The Commerce Department is actively recruiting candidates to serve on the government’s newly-formed National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, or NAIAC—where they’ll inform President Joe Biden and agencies on issues raised by the emerging technology.
At least nine members will serve up to two consecutive three-year terms on the committee, according to a recently released call for nominations. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is charged with providing administrative support to the high-level group.
“The announcement was posted just over a week ago and we have already had a good deal of interest, with more than 65 submissions so far,” NIST’s Public Affairs Director Jennifer Huergo told Nextgov on Friday.
AI is a complex technology that is increasingly prevalent in, and even shaping, many human lives. Agencies’ journeys to embrace the evolving capabilities vary, but they are guided in some ways by the National AI Initiative Act of 2020. The law incorporates many provisions, including ones to fund billions in federal investments over the next half-decade, to produce a broader AI national strategy, and to establish this new committee. Specifically, the policy directs the group to provide federal leaders with recommendations regarding AI-aligned competition, science and research, workforce, equity, strategy implementation and more.
“AI presents an enormous opportunity to tackle the biggest issues of our time, strengthen our technological competitiveness, and be an engine for growth in nearly every sector of the economy. But we must be thoughtful, creative, and wise in how we address the challenges that accompany these new technologies,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. “That includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that President Biden’s comprehensive commitment to advancing equity and racial justice extends to our development and use of AI technology.”
Expert leaders from a wide range of AI-relevant disciplines will be considered for the NAIAC. Once onboard, they will need to provide top government officials with insights around ethics, standards, education, civil rights implications, technology transfer, commercial application, research and development pursuits, and security, among other topics.
NIST already plays a prominent role in developing studies, standards and data necessary to help the government and nation fully realize the promises AI has to offer.
“Much of NIST’s work focuses on cultivating trust in the design, development, use and governance of artificial intelligence technologies and systems and this advisory committee will play a large role in advising the president in these areas,” Huergo noted.
Like every federal advisory committee, the NAIAC must have federal staff to organize, promote and support its meetings. NIST also has experience doing so already, including for the Information Security and Privacy Board.
Continue reading: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2021/09/nominations-national-artificial-intelligence-advisory-committee-are-flowing/185436/

The #SheTransformsIT alliance calls for more women in digital professions and wants, among other things, to enforce gender-sensitive language and IT as compulsory subjects. The more than 50 representatives from politics, business, culture, science and civil society are pursuing a 10-point plan with various measures. According to a study, the proportion of women in information technology and telecommunications (ITC) is 17 percent, and that should change. Companies such as Vodafone, Deutsche Bahn, SAP, Deutsche Post and Bosch support the project.
More “digital women”
As part of the digital promotion of children, the plan provides for the nationwide introduction of computer science as a compulsory subject – with the necessary additional qualifications for teachers and educators. The alliance also wants to promote more women at universities. Germany-wide guidelines for gender-sensitive language and role models to avoid gender stereotypes are also required. Extra-curricular measures should also give girls more opportunities in digitization.
According to the alliance, there is a lack of opportunities to get women into digital jobs and to keep them there. SheTransformsIT has identified a further problem that there is a lack of modern workplaces and care places for small children. The ministries should also anchor the sensitivity to equal opportunities in all areas. The initiative explicitly addresses the education ministries, as they take the decisive measures for school education.
Continue reading: https://marketresearchtelecast.com/more-women-in-it-alliance-wants-it-to-be-a-compulsory-subject/158414/

