Daily Archives: March 21, 2017

HANCOCK COUNTY Two county school corporations will use $75,000 of state grant funding to rev up digital learning efforts within their buildings.

Educators at Mt. Vernon and Southern Hancock schools learned this month their districts received The Digital Learning Grant offered through the Indiana Department of Educations e-learning office.

Mt. Vernon will use the funding to hire at least two technology coaches, called technology integration specialists, to help teachers and staff further integrate technology in their classrooms. Southern Hancock plans to spearhead a project to create flexible learning spaces that will allow students to put technology to use: areas where students could fly a drone, use 3-D printers or produce videos using green-screen technology, for example.

Mt. Vernon and Southern Hancock were among 64 school districts statewide that applied for the grant, according to a news release from the department of education. Thirty-two corporations received up to $75,000 to implement digital learning initiatives; some will invest the funding in one-to-one computing, which puts a school-issued computer in each students hands. Others will expand digital learning programs already in place. The districts selected must use the funds by the end of 2018.

Mt. Vernon fully implemented a take-home computer program during the 2015-16 school year, giving each student in the district a computer to use at school and home, especially when school is canceled because of bad weather. During the past two years, teachers and students have become more comfortable using laptops and iPads to complete assignments, Superintendent Shane Robbins said.

Historically, teachers have pursued technology training off campus, Robbins said. Hiring technology coaches will allow the district to train on site with experts in school technology.

Greenfield-Central hired technology specialists a few years ago and has used them to lead digital learning efforts, including overseeing a team of student tech cadets who troubleshoot technology issues their teachers and classmates run into during class. Mt. Vernon educators consulted Greenfield-Central leaders about using technology coaches when pitching their grant application, Robbins said.

Robbins said some educators are already showing an affinity for implementing digital learning within their curriculum, and hed likely move a current employee to the coaching position if possible and hire a new educator to take their place in the classroom.

Mt. Vernon will also use the funds to pay for professional development for staff, as well as repair or replace student devices.

The funds from the DOE are important because they empower schools to pursue new educational opportunities, Southern Hancock Superintendent Lisa Lantrip wrote in an email to the Daily Reporter.

The district will use the funds to design what educators call 21st-century learning spaces areas within schools that provide hands-on and collaborative learning opportunities for students. At Southern Hancock, those spaces will allow students to use various technological devices.

The push for new 21st-century learning spaces came from evaluating student need and the growth educators have seen in certain programs, such as robotics, said Chris Young, the districts technology expert, who is spearheading the implementation of flexible learning spaces.

Many of todays students enjoy learning with their hands and also in collaborative groups, he said.

More:

2 districts receive digital learning grants to rev up technology efforts - Greenfield Daily Reporter

"If CIOs are truly thinking in a more strategic manner, why shouldn't they become a COO or even a CEO?"

CIOs have more visibility than ever before. Businesses are desperate for executives who understands the power of technology -- and, in most cases, the experienced CIO is best placed to take advantage of that opening.

And as they prove their usefulness, how high on the executive ladder can CIOs rise and what does the future of the CIO role look like? ZDNet speaks to the experts.

Establishing a strong culture of change

Jonathan Mitchell, non-executive director at Harvey Nash and former CIO at Rolls Royce, is an industry veteran who says IT leaders must now be strategic change agents. The ubiquitous nature of technology in modern business means CIOs need to help push digital transformation as quickly as possible.

However, there is a catch -- Mitchell says the average CIOs role tends to be very short, about three to four years at most. "Many of those roles finished with unhappy endings due to poor management of stakeholder expectations and the 'black death' failure of expensive IT projects," he says.

To achieve great results quickly, modern technology chiefs must be more closely integrated to broader business objectives. Engagement, says Poli Avramidis, CIO at the Bar Council, is the watchword, a skill that will not come naturally to all IT directors.

"Making sure that change in behaviour takes place is often the biggest challenge for any CIO," he says. "In many ways, modern IT leaders spend a lot of time selling their ideas internally -- they have to get people across the rest of the organisation to recognise the cultural shift that is required."

The focus on culture is also recognised by Lisa Heneghan, global head of KPMG's CIO advisory practice. She says tech chiefs should encourage their IT teams to think in a creative manner, rather than focusing on operations. The good news is CIOs who help foster great business ideas can rise to the very top.

