Search Results for: technologies

November 30, 2018

Business leaders are failing to drive disruptive technological change

One in three (34 percent) employees believe a robot would be better at decision making than their boss if it had access to the right business intelligence. This is according to the Advanced Trends Report 2018/19, which also reveals that there is no clear leader driving technology change across UK businesses. Just 35 percent of C-Suite/Managing Directors are said to be driving technology change, while 51 percent believe responsibility falls to IT, followed by finance (19 percent) and marketing (13 percent). It perhaps comes as no surprise, then, that 59 percent of employees think less than half of people in their organisation are ready to adopt new technology to change the way they work.

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November 30, 2018

Economy could achieve significant economic boost by addressing skills gaps in younger people

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

The UK could boost GDP by around £40 billion a year in the long run if it reduces the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) to match Germany, the best performing EU country. Despite making improvements in recent years, the UK only ranks 19th out of 35 countries across the OECD on a PwC index based on a range of indicators of youth employment, education and training. But this is slightly better than the UK’s ranking of 21st across the OECD on a similar PwC index for older workers released earlier this year. Across England NEET rates vary significantly, reflecting the disparity in educational attainment and job opportunities across the country. In 2017, the West Midlands had the highest NEET rate for 19-24 year olds at 16.7 percent, followed by the North East by 16.3 percent. Meanwhile the South East and South West have the lowest rates, both at 11.5 percent (see table below). (more…)

November 29, 2018

OECD, UN Environment and World Bank call for a radical shift in infrastructure thinking

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Environment, News

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group have this week called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change. Delivering a new report, Financing Climate Futures: Rethinking Infrastructure, to the G20 at its Summit in Buenos Aires, the three International Organisations said governments need to adopt a more transformative agenda on low-carbon, climate-resilient investments if they are to meet the Paris Agreement goal of cutting CO₂emissions to net zero in the second half of the century and build resilience to climate change.

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November 29, 2018

2019 will be the year of the data-driven digital ecosystem, claims Dell

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Dell Technologies have shared their predictions for 2019. Its central forecast is that this will be the year of the data-driven digital ecosystem, bringing us one step closer to 2030, which Dell describes as the next era of human-machine partnerships and a society where we will be immersed in smart living, intelligent work, and a frictionless economy. This includes: The spark of the next gold rush in tech investments, spurred by the greater value to be derived from data; 5G paving the way for micro-hubs to line our streets, and the opportunity for real-time insights; Multi-cloud environments driving automation, AI and ML processing into high gear; Making room in the workforce for Gen Z; and stronger, smarter and greener supply chains

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November 27, 2018

Three out of four UK SMEs failing to embrace digital workplace

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology

IT analyst Gartner has forecasted that by 2022 cloud will make up almost a third of IT spending, but only a quarter of SMEs are properly prepared for it, claims a new study. The Missed Middle study, commissioned by Crown Workspace, found that three quarters of UK SMEs are failing to embrace workplace technologies such as cloud, mobile working and digital devices. This could impact their business agility, security and financial efficiency. Cost is the most common barrier preventing SMEs from creating the optimum workspace that features modern technology. For instance voice technology has seen huge adoption over the past few years, however less than one in five respondents are ready for it in the workplace. (more…)

November 23, 2018

Many of Europe’s small firms to reinvent businesses over next five years

by Neil Franklin • News

Europe’s small and medium sized businesses are fundamentally re-evaluating their market offerings as they aim to keep pace with consumers’ demands in the digital age. According to new research commissioned by Ricoh Europe (registration required), a quarter (24 percent) of the 3,300 business leaders surveyed from across 23 countries expect to sell entirely different products and services within the next five years.

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November 19, 2018

Teams collaborate more effectively when they break off constant contact

by Mark Eltringham • News

Despite the understandable impulse organisations have to encourage people to be in constant communication with each other, teams often get better results when they collaborate only intermittently, according to a report How Intermittent Breaks in Interaction Improve Collective Intelligence, written by Ethan Bernstein, the Edward W. Conard Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School; Jesse Shore, assistant professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business; and David Lazer, professor at Northeastern University.

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November 16, 2018

More needs to be done to bridge the digital gender divide, says OECD

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Barriers to access, education and skills, as well as ingrained socio-cultural biases, are driving a digital gender divide that is holding back women’s participation in the digital economy, according to a new OECD report. Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Include, Upskill, Innovate says women are not currently empowered to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital transformation. While G20 economies have taken important actions to narrow gender gaps in general, more needs to be done to increase the participation of women and girls in the digital economy so that they too can contribute to and benefit from the digital transformation that is under way.

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November 16, 2018

New report writes an obituary for the commercial office lease

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

A new white paper from Magenta Associates (registration required) explores the fate of the traditional commercial office lease in the context of deep social, political and economic changes. Earlier this year, a group of senior corporate real estate (CRE) and facilities management professionals were invited to participate in a roundtable, led by author of The Elemental Workplace Neil Usher, to discuss whether time is up for the traditional commercial office lease and how viable alternatives might look in the future.

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November 15, 2018

Are you ready for the world of agile working we will experience in the 2020s?

by John Eary and Paul Allsopp • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Some organisations believe they have ‘done’ Agile Working. They have increased the ratio of people to desks and achieved a saving in accommodation costs. They have provided flexible working arrangements across the organisation and have enabled their people to work at home for part of their working week. Staff surveys show employees are pleased with the opportunities and benefits this provides them. But organisations cannot afford to become comfortable or complacent, there are greater opportunities to grasp. As in any transformation initiative, Agile Working is more than a project it is a cultural journey involving continuing change to achieve continuous improvement. Agile Working is moving on.

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November 14, 2018

Employee cybersecurity only getting worse as digitised workplace grows

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology

New research suggests as the supposed ‘technologically savvy’ millennials enter the workforce they are more likely than older workers to break the most basic of security rule, reusing passwords across different accounts. This is according to the results of the 10th Annual Market Pulse Survey from SailPoint Technologies Holdings, which finds that despite an increased focus on cybersecurity awareness in the workplace, employees’ poor cybersecurity habits are getting worse, which is compounded by the speed and complexity of the digital transformation. (more…)

November 9, 2018

Gen Z are technologically literate but not actually robots, Dell study confirms

by Freddie Steele • News, Technology

Generation Z is entering the workforce, bringing with it a tech-first mentality that will propel businesses further into the digital era while potentially deepening the divide among five generations in the workplace. According to global research commissioned by Dell Technologies, post-millennials – those born after 1996 and known as Gen Z – have a deep, universal understanding of technology and its potential to transform how we work and live.