A lack of diversity in the technology sector has been a topic of ongoing debate for a long time, and although many initiatives exist to try to change this, the dial is slow to turn.
In the year that Computer Weekly’s list of the most influential women in UK tech entered its 10th year, what were the main conversations surrounding diversity in the tech sector, and are changes starting to take effect?

1. Biased language deters half of female candidates, finds Openreach
Hiring processes are the first port of call for most people entering organisations, but they can also be where companies fail to make the proper moves to recruit from diverse talent pools.
Openreach found that women are put off by biased language in job postings which can make it seem like roles are more suitable for men than for them.
In many cases, companies don’t realise the language they are using in job postings is biased, and Openreach suggested a number of ways to make job postings more accessible, including removing hidden gendered phrases, being aware of whether active or passive language is used, and reworking the way the key skillsets needed were described.


2. Almost 70% of IT staff say firms working on tech gender diversity
As part of Computer Weekly’s own annual research, it was found that 67% of IT employees said their firms were working on gender diversity in 2020.
While improving the gender split in IT teams appears to be forefront in the minds of many IT leaders, only 29% said their company actually had a plan in place to help improve the balance of men and women in their tech teams.
Almost 60% of those asked also said increasing ethnic diversity in their IT teams is something their organisation is working towards, and many other diversity-related topics are also being addressed.


3. More than 20% of tech employees hesitant to speak about diversity
When the Tech Talent Charter’s annual benchmarking report found many tech workers are hesitant to bring up diversity topics, TTC’s CEO, Debbie Forster, said that in some cases it may be because people are scared to say the wrong thing, but also pointed out that doing nothing at all is worse.
TTC’s research found that 22% of tech workers are hesitant to bring up diversity issues, a number that increases to 32% among ethnic minorities.
But those in the tech sector are well aware that diversity and inclusion in the industry is something that needs to be addressed, with 80% saying D&I initiatives are necessary to push progress forward.  
Continue reading: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252510806/Top-10-women-in-tech-and-diversity-in-tech-stories-of-2021

Alot of changes characterized the drone industry in 2020 and 2021 that has Commercial UAV News and the industry excited for what 2022 has in store. One of the more exciting trends we’ve seen was witnessing American-made solutions become major players in the drone space, with companies like Skydio leading the charge. 
Getting a foothold in the drone market has been a challenge for American companies for many years. Other American companies have tried to contend with DJI’s majority share hold in the past, like 3DR and Airware, but they eventually left the market, leaving the behemoth relatively unscathed. Today, we are seeing that dynamic changing in a big way.
In 2021 alone, Skydio was named Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan, was given numerous awards like the CES Innovation Award for its X2 drone, and AUVSI’s Innovators Award for their 3D Scan software product. They were named one of the 10 most innovative companies in robotics by Fast Company and were given a $1 Billion Dollar valuation (the first American drone company to reach that benchmark). They were also  tapped to supply short-range reconnaissance drones to the US Army, witnessed the approval of their technology, their dock-based Skydio drones, to operate autonomously along a large portion of the BNSF Railway, and launched their 3D Scan and Skydio Cloud software products–the first of many steps toward becoming a full-stack solution. By any metric, Skydio has seen phenomenal growth and success in 2021. 
So, what were the conditions that led to this level of success? Skydio has attributed this to evolving market dynamics, its ability to attract top talent to the drone industry, and its focus on building solutions that work for enterprise customers. They believe that these factors have created an environment where companies who position themselves with the right culture, talent, and industry knowledge can compete with incumbent market leaders.
Continue reading: https://www.commercialuavnews.com/construction/why-was-2021-the-rise-of-the-american-made-drone

If you hear gunshots in an urban setting, it's important to get the police to their source as quickly as possible. A new system is being developed to help, by combining autonomous drones with an existing shot-locating technology.
Already in use in over 120 cities in the US, South Africa and the Caribbean, the American ShotSpotter system utilizes a network of microphones within a neighborhood to detect "loud, impulsive sounds."
Whenever such a sound is detected, its geographical originating point can be triangulated by analyzing the millisecond differences in the times at which it was picked up by the different microphones – the closer a mic was to the gun, the earlier it will have detected the sound of that gun firing. That said, a combination of AI software and human staff (at a control center) is used to determine if the sound is indeed gunfire.
Continue reading: https://newatlas.com/drones/shotspotter-airobotics-drones-gunshots/

