Category Archives: Technology

Nothing has changed the face of modern war so much as technological innovation, military and otherwise. Martin Van Creveld, a brilliant Israeli historian, tells us that technology affects warfare like waves of a stone thrown into a pond. The disturbance is strongest at the point of impact; the further the ripples spread, the weaker and less noticeable they become. And the further they go, the more likely they are to lose their identity by becoming intermixed with ripples thrown up by other stones.

The most revolutionary technologies to affect warfare emerged between the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, and the end of World War II in 1945, according to leading military historians. The rifled musket of the 1830s spelled the beginning of the end for tight tactical formations, such as the Roman wedge and the Napoleonic column, as well as the brightly colored uniforms that had defined Western warfare since the rise of nation states. By the 1860s, the repeating rifle made bayonet charges obsolete, but American Civil War generals failed to recognize this fact, and the result was catastrophic losses in combat.

The widespread use of explosive artillery shells in the 1850s ensured the demise of two ancient and venerable military institutions, the masonry fort and the wooden-hulled sailing ship. Yet, it took more than 20 years and several other non-military technological innovations before modern steel-hulled navies could emerge. These were all products of Englands Industrial Revolution: the steam engine, the screw propeller, and large-scale steel production.

Two other innovations of the Industrial Revolution vastly expanded both the scale and scope of warfare. The railroad and the telegraph permitted commanders to move vast quantities of troops and materiel to the battlefield, and to keep track of widely dispersed regiments and divisions for the first time. At Gettysburg, Generals Meade and Lee presided over some 200,000 fighting men. At the Somme on the Western Front in 1916, more than 3 million soldiers squared off against one another. One million became casualties over the battles 140 days, and the outcome was a draw.

According to a fascinating new history of weapons technology, Firepower by Paul D. Lockhart, in the half-century between the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 and the end of World War I in 1918, weapons technology advanced further and faster than it ever had before... It was a period of profound, rapid, even violent change in the killing potential of weaponry, made possible by the confluence of brilliant engineers, great leaps forward in the disciplines of chemistry and physics, and--perhaps most importantlyan arms race propelled by governments aggressively seeking out every possible advantage they could steal on their enemies, neighbors, and rivals.

By the end of the war to end all wars, three transformative new weapons had emerged: the tank, the warplane, and the torpedo-bearing submarine. Senior strategists and commanders now had to deal with campaigns on land, sea, and air simultaneously. But the military capabilities of the tank and the airplane were not at all clear by the time the guns fell silent in 1918. General Heinz Guderian of the Wehrmacht in World War II was the driving force behind the emergence of combined arms mobile warfare, integrating Panzer tank divisions with motorized infantry and concentrated air cover. It was called Blitzkrieg. The Germans were able to run roughshod over most of the armies in Western Europe in a mere nine months. The campaign against its powerful adversary, France, took only six weeks, despite the presence in France of almost 400,000 British soldiers.

In the Allies struggle to defeat the Axis powers, the United States rapidly emerged as the arsenal of democracy, producing more ships, planes, and tanks than any other allied nation by far, and the war was brought to an end through the use of atomic weapons, which possessed unimaginable destructive potential. The United States had spent billions to develop the bomb. It wasnt long after the war that an international consensus emerged: Atomic weapons must not be used again, for the simple reason that an atomic exchange could rather quickly bring an end to all of history.

As the Cold War began to take shape in the mid-1940s, the U.S. military was universally recognized as the most powerful and technologically sophisticated force in the world by far. This remains true today, even granting Chinas remarkable military rise. The Pentagon spends billions each year on technological research and development to defeat adversaries while suffering as few friendly casualties as possible. The U.S. military establishment and the policymakers who have presided over it since the beginning of the Cold War have exhibited a strong and abiding inclination to seek technological solutions to new challenges of the battlefield, rather than through tactical or strategic innovations with existing technology, or through in-depth study of the culture and way of war of its potential adversaries.

Ironically, Washingtons penchant for seeking technological solutions to military problems goes far toward explaining why the United States has such a lousy track record in fighting wars since the searing catastrophe of Vietnam. Our failures there, and in Lebanon (1983), Somalia (1993), and Afghanistan and Iraq stem largely from ignorance on the part of both policy makers and generals of our adversaries political dynamics, cultures, and ways of fighting.