Part 91 flight department leaders aren’t just aviation experts, they’re also business leaders. After all, they are running a business within a business. And a big part of managing an in-house aviation organization is being in alignment with where the company's going.
“It’s critical that you’re able to understand where the industry is, so you can answer that question the shareholders are inevitably going to ask,” said Sean Lee, global vice president for The Coca-Cola Company. “You don’t get that from an out-of-house solution. Being proactive versus reactive makes for a very strong business case.”
Sean is the newest member of the NBAA board, and he recently spoke to our members about the need for business aviation leaders to have a “seat at the table.” So I asked him about what he has gained from having a seat at the table at Coke.
The two biggest takeaways are alignment and flexibility.
Alignment
Sean told me, “I’m trying to always figure out: What is our value statement? What is the business case for having an internal flight department? Because when it comes down to justifying the cost, the dollar figure usually isn't enough. (At least for most companies).”
By being in the know, Sean said, he’s able to guide his aviation strategy and provide consistent value to the company. “It comes down to whether the department is aligned with the strategy of the company,” he noted. “It’s about understanding the overall direction and delivering value; being proactive and creating solutions. We need to ask ourselves, ‘Can we be responsive to the company’s needs? And, are we aligned with a long-term view of where the company is going?’”
Flexibility
An in-house aviation operation is infinitely more flexible than an out-of-house operation, Sean said. The biggest factor is that an aviation director or v-p will be in the room when decisions need to be made (such as during the height of the pandemic). “Your team will be there to understand what pivots need to occur.”
Continue reading: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/blogs/ainsight-seat-table

Quick hits:

• Learn how drones can be used to collect data for Industrial Internet of Things applications.
• How artificial intelligence algorithms onboard drones can be used for anomaly detection and pattern recognition.
• Applying modeling software to photos taken by a drone can be used to help in the design, construction, and operations of manufacturing facilities.
• Automation is being incorporated into drones for battery and payload changes as well as automated takeoffs and landings.

Watch the video: https://www.automationworld.com/TakeFive/video/21723019/drones-as-an-automation-tool-take-five-with-automation-world

The 21st-century farmer’s toolkit goes beyond tractors, balers, and mowers. Nowadays, it frequently includes drones too.
Unmanned aerial vehicles can help with a slew of farm tasks, from crop dusting to crop monitoring. The market for commercial agricultural drones is projected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2020 to $5.7 billion by 2025, per Markets and Markets. 
And in the fast-growing world of cannabis farming specifically, the tech is widely used for security as well as crop monitoring, according to cultivators we spoke with. Some companies, like Houston-based drone startup Hylio, are looking to push into the cannabis space with crop-spraying drones too—a common use case among farmers in general—though the company hasn’t yet progressed beyond the demo stage with a cannabis company, and growers say that application is unusual for now.
Samantha Mikolajewski, cultivation manager at medical-cannabis cultivator at Maitri Genetics, told Emerging Tech Brew that because the company is focused on medical marijuana—and therefore grows indoors, to allow for full control over the process—drones aren’t used. But in a previous role at Good Buds Co, a 17-acre outdoor, recreational cultivation site in Canada, she used drones for crop monitoring.
“On a year-to-year basis, getting those high-quality photographs and timelapses really allowed us to monitor microclimates and assess areas where other cultivars would be more applicable to those microclimates,” Mik said. “If we have higher pest pressure or lower plant health in different areas, we would be able to see that [with drones].” 
For Flora Growth, an all-outdoor cannabis company based in Colombia and traded on the Nasdaq, drones are commonly used for security and data collection, Jason Warnock, the company’s chief revenue officer, told us. Warnock said it’s the cannabis-industry standard to at least use drones for security. 
“I think almost every grower uses drones, primarily to make assessments of their property, the security, having a good sense of all the positions around their facilities,” Warnock explained, adding that it’s particularly useful for large grows. 
He also said he’s seen a lot of anti-drone technology in use, because growers are concerned about snooping or the infestation of their plants by a drone unwittingly carrying in pests. 
“Because cannabis itself is very persnickety, it’s very delicate for a weed, growers are very, very, almost secretive—and protective—to not let any foreign...pathogen enter the space, including through drones,” Warnock said. “I’ve seen companies taking efforts, as much as having technologies, to take drones out of the sky.” 
Continue reading: https://www.morningbrew.com/emerging-tech/stories/2021/09/17/weed-farmers-using-drones-crop-cops

