Monthly Archives: March 2021

Recollections of Murray on His Ninety-Fifth Birthday – The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette

Posted: March 3, 2021 at 1:58 am

I first met Murray Rothbard when, as treasurer of the New Jersey Libertarian Party, I invited him to give the keynote address at our inaugural convention. He graciously agreed to do it for the paltry sum of $75 plus a puny chicken dinner. Prior to his talk, I introduced myself to him, and we spoke for a while about the state of the libertarian movement before I mentioned that I was a graduate student in economics and was reading some of the books and articles that he had cited in his treatise Man, Economy, and State. I never expected his reaction to my casual remark. His eyes immediately lit up and he could barely contain his enthusiasm. He feverishly searched his pockets for a pen to no avail and, when I offered him one, he asked me for my contact information and told me that he would pass it on to some people in New Jersey who had formed an Austrian economics reading group.

The following Monday I received a call from a student member of the group who invited me to join the reading circle, which was codirected by another one of my libertarian heroes, Walter Block. Soon after, I was invited to the inner sanctum of Murrays apartment in Manhattan for a personal meeting with him. I was escorted to his apartment by a veteran member of the reading group. I was very nervous on the way, because I was anticipating a somewhat formal interview, in which Murray would grill me and easily expose the staggering inadequacies in my knowledge of libertarianism and Austrian economics. But my apprehension instantly dissipated when Murray excitedly greeted me at the door with a merry Joe, my boy, its great to see you again.

It was a memorable evening. The other student and I sat on the living room rug while Murray regaled us from his couch with jokes, anecdotes, and his observations on current affairs. The conversation was light but interspersed with questions to me about my views on economic and political matters. At one point, the question of what methods were justified in recovering ones property from looters came up. Murray opined that a store owner was justified in using defensive violenceincluding deadly force if necessaryin defending his property from looters. But he believed that if the looter had already seized the property and was running away, the owner could not employ deadly force to retrieve his stolen property and had to call the police. I timidly suggested that the store owner would be justified in using deadly force if necessary to retain control of his property whether it involved defending or recovering it. Murray thought for a moment and then said: Ahh, now THATS a conversation Im willing to have.

I also recall discussing the question of how state-owned property should be disposed of after the libertarian revolution. Murray was lukewarm on my suggestion that it should be auctioned off and the proceeds divided up among taxpayers. He was also not keen on giving ownership of the property to the employees, that is, public schools to the teachers, railroads to the engineers and conductors, etc. These options would be too time consuming, would require a state-like entity to carry out, and could reward the wrong people. The overriding goal, he said, was to return all state property to productive use in the private sector as soon as possible. In addition, he pointed out that it was indispensable to maintain the relevant technological unit intact, which meant no piecemeal homesteading of parts of highways, water and sewer systems, airports, etc. The best solution, he said with a twinkle in his eye, is to give ownership of the entire physical asset to the heroes of the libertarian revolution.

Later in the evening, a surly looking attendant at a seedy parking lot directly across the street from Murrays second-floor apartment began to loudly blow on a trumpet. Since it was a hot and steamy New York summer night, Murrays living room windows were open, and the sound was cacophonous and distracting. Murray was becoming increasingly annoyed, and after a few minutes he could restrain himself no longer. He began to yell from his perch on the couch SHADDUP! SHADDUP! in perfect New Yorker slang. At this point, his wife, Joey, wisely intervened, shushed Murray, closed the windows, and brought a fan into the room. I left Murrays apartment well after 12:00 a.m.

In the years that followed, I enjoyed increasing personal contact with Murray. I saw him countless times at conferences and seminars, and regularly met him for lunch in Manhattan during semester breaks and summers. What struck me most about Murray was not just his creative genius as an economist, social theorist, and political philosopher, but the fact that he was a real person, a term that he himself often used.

A real person is one who loves liberty not as an empty abstraction, but as a real social and economic system that produces the goods, institutions, and culture that are required for flesh-and-blood human beings to live their lives peacefully, prosperously, and happily. This explains why Murray cherished and celebrated American culture and society and was proud to call it his own. Murray was an unapologetic admirer of American culture, because he viewed it as the specific historical product of the relatively libertarian and individualist American capitalist system. Thus, he loved The Godfather movies and James Bond movies, late-night visits to Dennys restaurants, and drinking martinis with his friends at the famous Algonquin Club on Forty-Fourth Street in Manhattan (where the Algonquin Round Table of famous writers, critics, and actors used to gather for lunch every day from 1919 to 1929).

