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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What’s new this week
AWS launches two new, free training initiatives to help people build foundational cloud skills
Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced two new, free training initiatives that make it easy for individuals to get hands-on cloud computing skills training in a fun and engaging way. The first initiative is a new game-based role-playing experience, called AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner, ideal for early-career or new-to-cloud adult learners. The initiative teaches foundational cloud computing concepts while learners blast drones and collect gems in their quest to solve challenges in a virtual city, explains AWS.
AWS is also launching a new, improved version of AWS Educate, adding interactive content and removing the .edu email address requirement, making the program even more accessible. With AWS Educate, learners as young as 13 years of age can access hundreds of hours of free, self-paced training, resources, and labs specifically designed for new-to-the-cloud learners.
AWS says the Cloud Quest and AWS Educate are part of Amazon’s commitment to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people by 2025, reaching people from all walks of life and all levels of knowledge, in more than 200 countries and territories.
Canada ranked sixth most expensive in the world for broadband in new study
New research from Unswitch has revealed the countries home to the least affordable broadband and Canada ranks sixth, with an average monthly cost of US$76.14 (C$97.50).
The experts at Uswitch, a UK-based price comparison service and switching website founded in 2000, analyzed the average cost per month of broadband in comparison to the average monthly income per capita in OECD countries, determining overall broadband costs as a percentage of income, and revealing the countries home to the least (and most) affordable broadband.
BMO becomes first Canadian bank to launch True Name by Mastercard, a feature for the 2SLGBTQ+ community
BMO yesterday announced it is implementing the True Name feature by Mastercard, enabling transgender and non-binary individuals to use their chosen name across all BMO consumer and small business credit cards without the requirement of a legal name change.
Mastercard developed True Name in 2019 in response to the need for banking cards to reflect the true identities of many in the transgender and non-binary communities. BMO’s U.S. subsidiary, BMO Harris Bank, was the first financial institution globally to partner with Mastercard and issue the cards. Since then, True Name by Mastercard has been made available globally, with the BMO partnership announced today marking a first for Canada.
Trulioo expands identity verification services in EMEA Region
Trulioo today announced it now offers coverage in Greece and Israel via Trulioo GlobalGateway, a global identity verification platform. With GlobalGateway, Trulioo explains, organizations operating in these two countries can now perform identity checks on consumers that support regional Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. Identity verification helps organizations scale compliance programs globally and facilitate secure digital onboarding as they expand into new jurisdictions and geographies. This will ensure organizations in the two countries can connect with consumers digitally, ultimately advancing financial inclusion.
Trulioo provides real-time verification of 5 billion consumers and 330 million business entities worldwide, all through a single API integration. Organizations rely on its identity verification platform, GlobalGateway, to help meet their business and compliance requirements and automate due diligence and fraud prevention workflows.
RBC and ApplyBoard team up to launch solution to support international students financially during their studies abroad
Global financial institution Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Canadian global education technology firm ApplyBoard today announced a joint Proof of Financial Support solution designed to improve accessibility to higher education in Canada for international students.
ApplyBoard explains this new tech solution will provide greater trust and efficiency in the Canadian study permit application process. Every international student who comes to Canada needs to submit their proof of financial support documents as part of the Canadian study permit application. By using ApplyProof, ApplyBoard’s document verification platform, international students can now submit their study permit application to the Government of Canada with the added trust and security of a digitally verifiable Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) provided by RBC, which can be verified in just a few seconds via the ApplyProof platform.
The Government of Canada authorizes several banks to offer GICs to international students. What makes this announcement unique is that ApplyBoard-RBC International Student GIC program is the first to offer GICs that can be digitally verified by students, institutions, and immigration officials at any time and in just seconds through ApplyProof.
Catalyst and Mastercard announce new training programs to foster diversity in cybersecurity
Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst at Ryerson University has announced it has partnered with Mastercard to launch two training programs designed to foster inclusion and diversity in the Canadian cybersecurity sector.
The cybersecurity sector faces a critical shortage of skilled workers, while women and persons of colour continue to be seriously underrepresented in this industry. With Mastercard’s investment of $1.25 million, the new Catalyst training programs will help to address these gaps through:
- The Mastercard Emerging Leaders in Cyber Initiative, a leadership program designed to support the development of female-identifying executive leaders in cybersecurity; and
- The Mastercard Cyber Range Capstone Program, an experiential learning program designed to provide learners from demographic groups that are underrepresented in the cybersecurity sector, and who have been or are currently enrolled in the Catalyst’s Accelerated Cybersecurity Training Program, with additional, hands-on cybersecurity training.
For more information on the training programs, click here.
More to explore
ESET discovers fourth data wiper malware aimed at Ukraine
A fourth variety of wiper malware and a poisoned Windows antivirus update, both aimed at Ukraine, have been found by security researchers.
Critical vulnerabilities found in Veeam Backup & Replication
IT administrators using Veeam’s Backup & Replication solution are being urged to immediately apply patches after the discovery of critical vulnerabilities.
Lethbridge College to allow students to occupy property in the metaverse
Lethbridge College’s Centre for Technology, Environment and Design (CTED) has announced it is partnering with Liquid Avatar Technologies, a publicly-traded global blockchain and fintech solutions firm, to launch a work-integrated learning opportunity that will allow students to occupy property in the metaverse.
Splinternet: will Russia pull itself off the internet?
Ukraine’s representative on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently asked that Russia’s top-level domains (TLD) including .ru and .su be revoked along with their Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates.
Canada to get first-of-its-kind 3D printed housing project in Leamington, Ontario
Invest WindsorEssex (IWE), the economic development organization for the Windsor-Essex region of Ontario, has showcased the design of a 3D printed home in virtual reality as part of a first-of-its-kind in Canada housing project led by Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex and in partnership with the University of Windsor.
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
Google is being sued by a Florida restaurant group, Ford will ship cars without certain chips, and contrary to popular belief, misinformation on social media affects Gen Z too.
Listen to the latest episode of Cyber Security Today
This episode reports on an alleged Ukraine theft of IP from Russia, the discovery of vulnerable software package managers, another Spectre processor bug, more data breaches and a bad Android app
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Tendances (Hosted by Direction Informatique)
If you live in Quebec or prefer to consume the latest technology news in French, our sister publication Direction Informatique has you covered. Follow them on Twitter as well.