Today’s Woman in Tech: Susanna Lawson, CEO and Co-founder of OneFile
Susanna Lawson, CEO and Co-Founder of OneFile has grown OneFile from a start-up of 2 people from her spare bedroom in Manchester to a multi-million-pound company with over 85 employees. In 2017 Susanna was named Forward Ladies/HSBC Business Woman of the Year, as well as receiving the 2019 Outstanding Achievement EVAS award, and 2020 Director of the Year Equality, Diversity & Inclusion. Susanna is on the advisory panel of BAME Apprenticeship Alliance, has sat on the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s Business Advisory Panel and mentors many SME owners.
When did you become interested in technology?
I didn’t come from a tech background, but as I progressed through my career in the education sector, I started to witness the value of technology and how it could help address specific challenges I was facing.
How did you end up in your career path? What obstacles did you have to overcome?
Following my graduation from university, I started working with adults with learning difficulties. Despite having a psychology degree, I had to complete an NVQ in care to prove I had the practical skills required for the role. This was where my involvement in the vocational training sector began.
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-lawson-175355.html

Jean O’Neill, philanthropist, angel investor, mentor, and Vice President Channel at Appgate, will serve as a strategic advisor to the humanitarian nonprofit, Aspire2STEAM. According to a statement made today by Cheryl O’Donoghue, the organization’s CEO and Co-Founder, “Jean’s been advising Aspire2STEAM behind the scenes since 2018. Her passion for empowering women in tech and other STEAM-related fields will help guide the continued growth of our scholarship and mentoring program in 2022 and beyond, and we’re excited to have her on our team in this more official capacity.” In 2018 Jean first became aware of Aspire2STEAM’s work to help propel young women and girls pursuing STEAM careers when she and the nonprofit’s Cheryl O’Donoghue co-hosted a major industry tech event sponsored by the Alliance of Women. Jean later participated in two book projects which benefitted Aspire2STEAM scholars. “I’m fearlessly passionate about enabling other women in tech because as an industry it woefully lacks representation,” said Jean O’Neill. “I’ve seen firsthand how our businesses suffer without equal representation, and I’ve also seen tech companies thrive when female perspectives, thoughts, and experiences are included and respected. This is why it was an easy “yes” to become an advisor to Aspire2STEAM. Their work resonates with my core values and the notion of gender equality within the tech community and throughout the world.”
Continue reading: https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/550952514/jean-o-neill-to-serve-as-aspire2steam-advisor

As a leader in the STEM category and advocate of women in STEM, Kathryn Carter, General Manager, APAC Snap, kicks off by saying why it’s important to encourage more female coders.
Kathryn Carter, General Manager, APAC Snap, says: 
Unfortunately, women are significantly underrepresented in STEM fields, making it important to show that learning how to code is not only extremely beneficial, but it can also be fun. Coding is empowering and gives girls an equal shot. It increases their odds of having well-paid STEM jobs. We must also prop up female coders in the media so girls and young women have more role models to look up to.
At Snap, we believe in fostering an inclusive, creative, fun and safe environment for our community. It is about who we are, the values we hold, and what we put out into the world. 
Kathryn Carter is the General Manager of Snap Inc in ANZ, SEA & HK. She joined Snap Inc in 2016 to launch the platform in market and leads a team responsible for driving and managing advertising campaigns.
Continue reading: https://womenlovetech.com/national-coding-week/

“Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson is an apt description of what’s happening to the broker community today. You are under attack on all fronts. Carriers are developing direct-to-consumer communication mechanisms, private equity has seen the profit margins for broker companies and has aggressively moved in to acquire and expand, there is increasing pressure on brokers to heavily invest in their technological transformation initiatives to maintain relevance, and now the Internet of Things (IoT) devices have arrived that threaten to disrupt the fundamental insurance business model, and with it, broker commissions. This creates a firestorm for all those who have enjoyed a high renewal rate/lifestyle business for, in some cases, decades.
A very well-publicized example, Hippo Insurance provides to its insureds a smart home kit containing five sensors, which go on front and back doors, one on the ceiling in the kitchen, one near the washing machine, and one near the water heater. In exchange for using these devices, Hippo provides a premium discount of up to 25%. Using these devices is a condition of coverage and is reflected in the policy form.
When you understand that IoT devices have the fundamental opportunity to provide extremely effective risk management/mitigation strategies at scale, which could ultimately reduce insurance premiums by anywhere from 15-40%, there is a definite motivation to at least learn all you can about this threat so you can prepare for if and when it becomes necessary to do so. With the anti-rebating legislation that exists, there is still uncertainty around the go-to-market strategy for these IoT devices, at least for commercial insurance. However, with 60% of insurance companies that have piloted or are considering pilots of IoT programs and 15% of carriers have launched IoT-based solutions, this is something that brokers must pay attention to.
Continue reading: https://www.propertycasualty360.com/2021/09/17/the-internet-of-things-is-moving-the-brokers-cheese/?slreturn=20210817125512

It takes real intelligence and plenty of collaborative muscle to harness the potential of artificial intelligence. Most of us can barely grasp the concept of human-made machines learning how to process and analyze enormous amounts of data, then using that mass of information to understand things at new scales and in new combinations, delivering useful insights that our brains would never be able to produce on their own.
Now University of Delaware Prof. Rudolf Eigenmann, interim chair of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and professor of electrical and computer engineering, is playing a critical role in a new $20 million National Science Foundation-supported project designed to expand access to artificial intelligence.
AI for the masses, you might call it.
The project, called the NSF AI Institute for Intelligent Cyberinfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment (ICICLE), is one of 11 new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes the NSF announced recently. It is the second year of such investment by NSF. This $220 million in support follows the $140 million that created the first seven AI institutes in 2020. The overall effort now includes partners in 38 states.
Continue reading: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2021/september/artificial-intelligence-cyberinfrastructure-rudolph-eigenmann/

As a business leader, you probably want to improve your organization's diversity, merit, and fairness — whether related to hiring, advancement, teamwork, or other initiatives.
It's a critical area with high stakes. For example, there's evidence that diverse teams perform better, due to an integration of different skills and perspectives, and that fair systems generate employee devotion by giving credit where credit is due. Moreover, racial, gender, and other biases in hiring, promotion, and compensation have significant legal implications for businesses and other organizations.
The good news is that there are new ways to improve diversity, fairness, and merit — with the data already on hand in your enterprise. New technology enables you to use data to surface, understand, and address issues related to diversity and performance in unprecedented and sustainable ways.
The following are three specific ways to make that happen.
Continue reading: https://www.businessinsider.com/dei-ai-data-increase-diversity-inclusion-at-work-2021-9

O’Reilly this week published the results of its salary survey, which showed the average salary for AI and data professionals in the U.S. and the U.K. was $146,000 per year. While that’s certainly more than many jobs, it represents just a 2.25% annual rate of increase on average, according to the survey, which also sliced and diced the salaries by education, job title, gender, state, programming language, and platform.
Among the 3,136 data and AI professionals (ie. data scientists, data engineers, and AI and machine learning specialists) who took O’Reilly’s survey over the Internet in June, those from California earned the most, earning an average of $176,000 per year. That should not be surprising, considering the number of big tech firms who make their home in Silicon Valley, as well as the state’s overall high cost of living. Massachusetts, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland followed the Golden State, with average salaries less than $150,000.
Men accounted for 81% of the survey-takers, and they reported average salaries ($150,000) that were significantly higher than that for women ($126,000). Women earned just 84% of what men earned, the survey stated. “That differential held regardless of education,” O’Reilly points out in the survey.
However, despite the salary differential, a higher percentage of women had advanced degrees than men, according to the survey, which shows 16% of women had a doctorate, as opposed to 13% of men. And 47% of women had a master’s degree, as opposed to 46% of men.”
Continue reading: https://www.datanami.com/2021/09/16/data-and-ai-salaries-continue-upward-march-oreilly-says/

