Search Results for: technologies

Only one fifth of workers see AI as a threat to their jobs

Only a fifth of workers see artificial intelligence as a threat to their jobs according to a new report. Over a third of male workers (39 percent) feel artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will make them better at tackling day-to-day tasks, in contrast to less than a quarter of female workers (24 percent). This gender gap in attitudes and expectations towards AI in the workplace is revealed in a report released by TalkTalk Business with research conducted by YouGov. This stands in stark contrast to a recent prediction by thinktank, Reform, which said that 250,000 public sector administrative jobs could be at risk by 2030 because of automation. Key decision makers surveyed were alert to the sweeping changes ahead, with 47 percent explaining that their companies intend to upskill their workforces to understand and utilise these newer technologies.

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Cities in developed world are less confident in their digital ecosystems

According to a new study from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), business leaders in 45 cities around the world are relatively confident that they can find the support they need for their digital transformation efforts. Many city environments come up short, however, particularly in the supply of digital talent. The study claims that firms in Bangalore, San Francisco and Mumbai display the greatest degree of confidence while executives in developed world cities are some of the least confident, including those in Berlin, Tokyo and Yokohama. The study also claims that half of businesses (48 percent) have considered relocating operations to a city with a more favourable environment.

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Best practice in flexible working and gender diversity honoured at awards presentation

Workingmums.co.uk has announced the winners of its eighth annual Top Employer Awards, celebrating the leading companies in gender diversity and flexible working. The Awards were presented at a ceremony at London’s Soho Hotel on 7th November where the keynote speaker was Ann Francke, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute. Winner of the Overall Top Employer Award was Lloyds Banking Group. The judges felt it was ‘a beacon for other employers with regard to its agile hiring programme which was a root and branch attempt to normalise different ways of working from recruitment onwards. It was a strong performer across all the categories and had made a major step forward in embedding a flexible culture.’

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Over half of remote workers say their colleagues don’t treat them equally

Over half of remote workers say their colleagues don’t treat them equally

Over half (52 percent) of people who work remotely feel their colleagues don’t treat them equally, claims a new study. Working remotely has become a highly sought-after job perk and having the flexibility to live and work where you please, regardless of corporate headquarters, often draws people to take one job over another. But a survey from VitalSmarts produced by David Maxfield and Joseph Grenny, authors of the bestsellers Crucial conversations and Crucial Accountability, found that remote employees have a significantly harder time with a number of workplace challenges than their onsite colleagues. 67 percent of remote employees complained that colleagues didn’t fight for their priorities compared 59 percent of onsite employees. 41 percent of remote employees believed colleagues say bad things about them behind their back compared to 31 percent of onsite employees and 64 percent of remote employees had changes made to a project without warning vs. 58 percent of onsite employees. Over a third (35 percent) of remote employees thought colleagues were lobbying against them vs. 26 percent of onsite employees.

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Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

Boundary-less workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspaces

'Boundary-less' workplaces must offer contextual, personalised workspacesThe future workplace will replace familiar, rigid hierarchies and departments with small, collaborative networks of teams and the lines between individual organisations and ecosystems will blur as companies increasingly cast their net wider to innovate. This is one of the predictions made in a Fujitsu-commissioned whitepaper ‘Workplace 2025’ which argues that businesses must rethink social and technology strategies to plan for the future workplace – or risk being left behind. To appeal to future employees with the right skills, the whitepaper, which was produced by European research firm Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) advises that businesses must ensure they are moving towards an environment that provides contextual, personalised workspaces aligned to the individual needs of users. At the same time, they should plan to encourage enhanced peer collaboration by implementing technologies such as augmented reality. The Workplace 2025 report foresees that today’s organisational structures will become more agile, adapting to constantly-changing economic conditions, competitive landscapes and customer demands.

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Saudi Arabia announces plans for $500 billion mega city in region

Saudi Arabia announces plans for $500 billion mega city in region

Following last week’s announcement that Toronto is to create a digital city along its waterfront, Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans to build a $500 billion ‘mega-city’ spanning parts of several countries. The plans announced this week are a response to the need for the kingdom to produce a more diverse economic base and will create a zone that will run on alternative energy and have its own legal system and employment laws. The region will be known as Neom, a name derived from terminology meaning ‘New Future’ and will span parts of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan along the Red Sea coastline as a 26,500 square kilometre development of previously untouched land (pictured). Plans inevitably include technologies such as driverless cars, drones and robots, and were unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh this week. The zone is expected to cost around $500 billion (£380.5 billion) and will be powered entirely by renewable energy and focus on industries including energy, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment.

