According to Boston Consulting Group, just about 15% of data scientists are women, an apologetic imbalance in favor of men. In Africa, more women get discouraged to take part in data professions and the enrollment of women in data studies steadily declines. DARA Big Data gives insights into this issue in a report derived from its last five years of free data science hackathons. In 2017, 74% of applicants were male, while 26% were female. This figure grew to 35% in 2019. It explained that not enough women felt comfortable and bold enough to apply for data courses. “Many of the female applicants experience some form of self-doubt in their technical skills that may inhibit them from applying,” the report stated.
This present shortage of female data personnel to analyze and collate statistics on women’s issues gives reason to question how solutions to their systemic and cultural oppression are created and proffered. It also probes if any of the available information, collated by mostly men, represents the true state of events. The lack of specific data on reports of sexual harassment, domestic violence, and discrimination against women in politics, education and the workforce, is a clear indication of this disparity.
Seemingly, the importance of women and girls in reporting and collating data on the biggest challenges Africa faces today and the harmfulness of exclusivity in data dissemination are overlooked. In one example, a trained software with text collected from Google news was asked to complete the statement, “Man is to computer programmer as woman is to [blank].” The trained software replied with “homemaker.” It is almost as if the perspectives of women in solutions development sectors should not exist.
Alexa Ighodaro who has worked on data analysis projects says, “Some people believe data science/analytics to be a field that requires high coding abilities and society has trained us to believe coding is mostly handled by the male gender. There is a perception that data science is a manly profession as it involves statistics and coding.”
In numerous universities across the continent, tech and data faculties have more males contained in them than females at different academic levels. According to Ingressive For Good Africa, there are about two women out of every 10 people studying data science. In organizational settings, female data personnel are almost nonexistent as only 26% of them get employed. Despite the steady rise of data scientists across different regions in Africa, gender parity and equality in the field have not been attained.
Continue reading: https://www.pastemagazine.com/tech/africa/women-in-tech-africa-disparity-data-analysis/

Women make up almost half of the workforce in the United States, but they lag far behind men in leadership positions. Unsurprisingly, the percentage of women drops even more the higher in corporate ranks one climbs. In 2021, they held just over 20% of C-suite positions on the S&P/TSX composite index. Only 15% of Fortune 500 companies are led by female CEOs. The pandemic forced more women than men out of the workforce, so we may see these trends continue into the foreseeable future.
Of course, the problem isn’t confined to the workplace -- it starts much earlier in life. To see more female leaders in tech, you need more females in tech, period. Young girls often feel discouraged from pursuing their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in middle and high school, but fortunately we are starting to see some changes. In India, where I serve in a leadership role at Exterro’s Coimbatore office, 43% of STEM graduates are women.
Unfortunately, closing the education gap hasn’t yet leveled the playing field in the professional world. In India, only 14% of STEM workers are women. In the US, the situation is improving, but it isn’t that much better, with women making up 27% of STEM workers. Many women experience persistent challenges dealing with “bro culture,” which no doubt discourages them from persisting in positions.
Fortunately, not all companies have this issue. Exterro, a legal technology industry leader operating in e-discovery, privacy compliance, and digital forensics, has a long-standing commitment to female leadership. I joined as chief data scientist in 2014, and have recently added the title of chief research and development officer. Michelle Spencer, our CFO, has been with the company since 2018. When we decided our company needed a general counsel, we added Jenny Hamilton, and most recently, when we had to replace our chief customer officer (another woman), we did so by hiring Debora Jones as our new chief operating officer.
Continue reading: https://www.informationweek.com/it-life/what-can-we-do-to-address-the-gender-gap-in-tech-leadership-

Black women are one of the least represented groups in the technology sector. According to The National Center for Women & Information Technology, Black women account for only three percent of the US computing workforce, while BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, reports that they account for just 0.7 percent of the UK tech workforce, 2.5 times lower than other professions.
Those Black women who do manage to forge a career in the tech industry will also likely have waited longer for their first opportunity compared to their colleagues. Research from Totaljobs has revealed that after finishing education, it takes Black women on average 5.1 months to secure their first role, compared to 2.8 months for white women.
These numbers are certainly not due to a lack of education among Black women, according to Alexandria "Lexi B." Butler, Founder of Sista Circle: Black Women in Tech. Butler notes that in the US at least, Black women are the most educated body of people in the whole country. What Black women are lacking, however, is insider knowledge of the corporate tech world, she argues: 

I've been very fortunate that my career started when I was 22, right out of university. The first two years, there were so many things I did not know. When I looked at my peers who were not Black women, I noticed they were invited to rooms to learn the truth about what's really going on. I wasn't invited in.

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Butler graduated from Stanford university in 2011, and worked at various tech companies including NetApp and Airbnb. By 2017, she began to realize that to have the mentorship and conversations required to support and progress her career, she needed more Black women in her circle.
Continue reading: https://diginomica.com/getting-equity-black-women-tech-sista-circle-approach

Sustainability is an increasing priority for nearly every high-tech company -- and it is no coincidence. Emerging technologies such as 5G, blockchain and AI are unlocking new use cases for smart, connected devices that make up IoT. However, they are also causing a massive surge in energy consumption, water usage and CO2 as devices become more powerful, Accenture reported.'
In response, high-tech companies are rolling out sustainability programs and designing products with environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals in mind.
These initiatives are plain to see at recent tech events, with many high-tech companies demonstrating their dedication to developing more sustainable products and initiatives.
For instance, at CES 2022, LG pledged to use up to 600,000 tons of recycled plastic in its manufacturing process and increase the recovery of electronic waste to up to 8 million tons by 2030. Meanwhile, Samsung announced a new version of its Eco Remote and new smart monitors.
While IoT is designed for energy efficiency, the explosive growth of the number of IoT devices is elevating the need for device manufacturers to further improve power efficiency.
Universal Electronics Inc. has announced sustainability solutions to minimize power consumption and reduce battery waste, including its UEI Extreme Low Power Connectivity system-on-chips (SOCs.) The company's new connectivity offerings with integrated energy harvesting capabilities can deliver up to 2.5 times more computing power with up to 80% less battery power consumption compared to traditional Bluetooth smart SOCs.

