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Oregon Football fans should be excited about Jordan Happle and heres why – Yahoo Sports

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Oregon Football fans should be excited about Jordan Happle and heres why originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest

On October 5, the Oregon Ducks bolstered their secondary with the addition of Boise State transfer Jordan Happle.

If that name sounds familiar Duck fans, it should.

The Portland, Oregon-native from Jesuit high School was a two-time Metro League Defensive Player of the Year, a State Champion and a three-star recruitcoming out of high school. He held offers from Boise State, Eastern Washington, Hawaii and Montana State before committing to the Broncos.

It didnt take long for him to make an impact on the Smurf Turf either.

Happle recorded his first career interception at Boise State against the Oregon Ducks in the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl. In 2019, Happle recorded 22 tackles, 14 solo and two pass deflections in just five games. He was on track for his best year yet, but unfortunatelya season-ending injury put a stop to that.

Now that the Mountain West Conference postponed all fall sports in 2020, Happle decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal. The Ducks came knocking and Happle is coming home to fulfill his dream of becoming an Oregon Duck.

We had the opportunity to interview Jesuit High School football coach Ken Potter to get more on the newest member of the Oregon secondary.

Jordan is a playmaker. When he played for me, If you needed something done, he would make it happen, said Potter. We won a state championship with him as a senior and he made play after play after play and big-time plays. Defensively, hes a quarterback on the field and he knows what to do, makes adjustments, makes sure people are doing the right things

Someone who is familiar with his style of play is current Oregon Defensive Coordinator Andy Avalos, who was the defensive coordinator at Boise State before taking the job on Mario Cristobals staff in Eugene, Oregon.

We spoke with Avalos last week and asked what it was like to see Happle back on the field in Avalos system. It was like deja vu.

Obviously Jordan is an unbelievable young man. Very blessed to have him join us and obviously his first day out there at practice today. The first time he jumped in there I was doing something and I heard him make a call out on the field and its been a little while since I heard that voice out there being a quarterback out there in the defense. It was fun to see him out there today."

He will give as much as people want to take, said Potter. When I say that, he will help out. I just know that hes going to step in and teach and help and work and I just know, as a coach, it is nice to have someone who knows your thoughts before you have to even say them. And Im sure thats what coach [Avalos] is talking about

One memory, in particular, stands out amongst the rest and exemplifies exactly who Happle is both on and off the field.

Its Happles junior season at Jesuit. The Crusaders are playing the Tigard Tigers when Happle went up for a ball in the end zone and came down on an opponent's ankle and broke his foot. After hobbling to the sidelines, his first words were, I should have caught that. It was in my hands, I should have caught that. Can we tape this up and can I play?

Happle was almost in tears after the team doctor ruled him out for the rest of the game.

He sits on the bench for maybe like 20 seconds and then hes asking for crutches so he can be on the sideline standing up encouraging his teammates, said Potter. Thats who Jordan is.

And thats who Duck fans can be really excited about.

How exactly will Oregons secondary look in 2020? Will Happle earn a starting role? We will soon find out in just three weeks.

[Listen to the latest Talkin Ducks Podcast with host Jordan Kent and special guest former Oregon wide receiver Keenan Howry].

Does Aaron Rodgers talk to his brother Jordan? What we know about the Rodgers family rift – Sporting News

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Aaron Rodgers has had public relationships with his girlfriends, but he's kept his relationships with family pretty secret.

This would likely go unnoticed, but Rodgers' brother Jordan is also a celebrity. So when the two celebrity brothers aren't really seen together, people start to ask questions. Those questions have mostly been ignored, but each sibling has offered a few comments on their relationship throughout the years.

The incident that really sparkedintrigue was back when Jordan Rodgers was on Season 12 of "The Bachelorette." Rodgers was a contestanton the show where Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher eventually chose him as the winner. The two have remained a couple since the show aired in 2016.

Below, we'll go through what we know about the relationship between the two brothers.

Before we dive too deep into the relationship between the Rodgers brothers, it might help some to know just who Jordan Rodgers is. As we mentioned, he was acontestant on "The Bachelorette," but before that he was a quarterback just like Aaron.

Jordan Rodgers started atVanderbilt University, where he had a lot of success. He's seventh all time in career passing yards at Vanderbilt and helped the school reachback-to-back bowl appearances. After college, Rodgers spent time on the Jaguars, Buccaneers and Dolphins, but never played in a single NFL game.

Rodgers has since been a commentator for a variety of television programs including SEC Network, aCNBCreality show and other various appearances.

During his appearance on "The Bachelorette," Jordan Rodgers revealed he doesn't really talk with his older brother, Aaron. On the show,contestants go to their homes so the date can meet their family and get to know the person a little better. But ahead of the trip, Jordan said, "And, um, my middle brother wont be there," referencing Aaron.

When asked why, Rodgers explained.

Like I said, I have a great relationship with my brother Luke. Me and Aaron dont really have that much of a relationship," he said. "Its just kind of the way hes chosen to do life. I chose to stay close with my family and my parents and my brother, and, um, yeah, its just its not ideal.I love him, and I cant imagine what its like to be in his shoes and have the pressure he has and the demands from people that he has. Dont have hard feelings against him, its just how things go right now."

When asked, "So you guys dont talk at all?" he responded,No, not really."

As Jordan Rodgers hinted at on "The Bachelorette," Aaron not only doesn't speak to his brother, but mostly excludes his entire family.

In 2016,Tyler Dunne wrote a feature on Rodgers for Bleacher Report and dove a bit more into the Packers quarterback's relationship with his family.

From Bleacher Report:

One source, who was close to Rodgers for years but is among the many who have since been cut off by Rodgers entirely, said the quarterback has not spoken to his family since December 2014. Don't feel too bad, J-Mike. Immediate family members don't even have his cellphone number. When Mom and Dad sent Christmas presents to the quarterback and his girlfriend that year, the source said, those gifts were mailed back in February. He was set to be the groomsman in the wedding of one of his closest friends, the source said, and texted the day before he couldn't attend.

Dunne's reportalso added Rodgers didn't attend his grandfather's funeral, he fired a business manager he knew since high school, and his family isn't welcome inGreen Bay.

During a 2017 interview with the New York Times, Rodgers' family confirmed they don't have contact with their son.

Fame can change things, Ed Rodgers, Aaron's dad, told the Times.

Ed Rodgers also confirmed what was reported in the Bleacher Report article. He admitted to the Times it was "weird" to have his family as a national storyline. But he also says he's not too upset about all of the information coming out.

"Its good to have it all come out," he said.

After Jordan Rodgers' quotes gained publicity, Aaron Rodgers was asked about it. However, he didn't want to discuss too much about it.

I've always found that it's a little inappropriate to talk publicly about some family matters, so I'm just I'm not going to speak on those things Rodgers said in 2016.

However, Rodgers may have provided a clue as to how a rift between his family started. In January 2020 during an interview with then-girlfriend Danica Patrick on her podcast, Rodgers brought up his Christian upbringing.

Most people that I knew, church was just you just had to go," Rodgers said. "Your parents made you go. You wake up, you put some clothes on, and you go. And you can't wait to get back and watch the second game of the day in the NFL on TV."

Rodgers went on to say it took him some time before he realized what he wanted to believe when it came to religion.

"I just didn't find any connection points with those things and started questioning things. And had friends who had other beliefs and enjoyed learning. I had some good friendships along the way that helped me figure out exactly what I wanted to believe in. And ultimately it was that rules and regulations and binary systems don't really resonate with me."

According to People Magazine, those comments upset his family.

"They were dismayed,"a source told People. "The family is very dedicated to their Christian faith. To them, his comments are basically a slap in the face to the fundamentals of who they are. Its basically him turning his back on everything they have taught him."

While Rodgers and his family have not publicly commented on the religion aspect, the source told People that "religion is a part of" why they're not on speaking terms.

The rest is here:

Does Aaron Rodgers talk to his brother Jordan? What we know about the Rodgers family rift - Sporting News

Two Black Women Judges In Colorado Reflect On This Time In America – Colorado Public Radio

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

The Honorable Judge Claudia Jordan has had a painting hanging in her chamber for more than two decades. A Black man leans over a wall, blue sky and clouds above him. He reaches down to grasp a hand also Black that extends upward toward him.

The painting was a gift Jordan received when she was sworn in to Denver County Court as the first Black female judge in the entire Rocky Mountain region. That was in 1994. Now shes technically retired, but she still presides over the courtroom when shes needed.

And the painting? Shes planning to pass it on to another Black woman one of the newest judges appointed to the bench in Colorado this year, the Honorable Judge Jill Dorancy.

It's really pretty powerful for me, said Dorancy, who serves in Denver District Court, because that's exactly what it is when you have judges and attorneys who help each other.

Colorado courts have historically struggled with diversity. The Denver Post recently reported that about 40 percent of defendants in Colorado are Black or Latino. And yet, only about 10 percent of district court judges are Black or Latino.

In the district where Elijah McClain died in police custody in 2019, The Post reports that there has never been a Black district court judge.

Jordan and Dorancy are two out of only eight Black female judges in the state. And as the nation grapples with systemic racism, much of it focused on the justice system, both judges said these numbers matter.

Dorancy believes people of color open up to her in court more than they might to a white judge.