Earlier this year, the Dixie Fire became the second-largest wildfire in California’s history. And, as the Guardian reports, the U.S. wildfire season has been growing longer with each passing year, which scientists attribute to climate change.
“Wildfires are starting earlier, burning more intensely and scorching swaths of land larger than ever before,” the Guardian notes. “Risks for large, catastrophic fires like the Camp fire that leveled the town of Paradise in 2018 are rising.”
Against that backdrop, state agencies such as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CAL FIRE, and local fire departments have increasingly been turning to firefighting drones to help them battle fires. Drones equipped with advanced sensors can offer enhanced situational awareness to fire departments.
Together, the use of artificial intelligence, data analysis and drone technology are giving fire departments a new suite of tools to combat fires that are growing in size, frequency and intensity. These tools are also showing promise to help firefighters in urban environments.
How Are Drones Used in Firefighting?
Drones have been used for several years to help combat fires. A key function of drones in the firefighting context is that they provide situational awareness to commanders during what are inherently chaotic situations.
Continue reading: https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2021/12/firefighting-drones-help-localities-battle-blazes-wild-and-cities-perfcon

“IoT” has been a buzzword for years, and initially bankers may have thought, “Okay, whatever.” That’s changing as the hype becomes reality. Banking executives surveyed by the Digital Banking Report noted IoT growth as one of the top predictions for the future of banking. 29% of respondents said IoT solutions will drive more than a fifth of all transactions by 2025, and another 39% said that will happen by 2030.
Citibank researchers predict the coming era of physical objects operating as autonomous financial actors — which they call the “Thing Economy” — will create new business models, ecosystems and opportunities for many industries, including financial services.
“Financial institutions that facilitate trillions of dollars in global transaction flows daily are well-positioned to lead and grow in the Thing Economy, which could dramatically increase payment volumes,” the Citibankers wrote in a blog. “In the shorter term, the merging of the physical and digital worlds presents a major opportunity to work with partners on innovations that can become new ventures and products.”
From Payments to Embedded Commerce
Many financial institutions are already aware of the potential opportunities for consumer banking from IoT. After all, mobile apps and contactless payments are part of the broader concept. But so is Amazon’s popular virtual assistant Alexa and the Apple Watch.
In retail applications there is also the cashier-less Amazon Go Stores with their “Just Walk Out” concept — with payments handled by artificial intelligence and RFID tags directly to phones or watches. All these are already training consumers to make semi-automated payments through personal digital devices.
Continue reading: https://thefinancialbrand.com/126891/banking-internet-of-things-iot-payments-embedded-commerce-wearable-trend/

The resiliency of the U.S. hospitality industry in 2021 has been remarkable. A gradual and controlled recovery is well underway. PwC forecasts that US RevPAR for 2022 will be approximately 93% of 2019 levels. This is not a one-size-fits-all recovery, and different parts of the country are recovering faster than others; nonetheless, hotel owners and their operating partners are making critical decisions around the future operating model. For example, investments in technology are accelerating and areas such as revenue management are successfully driving pricing power whereby average room rates have been significantly higher during this pandemic than in previous downturns. Technology investments around employee and guest safety have become a priority, and a tool for staff retention at a time where labor is the defining issue in the new operating model.
Hotel ownership is demanding their management partners do more with less, to create greater operating efficiency and employee contentment. To this end, industry stakeholders are prioritizing certain technology investments and have found that deploying an Internet of Things (IoT) geolocation platform can be an unexpected source of savings.
Continue reading: https://www.hotelbusiness.com/how-an-iot-geolocation-solution-can-help-boost-employee-morale-and-your-bottomline/