A few other anecdotes about Murray the real person come to mind. Once at an Austrian economics conference in Hartford, Connecticut, Murray wanted to go to a restaurant to continue a late-night conversation he was having with me and several other graduate students. So, we all piled into my car and proceeded to search for a place to eat. We drove around for a half hour, passing numerous restaurants that had already closed. Finally, Murray could contain his frustration no longer and declared: Whats wrong with these people! Dont they realize that the Industrial Revolution occurred two hundred years ago and that we have electric lights now? Why do they stop serving hungry customers just because its dark outside? Fortunately, just as we were about to turn back toward the conference site, I spotted a pizzeria that was open for business. Murray was overjoyed and exclaimed: Joe, youre a hero of the revolution!

A few years later, I participated with Murray in a four-day conference on methodology at the US Military Academy at West Point. By the end of the second day Murray was getting bored and was eager to find entertainment outside the confines of the stodgy and somewhat oppressive atmosphere of the campus hotel. He complained to me that academics in general were too stuffy and pretentious and that we needed to break out of the hotel and go over the wall to have fun among real people. I asked the hotel concierge if he could recommend a club that featured music and dancing. He recommended an establishment that was fifteen miles away in Newburgh, New York. Six of us, including Murray, set out in a car on a route that took us along the dark winding roads through the mountainous terrain abutting the Hudson River. After a few minutes of driving, a thick fog set in and visibility decreased to ten or fifteen yards. We slowed down to twenty miles per hour. Several times we debated turning back, but on each occasion Murray exhorted us: Onward troops! Press on to our destination! We did as Murray asked and wound up having a great time, although the club was a bit of a neighborhood dive with several surly townies casting sidewise glances at our celebratory group. But Murray was just happy to sit and imbibe the atmosphere and drink while providing a hilarious running commentary on the proceedings. He was there, he told us, merely as a sociological observer. On the drive back, he serenaded us with the few lines he remembered from the disco song On the Radio by Donna Summers, which the club DJ played repeatedly that evening. Murray had a practiced musical ear and a good vocal range, and he sounded pretty good.

Perhaps Murrays greatest virtue, however, was his genuine and abiding intellectual humility. Now, Murray did not have a trace of false modesty with respect to his own monumental intellectual achievements, and he proudly acknowledged the titles Mr. Libertarian and Dean of the Modern Austrian School bestowed on him by his admirers. Yet he always generously credited his predecessors and mentors and sought to build upon their scholarship. Thus, he always considered himself, as an economist, no more than a student of Mises, and saw his own prodigious contributions to economic theory as merely attempts to advance what he called the Misesian paradigm. For example, at the famous conference in South Royalton, Vermont, which was a catalyst for the modern revival of the Austrian school, Rothbard gave a lecture in which he ventured to criticize a position taken by Mises on making ethical value judgments based on economic theory. At the time, Rothbard was nearly fifty years old, a prolific author, and one of the most accomplished and recognized Austrian economists in the world. Yet, after his talk ended, I remember him confiding to a few of us in attendance that he was still a little shaky from having publicly criticized his mentor for the first time.

Another example occurred when I met Murray at his favorite Jewish deli in Manhattan. It was sometime in the early 1990s, when he was working on his monumental two-volume treatise on the history of economic thought. Over lunch, he eagerly told me about the many new discoveries he had made: the unjustly obscure economists he had dug up; how one apparently minor economist was actually a brilliant movement builder although his influence was evil; how modern psychobabble, which he generally detested, was actually useful in explaining the thought of a famous classical economist. And on and on he went in his rapid-fire New York style of speaking. He was especially gleeful when he informed me about the novel interpretations and critiques he was developing that would puncture the overblown reputations of some of the most venerable figures in the history of economic thought. While he spoke, I rarely uttered a word, because I was fascinated by what I was learning and intent on absorbing every new idea and insight. I was also stunned by the breadth and depth of his knowledge about a subject that he had not previously written on in much detail. But he must have mistaken my uncharacteristic silence as a sign of boredom, because after about an hour he suddenly stopped and sheepishly apologized for monopolizing the conversation. I assured him that I was not bored and urged him to continue, and, to my delight, he happily resumed his discourse for another two hours or so. Later, I thought to myself, How could he think that I ever would want to interrupt him, a creative genius who was giving me a private seminar on a work in progress that was destined to be a classic as soon as it was published?

Happy Birthday, Murray! I know the world will not soon see your like again.

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Recollections of Murray on His Ninety-Fifth Birthday - The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette

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New History of the Physics Department by Raj Gupta and Paul Sharrah Published – University of Arkansas Newswire

Posted: at 1:57 am

Cover design by UA Printing Services

A Centennial History of the Physics Department, University of Arkansas.

