Monthly Archives: July 2017

The report added: "As the number of research projects has increased, so too has awareness, both amongst the participants and elsewhere in their industries, with competitor companies in turn beginning to consider whether they too should seek to gain competitive advantage from deployment."

"For financial technology (fintech) start-ups in the blockchain space, this can only be good news, since it demonstrates the high level of demand within an enterprise space that is increasingly well-informed about blockchain," Windsor Holden, blockchain specialist at Juniper, told CNBC via email.

The blockchain specialist added that the digital element of distributed ledger technology, which is processed by a network of computers, could benefit industries other than the financial services as well.

Holden said: "Essentially, blockchain offers particular benefits to improve efficiency and corporate transparency; if an enterprise is heavily dependent upon paper-based storage and has high volumes of transactions or transmitted information, it can be especially effective."

Original post:

Blockchain technology being considered by more than half of big corporations, according to study - CNBC

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to cut more than 400 jobs in the Netherlands, mainly at its major projects and energy technology operations, as the oil giant shifts its business model in response to lower oil prices, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.

The world's second-largest oil company by market capitalization said in a statement responding to questions from Reuters that "approximately 400 (staff) are potentially at risk of redundancy during the last quarter of 2017/first half of 2018".

That represents around a quarter of the roles at the department, according to the staff consultation document seen by Reuters. The group employs 92,000 worldwide.

"Shell is transforming into a simpler company," a spokesman said, adding the final number of job cuts would be subject to consultation with employees. He declined to answer detailed questions about the consultation document.

The proposed restructuring, which will also see dozens of research roles move from the Netherlands to Bangalore, India, highlights how lower oil prices are prompting the Anglo-Dutch oil giant to shift away from the mega-projects which have been its focus for over 20 years.

It also underscores an increasing shift of higher-value roles, such as research to lower cost countries.

"There will be fewer one-of-a-kind highly complex mega-projects and proportionately more simple to medium complex projects... This heralds a more 'commoditised' world for project delivery, said the document, which was given to royaldutchshellplc.com, an independent website used by Shell staff, and seen by Reuters.

In addition to staff cuts, Shell aims to reduce costs by outsourcing more "lower value-adding" design work, reducing the number of staff on expensive expatriate employment packages and by cutting layers of management in its project and technology operations.

"The industry as a whole has become less efficient over the last 1-2 decades, whilst automotive, aerospace, solar and wind, for example, have become more efficient," it said.

The oil industry has been cutting jobs including around 12,500 at Shell - and capital investment budgets in recent years as lower oil prices have rendered many previously profitable projects uneconomic.

While the second quarter saw a rebound in many companies' earnings, analysts say strong production and low operating costs at U.S. shale oil fields means a significant recovery from the around $50/barrel level Brent crude has traded at over the past two years is unlikely anytime soon. That price is around half the level crude traded at over the previous six years.

Editing by Louise Heavens

Here is the original post:

Shell plans 400 job cuts at Dutch projects and technology department - Reuters

Susan Spencer Telegram & Gazette Staff @SusanSpencerTG

John Dowd of Worcester moved back home a few years ago to care for his father, who had Alzheimer's disease, while managing his own job in field service, a position that required him to travel. He relied on a panoply of technology to make it work: internet-connected security cameras, shoes with GPS tracking insoles, door alarms, medication dispensers with alerts, Google Calendar and lots of texting among his eight siblings for the "constant rotation" of people bringing in dinners.

His father, former firefighter Thomas Dowd, died last September.

The benefit of technology, Mr. Dowd said, was, "We were able to keep him in the home longer, without having a lot of other care. He was in his comfort zone."

Michelle Edelstein, Sutton Senior Center director, cares long-distance for her parents in Cooperstown, New York, who have chronic health problems. In between regular visits home, she joins their doctors' visits via Skype and communicates with their health care providers through MyChart, a patient portal integrated into their electronic health record system.

Taking care of an elderly relative or child with a chronic illness at home can be practically a full-time job, one that many people perform on top of their paid employment and other family responsibilities. There are medical visits to coordinate, health conditions to monitor, and transportation, finances and meals to manage - tasks that are largely done alone, without pay and without a break.

It's a role more than 650,000 family caregivers in Massachusetts take on, providing nearly 800 million hours of unpaid care annually, valued at approximately $11.6 billion, according to an AARP 2015 survey.

