Search Results for: automation

Skilled migrants attracted to regional and city work hubs, not countries

Skilled migrants attracted to regional and city work hubs, not countries 0

dubai-commercial-market-outlook-winter-2015-2016-carouselHighly-skilled migrants are increasingly attracted to cities and regions rather than countries, the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index has revealed. Silicon Valley, Dublin, Helsinki-Espoo, Dubai [pictured] and London are the real hubs, rather than the United States, Ireland, Finland, the United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom. The index, produced by Adecco Group, INSEAD and the Human Capital Leadership Institute, ranks the factors driving the international movement of skilled migrants of 109 countries, covering 87 percent of the global population and 97 percent of global GDP. Switzerland is in top place, followed by Singapore and Luxembourg in second and third place. At seventh place, the UK is ahead of Germany and France, but behind top performers such as the United States and Canada. It also trails behind in terms of gender diversity; ranking 56th for female graduates and 71st for the gender earnings gap.

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Offices and smart cities will drive uptake of the Internet of Things, claims report

Offices and smart cities will drive uptake of the Internet of Things, claims report 0

Internet of Things in BusinessA new report from analysts Gartner claims that the roll out of the Internet of Things will be driven by innovation in commercial property and smart cities. The study, Internet of Things — Endpoints and Associated Services, Worldwide, 2015 claims that 1.6 billion connected things will be used by smart cities in 2016, an increase of 39 percent from 2015 (see Table 1). The authors of the report claim that smart commercial buildings, particularly those subject to Building Information Modelling technology will pioneer applications until 2017, after which consumers will become the dominant force as devices migrate to a new generation of smart homes. Commercial real estate benefits greatly from IoT implementation. IoT creates a unified view of facilities management as well as advanced service operations through the collection of data and insights from a multitude of sensors.

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People and businesses remain unprepared for next wave of technology

People and businesses remain unprepared for next wave of technology 0

RobotThe attitudes of businesses, public sector employers and people to the next wave of technological change remains a tangled and sometimes conflicting mishmash of fear, uncertainty and indifference according to three new reports. According to a new study published by Vodafone and YouGov, while businesses are aware of their need to keep pace with technological developments, around half doubt they will be able to keep up over the next five years. Meanwhile, a study from marketing technology firm Rocket Fuel claims that British people are broadly aware what is meant by artificial intelligence and many feel it will have a positive impact on their lives, especially millennials. However, another study from jobsite Indeed claims that a fifth of young people are unaware of the idea of automation and its potential impact on the jobs market and around half don’t even consider it when making their career choices.

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Cyber attacks cost global businesses over £200bn a year

Cyber attacks cost global businesses over £200bn a year 0

Cyber attackAshley Madison and Sony are the high profile victims of cyber-hacking, but with hacks becoming more prevalent, nearly half of firms are putting themselves in the firing line by having no comprehensive strategy to prevent digital crime, the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) has warned. It says the total cost of cyber-attacks globally are estimated to be more than £200bn (US$315bn*) over the past 12 months and more than one in six businesses have faced a cyber attack in the past year. The UK government has classified cyber security as one of the four top threats to the UK, alongside natural disasters, international terrorism and military invasion. The global survey of 2,500 business leaders in 35 economies found that 15 percent of businesses have faced a cyber attack in the past year, with businesses in the EU (19 percent) and North America (18 percent) the most heavily targeted.

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Employment is increasingly dependent on an ability to get on with people

Employment is increasingly dependent on an ability to get on with people 0

peopleIt can be heartening to learn that there will still be a role for humans in the forthcoming world of robots, drones and driverless vehicles. Inevitably, it is those skills that are hard to automate that will define many of the human jobs of the near future and so one of the skills that will continue to attract paid employment will be the ability to get on with other people. This skill has already defined the labour market for the past 35 years and helped to narrow gender differences in the job market. These are the main conclusions of a new report published by David Deming of the US based National Bureau of Economic Research.  According to his working paper “The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market,” which is currently awaiting peer review, nearly all job growth since 1980 has been in occupations that depend to a large extent on well developed social skills.

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Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

Smart citiesThe rapid urbanization of our world and the weaving of existing and new buildings into the urban fabric of Smart City initiatives are some of the great challenges facing our global industry today. Along with the vast amount of definitions and marketing campaigns surrounding the phrase “Smart Cities” comes the challenge of understanding why the movement is important to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry and how industry stakeholders can profit from, or at the very least, not get run over by the tsunami called Smart Cities. The emergence of Smart Cities as the conduit for ideas, thoughts, policies and strategies for the world’s urban environments is an important milestone for our industry, and it comes at a time of rapid innovation, convergence and redefinitions.