The story of American military deployments to foreign shores since Vietnam, more often than not, is largely a story of wishful thinking.

In civil wars, insurgencies, and anarchic failing nation states, raw firepower and a technologically driven approach to warfare have often proved to be more of a problem than a solution, because such wars are primarily about gaining and maintaining control of the local population, not destroying the armed forces of the adversary. What distinguishes these conflicts from conventional fighting between national armies, wisely observes Professor Carnes Lord of the U.S. Naval War College, is not the scale of violence as such but the fact that the violence is embedded in a political context that directly shapes and constrains it Low intensity warfare is distinguished from other warfare by the extent to which politics dictates not merely strategy but military operations and even tactics.

Senior U.S. political and military officials have entered these conflicts convinced that superior technology and firepower will win out. It hasn't. Indeed, candid, realistic thinking about the nature of these conflicts, both before the commitment of forces, and then during the actual fighting, has been a scarce commodity. All of which lends credence to historian Max Boots contention in War Made New that technology alone rarely confers an insurmountable military edge. Even if a country figures out how to harness military power, it still needs the wisdom to know the capabilities and limitations of its war machine.

The story of American military deployments to foreign shores since Vietnam, more often than not, is largely a story of wishful thinking, in which the extraordinary capabilities of our technology have blinded overconfident presidents, national security advisers, and generals to the limitations of military force in effecting political change in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

In short, for the last half a century, the United States extraordinary military power has been badly squandered fighting the wrong wars in the wrong places at the wrong times.

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How Technology Made the US Military Its Own Worst Enemy - The Daily Beast

Remember that feeling in the pit of your stomach when the pandemic began and suddenly your technology stackwarts and allhad to adapt to a fully remote climate?

Not a great sensation, right? But it was nonetheless a helpful lesson about which of your tools were keeping up with the timesand which werent.

Take advantage of this period before a full return to normal (or at least what will pass for normal after the pandemic) to take a fresh look at your infrastructure and assess whether youre carrying around unnecessary extra baggage.

Technical debt is the cost associated with overhauling technology solutions that were initially implemented because of ease, speed, or budget, which may have meant a trade-off in quality. Technical debt existed before the pandemican association putting off a necessary tech update is an examplebut it may have become more obvious with the rise of remote work.

For example, lets say your organization adopted a piece of inexpensive software in the rush to make remote work viable. That solved an immediate needbut two years later, youre paying for that software in other ways, such as patching on additions that make more sense for the moment than for the future. In the long term, you would have been better served to set up a better solution that required more development time, but by now youve invested in subpar software for two years, making it difficult to part with.

Reducing these burdens takes effort but ultimately creates a stronger tech stack and more efficient organization.

One survey conducted recently by Software AG found that 78 percent of organizations picked up additional technical debt during the pandemic. The pandemic has dramatically accelerated many things when it comes to technology and transformation. Technical debt is just one of them, the firms CEO, Sanjay Brahmawar, told ITProPortal.

Thats the bad news. The good news is that, during a period in which you may only be taking slow steps to return to the office or the convention center, theres a little more white space to take on bigger challenges. Investing in becoming technically solvent during this unique period will pay off in the long run.

Beyond cutting back on technologies that are costing you more money than theyre worth, addressing technical debt allows you to invest in more fundamentally sound strategies, such as a cloud-based infrastructure, that will better match your organizations future needs.

In an interview with Red Hats The Enterprisers Project, Yugal Joshi of the global research firm Everest Group noted that organizations best equipped to succeed are the ones that leverage the tough moments to go in a new direction.

These times made the CIOs realize there is a better way of building and running technology for the organization, Joshi said. This realization will drive better design, architecture, and processes that will eventually address technical debt.

(vasiliki/E+/Getty Images Plus)

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Technology Pro Tip: Now's the Time to Reassess Technical Debt - Associations Now

Using new technologies is something every organization can benefit from, and the companies that are willing to adopt tech are more likely to outperform their competitors.

Its no secret that were living in a digital ageweve become dependent on technology, which comes with its benefits and drawbacks. For example, the Internet of Things (IoT) technology has been a game-changer in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many companies have made a digital transformation to automate routine tasks, achieve higher productivity levels and positively impact their operations over the past few years. Using new technologies is something every organization can benefit from, and the companies that are willing to adopt tech are more likely to outperform their competitors.