A new history of the Department of Physics, titledAcoustics to Quantum Materials: A Centennial History of the Department of Physics, University of Arkansas andauthored by Rajendra Gupta and Paul C. Sharrah, has been published.

The Department of Physics was born during the 1907-08 academic year when the first full-time physics teacher was appointed and a syllabus for a physics major was defined for the first time. The department celebrated its centennial in April 2008. For 35 years, from 1872 to 1907, physics was taught by teachers whose primary discipline was not physics, for example, chemistry, applied mathematics, mechanic arts and engineering, and even biology and geology. While primary emphasis of this book is on the one hundred years, 1907-2007; for completeness, the previous 35 years are covered in two prologues. The period, 2008 t0 2018 is summarized in an epilogue. The history includes the perspective of the authors, both emeritus professors of physics, who were eye-witnessto the events unfolding in the department over a combined period of 76 years.

The book traces the evolution of the department from a one-person department with no physics majors in 1907, to 1920s when it expanded to three faculty and graduated its first major; to the 1930s when professor Llyod Ham established the first research laboratory in physics; to the 1940s when the department's ambitious vision of starting a credible research program was interrupted by the World War I and it had to teach an estimated 3,500 army trainees, but that was followed by a blossoming of its physics majors program; to the 1950s when a credible research program did start and the department's Ph.D. program was approved; to the 1960s when post-Sputnik government support for research helped the department expand its research efforts; to the evolution of the department's research in many diverse areas, including atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics, biophysics and condensed matter physics.

The first research laboratory in physics established by professor Ham was in acoustics. Today, the largest research effort is in the area of quantum materials, which explains the title of the book.

While the department had a modest beginning, starting with just one teacher and no majors, today it can claim its rightful place among the noteworthy physics departments at the U.S. public institutions.

An electronic copy of the book can be downloaded from the university repository: scholarworks.uark.edu/physpub/23.

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New research indicates the whole universe could be a giant neural network – The Next Web

Posted: at 1:57 am

The core idea is deceptively simple: every observable phenomenon in the entire universe can be modeled by a neural network. And that means, by extension, the universe itself may be a neural network.

Vitaly Vanchurin, a professor of physics at the University of Minnesota Duluth, published an incredible paper last August entitled The World as a Neural Network on the arXiv pre-print server. It managed to slide past our notice until today when Futurisms Victor Tangermann published an interview with Vanchurin discussing the paper.

The big idea

According to the paper:

We discuss a possibility that the entire universe on its most fundamental level is a neural network. We identify two different types of dynamical degrees of freedom: trainable variables (e.g. bias vector or weight matrix) and hidden variables (e.g. state vector of neurons).

At its most basic, Vanchurins work here attempts to explain away the gap between quantum and classical physics. We know that quantum physics does a great job of explaining whats going on in the universe at very small scales. When were, for example, dealing with individual photons we can dabble with quantum mechanics at an observable, repeatable, measurable scale.

But when we start to pan out were forced to use classical physics to describe whats happening because we sort of lose the thread when we make the transition from observable quantum phenomena to classical observations.

The argument

The root problem with sussing out a theory of everything in this case, one that defines the very nature of the universe itself is that it usually ends up replacing one proxy-for-god with another. Where theorists have posited everything from a divine creator to the idea were all living in a computer simulation, the two most enduring explanations for our universe are based on distinct interpretations of quantum mechanics. These are called the many worlds and hidden variables interpretations and theyre the ones Vanchurin attempts to reconcile with his world as a neural network theory.

To this end, Vanchurin concludes:

In this paper we discussed a possibility that the entire universe on its most fundamental level is a neural network. This is a very bold claim. We are not just saying that the artificial neural networks can be useful for analyzing physical systems or for discovering physical laws, we are saying that this is how the world around us actually works. With this respect it could be considered as a proposal for the theory of everything, and as such it should be easy to prove it wrong. All that is needed is to find a physical phenomenon which cannot be described by neural networks. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it is easier said than done.

Quick take: Vanchurin specifically says hes not adding anything to the many worlds interpretation, but thats where the most interesting philosophical implications lie (in this authors humble opinion).

If Vanchurins work pans out in peer review, or at least leads to a greater scientific fixation on the idea of the universe as a fully-functioning neural network, then well have a found a thread to pull on that could put us on the path to a successful theory of everything.

If were all nodes in a neural network, whats the networks purpose? Is the universe one giant, closed network or is it a single layer in a grander network? Or perhaps were just one of trillions of other universes connected to the same network. When we train our neural networks we run thousands or millions of cycles until the AI is properly trained. Are we just one of an innumerable number of training cycles for some larger-than-universal machines greater purpose?

