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
CS-Can/Info-Can 2022 Award nominations
The CS-Can/Info-Can 2022 Award nominations are open.
The awards will be handed out next year in June in Montreal, recognizing leaders in the computer science field who have helped build the industry.
There are four awards:
Lifetime Achievement in Computer Science award –
These awards honour faculty members in Canadian Computer Science Departments/Schools/Faculties who have made outstanding contributions to the field of computer science over their careers. Nominations close on December 1.
Outstanding Early Career Computer Science Researcher award –
These awards highlight excellence in research. Nominations close on February 1.
Canadian Computer Science Distinguished Dissertation award –
These awards recognize excellence in research and writing in a doctoral dissertation. Nominations close on February 1.
The Excellence in Teaching Award –
Two awards are presented every year to faculty who have demonstrated exceptional teaching ability, at the undergraduate or graduate level, through classroom lectures, laboratory instruction, thesis supervision, design and development of courses, and use of innovative teaching methods. Nominations close on February 1.
App Store Grossed $65B in Nine Months of 2022, more than twice as Google Play
The Apple App Store grossed US$65 billion in the first nine months of this year, more than twice as much as Google Play, according to data presented by SportsLens.com, a distribution channel for mobile apps,
Additionally, App Store revenue is up by three per cent, where Google Play has seen an 11 per cent revenue drop.
The iPhone is more popular in high-income countries such as the United States and Japan, where people spend more on mobile apps. Google Play’s largest markets include Southeast Asia, India, and South America, which typically see less app revenue per user.
iOS users spent US$64.9 billion on in-app purchases, premium apps, and subscriptions in the first nine months of this year, up three per cent from US$62.9 billion in the same period a year ago, the slowest growth in years.
Google Play significantly reduced the number of available apps in 2022, which caused its revenue to plunge by 11 per cent year-over-year. In the first half of the year alone, more than 1.1 million apps had been removed from the Google Play store, the second-largest drop since 2018.
PayPal launches Passkeys for more secure payments
PayPal is adding passkeys as an easy and secure login method for PayPal accounts. Passkeys are a new industry standard created by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium.
The feature replaces passwords with cryptographic key pairs, creating a simple and more secure way to log in to PayPal.
According to the company, the technology is resistant to phishing and designed so that there is no shared passkey data between platforms.
The new PayPal log in option will first be available to iPhone, iPad, or Mac users on PayPal.com and will expand to additional platforms as those platforms add support for passkeys.
Passkeys will help address the weakness of password authentication. Over 2.6 billion records were hacked in 2017 and of these hacks, 81 per cent are estimated to have been caused by password stealing and guessing.
TELUS International announces agreement to acquire WillowTree
TELUS Corporation and TELUS have announced an agreement to acquire WillowTree, a full-service digital product provider focused on end user experiences.
TELUS International will acquire WillowTree for a total enterprise value of US$1.225 billion. The acquisition is anticipated to close in January 2023.
WillowTree is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia and operates 13 global studios in countries including Canada, the U.S., Brazil, Portugal, Poland, and Spain. The company’s digital strategists, designers, engineers, and project managers partner with brands on large-scale initiatives that better customer experiences.
The acquisition will add significant scale to TELUS International’s digital portfolio, and expand to new areas of growth and diversification such as key front-end design and development capabilities. It also expands TELUS International’s global footprint with the addition of two new delivery countries: Brazil and Portugal.
“Today marks the next step in our company’s journey, and I look forward to working alongside the talented members of the WillowTree team to jointly raise the bar for ourselves to better envision, create and implement high-impact, technology-powered brand connections that fuel customer loyalty and establish and maintain industry market leadership for our clients,” said Jeff Puritt, president and chief executive officer of TELUS International.
More to explore
SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat report was published this week. It claims that ransomware attacks shrunk by 23 per cent on a year-to-date worldwide basis over 2021. That’s good news, perhaps, but to put it in perspective, there were still over 236 million attacks so far in 2022. Moreover, the reduced 2022 number is still larger than the full year totals of 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Cisco brings new customer experience capabilities to contact centers
Digital communications technology company Cisco has announced updates to its web conferencing platform Webex’s CX (customer experience) portfolio, aimed at helping businesses deliver a connected, personalized, and omnichannel customer experience.
Stacey’s story: Pivoting from oil and gas to the tech sector
Life is what you make it, and nobody knows that better than Stacey McLennan-Waldal, a data scientist who currently works in PwC’s Calgary office in the firm’s advanced analytics practice.
Elon Musk officially completes Twitter deal
Elon Musk has formally taken ownership of Twitter, immediately firing Parag Agrawal, who had succeeded co-founder Jack Dorsey as Twitter chief executive officer (CEO).
Women in IT Awards: winner roundup
The Women in IT Summit and Awards wrapped up Tuesday night in Toronto with the presentation of awards recognizing and celebrating women, allies, and businesses across the country, highlighting their contributions to the technology industry.
Cybercrime still the leading cyber threat against Canadians: Federal report
Cybercrime is still the number one cyber threat to Canadians, according to the latest edition of the government’s national cyber threat report.
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.
TENT, CAMSC, AND TD Bank collaborate to launch certification program for refugee entrepreneurs
Non-profit organizations Tent Partnership for Refugees (TENT) and the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC), with sponsorship from TD Bank, have announced that they are launching a new certification program for businesses owned by entrepreneurs who recently arrived in Canada as refugees.
IBM Canada and MLSE announce a new multi-year agreement
IBM Canada has announced a new multi-year agreement with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). This partnership makes IBM the official sponsorship partner for cybersecurity and technology consulting services for the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs. It is an extension of an existing 20 year partnership that encompasses multiple activities.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
Discord bans 55 million accounts for spam, Netflix Canada rolls out a new membership option, e-bikes and e-scooters in New York City are catching fire.
Listen to the latest episode of Cyber Security Today
This episode reports on hackers taking advantage of badly configured Windows servers, IIS logs and a VMware security update
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.