Coffee Briefing Dec. 5 – OpenText to divest AMC to Rocket Software; Global companies hiring Canadians; Bell and ServiceNow partner; and more

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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New data finds companies around the world are hiring Canadians 

Source: Deel

Data from online HR company Deel has found a recent influx of workers being hired in Canada by companies in countries around the world.

Deel’s data reveals that in the last year, there’s been a 14 per cent increase in workers being hired remotely in Canada by companies in the United States.  

Half of Canadian workers hired by U.S. companies are based in Ontario, with 23 per cent in British Columbia, 11 per cent in Quebec nine per cent in Alberta, and the rest in other areas. 

And Canadian employees are continuing in those jobs. According to the data, since January 2023, termination of Canadian workers by U.S. companies is down by 41 per cent.

Globally, since January of this year, Deel reveals they’ve seen the largest increase in Canadian workers being hired by companies in Australia (224 per cent), Sweden (109 per cent) and Singapore (80 per cent).

OpenText reaches agreement to divest Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) business to Rocket Software 

Source: OpenText

Open Text Corporation has announced that it reached a definitive agreement to divest its AMC business, which was part of its Micro Focus acquisition, to Rocket Software, Inc., a Bain Capital portfolio company, for US$2.275 billion in cash. 

OpenText’s AMC business offers mainframe modernization and connectivity software to customers. This allows them to run mission-critical business applications in hybrid cloud environments. 

Benefits of this agreement include reinforcement and expansion of OpenText’s focus on cloud and AI as well as better results in more predictable growth, the company said in a release. In addition, this agreement allows for an increased focus on cloud growth opportunities. 

The announcement also shared that the combination of AMC and Rocket Software’s product portfolio will create “one of the world’s largest IT and mainframe modernization and connectivity software companies.”

Under the agreements terms, the release said, the software, associated services, and approximately 750 employees of AMC will be integrated into Rocket Software.

Until closing, it said, OpenText and Rocket Software will continue to constructively collaborate to protect customer investments and expand offerings for joint customers.

Apple releases short film for International Day of Persons with Disabilities, featuring its Personal Voice tool 

Source: Apple

To promote its new Personal Voice feature, Apple has launched a short film, The Lost Voice, created for International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which fell on Dec. 3, with New Zealander and disability advocate Dr. Tristram Ingham, who narrates from his iPhone using Personal Voice .  

Personal Voice, now available on iOS, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, lets users at risk of speech loss create a voice that sounds just like them. All they need to do is follow a series of text prompts to record 15 minutes of audio.

With the Personal Voice feature, Apple is able to train neural networks entirely on-device to advance speech accessibility while also protecting users’ privacy.

Ingham, a physician and associate professor of epidemiology who has facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a syndrome causing progressive muscle degeneration starting in the face, shoulders, and arms, that can ultimately lead to an inability to speak. In the film, he uses Personal Voice to preserve and continue to use his own voice.

Bell Canada and ServiceNow partner to transfer telecommunications service experience for Canadian businesses

 

Source: Bell

Bell Canada and ServiceNow are collaborating to help transform the telecommunications service experience for Canadian businesses. 

Bell will integrate with ServiceNow using FX Innovation, which supports companies in their digital transformation, to deliver value and service to Bell’s business clients. In response to customer demand for simplification, the announcement said, the platform will offer Bell’s customers streamlined service provisioning, improved operational efficiencies, and a more intuitive user experience.

ServiceNow’s Service Bridge application will enable Bell and Bell’s ServiceNow customers to connect processes and facilitate interactions throughout the customer lifecycle.

Benefit from this latest collaboration, the companies said, include: 

  • Purpose-built telecom solutions that align with unique business needs, delivered at a faster, more effective pace.
  • Automation capabilities that allow Bell to offer faster, more reliable services. 
  • And lastly, this partnerships will offer AI-driven insights that will be used to develop solutions to elevate customer service and predictive maintenance.