You can read the paper whole paper here on arXiv.

Published March 2, 2021 19:18 UTC

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Roivant Grows Computational Drug Discovery Engine with Acquisition of Silicon Therapeutics – Business Wire

Posted: at 1:57 am

NEW YORK & BOSTON & BASEL, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roivant Sciences today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Silicon Therapeutics for $450 million in Roivant equity, with additional potential regulatory and commercial milestone payments.

Silicon Therapeutics has built a proprietary industry-leading computational physics platform for the in silico design and optimization of small molecule drugs for challenging disease targets. The platform includes custom methods based on quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics and statistical thermodynamics to overcome critical bottlenecks in drug discovery projects, such as predicting binding energies and conformational behavior of molecules.

Silicon Therapeutics computational platform is powered by a proprietary supercomputing cluster and custom hardware enabling accurate all-atom simulations at biologically meaningful timescales. This computational platform is tightly integrated with experimental laboratories equipped for biophysics, medical chemistry and biology in order to facilitate the rapid progression of drug candidates by augmenting simulations with biophysical data. The company has used these capabilities to discover multiple drug candidates.

The acquisition of Silicon Therapeutics bolsters and complements Roivants targeted protein degradation (TPD) platform. That platform will be powered by VantAIs advanced machine learning models trained on proprietary degrader-specific experimental data and by Silicon Therapeutics proprietary computational physics capabilities, which help address many of the modality-specific challenges of degrader design and optimization. Integrating Silicon Therapeutics and VantAI will enable Roivant to distinctively capture the power of both computational physics and machine learning-based approaches to drug design; for instance, by incorporating proprietary computational physics simulations as training data for VantAIs degrader-specific deep learning models.

The combination of Silicon Therapeutics and VantAI also gives Roivant distinctive advantages in designing other types of novel small molecule drugs against difficult targets, such as allosteric inhibitors, molecular glues and high-affinity ligands.

Silicon Therapeutics drug discovery efforts are led by Drs. Woody Sherman, Huafeng Xu, and Chris Winter, who will join Roivants drug discovery leadership.

Dr. Sherman is a recognized leader in computational chemistry and biomolecular simulations who spent 12 years as a senior scientific executive at Schrdinger, where he served as vice president and global head of applications science. Dr. Sherman is an authority in the emerging field of physics-driven drug design who has developed novel methods for free energy simulations, conformational modulation, virtual screening, improved force fields, lead optimization and precision selectivity design.

Dr. Huafeng Xu is a pioneer in novel molecular dynamics methods who spent 12 years at D. E. Shaw Research where he led development of the methods and software for free energy calculations that are now widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, including the Anton chip and Desmond software.

Dr. Chris Winter is an accomplished drug discovery biologist who has delivered 11 targeted cancer therapies into clinical development. Before joining Silicon Therapeutics, Dr. Winter served as Sanofi Oncologys head of discovery biology. He joined Sanofi from Blueprint Medicines, where he served as head of biology. Prior to Blueprint, Dr. Winter held senior research positions at Merck Research Laboratories and Exelixis.

We are delighted to integrate Silicon Therapeutics into Roivant as we continue to expand our capabilities in computationally-powered drug discovery, said Matt Gline, chief executive officer of Roivant Sciences. We intend to leverage our established development apparatus as we rapidly advance promising compounds from our drug discovery engine into clinical studies.

Silicon Therapeutics was founded with a vision of transforming the pharmaceutical industry through use of technology, said Lanny Sun, co-founder and chief executive officer of Silicon Therapeutics. By joining forces with Roivant, we can significantly accelerate making this vision a reality. Roivant has an impressive track record in clinical execution and building and deploying technology platforms to power pharmaceutical research, development and commercialization.

The combination of Silicon Therapeutics integrated approach, platform and highly capable team with Roivants technologies and commitment to transforming the pharmaceutical industry represents a new and exciting paradigm in drug discovery and development, said Roger Pomerantz, M.D., F.A.C.P., chairman of the board of directors of Silicon Therapeutics.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions including receipt of requisite regulatory approvals.

About Roivant Sciences

Roivant's mission is to improve the delivery of healthcare to patients by treating every inefficiency as an opportunity. Roivant develops transformative medicines faster by building technologies and developing talent in creative ways, leveraging the Roivant platform to launch Vants nimble and focused biopharmaceutical and health technology companies.

For more information, please visit http://www.roivant.com.

