WORKFORCE TRENDS

• Class of '23 Brings Tech Chops to Workforce - No Matter Their Degree

AI NEWS & TRENDS

• OpenAI CEO & Government Officials Call on Lawmakers to Create Safety Standards for AI
• ChatGPT, Bard, Bing AI: Which Gives the Best Health Advice?
• Google Builds on Tech's Latest Craze with Its Own AI Products
• Microsoft Opens Up its AI-powered Bing to All Users

CYBERSECURITY NEWS & TRENDS

• Google Announces New Cybersecurity Certificate Program
• Google Rolls Out Alternative to the Password

MORE TECH INDUSTRY NEWS & TRENDS

• Metaverse Could Contribute Up to 2.4% of US GDP by 2035, Study Shows
• Mushroom-based Chips Could Power Your Devices & Help Save Our Planet

Active Cypher CEO Mike Quinn recently published an article highlighting the changing cybersecurity landscape and its shifting priorities - 4 Ways Leaders Should Reevaluate Their Cybersecurity's Focus, in which he outlines several ways leaders can better protect their raw data. Mike discusses recognizing that priorities have evolved; understanding that security burdens have changed; understanding why, despite best efforts, criminals are still successful; and evaluating the ways in which you are protecting your most vulnerable data. ALSO, Active Cypher has launched a new website, which includes new Use Cases and Case Studies for a variety of industries. (OC)

Oli Thordarson, CEO of Alvaka, has shared the link to a TechRepublic article - Ransomware Attacks Increased 91% in March, as Threat Actors Find New Vulnerabilities, commenting that "March rolling into April was horrible for the number of attacks we got called into at Alvaka." ALSO, Alvaka is among the sponsors of the NetDiligence Cyber Risk Summit, taking place May 31-June 2. (SGV)

California Lightworks announced another successful deployment of its MegaDrive lighting technology at Pure Source, a state-of-the-art indoor cultivation facility located outside Detroit, MI. The MegaDrive system enabled Pure Source to achieve outstanding results while significantly reducing energy consumption, making it the ideal solution for indoor cultivation facilities to get an edge in an increasingly competitive market. "If I had done the same canopy with HPS, my electricity bill would have hit $20,000," said Rafi Elsha, owner of Pure Source. "Last month, our electricity bill was $4,800. It's crazy!" (SGV)

Frank Yeager, who is responsible for Eckert & Ziegler Isotope Products, was recently appointed to the Executive Board of Eckert & Ziegler AG (EZ). ALSO, EZ Radiopharma GmbH has received the manufacturing authorization for Lutetium-177 (non-carrier-added Lu-177) in GMP grade from the competent German authority. The approval is the basis for the marketing authorization of Lutetium-177 as a drug, but also for use of this radioisotope as a starting material for the manufacture of radiopharmaceuticals. By making Lutetium available to a significantly broader range of users, the approval will enable EZ to further continue its successful strategy as one of the world's leading isotope suppliers. (SGV)

Parasoft has announced the newest release of Parasoft Jtest and DTP, 2023.1 version. The Java developer test productivity solution with new features will help developers simplify workflows; improve IDE integration; and increase developer productivity. DevOps managers will benefit from Parasoft's AI-powered JUnit testing capabilities that enable developers to find and resolve issues faster, allowing them to spend more time innovating.
AND, Parasoft unveiled the latest release of its AI-powered API testing solution with the innovative addition of unified code coverage reporting, which improves the visibility of application coverage across distributed systems for users of Parasoft SOAtest, Virtualize, and CTP Version 2023.1. With enhancements to measure and analyze software code coverage, DevOps teams can expect fast, efficient, and accurate verification workflows with a software testing platform that leverages artificial intelligence. (SGV)

Project Insight (PI) has been nominated in the Business Technology - Best Project Management Solution category as part of the 38th annual CODiE Awards, presented by the Software and Information Industry Association, which honor the best products, companies and teams in the business and education technology industries. Honors will be awarded in June.
ALSO, PI is currently presenting a multi-part webinar series on 5 Keys to Managing Projects, with upcoming sessions on May 31; June 2; July 19; and August 16. The May session will cover determining who the decision-makers are, who needs to be involved, and who will be impacted. PI will explain how to best communicate with stakeholders for a positive and efficient project experience. (OC)

In Are you at risk for tech killing your job?, Dave declares that "we are in a decade of creative destruction that will affect most everybody." And the prime motivators of this massive destruction are the same class of entrepreneurs and innovators that have done it before. This time they are aided by tail winds brought on by the rapid spread of access to the Internet and AI. Dave ponders, will tech take your job, or your offspring's or grandkid's job? Old jobs will be gone for sure, he says, but that same villain - tech - will prove to be a creator of jobs we can't even imagine today, and will improve the quality of our lives immeasurably at the same time.
Other recent posts from Dave include: Protect your company secrets; Is it YOU or your great plan?; and Are you a dictator about sales deadlines? (SGV & WLA)