Ways to implement sustainability into IoT
Companies should consider how to best use IoT technologies to improve product sustainability and support more eco-friendly manufacturing.
Accenture has outlined the following three steps that high-tech companies can take to help achieve their ESG goals.
1. Optimize cloud resource use
Green cloud is a term that emerged due to the explosive growth of cloud usage. It is a practice that focuses on cloud energy and resource optimization. Companies should establish a baseline of existing data center energy consumption, computing requirements and sustainability goals.
There are tools that can help with this and cloud design products that reduce carbon emissions across all stages of the journey. Such tools use algorithms to quantify the greenness of potential cloud options based on a range of information, such as the cloud service providers' carbon emissions goals, locations, energy sources and readiness to transition.
2. Transition to energy-efficient smart buildings
Smart buildings can reduce energy consumption, cut costs and generate revenue. High-tech companies can develop smart building products and services to sell while they simultaneously test and use them to achieve their own sustainability goals.
Automated processes can help control building operations such as climate control, lighting and security. This enables companies to help reduce energy consumption, optimize space use and minimize their buildings' environmental impact.
Johnson Controls is one company that uses IoT and edge computing to monitor environmental controls and leverages 5G and AI to minimize building pollution and improve supply chain management. Its recent acquisition of FogHorn Systems, a developer of edge AI software for industrial and commercial IoT, brings new opportunities for smart and autonomous buildings.
3. Improve semiconductor design and processing
Semiconductor design and manufacturing are at the core of creating nearly any product these days. With the growth of IoT, AI and machine learning, semiconductor manufacturers now have the tools to manage and analyze data to implement predictive maintenance programs.
Custom analytics can predict process issues to detect impending deposition process failures and prevent significant yield reductions. Organizations can apply data to a single asset, across multiple machines, to a manufacturing line or even an entire fabrication process.
Continue reading: https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/post/How-IoT-helps-environmental-social-and-governance-goals

Regulation of the Internet of Things (IoT) has always been a contentious subject. Those against claim it stymies growth of a nascent industry, while those advocating for it argue it sees the adoption of industry best practices and helps establish standards.
In an effort to straddle the divide, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched its Code of Practice back in 2018. Enshrined in this were 13 “Secure by Design” principles aimed at helping manufacturers put in place security controls and offer a base level of customer care. The Code of Practice was voluntary and without any repercussions, so therefore toothless, which is why many believe its adoption was lackluster.
Yet a lot has happened since 2018. The EU, via ETSI, introduced EN303 645, the first globally-applicable industry standard on internet-connected consumer devices in 2020 based on the Code of Practice. This sees manufacturers or an appointed third party provide documentation on the device under test (DUT), an Implementation Conformance Statement (ICS) and Implementation Extra Information for Testing (IXIT).
The DUT is then assessed under ETSI TS 103 701 guidelines which detail the tests and methodology to be used for assessing devices against EN303 645. This took us that much closer to a real de facto standard for the IoT.
A line in the sand
Later the same year, the UK government admitted that “too many insecure consumer connected products remain on the market and we need to take steps”. A consultation followed, leading to the draft of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Bill, which focuses on IoT security, 5G and broadband.
The PSTI takes only the top three guidelines from the Code of Practice which are also in EN303 645: a ban on universal default passwords, the means to manage vulnerability reporting and a minimum duration for security updates. These are the practices which are regarded as presenting the biggest risks to IoT security, but this narrow focus has also seen a barrage of criticism levied at the legislation. Yet, realistically, these requirements were only ever meant to draw a line in the sand. The idea is to start with these controls before introducing other requirements further down the line, such as data protection, securely designed software/hardware, privacy, resilience, and user support.
Formerly announced in the Queen’s Speech in May, the PSTI is expected to be passed in to law in 2023 when it will come into force across the whole of the UK. However, many of those who took part in the consultation think it will take them up to two years to become fully compliant. That view was echoed in a report by the Internet of Things Security Foundation, which found 79 percent of firms are expected to fail anticipated regulations.
Assurance as a trailblazer
While the government was happy to put its weight behind the PSTI, it stopped short of mandating product assurance. For now, it will remain voluntary, although the law does include provision to mandate at a later stage. But it’s this assurance that is now leading the way. The DCMS helped fund the roll out of assurance schemes leading to IASME launching its IoT Security Assured Scheme in 2021. It enables manufacturers to kitemark their products to demonstrate they’ve achieved a certain level of security.
The IASME scheme aligns with ETSI’s EN 303 645, the PSTI, and is also mapped to the IoTSF Security Compliance Framework. It features three levels of security: the Basic level essentially requires compliance with the PSTI/top three requirements of the ETSI standard, the Silver level compliance with ETSI mandatory requirements and data protection provisions, and the Gold level the ETSI mandatory requirements as well as all additional ETSI recommended requirements and data protection provisions. Those manufacturers meeting the criteria will be able to display the relevant badge on their IoT device.
Given the poor adoption of the Code of Practice, IASME wanted to ensure the barriers to entry were minimal, so the scheme aims to be affordable, desirable and achievable. It requires the applicant to work through eight categories of questions about the security controls in place on the connected device and any associated services. These cover issues including passwords and credentials, vulnerabilities and anomalies, software, secure configuration, communications, and usage of data.
A board member from the applying organization must then declare the claims are true before submitting the application via a portal for review by an approved assessor. This must all be done within six months. As the process is self-led up until this point, the assessor plays a crucial role in providing feedback from the user perspective and in helping the manufacturer to meet the necessary criteria to reach the desired level of certification. If all criteria are met and the assessor approves the application, accreditation can be awarded in as little as 24 hours.
Continue reading : https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/22/how-kitemarks-are-kicking-off-iot-regulation/