"If CIOs are truly thinking in a more strategic manner, why shouldn't they become a COO or even a CEO?" asks Heneghan. "It's still a rare move but it could become more common as IT leaders are able to prove how technology enables business strategy in the digital age."

Looking to climb the career ladder

Interim CIO Christian McMahon, who is managing director at transformation specialist three25, recognises the evolution in the role of CIO is often discussed in terms of suitability for more senior positions. However, being a great CIO does not necessarily mean you will succeed in another c-suite role, particularly one as lofty as CEO.

"Just by being the CIO in a large and complex organisation doesn't automatically prepare you for the top role, says McMahon, who has held CIO roles at analyst Ovum and liquidity specialist GoIndustry. "It's a different matter if you are a recognised leader, with an impressive track record of successful delivery."

Chris White, CIO at global firm Clyde & Co, is another IT leader who believes the transfer from technology chief from CEO is a far from straightforward transition. "I don't think it's that simple," he says, before drawing a parallel with developments in his own sector.

"A lot of law firms are run by lawyers," says White. "However, being a brilliant lawyer doesn't give you those business skills -- and why should it? Global change today simply means that to be a successful executive you must be at the very top of your game in terms of business leadership."

The basic lesson for career-oriented CIOs is to focus on management capability. It is a sentiment that chimes with Airswift CIO Brad Dowden, who says CIOs - as modern business leaders - should become experts in as many areas as possible.

Interesting opportunities will come to executives who mesh with their peers.

"I work with everyone across the organisation in all areas of business and I'm an active participant in conversations," says Dowden. "I like it that way because I can hear the challenges they face and then act as a solutions provider. That approach helps my team to deliver better IT services to the rest of the company."

Recognising the inherent value of the CIO role

Promotion to CEO, therefore, does not have to be the CIO end game. Successful IT leaders can forge a great career by helping their business to embrace IT-led change. Take Dave Smoley, CIO at AstraZeneca, who is using technology to transform business operations at the pharmaceutical giant.

The seasoned IT executive -- with experience of technology leadership roles at Flextronics, Honeywell and General Electric -- has been with AstraZeneca since April 2013. "I think I have the best job in the world," says Smoley, who believes CIO roles remains in a state of constant evolution.

"The pace of change in technology is accelerating and the risk of failure, and of malicious behaviour affecting your business, is higher than ever. Businesses need an even greater understanding of technology - they need the right strategy and tactics at the c-suite level. The CIO is well-positioned to take on more and more responsibility in addressing those issues."

However, Smoley also recognises the IT leadership position is open to challenge. If a CIO is not skilled in delivering an IT-enabled business strategy, then there is a risk that some of those concerns could be picked off by some of the new entrants to the c-suite, such as the chief digital officer or chief data officer.

"When you get to the c-suite, it's a beauty contest," says Smoley. "The basic requirements are that you need to be competent and you need to know your stuff. A key component of your role will always be performance, but there's another set of components that relate to behaviour, attitude and popularity."

Smoley says all senior IT leaders must recognise the c-suite is a competitive place. CIOs might find, for example, that some of their peers have technology experience or that they have helped run an IT-focused business. Successful CIOs embrace the boardroom battle and meet the challenge for supremacy head on.

"The CIO used to own the technology domain - increasingly, everybody has got opinions," he says. "And when that's the case, your success comes down to how effective you are and whether your objectives relate strongly to the goals of the broader business."

Original post:

Career prospects in technology: How far can you really go? - ZDNet

Forbes

New Galaxy S8 Details From Samsung Highlight Ambitious Technology Forbes With just over a week to go until the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the South Korean company is building up speculation around the handset and continuing to position its ambitious technology and styling before it fully reveals the hardware. and more »

Read more:

New Galaxy S8 Details From Samsung Highlight Ambitious Technology - Forbes

March 21, 2017 by George Aggidis, The Conversation Credit: Norsepower

Over 200 years after steamships first began crossing the ocean, wind power is finding its way back into seafaring. Global shipping firm Maersk is planning to fit spinning "rotor sails" to one of its oil tankers as a way of reducing its fuel costs and carbon emissions. The company behind the technology, Finnish firm Norsepower, says this is the first retrofit installation of a wind-powered energy system on a tanker.