Although a collection of hardware, software and networking components makes up IoT, this connected ecosystem's real value is its ability to generate, move, analyze and respond to data.
Yet, according to security experts and IoT leaders, many organizations do not implement adequate security measures to protect the data within their IoT deployments.
Recent research confirms such assessments.
The IoT and IIoT Security Survey, from security software company Tripwire and Dimensional Research, polled 312 IoT security professionals in early 2021. The survey found that 99% of respondents faced challenges -- such as tracking IoT device inventory, validating compliance with security policies and establishing secure configurations -- when securing their organization's IoT and industrial IoT devices. And 53% of respondents were concerned about the risks associated with those devices.
These figures speak to the security of the overall environment through which the data flows. And that indicates potential trouble for many users.
"There seems to be a common thread in that organizations don't have a fundamental understanding of the dangers and risks inherent in the IoT environment, and they're accepting more risks than they should," said Kriss Warner, practice lead and cybersecurity consultant at Info-Tech Research Group.
Continue reading: https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/tip/Fortify-security-with-IoT-data-protection-strategies

FinTech refers to software and other modern technologies used by businesses that provide automated and improved financial services. FinTech in our daily life is Mobile Payment apps, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain like Bitcoin and Gemini. In the future, the range of FinTech services is predicted to transform the market even more with A.I. and machine learning and will make FinTech products an integral part of our digitalized life.
FinTech refers to the synergy between finance and technology, enhancing business operations and delivering financial services. FinTech can take the form of software, a service, or a business that provides technologically advanced ways to make financial processes more efficient by disrupting traditional methods.
FinTechs role in society is becoming more vital than ever, mainly due to Covid-19. FinTech can be used anywhere, by anyone meaning it becomes accessible to people who may never have taken advantage of financial services before. Through access to essential financial services such as mobile money and e-wallets, FinTech companies are helping lift people out of poverty and create a more financially inclusive world.
The following are 5 Influential women in the FinTech industry:
Continue reading: https://ibsintelligence.com/ibsi-news/5-influential-women-in-the-fintech-industry/

Industry Leaders had the pleasure of interviewing Elissa Moses, the brains behind BrainGroup Global, a company that combines the best of neuroscience understanding and methods in the service of big-name clients.
Industry Leaders: How does HARK Connect and BrainGroup Global help females lead the field of science and technology?
Elissa Moses: The best way to lead is to start by showcasing role models. At HARK Connect we help connect females in the field of science and technology first by being leaders in the field. Important members of our team including myself as Managing Partner of HARK Connect, our COO of parent company MediaScience, the heads of our HARK Technicians Group and the head of our HARK Sales Team are all women in tech who lead by example and by mentoring others. We also make a practice of frequently hiring female interns.
At BrainGroup Global we have a great track record hiring female designers, copywriters, semiologists, researchers and academic partners. We also are in perpetual motion as thought leaders writing articles, book chapters, serving on panels and giving speeches to have a visible seat at one of the most important tables, which is the table of ideas.
Continue reading: https://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/rising-stars-elissa-moses-for-women-in-tech/

Today’s Woman in Tech: Kristi Flores, CMO at Tektronix (a Fortive Company)
As the Chief Marketing Officer at Tektronix, Kristi Flores is passionate about leading her global team of marketers. She excels at helping her team develop and hone their skills through the Fortive Business System (FBS), a powerful set of tools and methods developed by Tek’s parent company, Fortive, to help drive growth, innovation, and continuous improvement. In addition to heading up the global marketing team, Kristi leads the ALLIES Across Fortive, an employee and friends resource group that promotes allyship and elevates inclusion and diversity across Fortive companies. Kristi serves on the board of directors of the Technology Association of Oregon.
Kristi was born in Oregon and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from Willamette University before starting her 18-year career in high tech. Prior to her 13-year career at Tektronix, Kristi spent five years at Planar systems working in sales and product marketing.
When did you become interested in technology? What first got you interested in tech?
I first became interested in technology when I was a senior in high school. My senior project was to create a video for our graduation party to showcase all of the graduating seniors – which back in 1998 that meant scanning hundreds of photos and then connecting them in a digital program and adding music. At the time, I didn’t have the equipment to do it so for months I would go to my mentor’s house and use his equipment – it required long hours and was tedious, but I loved it. It’s amazing to see how accessible this technology is now.
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-flores-176273.html

