2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities

2021 presents the tech sector with once in a generation opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic left businesses in an unprecedented position of having to rapidly adapt workplace practices and implement new processes at a moment’s notice. Of course, those companies that were already accustomed to home office set-ups and flexible hours were in a much better place to adapt to these changing circumstances. However, not all businesses were prepared for the sudden change to work routines. More →

The UK’s digital divide is closing considerably slower than official targets

The UK’s digital divide is closing considerably slower than official targets

digital divideNew data analysis by web design and development agency Rouge Media, claims the digital divide in the UK is closing considerably slower than official targets. In the Government’s 2014 “Digital Inclusion Strategy”, the target was set to reduce the number of people offline by 25 percent every 2 years. And by the end of 2020, everyone who can be digitally capable, will be. More →

We shouldn’t become village idiots in our new ways of life

We shouldn’t become village idiots in our new ways of life

The idea of a Global Village comes loaded with a number of idyllic connotations. Most of them derive from the use of the word village itself, which triggers the idea of a community in our minds. Yet even the man who coined and popularised the term in the 1950s and 60s to describe a world contracted by new media understood that there are always complications whenever technology rubs up against human beings. More →

The shape of things to come for the world and the workplace

The shape of things to come for the world and the workplace

Originally published in March, right at the start of all this. Makes me wonder how far we’ve come in nine months. In Dorian Lynskey’s The Ministry of Truth, a “biography” of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the author describes how Orwell’s  book was the end point of an obsession with utopian (and ultimately dystopian) fiction that characterised the first half of the Twentieth Century, and reflected the competing political, social and economic ideologies of the era. More →

Firms should be aware of the legal implications of employee monitoring

Firms should be aware of the legal implications of employee monitoring

employee monitoringEmployee monitoring is an emotive topic. Businesses may wish to monitor their staff for a variety of reasons. For instance, they may wish to prevent the unauthorised disclosure of confidential or sensitive information, or detect attempts to steal valuable intellectual property. In the current conditions, dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses have opted to use automated means to monitor staff productivity. However, from an employee’s perspective, the use of monitoring software may be intrusive if not distressing. Further, if it has been implemented without regard to data protection law, it is potentially illegal. More →

Firms must take a more ethical approach to technology, says World Economic Forum

Firms must take a more ethical approach to technology, says World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum has launched a new report which sets out to define how organisational leaders can influence their companies and encourage the responsible use of technology and build ethical capacity. Ethics by Design” – An Organizational Approach to Responsible Use of Technology claims to integrate psychology and behavioural economics findings from interviews and surveys with international business leaders. It aims to shape decisions to prompt better and more ethical behaviours. The report promotes an approach that focuses less on individual “bad apples” and more on the “barrel”, the environments that can lead people to engage in behaviours contrary to their moral compass. The report outlines steps and makes recommendations that have proven more effective than conventional incentives such as compliance training, financial compensation or penalties. More →

Increased revenue, savings and productivity from tech investments accelerated by COVID-19

Increased revenue, savings and productivity from tech investments accelerated by COVID-19

InvestmentsNearly seven in 10 business leaders and decision-makers say that investments in digital technologies in 2020 have enabled their organisations to increase revenue, save money and improve productivity, according to a new survey released by Randstad US. More →

Tech industry employees three times more stressed working from home than others

Tech industry employees three times more stressed working from home than others

EmployeesUnify Square, the services provider for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack platforms, has released survey results around remote collaboration and communication among enterprises. The survey highlights key perspectives of enterprise employees on workplace collaboration and communication in the midst of the global pandemic.  More →

The lost art of office furniture peacocking and the growing mental health crisis at work

The lost art of office furniture peacocking and the growing mental health crisis at work

When Donald Trump was pictured recently sitting uncomfortably at a table that looked like it had been retrieved from a skip, it provoked the sort of sneering commentary about furniture choices last seen when Dominic Cummings popped in to the Downing Street garden to deliver some self-serving blather from behind a rickety trestle table. More →

Hybrid working presents us with a once in a generation opportunity

Hybrid working presents us with a once in a generation opportunity

hybrid workingIn the face of the revolutionary and long-lasting changes to workplaces across the world resulting from the pandemic, some commentators have suggested that the wide-spread necessity of adopting remote working practices may have made the office obsolete. However, such a dramatic upheaval to the very foundation of the workplace and working dynamic won’t come without a cost, and new data suggests that perhaps the office isn’t the dinosaur many assumed, but still a central pillar to effective businesses as part of a hybrid working strategy. More →

Workers demand green office technology from their employers

Workers demand green office technology from their employers

technologyAlmost half (46 percent) of workers expect their employers to provide them with green technology equipment, such as laptops, printers and other devices, according to new research from Epson. More →

Rise of remote work monitoring technology to be investigated by taskforce

Rise of remote work monitoring technology to be investigated by taskforce

Union body the TUC has today launched a new taskforce to look at the “creeping role” of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing people at work. The taskforce launch comes as a new TUC report, Technology managing people: the worker experience, claims that many workers have concerns over the use of AI and technology in the workplace. More →