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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ventureLAB’s Accelerate AI Applications are now open
ventureLAB has announced the launch of applications for the next cohort of its Accelerate AI program, a 6-month program funded through Scale AI, to support startups that are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help address challenges in the supply chain industry.
The program offers multiple key benefits to participating ventures, including access to 40 mentors and 15 advisors.
The Accelerate AI program will also offer personalized support for product development and a fundraising process. Participating ventures will have the chance to gain visibility and demo products to a wide audience, and to access ventureLAB’s network of over 60 ventureLAB partners, including cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Siemens.
The program is provided at no cost to program participants. ventureLAB notes that Accelerate AI has limited spots available, so interested individuals should apply early.
Applications close on March 31, 2023. Interested applicants can learn more about the program and apply here.
Only 1 in 7 tech middle managers are female
A recent study of the gender balance of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) at FTSE 100 companies by Frank Recruitment Group, a Tenth Revolution Group company, revealed that last year, women made up only 27 per cent of CIOs.
To follow up on these results, researchers at Tenth Revolution Group company Revolent conducted a study of middle management tech roles across the top companies by market cap in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K..
Key findings across the three regions showed that women occupy just 13 per cent of middle management tech roles. In Canada, women make up 17 per cent.
The average tenure for men in middle management tech roles is 3.7 years, compared to 2.5 years for women. At the senior level, the tenure gap is 1.4 years. At lead level, the gap is one year.
Women make up about 22 per cent of tech professionals who have a tenure of over ten years in their roles.
Government of Canada announces $37 million investment for high-speed Internet in economic regions across Saskatchewan
Late last week, the Government of Canada announced up to C$37 million in funding for projects that will bring high-speed internet access and mobile connectivity to communities across Saskatchewan.
With this funding, more than 5,000 homes in Northern Saskatchewan, Prince Albert, Saskatoon–Biggar, Regina–Moose Mountain and Yorkton–Melville, including over 2,700 homes in Indigenous communities, will benefit from better internet access and faster speeds. In addition, mobile connectivity will be improved along up to 500 kilometres of highway.
This announcement builds on the Canadian government’s progress toward ensuring that 98 per cent of Canadians have access to high-speed internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030.
“We all know that internet and mobile connectivity are no longer a luxury—they’re a necessity. That’s why our government made a historic commitment to connect 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2026 and why we continue to improve mobile connectivity across the country,” said Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development, who was present at Friday’s announcement. “Today’s announcement in Meadow Lake marks a significant milestone for connectivity in Saskatchewan. The funding committed will bring reliable high-speed internet access to more than 5,000 underserved homes in communities across the province.”
Fraudulent robocalls will cost mobile subscribers US$58 billion globally this year, study finds
A new report from Juniper Research has found that mobile subscribers will lose a record US$58 billion to fraudulent robocalls globally this year. This is an increase from US$53 billion in 2022.
These losses will be driven by the increase in multifarious scam calls to deceive end users, such as unauthorized call forwarding or caller ID spoofing, with the end goal of financial gain.
The report predicts that fraudsters’ ability to create new fraud methods will drive these losses to reach a total of US$70 billion globally by 2027.
The full report can be found here.
More to explore
OpenText launches latest version of ValueEdge
Today, Canadian information management software provider OpenText announced the launch of the latest version of ValueEdge – a cloud-based DevOps and value stream management (VSM) platform.
Gartner finds tech leaders expect to grow revenue in 2023, despite economic uncertainty
New research from Gartner reveals that 72 per cent of high tech leaders in the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe have plans to grow revenue this year. The company’s survey found that almost half of those leaders believe they will be able to outperform their competition in 2023.
Celebrate our champions in the 2023 Digital Transformation Awards
Once a year, ITWC takes the opportunity to celebrate these achievements with our Digital Transformation Awards. On May 24 and 25, we will celebrate the companies and the leaders who drive digital transformation.
Mastodon passes the 10 million account milestone
Upstart Twitter rival Mastodon will officially hit 10,000,000 new accounts on Sunday evening (March 19th, 2023).
Aruba partners with Microsoft, reelyActive to speed IoT workload migration into Microsoft Azure
Aruba is partnering with reelyActive in announcing a new open-source data convertor for Microsoft Azure that allows Internet of Things (IoT) device data that are securely streamed from Aruba Wi-Fi access points (APs) to be used by Microsoft Power BI and additional Azure applications.
Dell augments portfolio with new security products and services
Wednesday, Dell Technologies announced four new products and services to expand its security portfolio.
Sobeys parent says total impact of cyber attack could be over $54 million
The parent company of the Canadian Sobey’s and FreshCo supermarket chains says the direct and indirect costs from last year’s cyber attack could add up to over $54 million, not including insurance payments.
Ericsson announces new quantum research hub in Montreal
Telecommunications giant Ericsson announced that it has established a new quantum research hub in Montreal as part of its aim to best integrate quantum technologies into Canada’s communications networks. The company will partner with the University of Ottawa and the University of Sherbrooke to advance quantum research projects.
Coveo introduces new Relevance Generative Answering capability
Today, Coveo, a Montreal-based company that offers an artificial intelligence (AI) platform designed to make digital experiences “enjoyable, personalized, relevant and profitable”, announced the Coveo Relevance Generative Answering capability.
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.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
More tech layoffs even in the growth area of cloud computing.
Employees beg Google, “not to be evil” and Elon Musk tells the press
he doesn’t give a.
Listen to the latest episode of Cybersecurity Today
This episode reports on the latest news on TikTok, ransomware and a hack at an NBA provider
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.