About Silicon Therapeutics

Silicon Therapeutics is a fully integrated drug design and development company focused on small molecule therapeutics. The Silicon Therapeutics proprietary physics-driven drug design platform combines quantum physics, statistical thermodynamics, molecular simulations, a dedicated HPC super-computing cluster, purpose-built software, in-house laboratories and clinical development capabilities. The platform was built from the ground up to address difficult targets using physics-based simulations and experiments to pioneer a new path for drug design with the prime goal of delivering novel medicines to improve the lives of patients.

Silicon Therapeutics is currently the only company that owns the entire spectrum of proprietary physics-driven drug discovery from chip-to-clinic. The companys lead program is a highly differentiated small molecule Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) agonist for the treatment of cancer, which entered the clinic in November 2020. The companys headquarters are located in Boston. To learn more about Silicon Therapeutics, please visit our website at http://www.silicontx.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

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Global Automotive In-Cabin 3D Sensing Technology Market Report 2021: Market Penetration for Level 2 Cars and Expected Market Penetration for Level 3…

Posted: at 1:53 am

DUBLIN, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "In-Cabin 3D Sensing Technology Market Analysis - Edition 2021" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report on In-cabin 3D Sensing Technology and Market Analysis is an outcome of our unparallel research database on automotive 3D sensing industry and ~800 interviews in last 2 years with leading brands in the automotive industry.

The report analyzes the market penetration of in-cabin 3D sensing system for level 2 cars and expected market penetration for level 3 and above vehicles. The report also analyzes all the different methods for analyzing the driver behavior and gesture recognition for infotainment system - structured light technique and TOF technique.

With this research, we aim to bring a fact-based evaluation of the 3D sensing in in-cabin system and help you create your next go-to market strategy to position yourself as a key player in this swiftly evolving landscape.

The report focuses on 5 major aspects of the market:

This study In-cabin 3D Sensing Technology includes:

The report answers to majority of stakeholders in the in-cabin 3D sensing ecosystem:

Key Topics Covered:

1. List of Companies Researched

2. Research Scope Research Methodology

3. Market Outlook and Forecast3.1. Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Vehicle Sales in 20203.2. Demand Expected to Normalise Post 20213.3. Total Addressable Market for In-Cabin Sensing Technology3.4. In-Cabin Sensing Equipped Vehicles Demand by Levels of Autonomy3.5. In-Cabin Sensing Systems Shipments by Regional Markets3.6. In-Cabin Sensing Technology Tam Value and Forecast

4. Market Growth Drivers

5. In-Cabin Sensing Systems and Their Applications

6. In-Cabin Sensing Technologies6.1. Nir Camera Sensing for In-Cabin Monitoring6.2. Radar Sensing for In-Cabin Monitoring

7. Industry Overview7.1. DMS And/Or OMS Applications by Oems (Existing and Planned)7.2. DMS And/Or OMS Solution Developers7.3. OEM Partnership With DMS Suppliers7.4. Tier 1 Partnership With DMS Suppliers

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bkpptc

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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Security Technology Strategies at the Core of Business Operations – SecurityInfoWatch

Posted: at 1:53 am

If your business operations game plan doesnt include provisions for battling todays COVID-19 pandemic and fast-tracking security and safety technology that will enable staff and clients to safely enter your facility, while enforcing all current virus protocols, think again. Over this past year, there has been a paradigm shift in the landscape of security technology and how it is being deployed. Smart organizations are migrating their short-term technology solution into long-term strategies.Courtesy of BigStock.com

According to a recent Memoori report, the physical security businesshas not suffered as severely as many others, partly because its products and services have been able to contribute to controlling the pandemic in buildings and the growing demand for delivering Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) and Access Control as a Service (ACaaS). COVID-19 has driven growth in building wellness systems as building operators are now in the process ofinstalling a variety of productsin preparation to meet the new standards for opening up their facilities.

As both security technology solution providers and their end-user clients grapple for answers to meet current and future challenges, Security Technology Executive editorial director Steve Lasky discussed these issues with three major players in the industry that include Rick Focke, the Director of Product Management for Enterprise Access Control Security Products and Building Technologies & Solutions at Tyco/Software House; Ryan Hulse, the Director of Product Management for Exacq and Kantech Security Products and Building Technologies & Solutions; and James Wagner, Leader Security Technology, Risk and Compliance at Deloitte Services LLP.

Rick Focke -- End-users are thinking about how they can get their employees back to work quickly, in the safest way possible and how can they maintain social distancing and meet all of the other protocols that are being put into place. Our end-users are also asking us for advice regarding touchless technologies that they can deploy, to help reduce the spread of the contagion. And, they have also started worrying about the effects of having a mostly vacant facility will they see an increase in vandalism or theft, or cyber-attacks? How should they change their approach to make sure they dont see an increase? Many of our end-users are also concerned that capital projects for security are now being delayed or even canceled, which forces them to adjust their long-term planning.

