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!
Missed last week’s Coffee Briefing? We’ve got you covered.
What’s new this week
ITWC’s Digital Transformation Conference starts tomorrow!
Have you secured your seat at the Digital Transformation Awards and Conference? This two-day event will bring together Canada’s leaders in IT and technology to share their experiences and answer your questions while networking through the DX-TV platform.
Here are some of the sessions to look forward to at the hybrid event:
- Cindy Xiong, assistant professor, College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst offers new insights into how to turn data and analytics into a compelling narrative that will help drive change during her presentation titled ‘Telling Your Digital Story Effectively’.
- Franco Chirichella, president, chief executive officer, and chief digital officer, Innovapost joins Jim Love, chief information officer, ITWC in a Fireside Chat where they will discuss the ‘Top Priorities and Challenges for Digital Transformation’.
- Koleya Karringten, executive director Canadian Blockchain Consortium, joins Rick Huijbregts, Global Lead, Smart Cities, Stantec and Jonathan Anderson, Aviso, Aviso Wealth to tackle this controversial topic during their panel discussion ‘From Diverse to Metaverse, From NFT to Cryptocurrency – What Impact Will Emerging and Growing Technologies Have on Your Business in Canada?’
These discussions and many more await at the Digital Transformation Conference from May 25-26, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM ET. The conference will also witness the announcement of the Digital Transformation Awards and the CIO of the Year Awards. Register Now!
Fortinet introduces self-learning AI capabilities in new network detection and response offering
Global broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions provider Fortinet today announced the launch of FortiNDR, a new network detection and response offering that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and pragmatic analytics to enable faster incident detection and accelerated threat response. This new offering rounds out Fortinet’s existing portfolio of detection and response solutions, including managed detection and response (MDR), endpoint detection and response (EDR), and extended detection and response (XDR) solutions.
With the introduction of FortiNDR, Fortinet says it is delivering full-lifecycle network protection, detection, and response powered by AI to detect signs of sophisticated cyberattacks; offload intensive human analyst functions with virtual security analyst; and identify compromised users and agentless devices. FortiNDR also features native integrations with the Fortinet Security Fabric as well as API integrations with third-party solutions for a coordinated response to discovered threats to minimize their impact. Common automations to speed response include quarantining devices generating anomalous traffic, enforcement with third-party devices via an API framework, triggering an orchestrated process guided by SOAR, and more.
Canadian financial services platform for gig workers and freelancers closes C$6.38 M seed funding round
Moves, a Toronto-based all-in-one financial technology company (banking app) exclusively for gig workers, announced today that it has closed a C$6.38 million seed funding round to advance its mission of making the gig economy work for its workers.
Moves says it launched its mobile app in 2021 after spending hundreds of hours in cars, on bikes, on foot, in parking lots, and in burrito lines listening to gig workers. Since its founding, Moves has built its products in partnership with gig workers, focusing exclusively on their needs. The company has over 10,000 members on track to earn over US$56 million by year’s end 2022 and better manage their money with early deposits for weekly payouts, earnings insights across 16+ supported apps, and cash advances up to US$1,000.
To accelerate its mission of making the gig economy work for its workers, Moves has taken a radical approach of enabling thousands of gig workers to become owners in the companies they earn on. Inspired by recent shareholder activism towards ESG objectives, Moves is allowing its members to earn share rewards in Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Grubhub, Target, and Amazon through the Moves Collective which holds over 4,500 shares across the supported public gig companies.
The funding round is being led by the venture fund OMERS Ventures and a group of former gig economy and consumer technology senior executives from companies such as Airbnb, eBay, Facebook, Lyft, Uber, and Shopify. Other investors for this round include Panache Ventures and N49P Ventures.
Canada’s Converge Technology Solutions to acquire U.S.-based Technology Integration Group
Canadian software-enabled IT & cloud solutions provider Converge Technology Solutions has announced it is acquiring San Diego, U.S.-based full-service IT solutions provider Technology Integration Group (TIG).
With over 20 branch locations and a major presence in the U.S. and Canada, TIG serves a wide-reaching and diverse client base in enterprise, government, education, and small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) markets.