A CEO friend asked me, “Will AI ever be able to offer an ROI for enterprises?” I thought the answer through and wrote it down. Then, I realized that this information could be beneficial and valuable to many people, so here’s my answer, based on my experience in the artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity training industry. 
Let’s begin by defining where we stand and ask the same question about IT projects in general: “Will IT ever be able to offer an ROI for enterprises?” Here, the statistics are known to be about a 30% success rate. So, if AI, with a current success rate of about 15%, can reach the IT project success rate, we can consider the mission accomplished. 
What are the best practices for achieving success with AI? First, the quality of the AI answers should be “good enough.” The measure of “good enough” is called the “error rate.” For example, IBM’s translation in the 2010s was based on rules extracted from translations of Canadian parliament speeches. This rule-based approach was fragile and one had to add a manual check. So, an AI project based on the IBM technology of the 2010 timeframe would not deliver an ROI. Today, the accuracy of Google Translate reaches the 94% range. This quality is good enough, and people find it satisfactory.
In this instance, by “people,” I mean lawyers who are using it to translate the documents in their cases. Why am I choosing lawyers for my use case? Lawyers have a low tolerance for mistakes. So, when an AI algorithm offers its services, they demand precision from it.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/09/17/will-ai-ever-be-able-to-offer-an-roi-for-enterprises/?sh=2bf72bde2025

Regulators are clearing the runway for drones to transport vaccines and other live-saving drugs, in a ground-breaking venture funded by government.
The project, to be run by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is one of 21 bold new initiatives backed by the government’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund to propel cutting-edge innovation across the UK.
The Fund supports projects led by regulators and local authorities that help support the country’s regulatory environment to keep pace with technological advances of the future – benefiting both entrepreneurs and consumers.
Using its grant, the CAA will develop world-first standards for special containers that will allow drones to safely carry sensitive goods like medical products, so that remote communities can access critical supplies without delay. At present, there is no regime anywhere in the world for testing and approving these containers to make sure that they do not leak even in the event of a crash.
The aviation regulator has also received money to create a service for the public to report safety concerns about drones, while Oxfordshire County Council has won funding to help innovators understand their legal requirements when setting up new trials in the drone industry.
Business Minister Lord Callanan said:

Good regulation should spur entrepreneurship, not stand in its way, and this Fund will keep the UK at the cutting-edge of innovation.
The projects we are supporting could pave the way for exciting developments across a range of sectors, from drone technology to healthcare, all of which will bring benefits to British businesses and consumers alike.

Click to expand...

In total, 21 projects received a share of £3.7 million of funding, and winning projects include:

• Oxfordshire County Council – in collaboration with the Met Office, Ordnance Survey, and others – received £198,000 to develop a tool to help self-driving car developers know when they can conduct trials
• The Health and Safety Executive received £198,000 for a project to support construction companies to share information about dangerous incidents to help prevent injuries
• Cornwall Council received £200,000 to improve the monitoring of harmful algal blooms that can enter the food chain through shellfish, leading to sickness and product recalls
• The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency received £200,000 for a hub bringing together businesses and regulators in the Grangemouth Industrial cluster to move towards a net zero economy

This investment comes on top of the £10 million awarded by the Fund from 2018 to 2020, which saw approximately £700,000 provided to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to develop synthetic datasets, supporting the development of cutting-edge medical technologies to fight coronavirus (COVID-19) and cardiovascular disease.
Continue reading: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccine-carrying-drones-and-self-driving-cars-government-fund-backs-cutting-edge-innovation