Ryan Hulse -- Issues around equality of law enforcement have intersected physical security with facial recognition technology. In early 2020 it was critiques of accuracy with dark skin tones. In early 2021 it is helping identify attackers at the U.S. Capital. These two extremes of negative and positive press illustrate why its possible to lose sleep trying to understand if such a technology is a boon or bane to an organization. Nobody wants the headline of the negative press. This is an area where JCI is busy behind the scenes working with outside experts and industry partners to work towards transparency and standards that ensure proper use of the technology and educating on the distinctions of frictionless access control and general surveillance applications.

James Wagner -- At Deloitte, we are rather blessed with a true enterprise system with redundancies at each crossroad. However, with mask mandates, we had an immediate impact on facial recognition for access control. Accuracy and speed were key to the program and of course we did not want our colleagues without masks. We believe this will be a challenge moving forward as we look for a workable solution for higher-end security solutions.

Focke -- Our process has not changed during the pandemic, but it has become quicker and more agile. It starts with our customers engaging with them to determine what problems they are experiencing, and to discuss possible solutions. We have an ongoing, active advisory council approach to customer feedback, which is combined with other ideas from customer meetings, integrators, and internally from tech support teams and applications groups. We work together to develop solutions in the quickest time possible, and we make sure what we come up with passes from a risk and cyber perspective. Finally, our marketing department makes sure that we communicate frequently and effectively our new technologies and innovations quickly and in as many ways as possible.

Hulse -- I think this is one area where a manufacturer like Johnson Controls has advantages to a customer looking to minimize their risk. Weve seen some products go to market very quickly to capitalize on fear and uncertainty, but were now asking did the manufacturer develop a full solution that allowed integrators to deploy effectively? Was the integrator equipped to deploy in a way that meets accepted standards? Johnson Controls, as a manufacturer also working in a number of areas like fire detection and suppression, is experienced working through compliance, risk, and security challenges to bring safe, effective solutions to market.

Wagner -- Deloitte has had a great pandemic team to review business and regulatory requirements across the landscape. From risk, doctors (internal and external), operations, and down to physical security, we have an outstanding team to review the level of policy and procedure which in some cases includes new products. The most interesting piece in a regulatory sense is what we found of most importance was the ability to report across the landscape. Thanks to the ability of our Software House CCURE 9000 system, at an enterprise level, we have shown our clients the ability to report access in correspondence to health declarations as well as ensuring occupancy levels are kept at a safe level.

Focke -- Integrated access control and video systems have been around for many years, but the pandemic has forced end users to take a second look at their systems and demand more how can I get more actionable intelligence out of the system I have? How can I optimize it, to reduce unnecessary alarms while elevating critical alarms and conditions? How can I use the combined information flow from video and access control to determine exact area-by-area usage patterns and distancing trends? We are starting to see more of a need for a holistic view of the complete building or facility, including cybersecurity no more silos of information. And a closer marriage of access control and video information is key to providing that view.

Hulse -- Video surveillance has always been the knowledge multiplier to any physical security system. It informs human decisions. The emergence of AI-based video analytics, to recognize faces or behaviors of persons, creates a force multiplier that lessens the need for staff to have eyes on every inch of floor space. Any time you build interconnected systems you also have to consider cybersecurity implications at integration points. Access control and video surveillance systems that integrate natively and are manufactured by companies with strong cybersecurity programs can provide the best guard against cyber risks.

Wagner -- Theres one key point missing from this question. Integration must include monitoring both physically and logically as well. Integrated solutions with redundancy are the only way to ensure we are providing 24/7 answers as incidents arise and provide a more safe and secure workplace even in a limited capacity. Deloitte Security relies heavily on its cybersecurity colleagues as well to ensure the most secure products to access is at the highest levels. My final and keywords here are redundancy and working together with cybersecurity. In our program, this was key to our success and ensuring we didnt miss a step in the home office turnaround.

Focke -- COVID has forced a reckoning on the physical security industry; it has compelled us to take a completely different view of what specific benefits our solutions provide to our customers. Customers are no longer happy just with access control basics they are demanding more information, and in a faster manner. They are demanding more proactive versus reactive information tell me when a door lock will probably fail in the future, versus telling me that it has already failed. They are demanding solutions that go beyond a traditional system, with closer integration to business and health monitoring, visitor and building management systems, and real estate/property technology platforms. And this lays the groundwork for an increased acceptance of true Open Standards in our industry, to facilitate this increasing information flow.