Yet the idea of using these spinning cylinders on ships to generate thrust and drive them forward was first trialled in 1924 and shortly after disregarded. So why do Norsepower and Maersk (and the UK government, which is providing most of the 3.5m of funding), think this time the technology will be more of a success?

The rotor sail was invented by German engineer Anton Flettner. It is effectively a large, spinning metal cylinder that uses something called the Magnus effect to harness wind power and propel a ship.

How does it work?

When wind passes the spinning rotor sail, the air flow accelerates on one side and decelerates on the opposite side. This creates a thrust force that is perpendicular to the wind flow direction. Although it takes energy in the form of electricity to spin the sail, the thrust it produces means the engines can be significantly throttled back, so it reduces overall fuel use and emissions.

Flettner built two rotor vessels, one of which managed to sail across the Atlantic to New York in 1926. But this modern attempt to harness the wind for ocean travel failed to compete with diesel power. Rotor sails were too heavy and the costs too high for them to yield the expected fuel savings and become successful with shipping operators.

But technology improvements and the rise of environmental regulations have led to renewed interest in rotor sails. Wind power firm Enercon launched a new rotor ship in 2008, while in 2014 Norsepower added its first rotor sail to a cargo ship owned by sustainable shipping firm Bore. Promising lightweight and relatively cheap materials and designs, combined with higher oil prices and the need to reduce emissions, mean rotor sails could now take off.

The 240 metre-long Maersk tanker will be retrofitted with two modernised versions of the Flettner rotor that are 30 metres tall and five metres in diameter. In favourable wind conditions, each sail can produce the equivalent of 3MW of power using only 50kW of electricity. Norsepower expect to reduce average fuel consumption on typical global shipping routes by 7% to 10%, equivalent to about 1,000 tonnes of fuel a year.

The rotor sail project will be the first installation of wind-powered energy technology on this type of tanker. This will provide insights into fuel savings and operational experience and help to reduce their environmental impact. Each rotor sail is made using the latest intelligent lightweight composite sandwich materials, and offers a simple yet robust hi-tech solution, although they could still cost more than 1.5m to install. That is the equivalent of around 5.5% of the cost of a typical used ship of that size, but a significantly lower percentage for a new tanker.

Greener technologies

The rotor sails that Maersk will be testing might be its most promising technology yet, but it has also been exploring other efficiency measures. Shipping is entering a brave new era with accelerating advances in big data, artificial intelligence, smart ships, robotics and automation. Maersk is testing drones to deliver ship supplies instead of traditional barges, special paints on its hulls that would cut down on algae and other microorganisms that increase drag, solar-powered sails, kites that tow a vessel, batteries, and biofuels.

What will force more shipping firms to adopt these kind of measures are the new pollution rules that will come into effect at the end of the decade. From 2020, shipping companies will be required to reduce the sulphur content of their fuel, which could come at a significant cost. This potentially makes investment in technologies such as rotor sails much more worthwhile. Wind propulsion for commercial vessels appears to be gaining mainstream industry support and perhaps, in the not too distant future, might even become commonplace.

Explore further: Researchers are looking to wind power for the next generation of ships

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

In many ways, it's an obvious solution. For many centuries, world trade over the oceans was propelled by wind power alone. Now that we're seeking an alternative to the fossil fuel-burning vehicles that enable our modern standard ...

Siemens has created a special mechanism for mounting its 75-meter-long rotor blades for offshore wind farms. The lifting system makes assembly work safer and lets construction take place at higher wind speeds than was previously ...

Siemens has produced the world's longest rotor blades for wind turbines. Measuring 75 meters in length, the blades are almost as big as the wingspan of an Airbus A380. Beginning this fall, the B75 rotor blades will be installed ...

A Finnish invention, a vertical axis Savonius wind turbine, can be further improved, according to a new study from the University of Vaasa.

Advanced detection of wind anomalies could help prolong the lifespan of wind turbine components and reduce the cost of wind energy generation. In this context, European researchers have developed smart control software

The blue-hulled vessel would slip by unnoticed on most seas if not for the white kite, high above her prow, towing her to what its creators hope will be a bright, wind-efficient future.

Google wants to make it easier for you to find answers and recommendations on smartphones without having to think about what to ask its search engine.

A years-long crime spree by Chinese toilet paper thieves may have reached the end of its roll after park officials in southern Beijing installed facial recognition technology to flush out bathroom bandits.