When you hear of a tech-savvy organization, you may think of startups in Silicon Valley or new social media apps like TikTok gaining massive popularity. However, companies in various industries can leverage the latest technologies to fuel their corporate fundraising efforts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a slew of disruptions, shortages and problems for virtually every type of organization. The pandemic accelerated digital transformation for many businesses, and the trend is likely to continue.

Large companies invest heavily in corporate social responsibility to give back to their communities, help those in need and be more sustainable in their most common business practices. How do they do it? How can corporations improve their fundraising initiatives?

There may be more than one answer to this question, but we know that technology has and will continue to make a sizable impact on how organizations approach fundraising.

Here are some of the latest and greatest technologies that can bolster your corporate fundraising efforts.

Corporations can leverage donor management software (DMS) in the same way they leverage customer relationship management (CRM) software. Many companies already use CRM software, whether Salesforce, Freshworks, Zoho or HubSpot, to easily manage customer relationships and analyze large amounts of data.

Organizations can also easily connect with and build relationships with potential donors, reach fundraising goals and organize volunteer opportunities for corporate fundraising. Using a centrally accessible database with all fundraising information makes processes more efficient and enables teams to collaborate better. Consider using a DMS to build and maintain relationships with current and potential donors.

Its common for nonprofits to use automated marketing platforms to manage their marketing strategies, deploy campaigns and reap the benefits. Additionally, enterprises in different industries can also use these solutions for various reasonsand fundraising is no exception.

Automation offers benefits such as improved efficiency and reaching more potential donors in less time. A good, automated marketing solution can also help companies save on resources. Fundraising campaigns that use these platforms typically require fewer team members to accomplish tasks. For example, automatically scheduling posts on social media to encourage donations can save companies time and money.

Financial apps, like Venmo, Cash App and Zelle, make earning donations much easier for organizations. Companies that create accounts on these applications can allow donors to easily send their contributions in a matter of a few seconds.

Think about how easy its become to make payments using Apple Pay or PayPal for all types of products or services. Donors can seamlessly use this technology without entering contact information or payment details, such as credit card numbers. On-demand donations can be made using any of these emerging digital platforms, so consider utilizing them to power your fundraising initiatives.

Businesses can leverage a cloud-based infrastructure to better manage fundraising data. Companies use the cloud for many reasonsit is flexible and scalable, drives collaboration, prepares companies for disasters and helps with business continuity. In addition, it is simple and cost-effective.

Cloud infrastructure consists of hardware and software, like servers, storage, management tools and other types of service. Companies that leverage cloud technology will benefit from reduced costs, increased collaboration opportunities and more accessibility to sensitive donor data.

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming commonplace in many types of industries. Some nonprofits have used VR to host virtual events so donors can give, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when meeting in person was not possible. Your corporation can unleash its creative potential by using VR technology to build emotional connections with potential donors. Just be sure to follow up with attendees after the event to boost your chances of success.

Compared to nonprofits, corporations trying to fundraise have an advantage because larger companies have the resources to pay for VR upfront. With enough capital, companies can invest in VR and use it to reach a broader audience of donors.

Storytelling is at the core of social media and describing your companys mission to raise funds for a nonprofit is essentially telling a story. Your business can use social media channels to share your fundraising initiatives by creating stellar content, such as videos, images and other posts.

Be sure that your marketing team understands which social media platforms will be the best for fundraising. Take a look at where most potential donors are spending their time, whether its TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

Corporate fundraising is an effective way for companies to give back to charitable organizations. In addition to adopting new technologies, many companies are becoming more aware of the impact their business and industry have on the global economy, the environment and the communities they operate in.

New technologies are always emerging, and its important for companies trying to improve their fundraising success to leverage them. Itll be interesting to see how large companies adopt technology to fuel fundraising and how nonprofits will benefit from these donations.

An indispensable guide to finance, investing and entrepreneurship.