“Converge is excited to continue our strategy of growth and global expansion through the announced addition of Technology Integration Group to our portfolio of companies,” stated Shaun Maine, chief executive officer of Converge. “TIG brings strong industry expertise across State, Local, and Education that we can leverage across North America and gives us additional presence in Canada, adding to our strength of offerings with the Canadian government. The combined strength of Converge and TIG’s ability to serve our clients in markets around the world will present an exciting opportunity for us to continue reaching our clients and solving their solution needs wherever they may be.”
Consideration for the purchase consists of US$74 million in cash to be paid at closing. Positive net working capital will also be paid out at closing, the company noted.
Apple launches privacy ad campaign
Apple has launched a global ad campaign highlighting the amount of information collected about individuals online. The company said, “Over the past decade, a large and opaque industry has been amassing increasing amounts of personal data. A complex ecosystem of websites, apps, social media companies, data brokers, and ad tech firms track users online and offline, harvesting their personal data. This data is pieced together, shared, aggregated, and used in real-time auctions, fuelling a US$227 billion-a-year industry. This occurs every day, as people go about their daily lives, often without their knowledge or permission.”
The commercial, in the form of the depiction of an auction of an individual’s data, points out how much information data brokers accumulate and sell to anyone who will pay for it. And (it’s an Apple commercial, after all), it demonstrates iPhone features that combat the data harvesting. Check it out here.
More to explore
RBC adds PIN authentication to its mobile banking app
RBC has improved its RBC Mobile App with a feature that combines client card and biometrics authentication with PIN verification.
Huawei, ZTE to be banned from Canada’s 5G/4G networks
Canadian telecom providers will have to rip out any Huawei and ZTE equipment from their 4G and 5G networks without compensation, the federal government has announced.
This Week in Ransomware – Friday, May 20th 2022
A recent report from Telus noted that ransomware “attackers are strategic adversaries who perform detailed reconnaissance before launching attacks. They gather information about financials and insurance coverages to gauge the ability of a victim to pay a certain amount.…
Ten hybrid workplace trends you may not be prepared for
Ready or not, the hybrid workplace has finally arrived. That means employers are just starting to discover the gaps in their ability to accommodate workers, wherever they may be.
BlackBerry signs agreement with Magna to collaborate on ADAS solutions
BlackBerry has entered into a multi-year agreement with Magna International, a Canadian automobile components maker, to integrate advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) solutions into Magna products.
Toronto-based venture capital firm Round13 today announced the launch of a dedicated, crypto native fund to invest in the emerging blockchain and digital asset market. The fund is also partnered with Satstreet, a Canadian digital investment firm with a deep network of relationships in the crypto universe.
How to avoid consumer pain points around wearable medical technology
The market for consumer medical wearable technology is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the technology industry. Recent data showed that the global wearable healthcare market is projected to reach US$30.1 billion by 2026, up from US$16.2 billion in 2021. Driven by a range of factors – including the response to Covid-19, the rollout of 5G connectivity and improvements in the range and functionality of devices – our appetite for wearable technology has soared over the last two years.
Burnout in the tech sector: Why is it happening and what are the solutions?
As more organizations focus on digitally transforming their businesses, and the need for technology and its services grow, tech workers are facing burnout and seeing a strain on their mental health.
Globalive signs wireless spectrum sharing deal with Telus
Globalive has signed a network and spectrum sharing agreement with Telus to better position itself as a buyer for Freedom Mobile, whose divestiture stands as the major hurdle in Rogers’ efforts to acquire Shaw.
Strata Identity, U.S.-based identity orchestration provider for multi-cloud environments with a significant presence in Vancouver, has announced the availability of the Hexa open-source project that enables organizations to unify and consistently manage all of their access policies across multi-clouds, on-premises systems, and vendors.
Telus commits $34.5 billion and 14,000 new jobs to Alberta and B.C. over the next four years
Telus has announced the investment of $17.5 and $17 billion in network infrastructure, operations, and spectrum across Alberta and British Columbia (B.C.), respectively, over the next four years.
Privacy Commissioner’s bulletin helps Canadian firms handle sensitive personal information
Canada’s federal privacy law requires companies to protect the sensitive information that they hold about employees, customers and partners.
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
Washington D.C. Attorney General sues Meta, Tesla asks drivers in Texas to avoid charging their vehicles during peak hours, and Hyundai opens its first U.S.-manufacturing plant.
Listen to the latest episode of Cyber Security Today
This episode reports on being prepared for working from hone, hacking contents winners, a ransomware attack on a third-party public school data provider amd more.
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.