Mark Parinas, CEO of CuraeSoft, recently conducted several polls on LinkedIn; see the results at the links:
> How do you promote collaboration? In addition to the poll, Mark offered tips to help organizations promote team collaboration; in summary, they are: set communication expectations; rally teams around a shared vision; and schedule virtual face-to-face meetings.
> What do you think is the most important factor in promoting employee engagement? Mark suggests encourage open communication; show appreciation; provide opportunities for growth and development; and foster a positive work culture.
> What percentage of your business decisions are based on data instead of instinct or feelings? Mark shares that organizations report that only 50% of their decisions are based on data. And of these data-based decisions, only about half of the available data is being considered. But imagine what your organization could achieve by fully utilizing all the data available to you. (WLA)

A landing page is critical for any digital marketing campaign, Get Visible declares in a recent post. It's the first page a potential customer sees when they click on an ad, email, or social media post - so it needs to convey a clear and concise message that aligns with the ad's promise. It should also be visually appealing while matching the brand's aesthetics and have a strong call to action. Other essential elements for a landing page include mobile optimization, social proof, and testimonials. ALSO, read Get Visible's article - Top Reasons Your Website Isn't Reaching the First Page. (WLA)

Curious about the connection between infectious diseases and economics? Prof. Rodolphe Desbordes from SKEMA Business School used GIDEON as a data source for his paper exploring the economic impacts of disease outbreaks - Read this case study to learn more.
PLUS, read GIDEON's recent posts: Types of Infectious Disease Tests: An Overview and Infectious Diseases Conspiracy Theories: How to Fight Them? (WLA)

In a recent post, Half Past Nine shares that in the era of AI, the role of media buying is rapidly changing. And the entire media buying function will need to shift to solve new challenges - coordinated maximization of the multi-ecosystem. The future lies with those who can orchestrate the symphony of channels the best. In order to do that, you need your own data strategy and tools - one that looks across these walled gardens to connect them and build holistic and dynamic journeys for your customer across all channels. The human function is moving upstream to bridge the gap between systems, extracting truth from advertising metrics, and ensuring that the story stays coordinated, and human. (WLA)

In 5 Ways to Improve your Contact Meeting Process, Optimum Info discusses ensuring that you are properly prepared by analyzing KPIs beforehand and creating structure for all your meetings with pre-selected discussion topics. Next, ensure you have a solid action plan for your field and dealers. Finally, it is beneficial to have all the planning, scheduling, and documentation of the meeting in one central location to improve efficiency. (OC)

In How to Create an Internal Knowledge Base: A Complete Guide, ProProfs describes an internal knowledge base, a one-stop point where critical company information can be centrally managed, stored, and retrieved by employees. AND, in 10 Best Career Assessment Tools in 2023, ProProfs explains that career assessment programs can help you assess candidates' skills, personalities, and abilities. You can create an assessment manually, but using career counseling assessment software will give you more accurate results. To help you choose, ProProfs has shortlisted the 10 best tools for career assessments that are reliable, secure, and feature-rich. (WLA)

As part of the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, Marshall Toplansky has co-authored a new report - Nurturing California Industries, which focuses on trying to create better employment opportunities for Californians, examining the industries in which the state maintains strategic advantages. Marshall shares that they gathered extensive input from powerful business organizations, such as the Bay Area Council and the Los Angeles Business Federation, as well individual business people. The research team proposes several sensible and achievable actions to change the tenor and direction of the California business climate, adopting best practices from states and countries who have excelled at business development. (OC)

Angle Health, the digital-first, full-stack healthcare platform, announced it's expanding into Florida and North Carolina. As such, Angle offers access to its dynamic healthcare plans to 2.8+ million small businesses in Florida (comprising up to 99.8% of all companies and employing 3.6 million workers in the state), and 964,000+ small businesses in North Carolina (accounting for over 99% of companies and employing 1.7 million workers in the state). This expansion comes on the heels of Angle's growth across six states - Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and South Carolina. Leveraging its recent $58M Series A round, the company plans to accelerate its expansion further this year. (LA)

Biospectal announced that it's looking for users to help test their revolutionary smartphone blood pressure solution. If you would like to become an OptiBP test user, please submit your information here, and they will let you know if they can fit you in. (SV)

Naresh Menon, Founder and CEO of ChromoLogic, was honored by the Purdue University College of Science at its recent 2023 Distinguished Science Awards, winning the Entrepreneur Award. Every year, the College of Science honors alumni who are "shining examples of the giant leaps that take us into new frontiers. Through their accomplishments, they grow the college's reputation and reach. And through their continued engagement with the college, they motivate the next generation of Purdue Science students and alumni." (LA)

