about the damn thing and it’s a shame that the mainstream media couldn’t spot it for the utter drivel it is. The fact that they have picked up on it says something about the way such issues are covered in the press. That’s why you’re more likely to see a stress-related story about rats driving cars on the BBC than you are something meaningful. More →