For example, she said, if a young Black woman comes to court, she may see me as someone who is more understanding of her. And she might tell her story more honestly or easily. At the end of the day, litigants want to be understood and feel like theyve been heard. Thats more likely if they see someone who might mirror their lives.

Jordan agreed. She said people of color would often smile when they walked into the courtroom and saw her sitting at the bench. It was just kind of a sense of, okay, I may go to jail, but hey, I know that I'm going to be heard.

That sense of kinship in diversity translates to the professional realm as well. Dorancy remembers wanting to impress Jordan the first time she appeared before her as a young attorney. She was kind of strict and you had to make sure you were on time, that you had all your ducks in a row. But there's something powerful, she said, about appearing in front of someone who looks like you, who recognizes how much it takes to get to where you are.

Dorancy said the scarcity of African American judges and attorneys in Denver courts at that time added pressure on her to perform well. It's not a matter of carrying the burden of my race, she said, but it's wanting to make sure that I represent myself in a way that makes the judges proud.

For her part, Jordan remembers Dorancy as a hard worker and a go-getter. You could tell she was a special person. She cared about her clients. And she loved the law. I like people like that.

The two bonded outside of the courtroom as well. They both worked in the historic Five Points neighborhood of Denver, an area thats been called the Harlem of the West. They also both belonged to a Black women's bar association. They warmly refer to each other as Sisters In Law.

Claudia Jordan grew up as an only child raised by her grandparents in a sharecropping family in North Carolina. I was always in a room with older people and they seemed not to notice me, she recalled. They were just talking about how there was a need to have good attorneys. That is when I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer.

Most of the adults around her only had elementary level educations. So she read legal documents for people in the neighborhood who couldnt read. I became the little lawyer.

Jordan went on to lead a life of many firsts. She was the first Black analyst for the Colorado Legislative Council, where she helped put together the blue book for voters. She was one of only three African Americans in her law school class at CU Boulder. And the only Black woman.

But she didnt get to her seat as the first Black woman judge in the Rocky Mountain West without mentors. She clerked for Morris Cole, Denvers first African American district court judge and she was supported by James Flanagan, Colorados first African American judge.

I learned from both of them that you have to be better than the next person, but that was something that I learned at my grandmother's foot as well, she said.

She gives credit to the Colorado Womens Bar Association too. They wanted females of color on the bench, she said. They have always been leaders in that.

When she was finally sworn in as a judge, she said, she wasn't prepared for the outpouring of love and expectations of the Black community. That made me proud and humbled me quite a bit.

But what followed was in some ways anticlimactic. We thought there would then be rapid succession of Black women appointed to the bench after that, Jordan said. But there wasnt. It was years and years.

She recalled walking into her first annual judicial conference and feeling very alone. There were about ten Black men on the bench at that time, she said. I was like their little sister. When the next Black woman, Karen Ashby, was appointed as a judge, they would often get confused. Karen and I would go like, we look nothing alike!

So yes, she said, it's a lonely feeling. I wouldnt call it a cross to bear because Ive enjoyed every step and every moment but it gets heavy and it gets lonely. Its nice to have someone to talk to.

She has found that camaraderie among some of the African American women appointed to the bench in recent years, including Jill Dorancy.

Dorancy also came to Colorado from the East Coast. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Haitian immigrant parents who were afraid of the legal system. English was not their first language and they were concerned about being misunderstood or misrepresented. Dorancy remembered one time her family had to go to court for landlord/tenant issues. They managed to find an attorney who spoke Haitian Creole. And just being there, having someone defend us, having someone who understood what we were saying and relay it to a judge, Dorancy said, was pretty powerful.

That was the moment she knew she wanted to be an attorney.

She also remembers seeing a lot of young, particularly young Black boys, being shot down by the police, recalled Dorancy. As a young child, it impacted me. I recognized the criminal justice system polices some communities more than others. I wanted to be involved in making changes.

She spent some years as an attorney in juvenile law, representing parents in Denvers dependency and neglect system. Then she pivoted and spent several years litigating for oil and gas companies.

It was Judge Jordan who encouraged her to apply for a judge position during conversations about the lack of diversity in Denvers judges. She didnt get the job the first time around. But she was persistent. And it paid off.

Ive represented such a diversity of clients from homeless people whose children were being taken away from them, to people who are representing multi-million dollar oil and gas companies. She said that range of experience serves her well in domestic relations court where she now presides.

Since taking office, Governor Jared Polis has appointed five Black women to the bench. He has chosen more Black women judges than his 42 predecessors combined.

Jordan thinks the move is long overdue. Black women didnt just start applying to the bench, she said. Ive been here a long time. Do you think women of color have never applied? There have been people that have been applying throughout the years. They were just never given the opportunity.

But she said Im tickled to death that I can see it happening. Who would have thought that this many African American women would be appointed in that period of time?

She thinks the Black Lives Matter movement has had a lot to do with the shift. It has raised peoples consciousness about some injustices that have occurred in every system including the judicial system, Jordan said. Youd have to be living under a rock not to see that and go like Oh this is an opportunity for me to maybe do something where I can. I think thats what Polis has done.

Judge Dorancy said for her part she often intentionally limits her consumption of the news about social issues like Black Lives Matter, lest it influence her decision-making in court too greatly.

The role we play is to correct the impacts of disparities in the criminal justice system, she said.

Both judges acknowledged that commitment to upholding the law can put them in difficult moral positions sometimes.

When the constitution was written, Jordan pointed out, African Americans were three fifths of a person. It was law but it wasnt right. For a more current example, she said she never applied to be a district court judge because Colorado had the death penalty until this year. I could not have sentenced anyone to death, she said. So why put myself in that position? That was one of the laws that I knew that I could not impose.

There is, of course, room for interpretation of existing laws. It has been a focal point in the recent confirmation hearings of Amy Coney Barrett for the U.S. Supreme Court. And Jordan said its one of the most profound reasons why the highest court in the land needs more diversity. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out once in a dissenting opinion, Jordan said, that the men had never been 13-year-old girls. Nor could she have the experience of being a Black girl.

Judges Jordan and Dorancy do have that experience. And for that reason, they see themselves as role models for young Black girls especially.

I spoke to a group of kids in an alternative school, Jordan said. They were just ready for me to attack me and attack the system. But after I explained my role, they began to better understand the whole system. And after that, the instructor called and said that a girl who had not really wanted to participate was now considering going to law school. And I just felt good about that.

This piece was inspired by an article in Essence Magazine by Chandra Thomas Whitfield.

Excerpt from:

Two Black Women Judges In Colorado Reflect On This Time In America - Colorado Public Radio

Report: Texas WR Jordan Whittington to miss time with another injury – Longhorns Wire

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners, the Texas Longhorns saw the return of wide receiver Jordan Whittington. He needed an arthroscopic surgery to remain a knee injury he suffered against UTEP in the season opener. Against the Sooners, Whittington led the team in receptions and now sits second on the team behind Joshua Moore.

According to Horns247, Whittington will once again be away from the team while recovering from an injury. The report states that he suffered a soft tissue abdominal injury in the Oklahoma game. This marks the third injury that will cost the talented receiver time.

Whittington is a former five-star recruit that was expected to have a big role in the offense from the slot. He played a majority of the snaps in the slot due to Jake Smith reagravating his hamstring injury he suffered prior to the season opener. It remains to be seen when either receiver will return. Head coach Tom Herman will address the media on Monday and hopefully get some answers.

The report from 247Sports stated that Whitt will miss some time, so at this point there isnt a time table for his return. This season he has caught 12 passes for 110 yards and one rush for another 15. Longhorns Wire will provide more details as they are made available.

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Report: Texas WR Jordan Whittington to miss time with another injury - Longhorns Wire

Pet of the week | Jordan News | swnewsmedia.com – SW News Media

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

This and other pets are available for adoption through Cat Tales Rescue:

Blossom was found pregnant as an older kitten and then bore a litter of kittens in April 2020 in foster care. The vet said Blossom was born around June 2019. Once she knows and trusts you, Blossom is quick to purr. She likes playing with cat toys if there is no competition for the toys. She lets you pick her up or put her in your lap and stays for a short time. She enjoys petting for a little while. When she has had enough, Blossom will gently clamp your hand. Blossom is very shy of strangers. She hasnt met dogs or unrelated cats. If introduced properly to gentle kids, she is fine. If you are late for meal time, she will tell you to hurry.

Cat Tales Rescue pets have been vet checked, spayed/neutered, wormed, micro chipped, tested for FIV/FeLV, have distemper and rabies shots. Most adoption fees start at $135 for adults and $165 for kittens. For further information or to start the adoption process, leave a message at 612-202-9492.

Pet of the week | Jordan News | swnewsmedia.com - SW News Media

Jordan: The Greatness of the Great Circle – The Newark Advocate

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Tim Jordan, Guest Columnist Published 12:27 p.m. ET Oct. 18, 2020

The sun shines over the Great Circle in Newark, Thursday, August 20, 2020.(Photo: Courtney Hergesheimer/ The Columbus Dispatch)

We talk a lot about greatness, but what do we mean by great?

In my work as both an interpreter and a writing instructor, tangibles and intangibles are important. Tangibles are things that can be measured or understood through the senses. Intangibles are value statements that, while important, are best understood when paired with tangibles.

Greatness is an intangible. So, again, what do we mean by great?