By 2022, 2.85 million small drones will be flying the friendly skies, according to projections by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Our numbers are nowhere near as high. According to Transport Canada, as of Aug. 31, 63,200 drones were registered in this country. There were 59,700 pilots with a basic certificate and 6,350 pilots (mostly flying drones for commercial purposes) with an advanced certificate.
One of those commercial purposes is insurance.
When insurers and contractors in Canada first began using drones, many employed their own in-house drone pilots, said Kabir Shaal, co-founder of Drone Software Canada. But those numbers have dwindled.
“Over time, we noticed there was less interest in in-house pilots and a [still]-developing interest in pilots for hire,” he said. “It has grown tremendously in the last few years.”
The main reasons? Cost of training and equipment, complex regulations, and attrition (pilots often change employment after getting certified). In fact, Shaal said he certified seven advanced pilots for one client; after 18 months, only one of the seven was still with the company.
But whether insurers use their own in-house pilots or hire pilots from a third-party company, drone use has several benefits.
First, it’s safe. Adjusters no longer have to climb a roof. “We go with eyes in the skies and feet on the street,” said Shaal.
Second, scalability. During a peak event, when many drone inspections are occurring, “a single drone operator can ‘feed’ multiple adjusters with precise, consistent data,” said Shaal.
Third, drones are faster than humans. According to Shaal, residential property inspections typically take 20 minutes.
Fourth is currency. “Some insurers have been using satellite imagery for measurement, particularly after cat events,” said Shaal. “It’s highly accurate.” But those satellite images “could be three days, three weeks or three months old,” he said. “And, in a cat event, you want to know the condition of the roof today. Drone imagery provides the current condition of that damaged roof or siding.”
Finally, drones are increasingly being used for pre-loss risk assessments, typically for larger buildings, such as schools, churches, and older commercial and residential buildings.
Continue reading: https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/flying-high-drone-use-in-insurance-1004212510/

Dave Krause of Influential Drones and volunteer FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) Industry Member is joined by Dawn Zoldi of P3 Tech Consulting in a DroneLife.com 2-minute highlight reel of Friday's National Drone Safety Awareness Week Topic: "Safe Flyers Bolster Public Safety & Public Acceptance" #FlySafe

Dave Krause of Influential Drones and volunteer FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) Industry Member is joined by Dawn Zoldi of P3 Tech Consulting in a DroneLife.com 2-minute highlight reel of Sunday's National Drone Safety Awareness Week Topic: "Part II, Safe Flyers Share the Sky, Get Out and Fly!" Be sure to continue learning about drone safety by taking free educational courses about drones and aviation by visiting www.FAAsafety.gov. Learning never stops! Safety continues beyond this week! #FlySafe

Dave Krause of Influential Drones and volunteer FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) Industry Member is joined by Dawn Zoldi of P3 Tech Consulting in a DroneLife.com 2-minute highlight reel of Saturday's National Drone Safety Awareness Week Topic: " Safe Flyers Share the Sky, Get Out and Fly!" #FlySafe  

Devon, you co-founded Linum Labs in 2016. What does your start-up do and what is your vision for Linum Labs?
I originally co-founded Linum Labs in Cape Town, South Africa in 2016. Today, we are a blockchain software production studio with employees across Africa, Europe and North America. We focus on building a diverse array of custom blockchain applications for our global clientele.
Our goal is to pioneer exciting and novel technological solutions for our clients. We serve as a bridge between ordinary people and the incredible opportunities blockchain technology provides.
By integrating research into our daily work, we stay ahead of the curve. Our dynamic and flexible work culture constantly adapts to the industry’s needs.
Continue reading: https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/technology/articles/blockchain-technology.html