Eitan Medical has launched its new cutting-edge connected infusion multi-therapy ambulatory infusion system - Avoset. It's designed to transform post-acute care and specialty infusion therapy with compact and simplified technology that can monitor infusion treatment data remotely, aiming to enhance patient safety, and improve the user experience. As Roger Massengale said: "This confirms that Eitan Medical is set for sustainable growth with a focus on a strong innovation roadmap that will redefine the drug delivery market." (OC)

Elemeno Health and Arkansas Children's, a nationally-ranked children's health system, announced the launch of a workforce app to support nursing staff at both Arkansas Children's Hospital and Arkansas Children's Northwest with just-in-time resources, digitized communication, and actionable insights. The customizable clinical and resource app reduces cognitive overload by condensing otherwise-overwhelming information into bite-sized snippets, accessible and easy to consume, and specific to each department's needs. Arkansas Children's is additionally using Elemeno to standardize care practices between hospital campuses, ensuring that children receive excellent care at whichever location they visit. (Bay Area)

Watch an on-demand webinar from LigoLab - Emerging Technologies of the Future Lab.
AND read recent LigoLab articles: How to Turn an Economic Downturn into an Opportunity and Understanding the Importance of Real-Time Analytics in the Modern Clinical Laboratory. (LA)

MedWand Solutions has recently become a PointClickCare Marketplace Program Partner and completed a technical integration that will allow nurses and providers to access MedWand's comprehensive VirtualCare telemedicine platform using their PointClickCare credentials, increasing staffing efficiency, empowering providers, and improving access to quality healthcare. The integration allows nursing assistants using the handheld MedWand device to cooperatively evaluate patients with a physician via real-time, clinically accurate examinations, from any location in the country. The integration supports single password log-in, patient search from resident lists, and export of all captured vital data and clinical notes back to PointClickCare for inclusion in the patient's electronic health record. (OC)

Barry Clark, CEO of WestFax, recently posted on LinkedIn, "I have committed to planting 10,000 trees a year as a part of our overall strategy to love our planet and, even more importantly, the people that live here" - as part of his company's proud partnership with the National Forest Foundation's effort to plant 50 million trees. WestFax points out that its Secure Cloud Fax, by nature, eliminates the need for paper-based legacy fax machines - saving thousands of trees every year. (OC)

More than 4 in 5 college graduates majoring in non-tech fields possess one or more technology proficiencies, such as data analytics capabilities and IT systems knowledge, according to a new Handshake report. Roughly three-quarters plan to develop additional proficiencies in the next few years, the employment marketplace found. The number of computer and information science bachelor's degrees conferred annually has more than doubled in the last decade, based on National Center for Educational Statistics data, to over 100,000 in 2021 from under 50,000 in 2011. Yet, demand has outpaced supply.

As this year's cohort plunges into the job market with resumés in hand, the challenge for business leadership is to look beyond college majors, as technical chops may lay hidden under a degree in literature, psychology or sociology. Data analysis, product management, IT and AI are the top areas in which respondents intend to cultivate additional skills over the next few years. Non-tech majors are gravitating to adjacent skill areas, such as business analytics and design thinking, as well, the report said. (https://www.ciodive.com/news/Class-of-2023-technology-skills-Handshake-workforce/649587/)

MEANWHILE, a recent Wall Street Journal article - Not a Tech Firm? Snaring Top Laid-Off Tech Talent Won't Be Easy - reports that "hotshot" developers from Big Tech firms don't really want to work in the IT department of a retailer or insurance company, recruiters say. But some companies are trying to draw them in with AI projects or bigger roles. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/not-a-tech-firm-snaring-top-laid-off-tech-talent-wont-be-easy-7a6fdb2c)

The chief executive of ChatGPT creator OpenAI called on Congress to create licensing and safety standards for advanced artificial-intelligence systems, as lawmakers begin a bipartisan push toward regulating the powerful new tools available to consumers. "We understand that people are anxious about how it can change the way we live. We are, too," Sam Altman said of AI technology at a recent Senate subcommittee hearing, his first appearance before Congress. "If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong." Mr. Altman called for "a new agency that licenses any effort above a certain scale of capabilities and could take that license away and ensure compliance with safety standards." (https://www.wsj.com/articles/chatgpts-sam-altman-faces-senate-panel-examining-artificial-intelligence-4bb6942a)

ALSO, industry watchers expect AI regulations and government focus on AI to increase throughout the year, especially as enterprise adoption and development of AI-powered models continue to spread. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA, used ChatGPT to write legislation calling for Congress to increase its focus on AI. Lieu's proposal, which was touted as the first-ever piece of legislation written by AI, called for development and deployment of AI that is safe, ethical and respects the rights and privacy of all Americans. (https://www.ciodive.com/news/AI-ChatGPT-legal-scrutiny/641912/)