With the Great Circle, size certainly comes into play. Encompassing an area of 30 acres and with a diameter of 1,200 feet, it is huge, tremendous (two other intangibles). Put differently, four football fields would fit end-to-end across it, or the Great Pyramid of Giza could sit inside of it.

Greatness can be more than size. It can include vision.

The Great Circle is just one of four interconnected sites that once made up the Newark Earthworks. The Octagon and its attached Observatory Circle also still stand, but they were connected by walkways to a square and to an oval shape. The more than four miles that these shapes and walkways covered are impressive enough, but an underlying use of geometry further unifies Newarks sites. For one example, the 1,050-foot diameter of Observatory Circle when multiplied by six equals the distance between the centers of Observatory and the Great Circles. As another, the perimeter of the square shape and the circumference of the Great Circle are equal. All parts of the Newark Earthworks are pulled together on both material and geometric levels into a unified statement.

Tim Jordan, guest columnist(Photo: Submitted)

Greatness can include artistry.

There is beauty in the earthworks use of geometry, but their architecture is also stunning. Standing inside the Great Circle and looking back toward its gateway, the twelve-foot sides of its opening are noticeably the high-points of the wall. Both sides quickly taper down and level-off, so an artificial horizon encompasses most of the sites 30 acres. We dont know if this horizon relates to any sort of celestial alignment, as we see with a number of other earthworks sites, but it is a remarkable aesthetic. Below this level wall is the Great Circles moat, which we speculate held water. The resulting juxtaposition of water, earth, and sky overlaps with the rich imagery and themes of much American Indian mythology.

Greatness can include community.

The scale, geometric knowledge, architectural aesthetic, and apparent symbolism of the Great Circle all point toward the deep investment of many people to achieve such end results. Archaeologists would also point to this effort being one that was peaceful, noting that human remains from burials of this time period show few signs of traumatic injuriesno spearpoints embedded in rib cages or crushed skulls, the kinds of injuries that would point to warfare and violence.

These dimensions of ancient American Indians greatness go beyond the Great Circle. The Octagon with its eight lunar alignments in an 18.6-year cycle is magnificent. So is Fort Ancient, a 3.5-mile hilltop enclosure in Oregonia that incorporates solar alignments. So too are the sites that make up Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, a sampling of five of the dozens of earthworks that once stood along twelve miles of the Scioto River. Together, these eight earthworks sites across three communities make up the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks nomination for World Heritage. Our communities opportunity to bring these sites to an international stage is a chance to join todays American Indians in celebrating the achievements of Ohios ancient people, their ancestors.

That too would be great.

Dr. Tim Jordan provides interpretation and site management for the Newark Earthworks and Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries and Nature Preserve. He is also on the English faculties of Ohio University Zanesville and Zane State College.

Read or Share this story: https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/opinion/2020/10/18/jordan-greatness-great-circle/5910786002/

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Jordan: The Greatness of the Great Circle - The Newark Advocate

OTB Instant Reaction: Jordan Travis wills the ‘Noles to victory – 247Sports

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Florida Statetook down No.5 North Carolina in a thrilling primetime victory 31-28 inside Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla. on Saturday night.

FSU stormed out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter and a 31-7 lead at the half. They needed every bit of that to hold on as the Tar Heels (3-1, 3-1 ACC) stormed back in the second half and had the ball in the final two minutes with a chance to win.

The Seminoles would hold on for the win, Josh Newberg and Chris Nee are here for your Instant Reaction Victory Podcast!!

Travis finished the game 8-for-19 for 191 passing yards, a passing touchdown and an interception. He also had 16 rushes for 107 rushing yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns. Running back La'Damian Webb joined Travis in the 100-yard rushing club with 12 carries for 109 yards. Six different Seminoles caught a pass - Ontaria Wilson (2 receptions, 61 yards), Keyshawn Helton (2 receptions, 43 yards), Preston Daniel (36-yard reception), Warren Thompson (33-yard reception), Camren McDonald (12-yard touchdown reception) and Jashaun Corbin (6-yard reception).

Todaymarked FSU head coach Mike Norvells first meeting against North Carolina. North Carolina head coach Mack Brown, who is enjoying his second tour of duty in Chapel Hill, is now0-1o all-time against his alma mater, including 0-7 at North Carolina against the Seminoles.

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OTB Instant Reaction: Jordan Travis wills the 'Noles to victory - 247Sports

Automation, COVID, And The Future Of Work – Forbes

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Automation, COVID, And The Future Of Work

Ever since Oxford's Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne published their paper on the potential for jobs to be automated in 2013, a groundswell of concern has emerged about the impact of the various technologies of the 4th industrial revolution might have on the jobs market.

Given that for many, the prevailing narrative has been that the relentless march of digital technology will consume all jobs in its wake, a COVID-19 pandemic that has in many ways expedited digital transformation might have also expedited the automation of the workforce.

It's a narrative that has an element of truth to it.A recent report from Dell highlighted the way COVID has accelerated the digital transformation efforts many organizations had been undertaking before the pandemic, albeit with areas such as cybersecurity getting as much investment as the rebuilding of business models.It's also noticeable that technologies such as AI and robotics were still not a major focus for organizations.

That firms don't appear to be investing in AI to any great extent is shown up for the folly that it is by research from Berkeley Haas, which highlights how beneficial such investments are in terms of productivity, efficiency, and market share.

What is perhaps important to note in discussions around the impact of technology on jobs is that the companies investing so heavily in AI actually grew their workforce by 15%.Whats more, this increase in employment was not just found at the firm level, but across entire industries.So AI-savvy firms were not benefitting at the expense of rivals.The researchers suggest that this is because firms were using AI to become more productive, which helped them to grow.

This expansion was often into new regions or product markets, as firms capitalized on their newfound productivity and efficiency.Obviously, this does tend to feed into concerns about excessive market concentration among a few huge firms, but the researchers believe this shouldnt concern us as it is simply a reflection of market share going to the most productive firms.

It's a finding echoed by additional research from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), which found that there appears to be a clear relationship between AI-related jobs and economic growth, which in turn results in greater well-being across society.

This general optimism is not uniformly felt, however.For instance, the Global Attitudes Report from Oxford Universitys Internet Institute reveals a public that is broadly speaking divided down the middle on the impact of AI in public life, with those in the East seemingly far more comfortable than those of us in the West.

The research was based upon the data generated by the2019 World Risk Pollproduced by the Lloyds Register Foundation.Their survey examines the public perception of global risks, with 142 countries participating.

Understanding public confidence in AI and machine learning is vital to the successful implementation of such systems in government,the researchers explain.

This perception of vulnerability was reinforced in the latest report from The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce's (RSA) Future Work team on how COVID is affecting the automation landscape.

The report attempts to develop a risk register of jobs that are vulnerable to any fallout from COVID-19 and indeed the digital transformation that society is undergoing as a result of the pandemic. The authors suggest that those industries that are most reliant on furlough support from the government are also most likely to be at risk from automation.

They identify young people as the most vulnerable, which is perhaps not that surprising, as research from the University of Western Australia found that young people were most vulnerable to job losses during COVID in general.

The paper highlights how the youth labor market is typified by high levels of consumer-facing roles in sectors such as hospitality, fitness, and retail. Whats more, such jobs are often part-time or casual, and youth unemployment was already extremely vulnerable due to this.

While it's far from clear from the evidence to date that automation is playing anywhere near as big a role as COVID itself in the labor market challenges faced by young people, it is nonetheless crucial that support is provided to young people suffering as a result of the pandemic.

Its well known that in previous crises, such as in 2008 and the early 1990s, unemployment tended to crowd the labor market after the recession, which made it extremely challenging for young people.As such, the authors believe governments should offer support to help young people back into secure work.

Personalised support of our young people that can address multiple barriers to employment such as qualifications, transport, disadvantage, job readiness and communication skills is important, they say.Its also important for policy leaders to address the increasing casualisation of the workforce and ensure they support those who are most vulnerable.

The RSA do provide some solid advice in terms of the nature of this support, especially in terms of helping people to gain new skills and transition into new careers. These are almost certainly going to be hugely important, even if their suggestion that AI is to blame is wide of the mark.

Automation, COVID, And The Future Of Work - Forbes

Most cybersecurity pros believe automation will make their jobs easier – Help Net Security

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Despite 88% of cybersecurity professionals believing automation will make their jobs easier, younger staffers are more concerned that the technology will replace their roles than their veteran counterparts, according to a research by Exabeam.

Overall, satisfaction levels continued a 3-year positive trend, with 96% of respondents indicating they are happy with role and responsibilities and 87% reportedly pleased with salary and earnings. Additionally, there was improvement in gender diversity with female respondents increasing from 9% in 2019 to 21% this year.

The concern for automation among younger professionals in cybersecurity was surprising to us. In trying to understand this sentiment, we could partially attribute it to lack of on-the-job training using automation technology, said Samantha Humphries, security strategist at Exabeam.

As we noted earlier this year in our State of the SOC research, ambiguity around career path or lack of understanding about automation can have an impact on job security. Its also possible that this is a symptom of the current economic climate or a general lack of experience navigating the workforce during a global recession.

Of respondents under the age of 45, 53% agreed or strongly agreed that AI and ML are a threat to their job security. This is contrasted with just 25% of respondents 45 and over who feel the same, possibly indicating that subsets of security professionals in particular prefer to write rules and manually investigate.