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent about 90% of global business and more than half of employment worldwide. They play an acutely important role in the global economy — and they can play a role in responding to the climate crisis, too.
Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) can help SMEs reduce waste, optimize operations and monitor processes more effectively.
IoT in the world
IoT technology is a huge opportunity to build a sustainable and prosperous future for SMEs. Analysis shows that 84% of current IoT deployments are “addressing or have the potential to address” the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Through application such as increasing energy efficiency and encouraging greater use of renewables, IoT technology can minimize the impact businesses have on the environment, help them adapt to a new reality and at the same time deliver gains in productivity and efficiency.
A recent survey found that seven in 10 executives believe IoT technology has helped them increased revenue, 45% agree that it has helped increased profits by 1% to 5% and 41% reported profit increase by 5% to 15% annually.
Adopting sustainable business practices also has the potential to unlock market opportunities worth trillions of dollars and create millions of jobs. IoT solutions can help SMEs to better comply with green standards and certification, enabling them to leverage new market opportunities and financial resources through applicable grants and government support programs.
With many SMEs lacking the resources to succeed in this space, innovative and cost-effective technology must be paired up with a holistic and strategic approach to facilitate adoption and create a greener future for this often-overlooked sector.
IoT applications for sustainability
Estimates show that the average price of IoT sensors has declined over the last 2 decades — from $1.30 in 2004 to $0.38 in 2020. This price drop has been fuelled by an increased number of suppliers, more optimized and efficient technology and falling cost of connection, storage and processing. As IoT technologies become more accessible, SMEs are in better positions to embrace simple, yet proven, IoT technology applications that will make their businesses more profitable and more sustainable.
Three key applications of IoT are:
1) Water leak management
IoT can provide real-time protection against water damage such as leakage or plumbing failures. Sensors can detect leaks and moisture. An optical meter reader, for example, could provide near real-time data not only for water but also for gas, electric, temperature and pressure, too. An integrated IoT approach harnessing data analysis would minimize the impact of leakage and water damage. This can save the economy billions of dollars every year and reduce water stress.
2) Predictive maintenance
IoT devices can collect data from industrial machines, for example in manufacturing, to create models that predict when events of interest might occur, including potential downtime, accidents or when something might need to be replaced. This allows enterprises to avoid breakdown, anticipate and plan downtime, and maximize productive capacity. One study found that, on average, predictive maintenance increases productivity by 25%, reduces breakdowns by 70% and cuts maintenance costs by 25%.
3) Environmental monitoring
Sensors can identify the presence of pollutants in the air and water and track temperature and humidity. Combinations of sensors and connected devices embedded in pipes, equipment and spaces can keep premises and workplaces safe, clean and efficient. This helps businesses monitor their operation, avoid waste and comply with environmental standards.
Continue reading: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/iot-small-medium-businesses-profitable-sustainable/

Defibrillators are used to deliver electrical currents to the heart as treatment for cardiac arrest that can potentially be fatal. AI is making a big impact on how defibrillators can work more efficiently, with machine learning algorithms becoming increasingly accurate with life-saving treatments, according to a recent paper.
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) leverage shock-advice algorithms to distinguish echocardiogram tracings. The data determines whether rhythms are deemed “shockable” or “non-shockable” to decide whether defibrillation is necessary for treatment.
AI can also be used to diagnose the causes of heart attacks, classify heart rhythms without interrupting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and predict the success of defibrillation, according to “Role of artificial intelligence in defibrillators: a narrative review,” by researchers from U.K. hospitals and universities.
While the success rate has improved, concerns around cost and high processing power remain a challenge.
How machine learning is implemented in medical applications has evolved over recent years. Currently, supervised machine learning models are still necessary for defibrillator applications. Deep learning replicates the brain’s neural networks with artificial neural networks (ANN), which contain layers of nodes that process input data.
AI can be leveraged for standard ECG analysis. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are a sub-category of ANN, which uses high-level features from the raw data. This method has been used in medical imaging and ECG analysis but can also be used to evaluate multiple dimensions in data sets. In one model, ECG interpretation by CNN was more accurate than human cardiologists but automated ECG analysis is still not used extensively.
Smart watches, like the Apple Watch, and other wearable technology has become more widely used, especially with the capability to conduct automated single-lead ECGs to detect atrial fibrillation.
In one study, the Kardia Band (KB) algorithm, used in Apple Watches, wasn’t as accurate as clinicians’ diagnosis. The algorithm wasn’t able to interpret more than half the ECG and KB recordings. Physician oversight is still necessary for the most accurate diagnosis.
In addition, AI can be used as a screen for early pulmonary hypertension and asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction. Mayo Clinic used data from almost 45,000 patients to teach a CNN to identify asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction. The results were promising, showing a positive AI screen predicted a four times greater risk of developing ventricular dysfunction than the patients who didn’t use the screen.
Continue reading: https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2022/07/20/how-ai-is-changing-the-world-of-defibrillators/

The State of AI in the Enterprise
By CompTIA AI Advisory Council member, Manoj Suvarna 
The AI Advisory council at CompTIA is on a mission to build strategies and resources necessary for organizations to leverage AI and be more successful. To help us gauge the community’s awareness and adoption of AI, we conducted a survey. Here are the key findings:

• A majority of the community is aware of AI and has at least some understanding of its growth and impact across organizations
• Of the respondents, a few have indicated that they are using AI-based solutions in the real world
• Many agree that automation of mundane tasks and the ability to gain insights and innovate are the key benefits of AI