PLUS, the White House recently convened a group of senior officials and technology industry executives to discuss the rise and ethical use of AI. During the meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized the importance of fostering responsible, trustworthy and ethical innovation. CEOs from Alphabet, Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI joined Harris and other senior officials for a discussion. The White House also announced a public evaluation of AI systems, consistent with responsible disclosure principles, with commitments from several major AI companies. The evaluation will take place at DEFCON 31 in Las Vegas this summer. (https://www.ciodive.com/news/kamala-harris-google-microsoft-openAI/649489/)

Healthcare providers say ChatGPT gives better health advice than other generative artificial intelligence platforms, according to a report from health IT company Tebra. Here is which platform each of the 500 providers surveyed said gave the "best advice": 1. ChatGPT: 44%; 2. Google Bard: 42%; 3. Microsoft Bing AI: 14%.
"After examining the medical guidance provided by ChatGPT, 46% of healthcare providers reported feeling more optimistic about the use of AI in healthcare," the April 27 report found. "This represents a significant shift in perspective, with 95% of those surveyed indicating a more positive attitude towards AI technology in healthcare." (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/disruptors/chatgpt-bard-bing-ai-which-gives-the-best-health-advice.html )

At its recent annual conference in Mountain View, Google demonstrated some of what it has been working on. The company said its search engine will begin incorporating responses generated by AI at the top of query results pages and allow users to ask follow-up questions. It was a notable step toward Google's embrace of AI, which many experts believe could remake the tech industry. Google was a pioneer in the technology, but had been reluctant to do too much with it because AI comes with risks, like spreading false information. But Google, along with the rest of Silicon Valley, was surprised by the success of ChatGPT. In December, Google declared a "code red" to find ways to incorporate the technology behind ChatGPT, called generative AI, into its own products. Google said at its conference that it has now embedded its latest AI technology into 25 products, including the search updates and a feature to help users write emails in Gmail. (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/technology/google-ai-products.html) ALSO, read Everything Google Announced at I/O 2023. (https://www.wired.com/story/google-io-2023-everything-announced/)S

Microsoft is rolling out the new AI-powered version of its Bing search engine to anyone who wants to use it. Nearly three months after the company debuted a limited preview version of its new Bing, powered by the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, Microsoft is opening it up to all users without a waitlist - as long as they're signed into the search engine via Microsoft's Edge browser. Beyond adding AI features to search, Microsoft has said it plans to bring ChatGPT technology to its core productivity tools, including Word, Excel and Outlook, with the potential to change the way we work. The decision to add generative AI features to Bing could be particularly risky, however, given how much people rely on search engines for accurate and reliable information. (https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/04/tech/microsoft-bing-updates/index.html)

As part of its ongoing career training initiative - and reflecting ongoing need in the industry - Google has launched a new Cybersecurity Certificate to fill entry-level jobs such as cybersecurity analyst and information security analyst. The certificate can be completed online in less than six months through part-time study, with no experience or degree required, according to the May 4 announcement. (https://www.hrdive.com/news/google-announces-new-cybersecurity-certificate-program/649916/)

Google recently began rolling out support for passkeys, an alternative sign-in method for apps and websites that the company says is meant to serve as an "easier to use and more secure" alternative to the password. With passkeys, Google said users can access their various accounts the same way they might unlock their phone: with a fingerprint, face scan or screen lock PIN. The FIDO Alliance, a security consortium that counts many tech firms as members, previously developed standards for passkeys. Microsoft, Apple and Google have since been working to make passkeys a reality.
Apple rolled out its passkey option with the release of iOS 16, allowing people to use the technology across apps, including Apple Wallet. Passkey support was rolled out on Chrome and Android devices in October 2022, but now the option is available across Google accounts, from Gmail to Drive. Google will continue to support passwords and two-factor authentication as other account access options. (https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/03/tech/google-passkeys/index.html)

The metaverse could contribute as much as $760 billion or about 2.4% to U.S. annual GDP by 2035, according to a study by Deloitte, commissioned by Facebook owner Meta Platforms. The concept of the metaverse includes augmented and virtual reality technologies that allow users to immerse themselves in a virtual world or overlay information digitally on images of the real world. Economic gains may come from the use of the technologies in the defense, medical and manufacturing sectors, plus entertainment use cases such as video games and communication, the report said. (https://www.reuters.com/technology/metaverse-could-contribute-up-24-us-gdp-by-2035-study-2023-05-09/)

Researchers in Austria are developing chip substrates out of mushroom skin, which can handle high temperatures and act as an insulator and conductor. The biodegradable material brings flexibility to chip design and is being touted as an alternative to unrecyclable plastic. (https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/sustainability/these-mushroom-based-chips-could-power-your-devices-and-help-save-our-planet/)

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