A survey sponsored by the Massachusetts eHealth Initiative at the MassTech Collaborative, and conducted by MassINC Polling Group, found that technology from apps and websites to remote monitors can make caregivers' jobs easier.

But caregivers are either unaware of the options available to them or are aware of too many options and do not know how to choose among them.

"Caregivers and Digital Health: A Survey of Trends and Attitudes of Massachusetts Family Caregivers," polled 700 non-professional caregivers in the state about their caregiving experience and how technologies could help. A caregiver was defined as an adult partly or fully responsible for the care or the coordination of the medical care of anyone who requires frequent care, and who spent at least two hours a week on care-related tasks.

The survey found that caregivers are overwhelmingly stressed, depressed and feel isolated as a result of their 24-7, 365-day lifestyle.

Caregivers reported the most common challenge didn't have to do with the complexities of providing care, but rather the time and energy required while trying to balance caregiving tasks with their personal lives.

The most appealing technologies for these home-based caregivers were those that can serve as a platform to facilitate peer-to-peer support, provide access to medical care and resources, or manage or consolidate tasks and times, according to the report.

Two years ago, Debra Dowd-Foley, a caregiver specialist at Elder Services of Worcester Area, started a program with her colleagues at Montachusett Home Care in Leominster and Tri-Valley Inc. in Dudley to talk about different ways caregivers can use technology to support their role.

Ms. Dowd-Foley is also one of Mr. Dowd's siblings who helped him juggle caregiving.

The program is "about how to use things they already know about, but use it in a different light," Ms. Dowd-Foley said. "It is changing so fast. It's mind-boggling."

Covering the basics of social media websites and blogs, to caregiving tools in mobile apps, the program starts with definitions of digital terms like hashtag and podcast and provides examples of sites or apps that caregivers might find useful.

"Just knowing that Facebook and Pinterest have information for caregivers, or a group," can help stressed-out, time-limited caregivers find support, Ms. Dowd-Foley said.

Blogs such as "Dementia Diaries: A Journey with Dementia," can let people know that they're not alone in their struggles.

YouTube isn't just for cat videos and comedy re-runs, either. Channels such as Teepa Snow's Positive Approach to Care series on dementia or UCLA Health's presentations on caregiving and dementia also provide guidance that is easy for caregivers to access.

Ms. Dowd-Foley said that online forums "give people a place to get some tips and ideas. But we discourage people from taking medical or legal advice."

Tools to manage the appointments, medications, insurance information and other necessary details of caregiving can be found online and in smartphone apps too, such as CareZone, a caregiving organizing app.

Scheduling can be shared on a Google Calendar or websites including Lotsa Helping Handsand VolunteerSignup.

Ms. Dowd-Foley said that relaxation, meditation or music apps can relieve stress for the caregiver and help calm a person with dementia who is receiving care.

"It gets people thinking a little differently about finding ways to support themselves," she said about the agencies' digital technology and caregiving presentation.

Ms. Edelstein, at Sutton Senior Center, said that both seniors and family caregivers enjoy the center's Facebook page, which features photos of activities and informative events. "They're showing these things to their kids, and they love it," she said.

"The tough thing we see around here is limited family involvement," she said. "Either the kids are working or they live far away."

The Senior Center is looking to hop on another technology tool soon, to help seniors with transportation: the ride-sharing app Uber.

"This program is designed for people who don't have smartphones," said Clarke Alderman, Senior Center outreach director.

Through Uber's Safe Rides program, billing and ride requests would be handled through the Senior Center, so seniors wouldn't have to have a smartphone or set up an online credit card account. Ms. Edelstein said she hoped to get the program started by fall.

The Sutton Senior Center is served by the South Central Massachusetts Elderbus, but the schedule is limited and doesn't go to Milford Regional Medical Center, where some seniors receive health care, according to Ms. Edelstein.

Dr. Lawrence Garber, director of informatics and an internal medicine physician at Reliant Medical Group in Worcester, said Reliant has been encouraging patients for years to sign up for MyChart, its patient portal to integrated electronic health records. MyChart is an Epic Systems software product.

Approximately 40 percent to 50 percent of patients have signed up, and 5 to 10 percent of Reliant's elderly patients have assigned proxy access to a caregiver, which allows them to see everything in the chart, get alerts when there are new results, set up appointments and ask questions.