Interestingly, when asked directly about automation software, 89% of respondents under 45 years old believed it would improve their jobs, yet 47% are still threatened by its use. This is again in contrast with the 45 and over demographic, where 80% believed automation would simplify their work, and only 22% felt threatened by its use.

Examining the sentiments around automation by region, 47% of US respondents were concerned about job security when automation software is in use, as well as SG (54%), DE (42%), AUS (40%) and UK (33%).

In the survey, which drew insights from professionals throughout the US, the UK, AUS, Canada, India and the Netherlands, only 10% overall believed that AI and automation were a threat to their jobs.

On the flip side, there were noticeable increases in job approval across the board, with an upward trend in satisfaction around role and responsibilities (96%), salary (87%) and work/life balance (77%).

When asked what else they enjoyed about their jobs, respondents listed working in an environment with professional growth (15%) as well as opportunities to challenge oneself (21%) as top motivators.

53% reported jobs that are either stressful or very stressful, which is down from last year (62%). Interestingly, despite being among those that are generally threatened by automation software, 100% of respondents aged 18-24 reported feeling secure in their roles and were happiest with their salaries (93%).

Though the number of female respondents increased this year, it remains to be seen whether this will emerge as a trend. This years male respondents (78%) are down 13% from last year (91%).

In 2019, nearly 41% were in the profession for at least 10 years or more. This year, a larger percentage (83%) have 10 years or less, and 34% have been in the cybersecurity industry for five years or less. Additionally, one-third do not have formal cybersecurity degrees.

There is evidence that automation and AI/ML are being embraced, but this years survey exposed fascinating generational differences when it comes to professional openness and using all available tools to do their jobs, said Phil Routley, senior product marketing manager, APJ, Exabeam.

And while gender diversity is showing positive signs of improvement, its clear we still have a very long way to go in breaking down barriers for female professionals in the security industry.

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Most cybersecurity pros believe automation will make their jobs easier - Help Net Security

ancora Software Partners with HelpSystems for Intelligent Process Automation – Benzinga

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

ancora Software continues its incredible growth adding HelpSystems to its world-class global strategic partners network.

SAN DIEGO (PRWEB) October 19, 2020

ancora Software, an industry leader in intelligent process automation is very happy to announce today the addition of HelpSystems to our growing world class partner channel.

Automate, a value-leading RPA solution, empowers customers to deploy RPA bots to handle repetitive individual tasks as well as more complex processes across their organization. Customers recognize Automate software for its ease of use and data integration capabilities in streamlining workflows.

ancora Software's artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies let users automate tasks where more critical thinking is needed beyond rule-based process automation. This will allow HelpSystems' customers to further eliminate costly manual steps such as document classification, manual data entry, and document analysis across AP invoice, human resource, mortgage and loan, and sales order processes. Combining Automate and ancoraDocs offers enhanced automation and better control critical information.

"ancora is looking to help its customers by adding world class RPA capabilities and HelpSystems is a perfect fit," said Nick Bova, Vice President of Sales at ancora.

"This is a big step for Automate and our customers," said Dan Laun, Managing Director of Automation, HelpSystems. "Combining Automate with ancora allows our customers to maximize the value they see from RPA with the AI capabilities that let them process and analyze documents with even more speed and accuracy."

About ancora Software

ancora Software, Inc. is an innovative provider of Intelligent Process Automation solutions including Intelligent Document Classification and Data Capture. Businesses using ancora Software achieve faster and less expensive business process automation and better controls over valuable critical information. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, ancora Software maintains sales and support operations throughout North America and the UK. For more information about ancora Software Inc. visit http://www.ancorasoftware.com.

About HelpSystems

HelpSystems is a software company focused on helping exceptional organizations Build a Better IT. Our cybersecurity and automation software simplifies critical IT processes to give our customers peace of mind. We know IT transformation is a journey, not a destination. Let's move forward. Learn more at http://www.helpsystems.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: https://www.prweb.com/releases/ancora_software_partners_with_helpsystems_for_intelligent_process_automation/prweb17481983.htm

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ancora Software Partners with HelpSystems for Intelligent Process Automation - Benzinga

Customer Service: How to Balance AI and Automation with Human Touch – Finextra

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

If automation is operating as it should, people should not need (or want) to talk to a customer service representative. But what if something goes wrong, or the customer has a complex query?

Take the A-level results mishandling in the UK as an example. In theory, the algorithm should have worked, but it didnt, and hundreds of students had to get in touch directly with universities to solve the problem. Putting that in the context of banking, a similar issue could occur if several people do not get a loan request approved but they dont know why. This could spark a sudden influx in urgent customer enquiries. As banks digitally transform, the use of AI and automation is growing rapidly. This makes the need for AI governance even more important because now a single mistake can have ramifications on a huge scale it is no longer one person making an error in one branch.

How can banks minimise the risk of the algorithms going wrong?

They need to educate both customers and staff to have greater scrutiny over the AI and empower them to weigh in on processes to continually strive for outstanding customer service. To do that, IT and business leaders need an easy system to adapt which must have transparency not a situation where you cannot see what is actually going on in systems where it is impossible to understand the code.

Low-code/no-code platforms are a good way to design and implement processes and be able to easily review and correct them if need be. For example, if it is clear that AI being used to automate a decision in a process for a mortgage application is biased towards one demographic group over another, employees can address that to ensure customers are being treated fairly. For this to work, rules and settings need to be clear and transparent.

Low-code software enables IT teams and business leaders to have a greater understanding over each step and therefore easily collaborate to eliminate unintended bias and make improvements to AI models. With no coding required, development times are slashed too, meaning problems can be solved and goals can be realised faster.

Tools that enable organisations to increase the transparency of any AI model they use to serve customers are also helpful in spotting algorithms that are treating people unfairly. There are tools available that allow organisations to predefine the transparency level using a sliding scale from one (highly opaque models with logic that cant be fully explained) to five (highly transparent models that allow humans to fully understand the decisioning and resulting actions).

One example of an organisation that has got it right is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It deployed AI and automation successfully as part of its customer engagement engine, building over 200 machine learning models with 157 billion data points. This helps the bank anticipate customer needs and decide the next best conversation customer service personnel should have with each individual customer in any interaction. Because the customer engagement engine was built in a low-code, model-based design environment, the bank can easily adapt and finetune processes over time to improve customer service with every interaction. During the initial lockdown period, the bank saw a 500% spike in usage of their benefits finder helping customers understand what they are entitled to, and they were able to quickly change communications strategies both outbound and dealing with inbound.

In summary, no different to other parts of a bank like loan decisioning or transaction monitoring, banks must monitor their AI to ensure mistakes dont happen whether through unintended bias or algorithm inconsistency. With a no-code system that uses transparent AI, and proper training of staff, they can strike the right balance between leveraging technology and retaining a human touch. If they are not proactive in reviewing their use of AI and training staff, they could be inviting unnecessary risk, damage to their reputation and loss of customers. To get the right balance, there should be checks and feedback loops from your employees and customers. After all, theres enough evidence that machines make mistakes too

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Customer Service: How to Balance AI and Automation with Human Touch - Finextra

ANZ New Zealand turns to Red Hat for automation & collaboration – IT Brief Australia

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

ANZ New Zealands quest to become more agile and automated has reported successful results -resulting in increased productivity and time to market, according to the company.

The company worked with enterprise open source provider Red Hat to facilitate a cloud-first approach with automation and site reliability engineering being the two main focus areas.

Some IT business processes such as server patching and provisioning can take time and manual governance, and automation can depend on the technology, tools, and behaviours within any company.

Further, ANZ understood that automation and a culture change towards agile working would be challenging.

ANZ employed a residency with Red Hat Open Innovation Labs and used the Ansible Automation Platform to reduce its end-to-end DNS provisioning from six days down to five minutes.

Red Hat states that the residency programme aims to help organisations integrate people, practices and technology to increase agility in the development of software and products, catalyse innovation and solve internal challenges in an accelerated time frame.

The residency also helped ANZ New Zealands teams to understand how modern automation technologies like Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform can change IT landscapes.

Staff learned about agile development practices, including continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), culminating in the team finding new ways to connect with other corporate groups for more effective work, establishing a new culture of collaboration and community.

"As with all areas of banking, we need to work faster in order to provide a better service for our customers, explains ANZ New Zealand networks and voice senior manager Neal Meachen.

Meachen says that ANZ now takes an automation-first mindset and automates many processes that were previously manual and time-consuming.

We have worked with Red Hat Open Innovation Labs to make our non-IT processes, including how we connect and collaborate with our business groups, more efficient and productive by leveraging modern agile methodologies and new ways of working.

Further, ANZs project team has expanded its usage of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

Red Hats APJ vice president and head of services Sajeeve Bahl comments that ANZ has embraced the open source way of working.

Learning invaluable tools and processes to help expand the bank's collaborative way of working. Through the focus on automating repeatable tasks, ANZ New Zealand is making tangible, important changes not only to how it uses technology but to the culture of working. We are excited to see what ANZ New Zealand does next.