Is the U.S. government finally beginning the road toward an American digital currency regime?
On Friday, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, under the leadership of Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, announced to the world that U.S. financial regulators were ready to move toward some regulation that would address the risk to the financial system presented by stablecoins.
Stablecoins are digital currencies that are pegged to national currencies, like the U.S. dollar.
The growth of stablecoins has been enormous and, the report stated that the threat of these assets is to impose substantial volatility on financial markets.
These threats come from volatile prices in the market, the potential for fraud, and the illegal transfer of funds across geographic boundaries.
The report said,
"If stablecoins are marketed with the claim that they will maintain a stable value, they may be subject to widespread redemptions and asset liquidations if investors doubt the credibility of that claim."
In other words, more stringent risk-management standards must be imposed upon the market.
This day was coming. To me, it was just a matter of time.
But, as my readers know, I have been anxious that the U.S. government was not moving fast enough.
Continue reading: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4476270-blockchain-is-future-of-finance

Enterprise blockchain has come a long way since its inception in 2017. Blockchain for enterprise use initially began as a technology built on private, permissioned networks, primarily used for supply chain management. As blockchain matured overtime, enterprises began to leverage public, permission less networks like Ethereum to conduct business. 
Fast forward to 2021 — enterprises are now applying decentralized concepts to create more efficient workflows in the Metaverse. William Herkelrath, head of business development at Chainlink Labs — a decentralized oracle network — told Cointelegraph that while the Metaverse is hard to define, he believes that it’s a collection of ecosystems that are growing naturally out of decentralized finance, or DeFi:

“Enterprises need to be interacting with the outside world and will therefore be forced to have ecosystems in the Metaverse. For example, consumers want to use loyalty programs outside of single platforms, so they will be more likely to choose brands that ensure rewards can be used within other ecosystems. The Metaverse allows for data, physical assets, commercial and financial assets to be set up in a layer outside of a centralized environment.”

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The Metaverse for enterprises
While the concept may sound futuristic, a number of enterprises leveraging blockchain are beginning to embrace the Metaverse. This topic was discussed in-depth last Wednesday at the European Blockchain Convention’s virtual conference, during a panel entitled “Building the Enterprise Multiverse.”
Continue reading: https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-enables-enterprise-business-models-in-the-metaverse

Every day, auto manufacturers, sellers and insurance providers process millions of payments through bank transactions, web and mobile services and cash operations. While proven and familiar, these payment channels share the same imperfections: excessive paperwork, constantly increasing transaction fees, lack of transparency and cybersecurity risks. The blockchain might be the cure for these ills.
Having promising potential as a financial tool, blockchain technology can be successfully implemented to handle payments across the automotive industry, including for:
• Car manufacturers and vehicle sellers.
• Ridesharing and carsharing services.
• Integration with other technology.
In this article, I'll discuss how the blockchain can improve the security and performance of financial operations in three use cases. I will also share some insights from my company's recent projects to look at potential use cases and explain the benefits and challenges.
Continue reading: 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/22/blockchain-in-the-automotive-sector-three-use-cases-and-three-challenges/?sh=6e3e1eb92508

Global technology and consulting company Indra has added a new capability to its payment system for road tolls: the recording of transactions on a blockchain. Developed as part of the EU-funded CRITICAL-CHAINS project, this capability will increase the transparency and traceability of toll transactions. The pilot solution is being deployed on a highway in Mexico.
Fraud and cyberattacks on road toll systems affect both road owners and users. For road users, they mainly come in the form of fraudulent emails claiming recipients failed to pay for using a toll road. However, road owners are impacted by a wider range of scams, including the use of counterfeit fuel and credit cards to pay tolls, hacked toll systems and the failure of concessionaires to record all toll payments. The CRITICAL-CHAINS partner is offering a solution to this problem.
Multiple benefits
To cover all parties, back office toll systems should be able to ensure transactional integrity, clearing between operators, payments to the central entity, financial auditing and fraud control. According to a news item posted on Indra’s website, incorporating blockchain into related processes and transactions “allows to reduce conflicts between the different participants due to possible disagreements, protects against possible cyber-attacks, and it also facilitates settlement and auditing tasks.”
Continue reading: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/435515-blockchain-makes-road-tolls-more-secure