"They love it," Dr. Garber said. "They're actively engaged in sending messages. It's convenient."

Reliant "has tried to make this one-stop shopping," according to Dr. Garber, so patients and proxy caregivers can get all their electronic health information in one place.

Dr. Garber said Reliant is working on turning on video visits in a secure way that complies with federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements.

They're also looking at extending online health monitoring from the current group of high-risk patients with high blood pressure, to patients with congestive heart failure. Not only can blood pressure measurements be sent electronically, but also patients' weight can be sent by internet-connected scales.

The Massachusetts eHealth Initiative commissioned the report in its role as the state's point agency for the Massachusetts Digital Health Initiative, a public-private partnership that aims to accelerate the competitiveness of the state's digital health care cluster, according to a news release accompanying the survey.

Laurance Stuntz, MeHI director, said in a statement: "This research is the foundation for a statewide conversation around the role that technology can play in a major health and economic challenge for Massachusetts: helping improve the lives of caregivers."

Original post:

Technology can lend a hand to family caregivers - Worcester Telegram

BBC News

Apple 'pulls 60 VPNs from China App Store' BBC News In January, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that all developers offering VPNs must obtain a license from the government. And Apple said it was required to remove some VPN apps from its store because they didn't comply ... Apple Removes Apps From China Store That Help Internet Users Evade CensorshipNew York Times all 298 news articles »

Read the original here:

Apple 'pulls 60 VPNs from China App Store' - BBC News

This past Thursday, lawmakers, members of the media and members of USTAR (which stands for Utah Science, Technology and Research) paid a visit to the Innovation Campus at Utah State University to see some of the ground-breaking technology as applied to batteries, autonomous vehicles and a 20-seat electric bus that charges itself wirelessly through tracks embedded in the roadway.

While not yet available commercially, many lawmakers are hoping that the state can move entrepreneurs to harness some of this new research and do something with it. On KVNUs For the People program on Friday, USTAR managing director Brian Somers said the bus was really amazing.

You could have a bus that could charge itself and do some continuous loops around a given area without having to stop and recharge. It also allows you to have smaller battery packs on the bus which reduces weight and other things. So its a really promising and interesting technology that we were able to witness, Somers said.

He said the bus has great acceleration and no emissions. Somers explained that USTAR has a very unique mission as a state economic development agency. Its purpose is to maintain a healthy technology eco-system within the state of Utah and to assist in developing, commercially, many of the technologies that are being tested and researched at institutions such as Utah State University.

You can find out more at http://www.ustar.org and innovation.usu.edu.

Continue reading here:

State agency hopes to encourage commercial development of technology being developed at USU and other research ... - Cache Valley Daily

share

pin

email

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were almost 11,000 train accidents and incidents last year alone, killing 805 people and injuring almost 4,000. And just days ago, a passenger train crashed in Spain, injuring dozens and sending 18 people to the hospital, including the driver.

Pre-order Jeff Rossen's new book, "Rossen to the Rescue" here

At a giant training and research facility in Pueblo, Colorado, cutting-edge technology to prevent such crashes and save lives is under development. The 52-square-mile Transportation Technology Center, which includes tracks on which train accidents are simulated, hadn't admitted cameras for 20 years before granting exclusive access to TODAY national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen and the Rossen Reports team.

The potentially life-saving technology under development at the facility includes:

Cracked wheel detection: "Broken wheels are a major cause of derailments," explained Lisa Stabler, president of Transportation Technology Center, Inc. Now high-tech sensors can take ultrasound pictures of the wheels in a millisecond, capturing microscopic cracks that can cause a catastrophe.

Positive train control: Experts say that technology that stops trains automatically when they are out of control could have prevented accidents like the December 2013 derailment north of New York City that killed four people. In a demonstration of positive train control, Rossen rode a train that braked automatically as it approached a red light.

Sensor-dropping drones: Firefighters used to have to personally deploy chemical sensors to determine which homes to evacuate after accidents involving trains carrying hazardous materials. Now sensors can be dropped from drones, keeping firefighters out of harm's way and speeding the flow of information.

Experts say that when cracked wheel detection is rolled out soon, it will be a game-changer. Positive train control and sensor-dropping drones are already starting to be used.

To suggest a topic for an upcoming investigation, visit the Rossen Reports Facebook page.

Read the original post:

Cutting-edge technology aims to prevent deadly train crashes - Today.com