“The collaboration with ServiceNow is a cornerstone in Bell Canada’s transformation from a traditional telco to a tech services and digital media leader. We are investing strongly in elevating our business client experience,” said John Watson, group president, business markets, customer experience and AI at Bell Canada. “The collaboration with ServiceNow will make the end-to-end experience – from ordering, to provisioning, to service assurance – easier and more effective, and serve the unique needs of each client.”

Digital Governance Standards Institute publishes cyber resiliency standard for healthcare

 

Source: Getty

This week, the Digital Governance Standards Institute and HealthCareCAN announced the official publication of Canadian national standard CAN/DGSI 118: Cyber Resiliency in Healthcare.

The standard will provide healthcare organizations with a robust framework to bolster their cyber resiliency measures, while ensuring the security and protection of sensitive patient data in an increasingly digital landscape, the announcement noted.

“CAN/DGSI 118 offers a flexible yet comprehensive approach that takes into consideration the diverse range of healthcare organizations, technologies, and regulatory environments across Canada. By adopting this standard, healthcare organizations can establish a solid foundation for preventing, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cyber-attacks, ultimately ensuring the safety and confidentiality of patient data,” said Darryl Kingston, executive director of Digital Governance Standards Institute. “We are happy to have worked with HealthCareCAN and Public Safety Canada on leading the development of a robust cybersecurity standard for delivery of healthcare services in Canada.”

More to explore

Canadian group gets $2.2 million to research AI threat detection for wireless networks

A group consisting of Canadian university researchers and Ericsson Canada is the latest to have won government funding under the National Cybersecurity Coalition for advanced investigations into meeting cyber threats.

5G spectrum auction concludes; Bell, Rogers and Telus bag the most licenses

Twenty-two Canadian carriers collectively paid over C$2.1 billion for a record 4,099 licenses in the 3800 MHz spectrum auction. 

Holiday Gift Guide 2023: From trackballs to watch buds

Tis the season for jolly thoughts, and great pounding of heads against walls as we fuss about what on earth to get for those difficult-to-buy-for folks.

With that in mind, we have gathered a few ideas to help, across many price ranges, in hopes of easing your stress. 

RoboGarden and University of Northern British Columbia Continuing Studies to launch new machine learning & AI bootcamp

RoboGarden and University of Northern British Columbia Continuing Studies (UNBC CS) have announced a new collaboration, with RoboGarden offering its Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp experience to the UNBC CS students. 

AI expert says report findings proof onset of ‘Terminal AI’ has begun

A new report highlighting an escalating rise in phishing incidents since the launch of ChatGPT is the start of a cascade of events that a Silicon Valley cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) expert predicts could result in a catastrophic “threat to mankind.”

Five Canadian companies share experiences and use cases for generative AI at AWS re:Invent 2023

What are Canadian companies actually doing in terms of projects with cloud and generative AI? How are they navigating the uncertainty of a relatively new technology? Those were the questions that were addressed by a customer panel during a briefing with Canadian media at AWS re:Invent 2023.

Compel social media apps to toughen their privacy, trust practices, Parliament told

Social media platforms should be forced by the Canadian government to toughen their privacy practices, an expert told a parliamentary committee looking into illicit data harvesting by apps like China-based TikTok for foreign governments on Monday.

Broadcom update: Layoff notices issued for some VMware employees

There is a distinct good news-bad news scenario quickly developing now that Broadcom’s US$69 billion acquisition of VMware has been formally approved.

Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending

Hashtag Trending Dec.5- AI making laws; Fusion power closer to reality; The biggest companies that fell victim to cyberattacks in 2023

Listen to the latest episode of Cybersecurity Today

Cyber Security Today, Dec. 4, 2023 – A warning to water treatment utilities, a boot vulnerability could affect millions of PCs, 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.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Samira Balsara
Samira Balsara
Samira is a writer for IT World Canada. She is currently pursuing a journalism degree at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson) and hopes to become a news anchor or write journalistic profiles. You can email her at sbalsara@itwc.ca

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