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is something that used to belong firmly in the realms of science fiction. Yet now, it is widely accepted and often integral to many aspects of how we do business. Our businesses use it for everything from spam filters to managing inventory turn over. And in ecommerce, we use it for aspects such as personalization and fraud detection. 
You also see high usage of AI and automation in call centers, especially with tools such as a predictive dialer. But how can we use AI in marketing? And, more specifically, how can we use AI to drive our affiliate marketing programs? Knowing how to use it properly has the potential to increase effectiveness and, ultimately, our revenue and profit margins.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Knowing the current trends in marketing that will affect your strategy and content is something every marketer should know and pay attention to. 
Affiliate marketing is the process where you, as a third party, promote the products or services offered by a business in order to drive sales. You are independent of that company and may very well be marketing products on behalf of several different brands. When your promotional and marketing work leads to a sale, then you receive a commission. 
With the pandemic driving online sales in the USA to a massive $26.7 trillion in 2021, affiliate marketing represents a great opportunity for both retailers and for affiliate marketers. For example, many publications use hyperlinks within articles to direct readers to a particular website offering the product being discussed. 
Continue reading: https://customerthink.com/harnessing-ai-to-amplify-your-affiliate-marketing-program/

The British technology sector enjoyed its best year of investment yet, attracting £29.4 billion in 2021. So, why hasn’t the UK’s AI and tech scene made it to the same global superpower status that we see from China, Russia, and the US?
We don’t need to wait for the results of the government’s recent National AI Strategy, to know that deeper change is needed to really propel the industry forward. To create an AI scene that can compete on the world stage, education, ambition, and innovation must be combined and accelerated.
Here are three tactics I believe could propel the UK’s AI industry forward this year:

1. Promote collaboration between academia and business
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   To capitalize on the promise of AI, businesses and universities must build stronger links between one another, to drive innovation that can more quickly and effectively reach the market. The UK government knows this.
   In its AI strategy, the government paid special attention to collaboration. But industry and academia are still, too often, working in silos. We can learn from countries like the US and Israel for inspiration here. These nations are successfully empowering both parties to accelerate national AI capabilities, with active sharing of information and increased joint ventures.
   Continue reading: https://artificialintelligence-news.com/2021/12/21/making-the-uk-an-ai-superpower/

Evolution Of Marketing
Technology has transformed the way brands communicate and engage with potential customers. About 100 years ago, people relied on paper flyers, newspaper ads, billboards, direct mail and in-person interactions as a form of marketing to promote their business. In today’s digital-first landscape, marketing has become more reliant on the internet, social media and online advertising.
Marketing has evolved over the past decades, and we’re now in an era of digital revolution where marketing is completely dependent on consumers who dictate what content they want to receive. The growth of AI technology has opened up even more opportunities for marketing professionals who can benefit from AI automation. AI-powered marketing saves businesses a lot of time and resources spent on gathering and analyzing data and helps fully optimize the performance of marketing campaigns, which would otherwise be impossible in the case of traditional marketing campaigns.
Here I will go over some great ways artificial intelligence can benefit your marketing.
Predictive Marketing
Marketers have long used data to understand consumer behavior and trends, predict future needs and optimize their campaigns accordingly. Data-driven marketing planning has become even more advanced with the advent of AI technology. Using historical data models and statistics with a combination of AI solutions, predictive analytics delivers advanced insights to understand campaign effectiveness, predict future behaviors and make better marketing decisions.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/22/how-to-use-the-power-of-ai-for-marketing-success/?sh=2c4cfb7b783e