Read on for an executive summary of the survey results and to find out how the AI Advisory council plans on helping the community.
AI Awareness is moderately high
Awareness of AI among organizations is moderately high with nearly 4 in 10 respondents indicating moderate to a very high level of understanding. An additional 41% of the respondents claim to have an average level of understanding of AI within their organization. These results indicate that at least 80% of all CompTIA member organizations have a preliminary baseline about AI’s rapidly growing impact across organizations today. It also appears that when it comes to sourcing this information, CompTIA members use multiple sources (82% report using at least one source) ranging from technology publications and websites to events & conferences to their existing IT partners/providers and business peers. Over a quarter of the members leverage the content published by CompTIA on its community portals.  
Adoption of AI is relatively low
Less than one-third of the respondents claim to be in production or in the active implementation stage of AI projects within their organizations while nearly 50% of the respondents are either in the early stages of deployment or considering AI for the near future. Lack of technical know-how and a clear business case or ROI are the two leading reasons that are inhibiting the adoption of AI among the CompTIA community as cited by at least 43% of the respondents. Low demand from their customers and a lack of best practices or standards were in the next order of inhibitors as mentioned by 38% and 32% of the respondents respectively. Interestingly, cost played a factor in only 25% of the respondents. These results point to the fact that while awareness of AI is moderately high, several organizations are struggling to take the next step due to limited technical expertise and knowledge of best practices, two areas where CompTIA can certainly assist.
The ability to innovate, automate basic tasks, and competitive differentiation are key benefits of AI
Among respondents who are either experimenting or actively implementing AI, customer demand and competitive differentiation have been the two leading drivers instrumental in their early adoption. The pace of digital transformation, exacerbated by the pandemic also played a significant role with nearly half the organizations indicating the fear of obsolescence. CompTIA organizations are seeing the value of their AI investments with nearly 6 in 10 adopters indicating that AI projects have dovetailed their portfolio and an equal number of organizations seeing the value of automation of basic manual tasks as well as innovation in their portfolio offerings. At least 85% of all early adopters are seeing at least one benefit as a result of adopting AI within their organization.
CompTIA AI Advisory Council is here to help!
Since its inception, CompTIA’s AI Advisory Council members, representing leading technology vendors and service providers, have met every quarter to elevate the awareness and understanding of this rapidly growing and ever-changing technology. We understand how AI is weaving into the fabric of every organization that is on a path to digital transformation. Using the survey results as a baseline, we will be launching a Best Practices and Tools Guide for Decision Makers and Practitioners that are considering infusing AI into their organization as well as their daily operations.
We welcome insights and success stories from the CompTIA community at large as we continue our quest to equip our members with the information and the know-how they need to leverage AI and be more successful.
You can read more about the CompTIA AI Advisory Council here and see its members and recent projects.

If your systems aren’t lean, efficient, and precise, you are likely wasting time and money while putting your business at unnecessary risk. If you’re going to be developing new systems, you need to do it right. So, how do we do this? Let’s review several of the most common mistakes when developing new systems.
Common Developing Mistakes
#1: Ignoring Human Nature
Most people don’t like change. Learning new systems interrupts the smooth flow of their day-to-day activities, even if those processes are wildly inefficient and time-consuming. If you want to make sure your system migration is going to stick, you need to set your team up for success! You can do so in the following ways:

• Empathize with your team: No matter how much better a system is, change is rough. Be prepared for frustration. Be respectful and remain patient.
• Focus on the positive: Emphasize why the change is happening and continue to highlight the wins your team will experience with the new system.
• Provide everyone with the tools needed to succeed: Give your team the necessary training and support they need to learn the new system.

#2: Lack of Clear Data
Most organizations lack clear data. This is more likely if you rely on manual data entry and multiple disparate systems. When developing new systems, all these different data silos open the door for mistakes. Errors can skew the real view of your business and its needs. Plus, you might be looking at the wrong data points. As a result, you can’t adequately judge what’s working and what needs to be fixed.
The solution here is to decide which data points from the old system are useful and which ones are simply there because they came with your previous (non-custom) system. This can be challenging because people get used to these data points. You will need to point out why you need to shift your metrics and how that can give you a better overall view. Continue reading: https://www.iotforall.com/9-mistakes-when-developing-new-systems

TECH COMPANY PROFITS and stock prices rose to new heights over the past two years—but the industry’s pandemic-proof confidence has now turned sickly. Economic worries have prompted tech giants and startups to cut costs, freeze hiring, or even begin layoffs. Last week, The Washington Post reported that an internal memo at Meta encouraged managers to identify low performers to eject, as the tech giant, like many others, prepares for leaner times.
“It reminds me of the dot-com bust—the very first tightening of the belt, reining in the exuberance,” says Coco Brown, CEO of the Athena Alliance, a networking organization for women executives in business, including tech and venture capital. That means tech companies will offer less generous salaries and fewer office perks—and likely have less diverse workforces.
People working to improve diversity in tech are worried that companies looking to cut costs may end up undoing the modest progress they have made toward diversifying their workforces through hiring more women, LGBTQ people, and people of color.
That’s because many times the roles that historically underrepresented groups are hired into tend to be seen as the most expendable, says Sarah Kaplan, director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
When her students are hired into technical positions, Kaplan has noticed that women are offered less prestigious roles. “A male engineer will get hired into a coding job, and a female engineer will be hired into a user interface job, where coding is seen as one of the most high-status positions,” she says. “Even as companies have tried to make progress, that progress has not always been in the highest status and most highly compensated areas.”
A 2018 Pew Research study found that the tech industry is one of the least diverse areas of the STEM fields. In the same year, Google reported that only 2.5 percent of its workforce identified as Black and 3.6 percent as Hispanic and Latinx.
In 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, The Plug, a media and research company focused on the Black tech ecosystem, found that some 200 tech companies promised to make greater efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. There have been modest gains—Google’s most recent diversity report shows that 5.3 percent of its workforce are now Black and 6.9 percent Latinx—but Kaplan says the figures tech companies offer to measure diversity can make it hard to truly know whether substantial change is being made.
For instance, figures released by Amazon reveal that the most diverse level of the company is also the lowest, categorized as “field and customer support.” “All of [Amazon’s] diversity is in their warehouse operations,” Kaplan says. “Companies that have big cafeterias and things like that often are counting their cafeteria staff, and [those jobs] would be more likely to be populated by underrepresented minorities or people from lower socioeconomic groups.”
Continue reading: https://www.wired.com/story/tech-layoffs-diversity/