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ANZ New Zealand turns to Red Hat for automation & collaboration - IT Brief Australia

Circular Edge Customer Success Stories Illustrate the Importance of Automation with Oracle JD Edwards – Benzinga

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Circular Edge and its customers to share innovations and best practices for achieving next-generation robotic process automation at the upcoming Oracle JD Edwards INFOCUS conference

SOMERSET, N.J. (PRWEB) October 19, 2020

Circular Edge, an award-winning Oracle JD Edwards, Oracle Cloud Customer Experience (CX), Cloud Service Provider, and a member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), continues its investment in the Quest Oracle Community to support Oracle JD Edwards customers who are adopting next-generation automation solutions and transforming their businesses to overcome challenges and increasing digital demands, which will be highlighted during Oracle JD Edwards INFOCUS, October 19-22.

Circular Edge and its customers will participate in several educational sessions to highlight their success stories in leveraging new product and service innovations along with Oracle JD Edwards tools & technologies to realize digital success across their ERP & Cloud roadmaps:

"There has never been a better time for Oracle JD Edwards customers to future-proof their business by adopting automation technologies and investing in digital," said sAchin cHoudhari, CEO & Founder. "Circular Edge is proud to support the success of Quest for the past 17 years and the many ways Quest brings together Oracle JD Edwards, Oracle CX and Cloud users to share their success stories while helping each other move forward in driving continuous innovation."

To complement this virtual conference experience, Circular Edge has illustrated several of these customer success stories as downloadable digital resources which will be available to INFOCUS session customer attendees.

Another way Circular Edge will showcase customer innovations is through unique customer giveaways featuring innovations in consumer experience and kindness made by companies running Oracle JD Edwards.

Virtual conference attendees can also explore Circular Edge's product and service innovations, along with 160+ Smart Help skills, resources and services that are available for customers to tap into whenever needed for as long as needed.

Learn more about these solutions by scheduling a one-on-one meeting with the CE team and engaging with digital resources and more in CE's virtual exhibit booth: http://www.circularedge.com/infocus

In addition, Circular Edge has made available several complimentary digital resources to further illustrate how customers can drive continuous value from Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.2 and the latest RPA tools and technologies:

About Circular Edge

Circular Edge (CE), started in 2003, is an award-winning, full-service Oracle JD Edwards, Oracle Customer Experience (CX) & Cloud Service Provider. Built from the ground up as a Oracle JD Edwards consulting company, CE employs a direct staff of 160+ functional and technical resources who bring extensive Oracle JD Edwards, Oracle CX & Cloud domain expertise into short- and long-term projects, managed services and staff augmentation engagements. CE also delivers packaged solutions such as AtomIQ, Smart Scheduler (3x OVI), JDESign, AutoXCHNG, Lead2Lease & Oracle CX Add-Ons. Learn more about CE product & service innovations including Smart Help, our 2x award-winning customer success formula by visiting http://www.circularedge.com.

Follow Circular Edge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Oracle PartnerNetwork

Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is Oracle's partner program designed to enable partners to accelerate the transition to cloud and drive superior customer business outcomes. The OPN program allows partners to engage with Oracle through track(s) aligned to how they go to market: Cloud Build for partners that provide products or services built on or integrated with Oracle Cloud; Cloud Sell for partners that resell Oracle Cloud technology; Cloud Service for partners that implement, deploy and manage Oracle Cloud Services; and License & Hardware for partners that build, service or sell Oracle software licenses or hardware products. Customers can expedite their business objectives with OPN partners who have achieved Expertise in a product family or cloud service. To learn more visit: http://www.oracle.com/partnernetwork

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Circular Edge Customer Success Stories Illustrate the Importance of Automation with Oracle JD Edwards - Benzinga

Where CFOs might spend more time: How about strategy, automation and data analytics? – CFO Dive

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

You now have a unique opportunity as a chief financial officer (CFO) to rebuild your business and accelerate growth by making adjustments to financing, strategy, cash flow and technology use.

But where should you focus most of your attention?

To help you make this decision, consider this big picture perspective from an Accenture survey summarized in a report titled Accenture CFO Research Global.

The report finds that 81 percent of all CFOs see identifying and targeting areas of new value across the business as one of their main responsibilities. Over three quarters (77 percent) believe it is within their purview to drive business-wide operational transformation.

With these statistics in mind, it would make sense for you to consider devoting more of your time to three specific areas that will generate new transformational value to your business. The three are strategic planning, automation and data analytics. Lets dive into these three in more detail.

If you start spending more time doing strategic work, you will be in sync with a growing percentage of CFOs.

Forty-two percent of CFOs spent as much as half their time in a strategist role, according to May 2020 survey results from Grant Thornton, an audit, tax and advisory company. Thats a 13 percentage point jump from only four months earlier, February 2020.

Survey results, which are summarized in a report titled Covid-19 Forcing CFOs To Become Change Agents and Strategies, also reveal a sharp decline from 40 percent in February to 9 percent May in the time CFOs spend on handling transactional processes.

To help your business rebuild and come out stronger, its key that your financial strategy tightly aligns with the overall business strategy. A strategy that sets your company apart and delivers unique value to customers will help your business grow.

The simple truth is that the CFO is now a primary decision maker, thought leader and voice of reason, according to the Grant Thornton report.

In your more strategic role, you will become more of a trusted business advisor and visionary leader responsible for larger decisions of relevance to the entire strategic mission of the corporation.

A smart way to free up more time to focus on these important strategic initiatives is to automate your companys processes.

With automation as a foundational objective, CFOs are getting their own houses in order to free up the time they need to branch out and take on entirely new tasks with broader impact, according to the Accenture report.

By automating time-consuming tasks, you will be able to focus on cross-functional collaboration and better communication throughout the business.

There will be more benefits to automating your processes. Youll have more time to analyze the wealth of available corporate data to develop better insights that lead to smarter business and strategic decisions.

The ability to capture, structure and make better use of data in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their own department and across the organization is the CFOs greatest area of potential strength, according to the Accenture report.

To become even more valuable, CFOs need to be able to synthesize data insights and communicate what they mean in concise and compelling ways. The report finds that 81 percent of respondents believe data storytelling is an essential skill for todays finance professionals.

Still, theres more research that reinforces the need for CFOs to spend more time analyzing corporate data to drive strategic decisions.

A Korn Ferry CFO Pulse Survey 2020 reveals that strategy enablement and operational information, such as reporting and data analytics, are especially important to CFOs now. Almost half (45 percent) say these two capabilities are most important to the future of the finance function.

So whats your next step as a CFO going to be?

It can be straightforward and smart.

Start by substantially increasing the number of hours you spend thinking about strategy. Your company needs your advanced analytical skills and ability to see the big picture especially now in these exceptional times.

Concentrate on automating your companys processes. Its going to happen sooner or later to virtually every business. Now with so much change going on is a great chance to make that fundamental change to help your business operate more smoothly with less friction and lower costs to get work done.

This will open up your schedule to dive deeper into that huge amount of valuable data your company possesses. Within that data are gems of wisdom.

Take the time to find and synthesize them. You will make better decisions that rebuild your business and help you come out stronger.

You may also like: A CFO's Guide to Making Sense of Payment Automation in 2020

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Where CFOs might spend more time: How about strategy, automation and data analytics? - CFO Dive

Robotic Process Automation: Transforming the world of finance – CNBCTV18

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Authored by: Loreal R. Jiles

We are living in a defining moment in history when businesses need a reformed approachwith emerging technology maturing and consumers expecting a faster pace of deliveryteams are overworked, and agility has become a mandatory requirement. As a result, the role of finance and accounting is evolving to support these tremendous changes.

In 2019, the IBM Institute for Business Value published the report The enterprise guide to closing the skills gap in which it indicated a staggering 120 million workers in the worlds 12 largest economies might need to be retrained/reskilled in the next three years as a result of intelligent/AI-enabled automation.

As CFOs implement plans to prepare their teams for the future, finance and accounting professionals are under pressure to enhance their value offering and reduce costs while acquiring new skills.

Emerging digital technologies provide the finance and accounting function with a path to fulfill these objectives while meeting business demand for advanced analytics, efficient operations, and strategic decision support.

Robotic process automation

Robotic process automation (RPA) presents a clear and sustainable avenue to transforming the finance function.

Although several digital tools can be leveraged to automate finance and accounting processes, RPA is currently recognised as one of the few emerging technologies capable of automating a significant amount of finance and accounting end-to-end processes.

The importance

In a recent RPA webinar hosted by IMA, attended by nearly 1,500 finance and accounting professionals from all around the world, 34 percent of participants acknowledged RPA would be the emerging technology with the most significant impact on the profession in the next three years.

In India, RPA is bound to create new sets of job opportunities for people.

According to a recentreport, the RPA market in India will grow at a CAGR of above 20 percent during the forecast period of 2019-2025.

The report says the RPA market in the country is driven by the increasing demand for automated accounting and process management.

Further, to ensure automated transaction processing improves over time, RPA vendors are also focusing on developing best-in-class intelligent process automation bots that learn as they work.

Businesses that have incorporated finance and accounting professionals into their RPA program have reaped the benefits of more robust automation solutions, less costly implementations, and improved employee satisfaction.

Unlike what some might think, RPA at scaleor fully-leveragedcould be a perfect solution for a small or mid-sized business with overworked finance and accounting teams needing relief and leaders seeking to elevate their limited resources offering.

