Isolation of employees is IT teams’ greatest home-working concern

Isolation of employees is IT teams’ greatest home-working concern

employeesThe feelings of isolation being experienced by employees is the biggest concern IT and cybersecurity teams have around home working, say almost one third (31 percent) of respondents to the latest Twitter poll run by Infosecurity Europe. The objective was to investigate views on the current threat landscape, as remote working remains the norm and ‘lockdown fatigue’ sets in. More →

Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate

Workplace digital divide is forcing employers to rethink the way they communicate

employersIn March 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced countless employers around the globe to send their non-essential employees home. Few organisations had a contingency plan for such a scenario, meaning the overwhelming majority of employers had to rethink their operations and communication functions on the fly. More →

AI fosters a happier and more productive workforce, research claims

AI fosters a happier and more productive workforce, research claims

AIBusinesses using artificial intelligence (AI) solutions benefit from a happier and more efficient workforce, claims new research from Fountech Solutions. A survey of more than 750 decision-makers within UK businesses highlights the employee and organisational benefits of deploying artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. More →

Investment in digital technology set to deliver £232bn boost to UK economy by 2040

Investment in digital technology set to deliver £232bn boost to UK economy by 2040

economyInvestment in digital technology is set to increase UK GDP by £232bn (6.9 percent) in 2040, according to a new study by Virgin Media Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The research, which examines how more digital ways of working can support the UK’s economic recovery from Covid-19, claims investment in technology could boost the economy by £74bn in 2025. More →

Getting the measure of better working cultures

Getting the measure of better working cultures

For now, just forget the cyborg monkeys and spinach sending emails, the real short term tech action is all about how to gauge what workers are thinking or doing, and what to do about it – especially if whatever they are thinking and doing is not what the org wants for them or, more importantly, itself. Things are getting crazy. More →

Business leaders set out plans to create ‘tech supercluster’ in West Midlands

Business leaders set out plans to create ‘tech supercluster’ in West Midlands

West Midlands superclusterGenerating £27.8 billion gross value added annually, and employing more than 360,000 people, the West Midlands is the UK’s largest centre for business, professional and financial services (BPFS) outside London. Now, business leaders from Shoosmiths, Wesleyan, Bruntwood CBRE amongst others, are working with the region’s just under 12,500 leading tech and digital companies to see how they can integrate AI and advanced technology into their everyday activities. More →

Workplace things we have missed, and those we hope to regain

Workplace things we have missed, and those we hope to regain

return to the workplaceLet’s be honest, work life pre 2020 had its flaws, whilst the longing for variety of scenery, change of pace and even a train journey (somewhere…ANYWHERE) would be welcomed by many of us right now, many of us had become a bit ‘hamster wheel’ in our approach. Commuting was stressful, expensive and time hungry; our natural and individual rhythms squeezed into a set 9-5 schedule and workplace design had become a bit ‘quantity over quality’ – desks have been reducing in size year upon year in order that capacity could be increased. We had reached a point at which everything was ripe for change but there was largely a resistance to both flexible working requests and embracing much of the technological advancements that were already at our fingertips. More →

More than two-thirds of FM leaders resistant to technology progress

More than two-thirds of FM leaders resistant to technology progress

technologyOutdated attitudes towards technology amongst senior facilities management business leaders are at risk of jeopardising future business survival, claims new research by Sigma Dynamics. The Connected Enterprise report claims that 71 percent of C-suite executives, directors and senior managers are sceptical about the benefits of implementing new business technology. More →

Microsoft unveils new employee experience and wellbeing platform

Microsoft unveils new employee experience and wellbeing platform

Companies are in danger of losing top talent due to lack of flexible workingMicrosoft has announced Microsoft Viva, which it claims is the first employee experience platform to bring tools for employee engagement, learning, wellbeing and knowledge discovery, directly into people’s workflow. Viva is designed to help employees ‘learn, grow and thrive’ in the new era of working life, and is designed to work alongside existing solutions such as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. More →

Surging demand for data science skills in 2021

Surging demand for data science skills in 2021

data scienceWith data science lauded as the answer to COVID-19 recovery, organisations are planning to significantly increase their data science headcount this year. This is according to the latest research from Le Wagon, an educational provider in data science bootcamps. More →

Creating great workplace cultures

Creating great workplace cultures

Workplace design is – or should be – inextricably linked to both an organisation’s identity and its culture. The issue of workplace culture, and why it might succeed or fail, has become a matter of a great deal of study as the basis for work has moved on from the scientific management theories of the early to mid-20th Century. This aped the hierarchies, structures and forms of factories. It once prevailed but even now its vestiges remain, often in spite of the decades of research and a changing world of work that show us better ways of getting things done.   More →

Two in five Brits are at risk of cyber-attacks whilst working from home

Two in five Brits are at risk of cyber-attacks whilst working from home

working from homeA new report by Fasthosts claims that cyber criminals have identified remote workers as easy targets with two in five employees having not received any caution regarding COVID-19 scams whilst working from home or had any video-call security training. More →