President Joe Biden has nominated the first woman and person of color to serve as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and his top science and technology adviser.
Biden's nominee, Arati Prabhakar, has spent her career both in the private and public tech sectors. She served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2012 to 2017, as well as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology from 1993 to 1997. Prabhakar spent 15 years as a company executive and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, leading research and development projects to deployment.
Prabhakar has been nominated to replace OSTP's former director, Eric Lander, who resigned in February amid reports he bullied and harassed OSTP staff. Before his resignation, Lander and OSTP staff began working on an "AI bill of rights" to protect consumers by providing transparency into algorithmic processes.
Prabhakar spoke on her experience and how she views the role of OSTP director before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation during her nomination hearing Wednesday.
"For many decades, American science and technology has been the most powerful engine for innovation in history," she said during the hearing. "That's an achievement that did not happen by accident. OSTP is at the heart of making sure that U.S. science and technology leadership endures in this very complex century that we're living in."
Continue reading: https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/news/252522970/Bidens-nominee-for-OSTP-director-brings-experience-to-role

Two local organizations are partnering to try to even the playing field for women in the technology sector after a national survey found St. Louis is one of the worst cities for gender equality in that field.
A SmartAsset survey last month found women working in technology in St. Louis are paid less than men and are more underrepresented compared to other cities around the country. The financial website ranked St. Louis 54th out of 59 cities.
TechSTL, a council for technology companies, and Rung for Women, a nonprofit career accelerator, are launching an effort to address this problem. They’re starting with a survey for working women in the St. Louis region to learn how the city can do a better job supporting women in tech and in the workforce more broadly.
There are already steps companies could be taking to address pay disparity, including publicly posting salary ranges on job openings, said Rung for Women President Leslie Gill.
“Many of the folks sitting in those seats around recruitment and decision-making obviously don't look like me,” Gill said. “We just really want to work with employers to gather the data so that they can make informed decisions around how to do better.”
This issue doesn’t just affect women seeking opportunities. Tech in St. Louis ranges from agricultural tools to artificial intelligence. But the lack of diversity in the workforce is holding St. Louis’s tech community back, said Emily Hemingway, executive director of TechSTL.
“Innovation is not something that can just be solved by one group of people, especially if you want to be competitive,” Hemingway said. “This is a fast-moving industry, which means we need all the best ideas at the table and all the perspectives that we can find.”
That includes focusing on education and developing the workforce pipeline, to make sure women are being encouraged to get into STEM jobs. There is an opportunity to greatly increase these efforts in the region, said Bronwyn Morgan, CEO of Xeo Air, a company that uses drones to collect geospatial and other data.
Continue reading: https://www.stlamerican.com/business/business_news/st-louis-ranks-as-one-of-the-worst-cities-for-women-in-tech-but-two/article_24d02556-082a-11ed-8331-17a8a4cbe73e.html

With an undergraduate degree in political science and time spent as a Peace Corps and AmeriCorps volunteer, Lain McGrath hardly envisioned a career in software engineering. Yet after onboarding at HR SaaS provider Gusto in a customer experience (CX) role, exposure to coding sparked McGrath’s interest in shifting professional tracks. The problem: She had no formal training and experience in computer science.
What might be a hurdle for many did not stop McGrath or her employers at Gusto. With the backing of key advocates, McGrath made a case for learning software engineering not just to enhance her individual job potential, but to advance a career at Gusto. Her pitch laid the groundwork for a pilot program in which Gusto covered the cost of a seven-month, full-time bootcamp while continuing to pay McGrath a salary and maintain her benefits and vesting.
Now a benefits engineer as part of Gusto’s Engineering Product Design and Data department, McGrath puts time in mentoring other women interested in making similar career changes. “I didn’t just want to be a software engineer — I wanted to be a software engineer at Gusto,” McGrath explains. “I had seen others leave to learn software engineering and not come back, which is why we advocated for this program.”
As companies scramble to find qualified IT talent, they are struggling to achieve greater female representation in their technology ranks, particularly in key areas such as software engineering and cybersecurity. The 2022 State of the CIO research confirmed talent acquisition and retention strategies are a key issue for CIOs, cited by 38% of respondents, with cybersecurity skills, data science/analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in top demand. Yet in the cybersecurity field, women only account for about one quarter (24%) of the overall workforce, albeit, up from 11% in 2017, according to the ISC2 Women in Cybersecurity report. A 2020 World Economic Forum report found that women make up a similar percentage (26%) of data and AI positions in the workforce.
Continue reading: https://www.cio.com/article/403242/it-leaders-uplift-women-to-fill-tech-talent-gaps.html

Women were among the hardest hit during the pandemic. Many were forced out of the workforce and overall they lost more jobs than men did.
Two years on, they remain just as vulnerable, left behind in a ‘gender-unequal’ employment recovery, according to the International Labour Organization.
Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2022 indicated it will now take 132 years to reach full parity compared to pre-pandemic estimates of only 100 years, assuming the current trajectory remains constant.
Empowering women with the education and skills they need to re-enter the labour market and unlock their full earning potential will be critical to accelerating an equitable recovery.
New insights show a developing opportunity to meet this challenge at scale. Coursera data in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 points to promising trends in online learning that have the potential to improve gender parity in higher education and workforce development.
Online learning is narrowing gender education gaps and preparing women for in-demand jobs in the digital economy by removing barriers for women learners and improving gender inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and connecting women to rising skills and job opportunities. Here's how.
Removing barriers for women learners
The participation of women learning online has increased significantly and is beginning to match men’s participation in many countries, according to global Coursera data in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022. According to Coursera, the number of women learning online increased from 38% in 2019 to 45% in 2021, even as the gender employment gap widened.
Encouragingly, the 2022 report also reveals that gender gaps are “substantially smaller” in online enrolment than in traditional education. This corroborates other recent research, which found that women see online learning as more accessible than in-person education, citing mobility, safety and family obligations as their top deciding factors.
Continue reading: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/online-learning-workforce-gender-gap/