Samsung announced Monday that a voice-powered digital assistant named "Bixby" will debut with a flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone set to be unveiled by the South Korean consumer electronics giant.

For eighth-grader Lakaysha Governor, her daily two-hour school bus commute had been spent catching up with friends and trying to tune out distractions from unruly preschoolers.

It has been known in biology for a long time that the excited oxygen molecule singlet oxygen is the main cause of ageing in cells. To counter this, nature uses an enzyme called superoxide dismutase to eliminate superoxide ...

Disney Research scientists have found innovative ways to enhance virtual experiences involving interactions with physical objects by showing how a person using a virtual reality system can use it to reliably catch a real ...

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

The rest is here:

Spinning sail technology is poised to bring back wind-powered ships - Phys.Org

Forbes

Elderly And Disabled Assistive Technology Market To Surpass $26 Billion By 2024 Forbes The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide. 70 million people need a wheelchair. Another 360 million people globally have moderate to profound hearing loss. Globally, more than 1 billion people ... and more »

Read the original post:

Elderly And Disabled Assistive Technology Market To Surpass $26 Billion By 2024 - Forbes

They say never begin a post with a question. Who am I to listen to that kind of advice because most often I start my stock search with a question and today's question is what tech stock with growth potential can also pay me a dividend while I wait?

I am not going to write about Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) or Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) or even Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), as I have covered them as dividend machines. This week, I have been looking at other names and I found 2 worth writing about.

I looked at the holdings in the ETF managed by SPR that concentrates on technology that trades under the XLK symbol. Two stocks are of interest.

Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:SWKS)

Skyworks states they empower the wireless networking revolution. I must tell you a personal story here about wireless networking. I use AT&T (NYSE:T) Uverse in more than one location. As I move between these locations, I can change my television service from the 450 channels to the basic channels to save money, but I can never get the internet cost to less than $40 a month in each location.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) suggested I try their Ellipsis Jetpack. The device is cheap and the monthly fee is half of what Uverse charges, and I only need one device. It even works in the car. Believe me it is fast. But, there is always a but, if I cancel Uverse and use only the Verizon Jetpack, my computer and printer will not talk to each other. I spent hours with tech support at Microsoft and Verizon, and they assured me that it was not to be.

The moral of this personal story is wireless networking still needs a revolution and perhaps SWKS will pay me as we go.

SWKS Fundamentals

In the table below, you can see the fundamentals I use to evaluate a dividend stock applied to SWKS. Readers know that I require EPS (earnings per share) exceed dividend paid out. I like to see dividend growth over recent years exceed expected inflation, and I must see a good balance sheet. Revenue growth is good to see and covered call potential is definitely a positive. However, I do not fool myself into thinking that just covered call potential will make up for a plunge in the stock price, should some unexpected catalyst negatively affect my stock.

Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) Fundamentals:

Xilinx symbol XLNX is the second stock that stood out. The fundamentals I used to evaluate XLNX are presented in the table below.

Compare SWKS And XLNX

In comparing the two stocks, it is not a perfect match. Xilinx is more involved in the chips end of technology rather than wireless networking. Xilinx delivers a better dividend, but less revenue growth. Both have good covered call potential, and you can see a dollar invested buys about the same amount of revenue, earnings and dividend.

I will probably buy both of these stocks and see how it works out. I get paid to wait. My usual technique is to buy enough that I can sell calls on part of my position. Xilinx works better since it trades at half of SWKS' price. You never want to put too much money into any one stock or any one sector.

These are two stocks to consider if you are a dividend investor interested in technology that goes beyond the usual Intels and Microsofts. Why look beyond Intel and Microsoft because Intel has slow growth and Microsoft is expensive.

Link:

Can You Buy Technology With Dividend Income? - Seeking Alpha

The Morning Download: Shell Deploys Technology to Drive Down Costs of Deep Water Drilling Wall Street Journal (subscription) (blog) Good morning. Facing the economic pressure of a long-term decline in oil prices, energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC is relying on technology to help it drive down the cost of its deep-water drilling operations. Here on a hulking steel behemoth 130 ... and more »

See the original post here:

The Morning Download: Shell Deploys Technology to Drive Down Costs of Deep Water Drilling - Wall Street Journal (subscription) (blog)