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‘Time to bin SLAs’ as IT buyers focus on costs over benefits

‘Time to bin SLAs’ as IT buyers focus on costs over benefits 0

????????????????????More than half of the UK’s technology buyers claim that their main focus when procuring IT services is on keeping down costs rather than achieving specific benefits for their business, according to a report from technology company MooD International. The report, based on a study of just 160 IT directors and managers, also claims that revenue generation and growth are named as the most important initiatives by the remaining 48 percent. Over three quarters (76 percent) of respondents said that their firm’s expectations are not aligned with what suppliers believe they are contracted to deliver. The report claims this mismatch can be traced back to service level agreements (SLAs). While 77 per cent of suppliers focus on business benefits to a great or reasonable extent, 64 per cent of contracts are either entirely or mainly measured on transaction based SLAs.

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CBRE acquires facilities management business from Johnson Controls

facilities managementProperty giant CBRE has reached an agreement to acquire the facilities management business of Johnson Controls for $1.47bn. The deal will see CBRE acquire the Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) FM arm of the business, allowing the new enterprise to manage nearly 5bn sq ft of commercial real estate worldwide consisting of 2.3bn sq ft in North and South America, 1.2bn sq ft in EMEA and 1.4 bn sq ft in Asia Pacific. GWS, currently employs around  16,000 people worldwide, and had a turnover of around $3.4bn in 2014.The deal also see the two firms enter into a ten year strategic relationship, with CBRE offering a range of real estate services with Johnson Controls offering HVAC equipment and a range of building automation systems and other products in return. Both firms will also share investment in research and development.

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US FCC agrees net neutrality deal to classify Internet as a public utility

digiCord_t479The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a reclassification of the Internet as a public utility for the first time. It follows last month’s call from the UK Government for a similar approach to ensure that everybody has equal access to the online world. The FCC ruling specifically forbids Internet service providers creating a range of fast and slow services as a way – critics argued – of hijacking the Internet to gain monopolistic control over the digital economy and favour larger websites able to afford the higher rates. The ruling on ‘net neutrality’ has been broadly welcomed, not least by those campaigners who have argued for years that it would mean an end to the Internet as we have known it; an open platform that offers equal opportunities to all users and content providers and so fosters innovation.

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The pressing need for more women to forge careers in STEM disciplines

????????????????????One of the most pressing economic challenges facing the UK is producing enough qualified professionals in the key science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) disciplines. And, as a number of new reports make clear, the problem is compounded by the failure of enough women to develop careers in those areas that will define the country’s economic future. It was a point raised in a recent Government report into the UK’s digital future. Writing for the BBC earlier this month Dame Prof Ann Dowling the President of the Royal Academy of Engineering laid out the scale of the problem; by 2022 the UK will need at least 1.82 million new engineering, science and technology professionals. What is also becoming clear is that, while many women are keen to develop STEM careers, they face a series of obstacles at every step.

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Smart city systems will substantially reduce CO2 emissions, claims report

London trafficA new report from Juniper Research claims that traffic management and parking systems in the new generation of smart cities will reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by some 164 million metric tonnes (MMT) over the next five years, equivalent to the emissions of 35 million vehicles annually. The report also claims that this will transform the lives of those who live and work in cities as it manages the 700 million vehicles that will travel around the world’s cities in 2019. The report, Smart Cities: Strategies, Energy, Emissions & Cost Savings 2014-2019, claims that high levels of city traffic congestion combined with advancements in ‘Internet of Things’ sensors and software solutions has driven plans to reduce high traffic levels through smart initiatives.

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Market for smart cities set to triple worldwide over next five years

According to a new report, the global market for smart cities will grow by nearly a factor of three from $411.31 billion in 2014 to $1,135 billion by 2019. The not so snappily titled report, “Smart Cities Market by Smart Home, Intelligent Building Automation, Energy Management, Smart Healthcare, Smart Education, Smart Water, Smart Transportation, Smart Security, & by Services – Worldwide Market Forecasts and Analysis (2014 – 2019)”, has been published by MarketsandMarkets, and claims to define and segment smart cities into various sub-segments of technologies, solutions, services and regions with in-depth analysis and forecasting of revenues. The authors also claim that the report identifies drivers and restraints of this market with insights on trends, opportunities, and challenges.

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