The world’s largest automated drone superhighway has been given the greenlight and could be up and running in the United Kingdom in just two years.
The network will stretch 165 miles and link towns in the English Midlands and southeast including Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby.
A total of $15.4 million of funding for the project – known as Skyway – was confirmed by the British government as part of a $327 million package designed to boost the country’s aerospace industry.
The consortium behind Skyway – which includes unified traffic management (UTM) solution provider Altitude Angel, British Telecom’s mobile network EE and others – claims that the highway will unlock the huge potential offered by unmanned aerial vehicles in Britain.
It will work via a ground-based, networked, detect-and-avoid (DAA) solution that builds on current infrastructure, connected to Altitude Angel’s global UTM system, which brings together data from multiple sources in real-time to form a moving map of the sky. 
Businesses in towns and cities along the superhighway will benefit by being able to deploy drones at the touch of a button to deliver goods, aid logistics or monitor road networks.
Skyway will facilitate this by allowing pilotless drones that do not need an operator to be flown beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Drone manufacturers will connect their drones’ guidance and communication systems to the virtual superhighway, which will guide them safely through corridors, toward their destination, using software integration.
And with sensors located on the ground, rather than on the drones themselves, providing the guidance, the drones’ payload will be reduced, potentially increasing their flight range.
Continue reading: https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2022/07/20/worlds-largest-drone-superhighway-gets-greenlight/

Hive is famous for its range of IoT devices, but it has recently announced that it will no longer support its own security devices. What challenges does IoT fragmentation present, what has Hive announced, and how does this demonstrate the dangers of lacking long-term support?
What challenges does IoT fragmentation present?
With the number of global IoT devices well exceeding 20 billion, it is clear that the industry continues to grow in popularity. The ability to connect devices to the internet allows for remote operation and cooperation with other devices. If IoT and AI technologies continue to develop, it won’t be long before the first genuine Smart Homes emerge, whereby devices in a home are intelligently controlled by an AI butler that can anticipate the needs of occupants, save energy, and improve overall efficiency.
But while IoT technologies have brought many advantages, they still suffer from a multitude of issues. One of these is the lack of security measures in earlier devices; the first generation of IoT devices came out during a time when the idea of IoT devices being vulnerable hadn’t been conceived. Many engineers at this time believed that individual IoT devices would present themselves as uninteresting to hackers who would instead put their energy into attacking servers and mainstream PCs. 
However, hackers quickly caught onto the idea of using IoT devices as zombie devices able to perform large-scale Denial of Service attacks. Hackers also noticed that hacking an IoT device also gains entry into a local network which can be used to launch attacks, and also recognised that IoT devices could be used for spying.
Another issue that IoT devices suffer from is fragmentation. Simply put, IoT devices from one manufacturer will unlikely be able to work with devices from another manufacturer. As such, trying to create a smart home using multiple manufacturers is virtually impossible. The lack of a unified communication protocol that all IoT devices can understand also means that no one software solution exists to control all IoT devices. 
Hive to drop security range of IoT products
Hive is a company that is famous for its range of IoT products aimed at the home with some examples, including smart sockets, lights, sensors, and controls. Additionally, Hive also focuses on bringing a multitude of IoT software platforms together so that users can choose their own software solutions when creating an internet-connected home with supported platforms, including Alexa, IFTTT, Google Assistant, and Phillips Hue. Continue reading: https://www.electropages.com/blog/2022/07/danger-fragmented-iot-industry-long-term-support

We are now witnessing the very early days of so-called Web3, a new generation of internet that is currently represented by an ecosystem of cutting-edge NFT and DeFi projects. As it grows, countless teams are striving to define their target audiences and the best ways to target them. And the task is not that easy.
Today, we are constantly exposed to marketing efforts: Every street we walk, every train we ride, every website we visit, we inevitably face companies selling us their products and services. The saturation is high, and the fatigue is real.
Web3 enters the stage with a promise of a decentralized, fair, trust-based world, where communities — not businesses — take the center stage. Can one expect the same marketing techniques to work if what is offered is so different? In fact, thousands of marketers from "traditional" tech who enter the Web3 space quickly realize that their regular sets of tools and techniques simply don't work. In this article, we will take a look at what works for NFT and other Web3 projects, and what doesn't.
What are we even marketing?
The main promise of the blockchain technology, and NFTs in particular, revolves around direct, unmediated ownership. In this context, what you market is a particular asset that your future buyer can own and enjoy. Sounds pretty straightforward. I would argue, however, that it's exactly where the common misconception lies, and that's why we have seen so many unsuccessful attempts to enter the NFT space from "traditional" players.
Continue reading: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/430145

While blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are often tied together inextricably, the former can stand on its own when it comes to other applications in business. Companies like Mastercard are utilizing blockchain technology beyond the realm of cryptocurrencies.
Financial technology — fintech for short — is using blockchain technology in a wide variety of ways to revolutionize the way consumers pay for goods and services. Mastercard in particular is using blockchain to work with customers on converting cryptocurrencies into fiat currency while also helping government organizations facilitate the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
“There are many fascinating applications of blockchain that have nothing to do with cryptos,” said Raj Seshadri, president, data & services at Mastercard. “NFT is another example of blockchain. We are in the early stages of blockchain technology. There is a lot of hype around it. What is important is to identify where the long-term value and utility lie.”
From an investing standpoint, this introduces potential investors to a wealth of opportunities for growth in the blockchain sphere. As such, exchange traded funds (ETFs) that focus on blockchain offer investors this level of exposure.
Continue reading: https://www.etftrends.com/crypto-channel/blockchain-application-is-far-beyond-cryptos-mastercard-says/