Drones are great. I have one, and they’re fun, cool, and amazing, showing you views and providing capabilities you could never enjoy without them.
They’re also super-dangerous in the wrong hands.
“For $2,000 you can breach any fence in the world,” Dedrone CEO Aaditya Devarakonda, who goes by AD, told me last week on the TechFirst podcast. “It's the most asymmetric threat out there.”
Iran is using military drones in Syria and ISIS has been using cheap commercial drones like the DJI Phantom for five years. The bigger concern, however, is drone use by terrorists against civilian and infrastructure targets. And this concern, if you think about it, is terrifying. With a $500 drone and a small explosive payload, terrorists could shut down an oil refinery, causing months of chaos and shortages. With a poisonous or infectious substance, open-air stadiums and event crowds are just as vulnerable.
“A particularly frightening application of drones is the distribution of chemical and biological agents, especially infectious diseases,” Major Thomas G. Pledger wrote recently. “Terrorists do not even have to use an actual biological or chemical weapon to perpetrate the attack. The simple act of spraying water or some other household cleaning agent over a crowded area would be enough to create panic.”
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2021/12/20/drone-defense-how-to-detect-and-stop-drone-based-terrorism/?sh=26a1af8b1a46

IoT, or Internet of Things, is the culmination of multiple technologies that started back in the 1970’s. There were many companies that contributed in IoT technology, from companies in computer technologies, Internet, satellites, and advanced chip technologies that make all of these connectivity’s possible.
For any business looking to grow and make advancements, there are many open possibilities; for example, R&D can bring new products and new revenue streams, but that is always a cost barrier. When businesses invest in a new technology, they plan to have an ROI (Return of Investment) in a short period of time, otherwise they may face financial challenges. Therefore, large R&D projects which bring breakthrough technologies and products are avoided by small and mid-size companies, only because of the necessity of large capital investment.
Therefore, these businesses are missing out on some opportunities that only very large corporations with unlimited funds can pursue.  But what is nice about IoT is the fact that most of the technology is already developed and available, so with minimal investment a business can attain significant achievements.
Continue reading: https://themarketingfolks.com/iot-technology-or-opportunity/

What up to a few years ago seemed an abstract concept, the Internet of Things (IoT) is today a reality present in many aspects of life. 
As a company that is continuously seeking innovative solutions to its customers’ growing needs, GO has embraced this reality, and through GO Business, has just launched its Asset Tracking solution, allowing business clients to keep track of their valuable equipment and assets.
“For most businesses, it is a constant challenge to keep track of valuable assets, equipment and goods while in transit or when deployed on the field. Assets are constantly misplaced,  damaged or stolen, and businesses incur significant costs and disruptions to locate, repair or replace such assets. Therefore, monitoring and tracking of these assets has become increasingly critical and this is what drove GO to develop Asset Tracking as our first IoT solution,” Victor Zammit, business development manager at GO Business, explains.
Through the use of small tracking devices that send periodic location reports to the GO IoT platform, companies can easily monitor and track these assets wherever they are located.  Through the platform, users have access to numerous features, including device management functionalities, the setting of alarms and alerts, reporting capabilities and advanced data analytics, delivering companies with significant cost savings, increased operational efficiency and better service to their respective clients.
Continue reading: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/go-launches-first-solution-on-its-internet-of-things-platform.922597

After years of lackluster starts in what I think of as the internet of electricity, we might be at an inflection point thanks to the very real perils of climate change. For at least a decade, companies and energy experts have envisioned a future where the electrical grid responds to market and demand signals to ultimately use less energy. That vision has evolved from using less energy to using more renewable energy and better matching the use of energy when it was created by renewable means (often during daylight hours, when solar and wind generation are strong).
But the last two years have led to a shift in how we view our reliance on the grid and how our portfolio of energy generation has exacerbated the problem of climate change. We need more resiliency in the grid. We also need to transition from coal, gas, and natural gas as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we’re beginning to realize that as we shift to a more information-rich grid that will become increasingly more dependent on renewable energy, there’s no way we’re going to actually use less energy. And this has huge implications for the smart home.
These two trends — electrification and resiliency — will drive investment into energy management technologies going forward. Let’s tackle electrification first.
New York City this week became the largest city in the country to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings. This means that gas dryers, ranges, and more are now forbidden in new construction. Other cities have taken similar steps.
Continue reading: https://staceyoniot.com/resiliency-and-electrification-will-drive-smart-energy/