China’s internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), recently issued a draft proposal of regulations to manage how technology companies use algorithms when providing services to consumers.
The proposed law mandates that companies must use algorithms to “actively spread positive energy.” Under the proposal, companies must submit their algorithms to the government for approval or risk being fined and having their service terminated.
This is an incredibly bad and even dangerous idea. It’s what happens when people who don’t understand AI try to regulate AI. Instead of fostering innovation, governments are looking at AI through their unique lenses of fear and trying to reduce the harm they worry about most. Thus, western regulators focus on fears such as violation of privacy, while Chinese regulators are perfectly okay with collecting private data on their citizens but are concerned about AI’s ability to influence people in ways deemed undesirable by the government.
If the Chinese law is adopted, it will create a lengthy bureaucratic process that will likely ensure that no small company or startup will survive or even enter the market. The moment you allow government regulators to be the final arbiters of what emerging technologies can and cannot do, you’ve strangled innovation. The only people who will profit under such a law are large companies that can invest in unproductive bureaucratic activities due to massive cash reserves and bad actors because they’ll ignore regulators and do whatever they want. Cash-starved startups who wish to follow the law will be most disadvantaged by this approach.
Continue reading: https://www.fastcompany.com/90676516/china-ai-law-problems

Investors in AI-first technology companies serving the defense industry, such as Palantir, Primer and Anduril, are doing well. Anduril, for one, reached a valuation of over $4 billion in less than four years. Many other companies that build general-purpose, AI-first technologies — such as image labeling — receive large (undisclosed) portions of their revenue from the defense industry.
Investors in AI-first technology companies that aren’t even intended to serve the defense industry often find that these firms eventually (and sometimes inadvertently) help other powerful institutions, such as police forces, municipal agencies and media companies, prosecute their duties.
Most do a lot of good work, such as DataRobot helping agencies understand the spread of COVID, HASH running simulations of vaccine distribution or Lilt making school communications available to immigrant parents in a U.S. school district.
However, there are also some less positive examples — technology made by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO was used to hack 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human-rights activists, business executives and the fiancée of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a report by The Washington Post and 16 media partners. The report claims the phones were on a list of over 50,000 numbers based in countries that surveil their citizens and are known to have hired the services of the Israeli firm.
Continue reading: https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/15/the-responsibilities-of-ai-first-investors/

Despite the often-negative discussion about testing in schools, assessments are a necessary and useful tool in the teaching and learning process.1 This is especially true when it comes to diagnostic and formative assessments, which give teachers real-time direction for what students need to learn to master course content. It is this space where the advancements of technology can particularly benefit teaching and learning, as there is growing recognition in the field of psychology that tests help students learn. Sometimes called the testing effect, this theory suggests that low-stakes quizzes help students gain knowledge—and improve instruction.2
Advancements in technology have led to new developments in the field, such as stealth assessments, that reduce some of the stress students may experience around assessments. This approach makes testing more ubiquitous and useful for teachers because the methods are woven into the fabric of learning and are invisible to students.3
But to get to a place where all teachers have access to such tests, there needs to be greater investment in testing research and development that results in better systems of diagnostic and formative assessments. This issue brief reviews developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the types of advancements in diagnostic and formative testing it makes possible. This issue brief ends with recommendations for how the federal government can invest in testing research and development.
Continue reading: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2021/09/16/502663/future-testing-education-artificial-intelligence/

Dr. Sian Proctor has made history as the first Black woman to serve as a pilot of a spacecraft when SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Mission launched on Wednesday.
Proctor, who is a geoscientist and professor, will be one of four people in the first-ever all-civilian spaceflight, serving as a Mission Pilot on SpaceX’s Inspiration4. She will be the fourth Black woman to travel into space, but will make history as the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft with the three-day trip circling the earth, the New York Times reports.
Proctor, a Guam native, had her interest in space sparked at an early age due to her father himself being an engineer for NASA. As a child, she was labeled as a “tomboy” because of her love for building planes. It was then when she aspired to be a fighter pilot once she grew up.
After receiving her master’s degree in Geology, and her Ph.D. in Science Education, Proctor embarked on her career as a geoscience professor for South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona where she taught for over 20 years. Proctor also serves as Vice President of Education at Star Harbor Space Academy.
Proctor spoke to The Space Channel — a Local Now partner of theGrio — about how vital astronauts are.
“When we think about astronauts, we don’t really think of them as guinea pigs. They are research subjects and so we submit them to all kinds of medical tests and all those things,” Proctor said.
“You can think of the twin studies like how we’re also investigating technologies and so I brought in this drone study and the whole idea is with that suit I was wearing when you go into these moon and Mars simulation you’re acting like you’re on that planet or that body.”
Years of training and various educational space programs have been key in the preparation of the pilot’s journey set for Wednesday. Her training includes the Mars Desert Research Station, Mars mission at HI-SEAS, and a Moon mission in the LunAres Habitat. Proctor was selected as one of NASA’s astronaut finalists in 2009, KJZZ reports.
Mission Inspiration4 was created by high school dropout turned-billionaire, Jared Isaacman, according to the New York Times. He’s the founder of the highly successful payment processing company called Shift4 Payment, and will also be funding this trip.
Continue reading: https://thegrio.com/2021/09/15/sian-proctor-makes-history/?fbclid=IwAR1qkJXayJNRGkh2EPytrxQSqJI0zjjnCh3iYml1I4U3_8JJwjppHxEz6ew