Although not yet widely implemented in healthcare, blockchain technology has tremendous potential and could be transformational by providing increased security, transparency and integrity.
However, some common myths around blockchain may be slowing its acceptance.
Kali Durgampudi is chief technology officer at Zelis, a healthcare payments company. He is a blockchain expert, which is why Healthcare IT News sat down with him – to discuss how blockchain can be used in healthcare, those stubborn myths and blockchain's transformational potential in the industry.
Q. What are the primary use cases for blockchain in healthcare?
A. Some of the biggest issues we have in healthcare are privacy and data security. Cyber-risk continues to grow exponentially as the industry moves toward digitizing and eliminating archaic paper-based processes.
Blockchain technology has the potential to alleviate many of these concerns. For those who are not familiar with it, blockchain is essentially a system of tracking and recording information. "Blocks" of data, or encrypted information, are widely distributed across a peer-to-peer network.
Any time the information is changed or shared, a new block is created to document the transaction. These blocks are strung together to create an impenetrable chain. Since the information cannot be modified or copied, blockchain technology vastly reduces security risks, giving hospital and healthcare IT organizations a much stronger line of defense against cybercriminals.
With cyberattacks becoming more and more frequent, implementing this technology will become essential to protecting sensitive patient and financial data. In the future, we will look back and ask why we didn't implement blockchain technology sooner.
Another area where blockchain can play a pivotal role is in healthcare payments. Shockingly, a lot of healthcare communications and many payment transactions still occur via mail and paper checks. Blockchain can help expedite financial transactions between payers, providers and members.
For example, many payers and providers are hesitant to share information over email because there is no proof of delivery or receipt. An email can easily be lost in a spam folder, muddling and delaying the payment process for all parties involved.
Yet blockchain technology offers a way to provide never-before-seen transparency for these transactions. Blockchain provides both payers and providers with complete visibility into the entire lifecycle of a claim, from the patient registering at the front desk to disputing a cost to sending an explanation of benefits.
In addition to explaining healthcare costs and providing transparency into the process, blockchain is ideal for exchanging healthcare payments, given the secure nature of the technology and its ability to facilitate faster transactions.
Continue reading: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/debunking-some-healthcare-s-biggest-blockchain-myths

Enabling innovative air mobility with manned VTOL-capable aircraft, the initial airworthiness of unmanned aircraft systems subject to certification, and the continuing airworthiness of those unmanned aircraft systems operated in the ‘specific’ category...

Of the myriad technological advances of the 20th and 21st centuries, one of the most influential is undoubtedly artificial intelligence (AI). From search engine algorithms reinventing how we look for information to Amazon’s Alexa in the consumer sector, AI has become a major technology driving the entire tech industry forward into the future.
Whether you’re a burgeoning start-up or an industry titan like Microsoft, there’s probably at least one part of your company working with AI or machine learning. According to a study from Grand View Research, the global AI industry was valued at $93.5 billion in 2021.
AI as a force in the tech industry exploded in prominence in the 2000s and 2010s, but AI has been around in some form or fashion since at least 1950 and arguably stretches back even further than that.
The broad strokes of AI’s history, such as the Turing Test and chess computers, are ingrained in the popular consciousness, but a rich, dense history lives beneath the surface of common knowledge. This article will distill that history and show you AI’s path from mythical idea to world-altering reality.
From Folklore to Fact
While AI is often considered a cutting-edge concept, humans have been imagining artificial intelligences for millenniums, and those imaginings have had a tangible impact on the advancements made in the field today.
Prominent mythological examples include the bronze automaton Talos, protector of the island of Crete from Greece, and the alchemical homunculi of the Renaissance period. Characters like Frankenstein’s Monster, HAL 9000 of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Skynet from the Terminator franchise are just some of the ways we’ve depicted artificial intelligence in modern fiction.
One of the fictional concepts with the most influence on the history of AI is Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. These laws are frequently referenced when real-world researchers and organizations create their own laws of robotics.
In fact, when the U.K.’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) published its 5 principles for designers, builders and users of robots, it explicitly cited Asimov as a reference point, though stating that Asimov’s Laws “simply don’t work in practice.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also made mention of Asimov’s Laws when presenting his own laws for AI, calling them “a good, though ultimately inadequate, start.”
Continue reading: https://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/history-of-artificial-intelligence/

‘When decision-makers are men, then even subconsciously there is a bias against women’
When Dr. Jasmin Ravid and her two female co-founders walk into a conference together, they bet on how long it will take for someone to comment on the fact that the company was set up by three women. Maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute.
Regardless of who wins the bet, the three women behind Kinoko-Tech, an Israeli food-tech company, share the same conclusion: Why do men find it jarring to see women in hi-tech leadership positions? 
“Everyone comments on it. They are not doing it from a place of bad intentions. But the fact that someone cannot enter a room and see three women entrepreneurs together without commenting ‘Oh my gosh’ amazes me,” Ravid tells NoCamels. 
Women-led startups received just 2.3 percent of venture capital funding globally in 2020 according to an article published in the Harvard Business Review. While Israel is known for its innovation as the Startup Nation, it is not exempt from this global pattern. A report published by the Israeli Innovation Authority said 22 percent of hi-tech senior management positions are occupied by women. Only 6.2 percent of women are CEOs or presidents. 
While Ravid and her two co-founders, Dr. Daria Feldman and Hadar Shohat, joke about their bet, they aren’t laughing about industry statistics. Their bet calls attention to a broader issue. 
“When decision-makers are men, then even subconsciously, there is a bias against women. When you are working in a very homogenous company, society, or group of people, you are used to certain norms,” Ravid says. 
Despite industry norms, several Israeli women serve as hi-tech senior leaders. The work of Jasmin Ravid, Dr. Anat Cohen-Dayag, Keren Herscovici, and Rotem Shacham – in food-tech, biopharmaceutical technologies, cybersecurity, and venture capital – is paving the way for women of the future. NoCamels spotlights these four women and their innovative and stereotype-defying work. 
Dr Jasmin Ravid
Dr. Ravid has an extensive background in plant and nutritional sciences, higher academia, and research. Her company, Kinoko-Tech, works to produce the next generation of protein-rich food through fungi and fermentation technologies. At Hebrew University, the three co-founders discovered how to grow mushrooms into alternative meats. Kinoko’s innovation is making waves in the food-tech industry – an industry that Ravid notes has a significant number of females. 
Continue reading: https://nocamels.com/2022/07/women-tipping-hi-tech-gender-balance/