By implementing RPA, start-ups can reassign their teams to more pressing matters once their schedules have been cleared of repetitive work. It could equally serve as a monumentally transformational initiative in larger enterprises where opportunities in other parts of the organisation may be brought to light.

Specific to finance and accounting departments, team members who learn of this technology, proactively train staff on RPA, and/or lead RPA programs, tend to gain more benefits, both professionally and organizationally, than those on the receiving end of automation solutions.

Organizations with finance and accounting functions that are equipped with business professionals who are cross-functionally trained find themselves far ahead of their peers with more time to focus on higher value-added tasks.

The historical nature of the finance and accounting functions role dictates that many of its processes are repetitive and rule-basedtwo of the most critical criteria in identifying good RPA candidates. Therefore, it is not surprising that most RPA implementations begin in the finance and accounting department.

The Impact

Misconceptions about RPA technology cross several extremesfrom It will automate all of our jobs and Only IT can implement it to RPA couldnt possibly do what I do and RPA has no applicability to finance and accounting processes.

Each of these misconceptions can be dispelled through knowledge of what RPA is and the actual capability of the technology.

Most RPA software are made up of three primary components: the bots, a bot manager, and a workflow design module.

The bots perform processes, the bot manager enables scheduling and allocation of developed processes, and the workflow design module is where processes are developed.

Although it is tempting to sayand is widely saidduring an RPA implementation, people do not create bots. The truth is, they develop the processes that bots will perform.

In organizations that have made progress along the RPA journey, they operate in an environment where finance and accounting professionals work alongside human and digital co-workers. They receive data from bots and supply inputs to them for processing. This is a different worldthe technology to make this a reality already exists and is currently in place in many enterprises.

Winding-up

As RPA vendors strengthen their native offerings and progress with integrating technology partnerships, the complexity of the processes digital teammates can perform with intelligent RPA will undoubtedly increase. And even though widespread democratisation of RPAis the concept of a bot for every employee, may still be far off, digital teammates are already on the payroll and leaders are gladly assigning them finance and accounting tasks.

Welcome to the new era of man and machine!

Automated ATOs and cybersecurity – FCW.com

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Cybersecurity

In the remote work environment spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic, more flexible, quicker methods of getting systems the authority to securely operate is more critical than ever, said a top IT advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services.

"Machine learning is critical in terms of fighting fire with fire. We can't fight AI [artificial intelligence] or machine learning with spreadsheets or Word documents. You're going to lose that battle" with hackers, said Oki Mek, senior advisor to the agency's CIO and its ReImagine project.

HHS is one of the agencies at the center of the federal government's response to the COVID pandemic. The agency is "getting hit hard" by hackers attempting to penetrate its networks, said Mek. Additionally, hackers and bad actors are leveraging AI to see how network users are interacting with infrastructure and systems, he said.

Mek's made his remarks at an Oct. 14 webinar sponsored by the Institute of Critical Infrastructure Technology.

One area where AI and machine learning technology can provide a targeted lift for federal IT systems is speeding up the processes to obtain mandatory Authority To Operate certifications, said Mek.

The COVID pandemic, with its expanded IT threat vector with remote workforces, has only highlighted the need to speed up ATO processes, according to Mek.

Automated ATOs, leveraging machine learning and AI, said Mek, can shorten review of hundreds of security controls on a system and provide an assessment in hours or days, rather than months.

Automated ATOs, he said, could follow the same model as popular commercial machine learning and AI-based tax filing software. That software draws on previous years data.

For an automated ATO process, the software can ask basic questions, such as 'are you building a new system, moving to the cloud, or making changes to the system?' By asking a series of questions, said that common information can automatically fill in parts of the ATO system security plan.

IT systems operators could also develop a machine learning "confidence score" for cybersecurity.

"When you assess a system for an ATO, there are about 500 600 security controls. You could run machine learning against each requirement," he said. A system owner would use machine learning to compare requirements and policies against the agency's implementation statement to produce a confidence score. If the score is below 50 percent, then the owner should try again, he said.

An auditor's ATO assessment process, which can take up to two months, could be shortened to a week or two depending on the score, according to Mek. The automation would also allow the ATO process to become mostly continuous, providing more timely cybersecurity, he said.

About the Author

Mark Rockwell is a senior staff writer at FCW, whose beat focuses on acquisition, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy.

Before joining FCW, Rockwell was Washington correspondent for Government Security News, where he covered all aspects of homeland security from IT to detection dogs and border security. Over the last 25 years in Washington as a reporter, editor and correspondent, he has covered an increasingly wide array of high-tech issues for publications like Communications Week, Internet Week, Fiber Optics News, tele.com magazine and Wireless Week.

Rockwell received a Jesse H. Neal Award for his work covering telecommunications issues, and is a graduate of James Madison University.

Click here for previous articles by Rockwell. Contact him at [emailprotected] or follow him on Twitter at @MRockwell4.

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Automated ATOs and cybersecurity - FCW.com

Laying the Groundwork for a Self-Optimizing Plant – Automation World

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

In manufacturing the focus is often on decreasing downtime and increasing productivity. But there are other elements that influence operationsincluding safety, reliability, and environmental impact. Its clear that technology can help, especially artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics which can optimize processes and predict disruptions.

But not all AI is created equal. Aspen Technology (AspenTech), a maker of asset optimization software for process industries, recently released a new version of its aspenOne software that embeds its own Industrial-Strength AI across the portfolio. This is not your standard AI, company officials said, as it is not only about the algorithms, but also embedding domain expertise to contextualize AI so that it is specific to the industry, thereby creating insights and knowledge that adds value and can even transform the business.

Its what the company calls Aspen Hybrid Models, which are part of the new aspenOne V12 software release, that applies data science, data cleansing, machine learning, and predictive insight into complicated processes.

We are taking decades of domain expertise and embedding AI into that, said Laura Rokohl, AspenTechs senior director of product marketing. We believe this helps advance our customers digitalization journey, but in terms of our vision as company, its this journey to the self-optimizing plant where things are moving toward autonomy and a closed loop. Its a longer term multi-year journey but we feel this release helps us take initial steps toward the self-optimizing plant by embedding AI, automating things that were previously manual processes or required human intervention, and lowering the barrier to solve complex problems with less expertise.

For example, mining plant data collected over years would previously require a controls expert to build the advanced process control (APC) model and it would take a few weeks to complete. With the embedded AI, the model-building process is shortcut. It takes historical data, mines it, and creates a seed model. We refer to it as expertise-in-a-box. It dramatically reduces the time it takes to build that model as many of the steps are automated and packaged up, Rokohl said, noting that while it doesnt eliminate humans from the equation, it also doesnt require 30 years of APC expertise.

According to Peter Reynolds, a senior analyst, ARC Advisory Group, AI has the potential to enhance many industrial work processes, however, most companies are not well-equipped to bolt on AI themselves. While other technology strategies require asset owners to invest in complex platforms and data scientists, with embedded AI, users can get started right away improving margins and profitability.

And that is the first step to the self-optimizing plant.

AspenTech defines the self-optimizing plant as a facility that can automatically respond to changing operation conditions. The company is now rolling out technology that delivers this next-generation of production optimization, including planning and scheduling, performance management, and adaptive process control that can continuously improve plant processes related to equipment wear, upgrades, feedstock quality changes, and fluctuating economic models. To that end, the aspenOne V12 release includes several new functions that can be added to the companys existing product portfolio, thereby democratizing the application of Industrial-Strength AI.

AspenTech is also going beyond its core industry segments of energy and chemicals and branching out into metals and mining and food and beverage by including in V12 some functionality relevant to those industry, like its MES Collaborative application. MES Collaborative is an enterprise historian that sits in the cloud and can securely access data from sensors, PLCs, or an existing historian, for example, to pull more information into the enterprise view.

New Features of aspenOne V12 software include:

Ultimately, AspenTech recognizes that the way plants work will have to change in the future, and they are laying the groundwork for that paradigm shift.

The process industries and other capital-intensive industries are experiencing new levels of volatility in supply and demand, and the need to be agile in response to all market conditions requires a new approach to asset optimization, said AspenTech president and CEO Antonio Pietri. This next generation of Industrial AI solutions will change how process industries work.

PACK EXPO Connects November 9-13. Now more than ever, packaging and processing professionals need solutions for a rapidly changing world, and the power of the PACK EXPO brand delivers the decision makers you need to reach. Attendeeregistrationis open now.

Laying the Groundwork for a Self-Optimizing Plant - Automation World

Strategies for realizing the full benefits of automation – Pet Food Processing

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

This article was published in the September 2020 issue of Pet Food Processing. Read it and other articles from this issue in our September digital edition.

The potential benefits of combining automated processing systems, where decisions are driven by up-to-date data and a technology-enabled workforce across an entire organization, are vast. Prioritizing where to start, optimizing what is already in-house and truly implementing automation throughout a processing company are key.

Roger Woehl, chief technical officer at SafetyChain, Novato, Calif., said there are two perspectives on where automation offers the greatest benefits.

The first and most obvious is the bottom-line savings from increasing productivity, Woehl said. The second, and maybe less clear, is the value of protecting brands and reputations from recalls or quality issues. These issues, although less common, can be far more damaging to business value. Wholistic systems that drive automation across operations, safety and quality drive a single approach for maximizing immediate ROI while protecting long-term brand quality and reputation.

