June 20, 2019

EDGE enters UK market with project on South Bank

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Property, Technology

EDGE Technologies, the specialist developer best known for its groundbreaking The Edge building in Amsterdam has announced its entrance into the UK commercial property market with the £50m acquisition of 60 St Thomas Street on London’s South Bank. The acquisition is subject to planning permission, which EDGE will pursue in partnership with the seller. The partners will consult closely with Southwark Council and the local community. After completion of the development – four to five years from now – 60 St Thomas Street will be an optimised office environment and a new workspace fit for the future. (more…)

June 20, 2019

Tech workers prefer to work for larger corporations

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

UK SMEs are losing out to big tech in the battle to recruit top tech talent, according to Robert Half UK’s new report, Recruiting for the future: The challenges for UK SMEs. The white paper, which was based on an independent study of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) across the UK, found that three quarters (75 percent) of CIOs believe that it is more challenging for SMEs to attract tech workers because they prefer to work for larger technology companies. (more…)

June 20, 2019

Technology driving calls for four day week

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A majority of European workers (57 percent) believe that technology will help to bring about a four day week in the near future as it improves their productivity and efficiency, according to new research from Ricoh Europe (registration) which looks at employee attitudes towards the continent’s ongoing productivity challenge. (more…)

June 19, 2019

London councils form office of technology and innovation

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Technology

The London Office of Innovation and Technology (LOTI) has been officially launched, ushering in what the fifteen councils behind the initiative claim will be a new era of digital transformation. The councils claim that London’s public services will benefit from faster adoption of technology, data and digital skills. The city-wide venture is a collaboration between all 32 London boroughs with the Mayor of London’s backing.

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June 13, 2019

AI is the biggest business disruptor on world stage

by George Eltringham • News, Technology

AI and its transformational effect on the global business landscape was the dominant theme on day one of the UK Asia Tech Powerhouse Conference. Transforming urban mobility thanks to rapidly growing cities, and how Asian cities are leading the march towards a digital future also featured in the first of the two-day event, with influencers from across trade, investment and technology, including Singaporean entrepreneur Annabelle Kwok and Mark Purdy, Accenture’s Group Chief Economist and Managing Director at Accenture Research. (more…)

June 13, 2019

People are too quick to click on emails

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Modern working culture makes it impossible for employees to always make the right decision about what to do with emails, claims a new report from cybersecurity company Tessian and the University of Central Lancashire. The report Why Do People Make Mistakes? presents findings from a new survey of 1,000 UK employees, who were asked about their working environment and practices. Additionally, the report includes insights from cyber-psychologists Dr Helen Jones, University of Central Lancashire and Professor John Towse, Lancaster University, which further explains how certain factors in the workplace can cause people to make poor decisions. (more…)

June 13, 2019

Digital transformation plans ignoring role of HR

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

HR must enhance its reputation amongst senior management teams and business leaders if it is to take a leading role in driving the success of digital transformation projects, claims a new report from MHR. The poll of 250 business leaders at organisations with more than 1000 employees claims that just 5 percent of respondents felt the HR department should be the people to lead or manage a digital transformation project. The full results of the survey are explored in MHR’s report ‘Businesses are not ready to transform (but they don’t know that)… which was launched at the Festival of Work in London this week. (more…)

June 11, 2019

What is workplace technology really for, anyway?

by Pete Trainor • Comment, Technology

It’s a hot day on the Savannah, and our hero Jon picks up the tool that he uses to hunt and cut his food, and marches across the plain to complete the next big task of the day—survival. Even though Jon lived 2.5 million years before basic writing was developed, the tools he’s invented are the difference between eating or starving. Jon is one smart Ape, and he wasn’t even doing it for likes or followers. Of course, big Jon’s tool is not workplace technology as you might think about it, but it is in the truest sense. (more…)

June 4, 2019

HR managers most concerned about AI job threat

by George Eltringham • News, Technology

A new study suggests that more than 7 in 10 Britons working in production are concerned that their jobs may be made obsolete thanks to developments in Artificial Intelligence in the coming years. What’s more, over two fifths of respondents believe AI could rebel against humans. As technology develops and more money and time is invested into AI, the public’s opinion has been explored, with those working in production, HR and construction uncovered to be the most worried that AI could take their jobs away from them. (more…)

May 23, 2019

Wellbeing, a pile of turtles, office culture and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

This week is Clerkenwell Design Week amongst other things, and as part of it I chaired a discussion on Tuesday about acoustics at work in the showroom of Flokk and their effect on wellbeing. We were fortunate to have a panel that involved the likes of Nigel Oseland, Michelle Wilkie of tp bennett, Joachim Schubert of Offecct and Lee Jones of Wellworking as well as an informed audience, if for no other reason than everybody’s ability to talk about the subject as complex and multi-faceted and, to some extent, hardwired. (more…)

May 23, 2019

Demand outstrips supply for Edinburgh office space

by Marie Hillen • Cities, Facilities management, Technology

The majority (90 percent) of Grade A deals for commercial offices in Edinburgh so far this year came from the tech sector, according to Savills, resulting in TMT being the most active business sector of the first quarter of 2019. Key deals included Amazon signing for 30,000 sq ft at Exchange Crescent and Epic Games taking 10,000 sq ft at Quartermile 2. This reflects that fact that over the past five years, Edinburgh has seen employment growth of 7 percent in the professional scientific and tech industries and is forecast to see a further 11 percent over the next five years; resulting in a projected 3,800 net additional jobs in these industries

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May 22, 2019

Young people increasingly sceptical about work and institutions

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

Younger people across the world are increasingly disillusioned with traditional institutions, sceptical of business’ motives and pessimistic about economic and social progress, according to the 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey. The survey claims that despite global economic growth, expansion and opportunity, younger generations are wary about the world and their place in it. But they remain hopeful and lean on their values as both consumers and employees. (more…)