Security and skills are the top concerns for companies investing in new technology

Security and skills are the top concerns for companies investing in new technology

Over the next five years, the top three technologies that are set to move from the fringes to the business mainstream are Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and the Internet of Things, according to CBI research. In the CBI’s new report, Disrupting the future, the UK business group highlights how firms and the government must pave the way for adoption of cutting-edge technologies, tackling the barriers that businesses are facing. The CBI is calling on the Government to establish a joint commission in early 2018 involving, business, employee representatives, academics and a Minister, to examine the impact of Artificial Intelligence on people and jobs, setting out plans for action that will raise productivity, spread prosperity and open up new paths to economic growth.

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Freelancers to make up a majority of US workforce within a decade

Freelancers to make up a majority of US workforce within a decade

Freelance website Upwork and the Freelancers Union have published the results of a report called Freelancing in America: 2017, which the sponsors claim is the most comprehensive measure of the US independent workforce, (but given their vested interests probably needs you to add a pinch of salt and always worth reading Trustpilot reviews). The fourth annual study estimates that 57.3 million Americans are freelancing (36 percent of the US workforce) and contribute approximately $1.4 trillion annually to the economy, an increase of almost 30 percent since last year.

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Plans announced for Digital City on Toronto waterfront

Plans announced for Digital City on Toronto waterfront

Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is to build a ‘digital city’ in Toronto to showcase smart city technology and a range of other cutting edge innovations and examples of best practice. The aim is to turn the Eastern waterfront area of the city into a working laboratory for a range of technologies such as fast wi-fi, millions of smart city sensors, sustainable energy and autonomous cars. The over 3 million s. ft. mixed-use development in Toronto will also be built using cutting edge innovations in construction. Google is already set to become the first major tenant in the development with an office for 300 employees of its Canadian HQ. Sidewalk Labs and the local authorities hope to turn the area into a “place for tens of thousands of people to live, work, learn and play – and to create and advance new ideas that improve city life”.

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Unequal access and usage could hold back potential of global digital economy

Unequal access and usage could hold back potential of global digital economy

Digital technologies continue to make impressive advances. Internet infrastructure is improving and the usage of digital tools is growing. The social impacts of digital innovation have also become more pronounced in diverse fields. However, progress is uneven across countries, businesses, and within societies. Broadening access to digital opportunities and helping those lagging behind to catch up would increase the benefits of the digital transformation and help ensure they are widely shared across economies and people, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2017 says government policy has not kept pace with the digital innovation and transformation of economies and societies led by big technology firms. It calls on countries need to step up their efforts, invest more in education and skills and encourage greater use of advanced technologies like big data analysis and cloud computing, in particular by small businesses, to make the digital shift more productive and inclusive.

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Government sets out its vision for a low carbon UK

Government sets out its vision for a low carbon UK

A strategy setting out how the UK plans to lead the world in cutting carbon emissions to combat climate change while driving economic growth, has been published by the Government. The Clean Growth Strategy: Leading the way to a low carbon future builds on the UK’s progress to date. Carbon emissions in the UK have fallen and national income risen faster than any other nation in the G7 since 1990, according to the report, with emissions down by 42 percent while the economy has grown by 67 percent.

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Major US surveys uncover ambivalent attitudes towards the impact of technology and automation on our lives

Major US surveys uncover ambivalent attitudes towards the impact of technology and automation on our lives

The ambivalent attitude many people hold towards technology is laid bare in two major new studies from the Pew Research Centre. When asked to name what has brought about the biggest improvements in their lives over the last 50 years, technology is the most commonly cited factor by people across the US. They are even optimistic that technology will have a similarly beneficial impact over the next half century. Yet when asked about their specific attitudes towards artificial intelligence and automation in a second survey, many are apprehensive about the impact the technologies will have on their jobs and income.

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