The Nigerian technological industry is among the best in the world. It is the growth engine of the future and an attractive sector to work in. Apparently, this does not yet apply to women: the number of women working in a technical profession is low.
Girls and women lag in science and technology from school to work. Traditional attitudes, as well as direct and indirect discrimination, hinder progress.
Working methods are evolving at an unprecedented speed. Digitization, artificial intelligence and machine learning contribute, through automation, to the disappearance of many repetitive tasks of little or medium specialization.
That must change. Together with companies and education, the government wants to contribute to more women opting for – and continuing to work in – technology. One of the crucial aspects is greater equality in the labor market. Greater gender equality offers huge opportunities for the overall economy, technology sector, businesses and individuals.
Continue reading: https://www.pulse.ng/business/how-to-fix-the-low-participation-of-women-in-tech/dv5m49y

We are living in a time of disruption and transformation, where technology is proving to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the global economy.
Yet, despite the incredible opportunities this sector offers, not enough women are pursuing technology as a career path and not enough girls are studying computer science at school.
While the number of women working in technology increased to 31% over the past year, studies show the gender diversity of UK technology leaders remains unchanged with only 10% women. This is disappointingly low, given that organizations with 30% female leaders see a 15% increase in profitability compared to those lacking female leadership. Not to mention the fact that inclusivity leads to better problem-solving as cognitively diverse groups find solutions faster than teams who are cognitively similar. And in an industry that is all too familiar with a fast-changing landscape – especially in COVID times – such responsiveness leaves companies better positioned to adapt quickly. 
Getting more women into technology careers has never been more important to try and close the gender gap, but it’s the old-fashioned stereotypes that are hindering progress – with the most prevalent bias being that women are inherently less technically inclined. Where one may see working in technology as a lucrative career option, many young women see it as isolating, uncreative, and still an impenetrable boys club. Perhaps what’s most concerning is these stereotypes start as early as 7 years old and are hard to shake when entering secondary school.
So how can we bust these myths? And what can technology companies and the government do to encourage more women into technology?
Continue reading: https://technative.io/want-to-encourage-more-women-in-tech-its-time-to-tackle-the-bias/

2021 was the year, unarguably, that blockchain and cryptoassets moved from a fringe topic and emerging conversation to a mainstream idea and item that has moved to the mainstream financial markets conversation. That said, and even taking into account the rapid rise in market capitalization of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, there is still substantial ambiguity surrounding the future of this sector. Even as regulatory and policy makers began to make substantial progress in both the understanding and treatment of cryptoassets, much ambiguity remains. Predicting the future is always a trick business, and is especially so when trying to forecast or predict a space that is moving as fast as blockchain and cryptoassets.
That said, it is it the time of year for lists, predictions and forecasts, so let’s take a look at some of the things that might happen in 2022.
NFTs will become boring. This might strike some readers as a bit of a reach, especially since there is so much that is misunderstood by the mainstream marketplace in terms of how non-fungible tokens (NFTs) operate and are valued. What is often missed in the current conversations around NFTs, and a direct result of the skyrocketing prices, is the true value and use case of NFTs.
NFTs, at the truest form, represent digital proof of ownership that is secured by an underlying blockchain. Since increasing amounts of information and data – at both the individual and institutional level – are stored in a virtual format, it makes sense that securing these records will become a priority moving forward.
Not as scintillating as watching prices for NFTs vacillate, but blockchain enabled ownership appears to be the future of NFTS for mainstream adoption.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/seansteinsmith/2021/12/20/crypto-and-blockchain-predictions-for-2022/?sh=56c81f972ecd

India has the potential to emerge a leader in this space
From being a Bitcoin platform, as conceived by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, blockchain has come a long way to emerge as an encompassing innovative backbone technology to add value to businesses across sectors, much beyond the originally planned cryptocurrency realm.
It is good to see the technology coming of age in India too, with the government making a move to set up a national blockchain framework to prepare a centralized ecosystem that will cover as many as 44 sectors including e-governance.
Moreover, the move to leverage the potential of this emerging technology through a policy framework will bring India on a par with countries like China, the UAE, the US, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland which have already made big leaps in the blockchain space.
Continue reading: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/blockchain-tech-is-the-future/article37999487.ece