Blockchain has the potential to completely change how people do business, and innovative startups are taking notice.
A well-known use of blockchain technology is a cryptocurrency, and people often use the terms interchangeably. However, blockchain and cryptocurrency are not the same. Blockchain is the technology that enables cryptocurrency, and it has other uses as well. Cryptocurrencies use a distributed ledger, but they are based on a digital store of value and exist primarily as a source of electronic currency. Alternatively, businesses using the blockchain maintain internal records, allowing for transparency of transactions through a distributed ledger while keeping personal data secure with the encryption of the blocks.
Blockchain has the potential to completely change how people do business, and innovative startups are taking notice. In a recent TechRepublic research study, 64 per cent of the professionals said they expect blockchain to impact their industry in some way, and most expect the impact to be positive.
Organizations are using blockchain for other purposes, such as digital verification systems that ensure creators are paid fairly for their work.  Efficient data transfer systems are used to create faster and safer digital identities.  As more organizations seek to leverage the benefits that blockchain offers and create other blockchain-based services, one must consider the computing and infrastructure needs of these potentially world-changing businesses.
Understanding the Basics of Blockchain
At its core, blockchain enables record keeping in a secure, immutable manner. Anything can be tracked using blockchain technology, from tangible resources to intangible information. In a blockchain, data is encrypted within a block. Each block contains the data itself, a hash that is unique to the block and a hash of the previous block. New blocks are created by generating a new hash. These new hashes are then validated through a consensus mechanism, often called a proof-of-concept. When valid blocks are accepted in the network, the blocks are added to the blockchain.
If someone tampers with the data in a block, the hash changes, making all hashes in subsequent blocks invalid. To make changes to data within a blockchain, one must create a new hash and pass it to the network’s Proof of Stake mechanism for each subsequent block in the chain. Since the verification mechanisms are distributed across multiple computers and owned by different individuals, it is almost impossible to tamper with the data in the blockchain.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/what-founders-should-keep-in-mind-when-building-their-blockchain-business/

It’s no secret that technology dominates the world, leaving a deep impact on our life. Artificial intelligence and automation add value to business by giving people more time to develop new ideas. They allow us to bring those ideas to life with a combination of human labor and machines.
"We've seen first hand how automation is transforming our business and the printing industry. It contributes to increased productivity and work quality. While we always emphasize human capital, we'll also continue investing in innovative automation technologies to further our business expansion," says Gevorg Hambardzumyan, the CEO of Front Signs, a sign making company with a huge portfolio of business signs in Los Angeles and across the US.
Let’s go over the advantages that automation and AI technologies bring to our businesses.
Make Processes Faster
Manual labor takes too much time and effort in this age of drastic advancement. Just consider how quickly we’ve developed since typewriting devices and keyboards replaced handwriting.
Processes in every sphere got faster and improved when automation was introduced to the commercial world. They sped up procedures and those who integrated them first became the best at marketing their businesses and developing captivating strategies.
Increase Safety for Workers
Machines have been taking over numerous human professions in recent years, and many experts warmly welcome this progress. Public opinion on this issue is divided and that won’t change anytime soon. Solutions will have to be drawn up by states as well as individual companies to figure out how to use automation and robots while redirecting their human resources in a manner that will optimize production.
Machines are advantageous because they can handle dangerous tasks that put people at risk. They complete difficult procedures and save hundreds of lives in dangerous jobs, from unsafe mining to agricultural work that exposes workers to chemicals. It’s one of the most remarkable ways of how AI technologies are dominating the business world. Such machinery can be replaced and give way to more sophisticated technologies, whereas human life is irreplaceable.
Continue reading: https://www.jpost.com/special-content/how-ai-and-automation-are-dominating-the-business-world-today-712412

Artificial intelligence’s impact on the world has already been felt in a variety of ways, from chess computers to search engine algorithms to a chatbot so convincing that a Google researcher thinks it’s sentient. So what’s the future of AI? 
Obviously, the future of AI can’t be predicted any more than tomorrow’s lottery numbers can. But even as the research in the field drives the technology further and further, we can put our futurist caps on and speculate about what the world might look like in an AI-driven future.
For clarity, we’ll focus on the AI advances in the world of business, yet we’ll also paint a picture of the world at-large as well.
The Future of AI in Popular Culture
Fiction can have an impact on real-world scientific research. Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics – laid out in his short story Runaround – have been part of the discussion of ethics in AI since the field began, even if modern ethical discussions tend to view Asimov’s laws as a fair but lacking starting point.
In these fictional portrayals, there is much anxiety about AI’s use as a weapon. Arguably the most famous fictional instance of AI is either HAL 9000 of 2001: A Space Odyssey or the Terminators from the franchise of the same name. Both properties deal with AI trying to kill humans by any means necessary.
However, AI is just as often portrayed as heroic as monstrous, though its weapon status is often still at the forefront. Many readers might remember The Iron Giant, wherein a 50-foot-tall alien robot struggles with its identity and the United States military before ultimately deciding it’d rather be Superman than a weapon.
These anxieties over AI-as-weapon, well-founded or not, are influential on modern AI-related policy. As recently as 2019, the U.N. was discussing the banning of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), which calls to mind the exact sort of “killer robot” anxieties present in our fiction.
Continue reading: https://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/artificial-intelligence-future/