As the production of food and treats for cats and dogs more closely matches the product formats and processes seen in human food productions, managing quality becomes more complex.

The standard for pet food is rising dramatically, said Aaron Kaiser, supplier quality engineer, Freshpet, Secaucus, N.J. An important factor in ensuring that level of quality is being able to monitor key quality parameters of raw materials and finished product and getting that data to the decision-makers in real-time. This promotes a proactive approach to assuring quality rather than one that is more often reactive and control based. This approach most importantly assures the production of safe, consistent, high-quality food for our pets, but also reduces waste and increases efficiency.

The potential is exciting but the reality of how to realize the full benefits is complex. Selecting what to automate and how to fully utilize available technology to positively impact the overall business can be a challenge.

Already in-house

Pete Ensch, chief executive officer, WEM Automation, New Berlin, Wis., said the low hanging fruit in a processing environment is to fully utilize the automation that is already in-house.

So many times, you see pet food producers not using the automation they have, Ensch said. Often because they have an operator that believes they can run better without it or there was an electrical or mechanical failure that required a short-term bypass that became a long-term fix. Go back, review what you have, fire it back up, use continuous improvement techniques to prove the automation works it will justify doing more.

[Processors] often have a number of automation and control suppliers used throughout the plant in different areas but not much integrated, he added. Pulling data from all of the areas can be a real challenge. Working with an automation supplier that also does SCADA [supervisory control and data acquisition] or MES [manufacturing execution systems] can be a real advantage because these systems can pull all the information into a central location so you can more easily and effectively use the data.

Conquering complexity

The continued expansion of pet food product lines has driven much of the automation investment over the past couple of years. The number of ingredients and the variety of flow rates of those materials have increased the number of bins from which raw materials are pulled to produce the variety consumers want.

The expanded equipment involved, as well as complexity, is perfect for automation, Ensch said. Automation can deal with this complexity well and reduce the number of operator errors.

Packaging is another area that has become more complex in recent years.

Pet food producers and especially the treat processors have so many package types and sizes to deal with and this has not only expanded the number of packaging lines but the need to do frequent changeovers, Ensch added.

Taking automated packaging systems one step further by automating secondary end of line packaging to make it retail ready serves to support and streamline the retail aisle and help brands differentiate themselves on the shelf.Those engaging on a daily basis with automation technology are key to ensuring all the benefits of the technology are fully realized.

Some believe hand-packing [packaged products] is most flexible but that comes at a cost, said Peter Fox, senior vice president of sales, SOMIC America, Eagan, Minn. Hand packing is slower, the cost of packaging materials for hand pack can be 15% to 20% more than materials that run in form-fill machines, plus automation offers shelf-ready, display-ready packaging formats that cant be done by hand. Growth in e-commerce is increasing demand for smaller volume packages, which requires faster machines to maintain or increase capacity.

Packagings influence on automation is also a factor in wet pet food and treat processing applications. The cost savings driving investments in automation in canneries are not only labor savings and production efficiencies, but packaging materials as well.

Automated systems are more efficient at running less expensive, thinner cans with different style openings or different coatings than manual processes allow with these types of materials, said Eric Hanrahan, general manager, Allpax, Covington, La.

Also, with the increased popularity of wet pet foods, the demand for flexibles trays and cups justifies the need to add capability for different containers, he added. This adds complexity that automation is designed to handle efficiently.

Safeguarding resources

In many processing environments including pet food canning facilities, energy usage can be one of the larger costs after labor. Hanrahan said automation and intelligent technology can play an increasing role in energy recovery, reuse and reduction.

For dry pet food and treats, the dryer is typically the most expensive piece of equipment to run in the plant due to energy consumption, explained Brad Stokke, principal engineer, WEM Automation, New Berlin, Wis.

Automated monitoring of inlet and outlet moistures at the dryer, with the ability to make changes of dryer zone temperatures, bed speeds, or both to achieve optimal discharge moistures, can have great return on investment, Stokke said. Not only is it tied directly to product quality, additional process controls can greatly reduce energy cost.

Technology can allow processors to catch the data that identifies trends and allows them to improve their process. It also is key to optimizing and safeguarding limited resources. An example is optical sorting technology that identifies and expels foreign material in pet food product.The challenge for processors is to integrate all systems within a processing facility, from the front office to receiving to shipping and all processing systems in between, to have full visibility of the data available.

Almost no product gets diverted when the foreign material is removed, said Lars Povlsen, global sales manager proteins, TOMRA Food. This preserves the resources used to create the product and also dramatically reduces waste. Todays technology enables a smoother production flow from one recipe to another and safeguards against cross-contamination.

Technology can do what humans simply cant by providing as much control as possible to preserve the investment in production and preserve the brand and the resiliency of the company as well.

Stokke emphasized that tying all of the processes of a plant together from raw material coming in to finished product going out and all the interlinked data in between is becoming more important in managing the complexity of a modern plant.

Data at work

Capturing data along the production route from the moment processes start offers benefits when accessible.

Any step that increases batch production speed while automating tasks will minimize labor and increase plant output, said Joe Lewis, marketing associate, Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc., Sterling, Ill. Product ingredient safety and traceability improves by combining data management with scanning technologies such as barcode or RFID. Advancements in automated batching systems offer improved data management opportunities for lot tracking, ingredient traceability and batch validation in the production process, and is often overlooked.

With new capabilities comes the expanded data allowed by up-to-date processing technology.

For instance, processors may think that retort capacity is the bottleneck to the plants overall efficiency, Hanrahan said. But automation technology can provide the clear overall line metrics that identify the true restriction on capacity.

Most pet food processing environments are already capturing lots of data, however, the data is often locked in silos and the value is lost.

Creating access and context to the data is essential to bringing value to all points on the information value chain, said Roger Woehl, SafetyChain.

Data holds value to many individuals in the management chain, from operators to managers to executives, Woehl said. Creating access and context to the data is essential to bringing value to all points on the information value chain. This means powerful analytics, cloud distribution and visibility on any device, from laptop to tablet to phone. The effectiveness of this data is in direct promotion to its accessibility.

Better visualization, alarming and predictions will greatly help improve preventative maintenance and plant uptime.

Make sure the automation system isnt forgotten in your maintenance schedule, said Matt Lueger, vice president of sales, Northwind Technical Services, Sabetha, Kan. Instruments need calibration and sensors need replacing.

While the benefits of automation can be seen all throughout the industry, implementation is often a long and arduous process.

The heart and soul of a company are the team members who are making the product and will most often be using and interacting with the system or solution for data collection, Kaiser said. The same effort spent on gaining the approval of upper management should be spent on gaining the approval and buy-in from those who will be tasked with using the system daily.

Being able to embrace a solution at all levels requires a solid relationship with the solution provider. Kaiser said Freshpets relationship with SafetyChain has been tremendously helpful long after initial implementation.

Stokke points out that opportunities for processors lie around flexibility.

Change is inevitable, being able to modify existing equipment and controls is key, he said.

Hanrahan has a lot of respect for all that pet food and treat manufacturers are able to accomplish.

Pet food processors are really working hard to produce large volumes of a wide variety of safe pet food and treats, Hanrahan said. Its a leading-edge business that often gets overlooked.

Read more about pet food processing on our Operations page.

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Strategies for realizing the full benefits of automation - Pet Food Processing

Midwest Precision Adds Automated Turning Center to Increase Unattended Lights Out Manufacturing, Improve Process CPK, Shorten Lead Times, and Reduce…

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

EASTLAKE, Ohio (PRWEB) October 19, 2020

Midwest Precision (https://www.midwestllc.com/), a Tribus Aerospace Company,( https://www.tribusaerospace.com/), recently announced the addition of a Mazak Quick Turn 200MY turning center to its Eastlake, Ohio facility. Midwest Precision will now be able to combine automation expertise with the multi-tasking features designed into the 200MY. This combination of the main turning spindle and the rotary tool milling spindle allow for more operations to be competed with a single set-up, providing faster time to market for Midwest Precisions military defense, energy, aerospace, and precision industrial customers. This latest investment in manufacturing technology helps Midwest improve process CPK, improve cross hole positioning, and maintain difficult-to-achieve finish turning tolerances said Paul Ruley, General Manager for Midwest Precision.

The new Makino Mazak Quick Turn 200MY turning center is automated with lights-out performance. In addition to the automation, the new turning center features:

About Midwest PrecisionFounded in 1953, Midwest Precision (formerly Midwest Screw Products), specializes in close tolerance CNC machining of all types of Stainless Steels, Nickel Alloys, Titanium, Aluminum, Steel and Brass in complex configurations.

Midwest Precision is a world-class manufacturer of precision machined components and assemblies for the Aerospace, Defense, Energy, Fluid Power, and Industrial markets. As an AS9100D with ISO 9001:2015 standards manufacturer, Midwest Precision is also ITAR registered and DFARS compliant. Lean more about Midwest Precision at https://www.midwestllc.com/

View or Download Midwest Precision Capabilities Brochurehttps://www.midwestllc.com/images/Midwest-Precision-Brochure.pdf

About Tribus AerospaceTribus Aerospace is an aerospace, defense and industrial manufacturing company. The company produces components and assemblies for applications in turbine engines, motion control and flow control systems. In addition to Midwest Precision, the operations of Tribus Aerospace include: Precision Aerospace Corp., Precision Micro Mill Corporation and Advanced Machining & Tooling. For additional information, please visit http://www.tribusaerospace.com.