Hulse -- COVID has shifted the definition of a protected space to include the health of a space. We now think about the behaviors of people in the space in new ways like their distance from each other, what areas theyve touched, and the density of the people in the space. This expanded definition of a protected space is changing the trajectory of physical security, the question is to what degree. I would predict that even past the COVID pandemic, the security industry will shift toward spaces that are as touch-free as possible for occupants, and AI video analytics will continue to evolve recognition of behaviors to develop an understanding of spaces aggregate hygiene.

Wagner -- In some ways we have the pieces to meet those market demands but theres always room for improvement. Integrated solutions, again with live monitoring, places a key role in that success for a business. The cheapest product with free storage has to be highlighted for its potential cyber issues. Just read the terms and conditions of most of those products as Ive pointed out to some of my friends. Touchless, quality and innovation which includes multiple-use products will be key. A quality camera that can provide the security view with mask, motion, heat, and other capabilities in one unit and report anomalies is one example. Now can we wall mount it and potentially have an intercom and reader all in one? Ill let the smart people figure that one out. I have to repeat this due to its importance. The ability to change controls on the fly and report on the regulatory items is highly important for all businesses. Without this later item you may have some very smart pieces that might as well be seaweed if you cant report on how well they work.

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CoSN2021: Technology in the Classroom Promotes Equity in Education – EdTech Magazine: Focus on K-12

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Access to Technology Gives Students a Voice

Reflecting the CoSN2021 theme of Brave and Bold, Shelton opened his discussion with the poemInvitation to Brave Spaceby Mickey ScottBey Jones: Together we will createbrave space, the poem begins, eventually concluding with, It willbe our brave space together, and We will work on it side by side.

Shelton stressed the importance of being simultaneously brave and bold to navigate the separation caused by remote learning and inequity. I do not believe it is possible to have a truly equitable learning environment without technology, Shelton said. Technology, and equitable access to it, he explained, allow students to thrive in education instead of merely survive.

Speaking on the importance of these values, Shelton posed the question, How do we use [technology] to ensure everyone has a voice, and everyone is heard? Without technology, he continued, students can only access one perspective: the voice in their textbook.

Shelton explained how, without technology access, textbooks and curricula often prove antiquated and whitewashed. Pulling from personal experience, Shelton recalled getting a low grade on a U.S. history paper he wrote on the Tuskegee Airmen, for which he interviewed primary sources from his family because his teachers curriculum hadnt included military segregation.

In creating a platform where all voices can be heard, its important to use restorative policies instead of punitive measures for student behavior, Shelton said. He discussed what he calls the five elements of critical pedagogy: humility, love, faith, hope and critical thinking. When educators can maintain these five outlooks, he explained, they create a more equitable learning environment for students.

Culture is a far greater indicator of the pathway to student success than anything else, Shelton observed, emphasizing that students need to be seen, heard and loved in their learning environments. This, he continued, can be especially difficult in the age of hybrid learning, where students and educators struggle with inaccessible devices, connectivity issues and other aspects of the digital divide. However, he said, technology can also help schools dismantle the barriers to equity in the first place.

EdTech is covering CoSN2021, so keepthis pagebookmarked for our ongoing coverage. Follow@EdTech_K12on Twitter for live updates and join the conversation using#CoSN2021.

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Lumen Technologies to present at the Morgan Stanley 2021 Technology, Media and Telecom Conference – The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

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DENVER, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Laurinda Pang, president, global customer success at Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN), will present at the Morgan Stanley 2021 Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on March. 4. The presentation is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Webcast information for the investor presentation can be found on Lumen's Investor Relations website athttps://ir.lumen.com/events-and-presentations.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen is guided by our belief that humanity is at its best when technology advances the way we live and work. With approximately 450,000 route fiber miles and serving customers in more than 60 countries, we deliver the fastest, most secure platform for applications and data to help businesses, government and communities deliver amazing experiences.

Learn more about the Lumen network, edge cloud, security, communication and collaboration solutions and our purpose to further human progress through technology at news.lumen.com, LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, Twitter: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies and YouTube: /lumentechnologies. Lumen and Lumen Technologies are registered trademarks of Lumen Technologies LLC in the United States. Lumen Technologies LLC is a wholly-owned affiliate of Lumen Technologies Inc.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lumen-technologies-to-present-at-the-morgan-stanley-2021-technology-media-and-telecom-conference-301238996.html

SOURCE Lumen Technologies

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Here’s the Technology Government Needs in 2021 – Government Technology

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Tech executives from around the country met online last week during the annual Beyond the Beltway event to get a market forecast from industry experts about the IT spending challenges and opportunities facing state and local governments in 2021.

