Coffee Briefings are timely deliveries of the latest ITWC headlines, interviews, and podcasts. Today’s Coffee Briefing is delivered by IT World Canada’s editorial team!
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Google releases 2023 Ads Safety Report
Google has released the 2023 edition of their annual Ads Safety Report, which analyzes the safety levels of the company’s ad ecosystem over the past year. Google also launched a new transparency tool called the Ads Transparency Center, which will be a fully searchable repository of global ads that the company serves from verified advertisers.
The report finds that Google was able to block or remove more than 5.2 billion ads for violating its policies. In addition, it also restricted over 4.3 billion ads. It was able to block over 17 million ads related to the war in Ukraine under its sensitive event policy.
The company also added or updated 29 policies for both advertisers and publishers in 2022.
Hack the Globe winners create a program to reduce the carbon impact of reusable bags
Hack the Globe (HTG), a student competition created by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) alumni, challenges students to tackle pressing problems, focusing on sustainable outcomes.
Over a two-week period, HTG encourages 250 students from around the globe to propose innovative solutions that apply classroom learning to real-world applications.
The final Hackathon wrapped up mid March at the BCG offices in Toronto.
This year’s winners, from Toronto and Waterloo, found a sustainable and economical solution to reduce the carbon impact of wasted reusable bags.
Team BagSHARE, led by William Qian, Wendy Zhao, Shaba Khan, and Gerry Chen, created an app that lets consumers borrow a bag by paying a deposit, rather than purchasing one, and then allows them to return it to any drop-off location. The solution encompasses a hardware return rack with a UV sterilizer, and a software terminal located in each partner store for checking bags in and out.
New data reveals digital fraud attempts in Canada increase 189 per cent from pre-pandemic levels
TransUnion has released new data that looks at digital fraud trends in Canada across different industry sectors, revealing that the number of digital fraud attempts have increased by 189 per cent.
There have been major increases in digital fraud attempts over the past few years within the retail, logistics, financial services, and travel and leisure sectors. The data found that 57 per cent of Canadians have been targeted by these scams.
The retail sector saw the most significant rise in suspected digital fraud, increasing 179 per cent from 2019 to 2022.
Over 50 per cent of consumers have been targeted by fraud, via email, online, phone call, or text messaging, within three months starting in September 2022. In addition, the report found that almost 70 per cent of Canadians would abandon a website due to fraud concerns.
“The explosion of digital transactions, the accelerated adoption of digital technologies, and increasing appetite for faster access to funds/credit, have led to an increase in fraud losses, particularly in digital channels,” said Naureen Ali, vice president of product management at Transunion. “Consumers are expecting organizations to protect their identities and online accounts, and those companies that do not adequately honour those preferences may lose business as a result.”
TERAGO deploys Canada’s first private 5G MMwave research network at McMaster University
TERAGO Inc., has launched Canada’s first ever 5G MMwave private network dedicated to Industry 4.0 research in McMaster’s new Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI) in Hamilton, Ontario.
This private network will aim to allow researchers to test and develop new advanced manufacturing technologies that leverage the capabilities of 5G MMwave networks over the next three years.
5G millimetre wave networks offer high-bandwidth and ultra-low latency, and can simultaneously support thousands of devices. These new networks will enable industries to significantly lower costs and increase worker safety by incorporating innovations in augmented reality, high-speed vision systems, massive industrial IoT deployments and autonomous vehicles, the company said in the announcement.
TERAGO and McMaster announced their partnership in November 2021, and have worked to develop use cases that are being studied by researchers inside McMaster’s new manufacturing facility.
Testportal’s generative AI turns training content into business quizzes
Testportal business users can now provide the company’s AI with context for a quiz, test or exam and get a set of ready-made, relevant and clear online test questions. The company provides artificial intelligence-powered skills and knowledge assessment software.
Testportal AI can generate questions related to product or service information materials, manuals, technical specifications, and any training content personalized to a specific company.
Here’s how it works:
- Provide Testportal AI with input – a knowledge source that it’ll use as a base to generate a test, quiz or exam.
- Select the number of questions
- Let Testportal’s algorithms analyze text to suggest questions and answers.
- Accept the AI’s suggestions or provide more input and generate the questions again.
- Review generated questions.
More to explore
Enrique Lores, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of HP Inc., took the stage at HP’s Amplify event, and delivered a message of what he called “realistic optimism,” sharing his view of the coming months and years for HP and the tech industry in general.
CIO Association of Canada announces Atlantic Canada chapter
The CIO Association of Canada (CIOCAN), which represents chief information officers (CIOs), chief information security officers (CISOs), and IT leaders in Canada, has announced its eastward expansion with the establishment of a new chapter in Atlantic Canada.
Western Digital hit by data breach, My Cloud backup services are down
Hard drive and cloud storage provider Western Digital says it has suffered a breach of security controls and data theft.
Rogers-Shaw merger: A look into the legal conditions and what critics are saying
Today, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne approved the transfer of Freedom Mobile’s spectrum licenses to Vidéotron, pushing the historic Rogers-Shaw merger over the finish line.
ITSM guru Malcolm Fry passes away
The IT service management (ITSM) world lost a luminary last Wednesday, with the death, after a long illness, of Malcolm Fry.
After two extended deadlines, countless legal hurdles and a spate of criticism, the historic C$26 billion takeover of Shaw by Rogers has been cleared.
Zefr and Meta brand suitability verification and new advertising control tools now available
Zefr, a Los Angeles-based company that enables organizations to measure brand suitability, has announced that its third-party brand suitability verification solution for Facebook Feed is now available.
Budget 2023 environmental component earns solid thumbs up from assorted organizations
Reaction to the latest federal budget from a host of organizations has been positive, largely because of the many measures related to clean technology, and the move to introduce various funding initiatives around it.
Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.
HP launched the next generation of its LaserJet printers at the HP Amplify Partner conference held in Chicago this week.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
OpenAI releases ChatGPT plug-ins, Western Digital suffers data breach and Marty Cooper made the first phone call using a portable phone, 50 years ago.
Listen to the latest episode of Cybersecurity Today
This episode reports on millions of Americans who took out loans being notified of a data breach, a criminal group trying to defraud companies hit by ransomware by bluffing and more.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Tendances
If you live in Québec, or prefer to consume the latest technology news in French, our sister publication Direction Informatique has you covered. Follow them on Twitter as well.