Do you know what a ‘shecession’ is?
The phrase was coined doing Covid to highlight how the recession had resulted in far more job losses in women than in men.
It was against this backdrop that in July this year I did something I’d never done before – I left my (relatively secure) public sector job for my first ever private sector role.
With my 47th birthday on the horizon I realised if I didn’t take the plunge now, I never would.
Everybody’s circumstances are different but in my case my husband Marc launched Redmoor Health in 2017, specialising in supporting health and social care staff to deploy technology.
I’ve always been involved in the background and have watched with pride as the business has grown to 20 staff, won UK-wide clients and picked up several awards.
Redmoor Health’s turnover has grown to £2m with plans to reach £5m by 2024, prompting us to move into new offices in Strawberry Fields Digital Hub in Chorley.
As the business grew so the need for greater governance increased to the point that Marc created a new role of corporate director and said he had the perfect candidate in mind – me!
But here’s the thing. All my life I’ve worked in the public sector, first in healthcare and then in local government, so what did I know about the private sector?
I’ve held a number of senior roles that have taught me a range of skills around governance, stakeholder engagement, policy development, managing partnerships,  HR and ‘soft’ skills like patience.
Although I knew I could do the job I was scared about making the switch in my mid 40s.
A friend said there was a term for this – imposter syndrome – and it’s especially common in women.
Thankfully there is a happy ending to this story. I’m proud to say that I took the leap of faith and joined Redmoor Health as corporate director.
Continue reading: https://businesscloud.co.uk/opinion/shecession-imposter-syndrome-and-being-a-female-in-tech/

Companies are desperate to hire tech workers like Stefan Hayden, a 38-year-old software engineer who lives near New York City.  
“Not a day goes by where I don’t have multiple recruiters emailing me, or messaging on LinkedIn,” Hayden told me last week. Engineers with a few years experience under their belt, like Hayden, are practically getting stalked by recruiters these days, he said. “I’m specifically a white dude in programming in the middle of my career,” he said, explaining part of his appeal.  
The thing is: recruiters are missing out on millions of people, according to a new report from Harvard Business School and Accenture, because they’re screening out applicants who don’t check all their very specific and possibly unreasonable boxes.  
The researchers estimate there are more than 27 million of these “hidden workers” in the U.S.   
Maybe they don’t have all the required years of experience, or they took time out of the workforce to care for children or an elderly relative or themselves. Hidden workers might also have mental health or physical challenges, maybe they’ve been sick or were previously incarcerated.  
Or they served in the military.  
Incredibly, even now—in a pandemic that has sidelined so many workers—some employers will stop considering those out of the workforce for longer than six months.  
And make no mistake, hidden workers want to work, the authors point out. Employers aren’t even considering them.  
Part of the problem is computer algorithms are screening out qualified candidates for failing to meet ridiculous standards, Kathryn Dill, reported in a piece for the Wall Street Journal last week, diving into a particularly maddening part of the HBS report. 
Continue reading: https://fortune.com/2021/09/15/recruiters-engineering-men-women-job-hunt-linkedin-technology/