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Midwest Precision Adds Automated Turning Center to Increase Unattended Lights Out Manufacturing, Improve Process CPK, Shorten Lead Times, and Reduce...

Intuit Automated Our Personal Finances. Now Its UX Team Is Bringing Human Helpers Back. – Built In

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Danzig

Over the past decade, the F.I.R.E. movement has gained many vocal adherents. Popularized by financial bloggers like Mr. Money Mustache, a former tech worker who famously retired after just nine years in the workforce, along with websites like Financial Samurai, the movement is grounded in the belief that parsimony, a healthy lifestyle and close scrutiny of ones personal finances can lead to financial independence and early retirement.

F.I.R.E. stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, and though it has many interpretations, a common thread, as described in a blog post on Dave Ramseys website, is to save and invest very aggressively somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of your income so you can retire sometime in your 30s or 40s.

For Mr. Money Mustache, now 46, whose real name is Peter Adeney, it means extreme frugality, aggressive retirement savings and stock investment and salads and barbells every day.

Andrew Firstenberger, who is a design strategist and leader at Intuit, said the company keeps a close watch on the movement, as a core goal of Intuits AI-powered financial suite, which includes TurboTax, QuickBooks and Mint, is to help consumers and small businesses save money by managing it with greater self-awareness and efficiency.

These toolsserve different ends, said James Helms, vice president of design and product. At the most basic level, TurboTax helps individuals prepare and file their taxes. QuickBooks helps small businesses manage payroll and billings and ensure financial compliance. Mint helps people track their personal spending and net worth. Yet theyre connected by a common thread of helping people, and businesses, manage their finances.

The complexity of modern financial systems and the nagging stressors of peoples everyday lives have presented a challenge for the company, however. Analysis of peoples behavior on TurboTax showed a significant percentage were opening up sessions and quitting before theyd finished, either coming up against the limits of their financial knowledge or getting derailed in the face of extreme life hardships.

And we started to realize that there were key things in somebodys life, Oh, my wife died this year, or I changed states, or something that was just weird enough, just challenging enough that they were, like, You know what, Im not going to be able to do this myself, Helms said.

The design team wanted to keep these customers from leaving, so it started experimenting with possible solutions. When the company created a brick-and-mortar storefront in San Diego, designers met with tax filersand preparersto better understand their in-person experiences. The team tested different methods of software-based document hand-off making it easier, for instance, for a filer to pass along a 1040 EZ to a tax preparer working remotely. The company launched Tada, a limited-run iOS application that allowed customers to speak to a tax preparer through an app or via a chat interface.

These early experiments culminated in the 2017 launch of TurboTax Live a somewhat radical about-face for a company that had built its reputation around the power of artificial intelligence to eliminate taxpayers need to seek outside professional help. But in the context of the companys design framework, rooted in the mantra design for delight, the move is far less surprising.

Traditionally, you could do your taxes on your own using TurboTax. Or, you could go work with a CPA or a tax advisor, but not both.

Diego Rodriguez is Intuits chief product and design officer and a former partner at IDEO where he worked on software and physical products for companies like Apple, Ferrari and Intel. He told me design for delight (as ironic as it sounds as a framework for tax preparation and bookkeeping software) is a natural outgrowth of design thinking. It relies on customer empathy, a broad lens for problem scoping, a strong bias for action, and prototype testing to simplify user interfaces and accelerate what he calls speed to benefit.

The approach also dovetails neatly with one of Intuits core aspirations: never enter data. This idea is so foundational to the companys ethos it is frequently referred to by the acronym NED.

Traditionally, you could do your taxes on your own using TurboTax. Or, you could go work with a CPA or a tax advisor, but not both, Rodriguez said. Its the classic example of design thinking looking at a problem that is seemingly framed a certain way like make better software or make a better CPA and saying, actually, there is a bigger solution out there.

For Intuit, that solution was to re-think the sovereignty of AI in itsproduct lines and design more personalized interfaces that complement automation with live professional support.

We spoke with several members of the companysdesign team to learn more.

More on Design ThinkingWhat Is Design Thinking? It Depends on Your Customers.

One feature of TurboTax Live is live chat support. The format will be familiar to anyone who has used the service to update or cancel a subscription, check on a service interruption, or vent their frustrations to a customer support agent when theyre caught in a seemingly insoluble bind.

Maybe this starts out as Can I help you with something? Or Ive got a question. And so youre going back and forth, Helms said.

Tax experts use the chat feature to help customers identify and upload documents, and wade through the obscurantism of IRS shorthand.

Firstenberger said the decision to offer live professional assistance on the platform was met with a fair amount of skepticism, at first.

One of the interesting, almost emotional journeys on that front, from a design point of view, is that, to some extent, bringing people into the equation can feel like moving backwards a little bit, because we spend all this time automating.

The idea of adding video chat was even more of an affront to the status quo. Yet, spending time with customers, particularly at the San Diego storefront, led to a new way of thinking.

One of the predecessors to Turbo Tax Lives video conferencing feature was a capability called Smart Look, a help button that launched a video feed much like Zooms, except unidirectional. Through it, the customer could see the customer support agent, but not vice versa.

To some extent, bringing people into the equation can feel like moving backwards a little bit, because we spend all this time automating.

And what we realized was that connecting with somebody over video was a huge experience upward for customers, Helms said. To know that there was a person back here.

The success of the release raised new questions: Could we do Smart Look inside our other programs? Is this actually universal? Helms wondered.

User research suggested, resoundingly, the answer was yes. The company began building a stable of tax professionals more than 2,000 as of fiscal year 2019 who could function similarly to customer support agents, but also provide specialized tax knowledge and, more importantly, peace of mind.

Customers didnt just want support gathering and distilling information, the research showed, they also sought the reassurance of trusted advisors who could validate their concerns. Were they really making the best financial choices? Were they staying above board when addressing the complicated, gray-area questions that inevitably arise when doing taxes?

For all my life, as one customer said, when I had financial questions, I asked my dad. This is no different. I got to this point in my taxes this complicated 1099-DIV thing that I didnt understand. So I called my dad.

The team found that face-fo-face video connection could be an effective surrogate for such conversations, bringing humans back into the fold.

And the strategy appears to be working.

In an email shared with Built In, the company reported that TurboTax Live grew Intuits customer base nearly 70 percent in fiscal year 2020. By providing new ways for users to access experts throughout the filing process, first-year retention and conversion rates also increased. Moreover, almost 70 percent of new TurboTax Live customers received tax preparation assistance in the prior year, a higher percentage than TurboTax Online, suggesting the offering may be reaching a new customer base.

With the live support model in place, QuickBooks Live launched in January of this year. Though Intuit saw a dip in demand for its small business and self-employed offerings when the pandemics shelter-in-place orders shut-down many small businesses, a spokesperson reported, the company isnow seeing recovering trends across the platform. Six hundred experts support QuickBooks Live, which has seen 10 percent of franchise customers upgrade to a paid live bookkeeping service.

TurboTax Live and QuickBooks Live are two-sided marketplaces. Tax experts hired by Intuit can leverage Live to find new leads, set up appointments, reach out to customers and sign and file tax returns. Without the need to carve out personal brands, they also can work withpotentially more diverse client bases, and do so on their own schedule.

How you are feeling about doing your taxes?is among the first questions TurboTax asks its customers.

On the flip side, Helms said, clients receive professional guidance. English and Spanish-speaking agents initiate the conversation, upload documents, and field questions directed at the specific circumstances of a customers financial profile.

This is a tennis match, right? It goes back and forth, Helms said.

Automation implicit in the UX design reduces friction, particularly at the document upload stage, by scraping data from documents and applying it to text fields in the tax return, he added. That not only relieves the tax professional of clerical work it supplies the software with information it needs to make high-confidence inferences that can be used to pre-fill much of the return.

But not everybody needs such high-touch care, and thats okay, said Firstenberger. In fact, its preferred. Some customers find the answers they seek in a FAQ or help tab. For those who need more guidance, there is a community support page, and if that doesnt suffice, options for automated chat or live-person chat.

Intuit uses AI to identify when a customer is getting stuck. If they are dwelling at length on an item, a button that asks if they need help and offers a few solutions, including an opportunity to connect to a TurboTax Live expert.

Its almost like a ramp, with graduating steps in terms of how much support a customer may need, he said. What will get them the help that they need as quickly as possible so they can get the job done. And probably go do something else besides bookkeeping or taxes.

Getting to the something else quickly, and, ideally, with the biggest return possible, is where the delight comes in, Rodriguez told me.

The Intuit Design System establishes standards for everything from the color palette, to the operation of buttons, to the way a user logs in and moves from screen to screen. Departments across the company use a one-page customer problem statement as a universal way to define a customers needs. And data integration among QuickBooks, TurboTax and Mint helps preserve customer financial information across platforms, while building loyalty in the parent brand.

But for all the consistency fostered through Intuits design thinking approach, it is personalization recognizing that each customer has unique needs and concerns that has steered the company toward products that balance automation with live support.

How you are feeling about doing your taxes?is among the first questions TurboTax asks its customers, said Firstenberger. Not your income, middle name orfiling status, but:How are you feeling? Its critically important.

More on Design Strategy9 Insights From Googles Material Design Guidelines

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