One of the challenges at the forefront of the discussion was the impact of COVID-19 and how the pandemic contributed to state and local budget shortfalls last year. Despite these challenges, data shared during the event by the Center for Digital Government* suggests that an increase in IT spending is likely to occur over the course of the next few months.

The most likely scenario is a 7 percent growth in IT spending, topping out at $118.7 billion, Joe Morris, e.Republics vice president of research said.

Based on these figures, Morris broke down specific IT spending projections for different verticals within the state and local government market.

The worst of the financial impacts have been felt by economies heavily supported by tourism, hospitality and low-income earners, Morris said. If your revenue is primarily coming through sales tax, hospitality or tourism, you could be looking toward a much longer road to recovery.

However, funding for education and public health has grown exponentially due to federal relief funds.

Since March 2020, states and localities have received over $360 billion in federal funds via several relief packages, including the CARES Actand the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Other federal relief packages, such as the $1.9 trillionAmerican Rescue Planthat is currently being reviewed by the Senate, could provide another $350 million in federal funding to state and local governments.

But what does all of this mean for government IT?

For state government CIOs, the pandemic has put a spotlight on IT priorities like cybersecurity, budget and cost control, citizen experience, cloud computing and infrastructure modernization, governance, broadband connectivity and process automation, according to Morris.

Whereas county CIOs have shifted their IT priorities to include the hiring and retaining of IT personnel, business intelligence and analytics, disaster recovery and continuity of operations, e-services, and so on.

As for what to expect moving forward, Morris said, We expect the worst of the economic climate to hit local government over the next two years, probably over the next 18 to 36 months.

The silver lining, he said, is that it gives local government officials a little bit more time to plan and prepare, whereas state governments are bouncing back a little bit quicker.

*The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company.

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How criminal investigations have evolved along with technology – THV11.com KTHV

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"It might not be able to stop a crime from taking place, but it does increase the probability that offenders are going to be caught and punished."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Technology has changed everything. Crime and the way police investigate crime is no exception.

Digital evidence touches all of our investigations, Ryan Kennedy, a supervisory special agent with the FBI, said.

During his time with the FBI, Kennedy has observed the growing emphasis on such evidence.

I think about my own neighborhood and the prevalence of Ring cameras and how many times something as simple as a doorbell camera has helped local law enforcement solve crimes as well, he said. Technology touches almost every aspect of our lives now.

Whether its a kidnapping, domestic terrorism, child exploitation, or white-collar criminal case, Kennedy said digital evidence often plays a role. Just like any other evidence, the fourth amendment requires investigators to have probable cause and a search warrant to search and seize smartphones, computers, tablets, and other devices.

Cell phones are always with us, so if we can get ahold of somebodys cell phone that's usually the treasure trove of evidence that we need, Kennedy said.

Social media also plays a role in many cases, including the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Kennedy said.

The fact that people are using their cell phones to take selfies and then theyre sending those out to their family members has helped us solve and identify who some of these individuals were, Kennedy added.

Photos and videos also helped in the mass shooting investigation at a downtown Little Rock nightclub in 2017.

"That was one where our detectives really had to go through and comb through phone evidence, Sgt. Eric Barnes with the Little Rock Police Department said. Surveillance evidence and the technology really ended up linking other people to that crime that were either there or involved.

LRPD has investigators dedicated to monitoring social media, Barnes said.

We know if we're looking at certain players who may be involved in an investigation, we're going to pay close attention to certain sites they may be involved with or any activity they may have on any platform, he said.

While there are plenty of examples showing how digital evidence helps solve crime -- could it actually be preventing it in the first place?

Dr. Edward Powers, chair of the Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology Department at the University of Central Arkansas, weighed in.

Maybe technology is creating a deterrent, he said.

Powers looks at this using the routine activities theory, which suggests three ingredients make up the "recipe" for crime: a motivated offender, suitable target(s), and perceived absence of a capable guardian or the idea you can go undetected.

Technology to some extent has become a capable guardian, Powers said. It might not be able to stop a crime from taking place, but it does increase the probability that offenders are going to be caught and punished.

According to FBI crime data, Arkansas robberies decreased by about 50% between 2007 the year the first iPhone was released and 2019.

There are a lot of factors, Powers said.

He believes the accessibility of cell phone location data, home security camera footage, and the widespread shift from cash to electronic payment have played at least some role in the decline.

But he said criminals have evolved too, by targeting victims online.

You're probably not as likely to be walking down the street in Little Rock and get robbed, but you might be more likely to get robbed by someone in another country, he said.

Regardless of the crime, Kennedy said he and his law enforcement colleagues are ready.

Whether you're using a phone or computer or whether you throw those things away, we still have a job to do and we're very good at collecting evidence of all sorts, he said.

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