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6 Ways Technology Can Improve Your Corporate Fundraising Initiatives - Worth

The U.S. has been warning for weeks about the possibility of Russia invading Ukraine, and threatening retaliation if it does. Just eight years after Russias incursion into eastern Ukraine and invasion of Crimea, Russian forces are once again mobilizing along Ukraines borders.

As the U.S. and other NATO member governments monitor Russias activities and determine appropriate policy responses, the timely intelligence they rely on no longer comes solely from multimillion-dollar spy satellites and spies on the ground.

Social media, big data, smartphones and low-cost satellites have taken center stage, and scraping Twitter has become as important as anything else in the intelligence analyst toolkit. These technologies have also allowed news organizations and armchair sleuths to follow the action and contribute analysis.

Governments still carry out sensitive intelligence-gathering operations with the help of extensive resources like the U.S. intelligence budget. But massive amounts of valuable information are publicly available, and not all of it is collected by governments. Satellites and drones are much cheaper than they were even a decade ago, allowing private companies to operate them, and nearly everyone has a smartphone with advanced photo and video capabilities.

As an intelligence and information operations scholar, I study how technology is producing massive amounts of intelligence data and helping sift out the valuable information.

Through information captured by commercial companies and individuals, the realities of Russias military posturing are accessible to anyone via internet search or news feed. Commercial imaging companies are posting up-to-the-minute, geographically precise images of Russias military forces. Several news agencies are regularly monitoring and reporting on the situation. TikTok users are posting video of Russian military equipment on rail cars allegedly on their way to augment forces already in position around Ukraine. And internet sleuths are tracking this flow of information.

This democratization of intelligence collection in most cases is a boon for intelligence professionals. Government analysts are filling the need for intelligence assessments using information sourced from across the internet instead of primarily relying on classified systems or expensive sensors high in the sky or arrayed on the planet.

However, sifting through terabytes of publicly available data for relevant information is difficult. Knowing that much of the data could be intentionally manipulated to deceive complicates the task.

Enter the practice of open-source intelligence. The U.S. director of national intelligence defines Open-Source Intelligence, or OSINT, as the collection, evaluation and analysis of publicly available information. The information sources include news reports, social media posts, YouTube videos and satellite imagery from commercial satellite operators.

OSINT communities and government agencies have developed best practices for OSINT, and there are numerous free tools. Analysts can use the tools to develop network charts of, for example, criminal organizations by scouring publicly available financial records for criminal activity.

Private investigators are using OSINT methods to support law enforcement, corporate and government needs. Armchair sleuths have used OSINT to expose corruption and criminal activity to authorities. In short, the majority of intelligence needs can be met through OSINT.

Even with OSINT best practices and tools, OSINT contributes to the information overload intelligence analysts have to contend with. The intelligence analyst is typically in a reactive mode trying to make sense of a constant stream of ambiguous raw data and information.

Machine learning, a set of techniques that allows computers to identify patterns in large amounts of data, is proving invaluable for processing OSINT information, particularly photos and videos. Computers are much faster at sifting through large datasets, so adopting machine learning tools and techniques to optimize the OSINT process is a necessity.

Identifying patterns makes it possible for computers to evaluate information for deception and credibility and predict future trends. For example, machine learning can be used to help determine whether information was produced by a human or by a bot or other computer program and whether a piece of data is authentic or fraudulent.

And while machine learning is by no means a crystal ball, it can be used if its trained with the right data and has enough current information to assess the probabilities of certain outcomes. No one is going to be able to use the combination of OSINT and machine learning to read Russian President Vladimir Putins mind, but the tools could help analysts assess how, for example, a Russian invasion of Ukraine might play out.

Technology has produced a flood of intelligence data, but technology is also making it easier to extract meaningful information from the data to help human intelligence analysts put together the big picture.

[The Conversations science, health and technology editors pick their favorite stories. Weekly on Wednesdays.]

Craig Nazareth, Assistant Professor of Practice of Intelligence & Information Operations, University of Arizona

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Technology is Revolutionizing how Intelligence is Gathered and Analyzed And Opening a Window onto Russian Military Activity Around Ukraine - Nextgov

More CCTV cameras with face recognition capabilities were observed in New York City boroughs and neighborhoods with higher concentrations of non-white residents, according to new research by human rights group Amnesty International.

"Our analysis shows that the NYPD's use of facial recognition technology helps to reinforce discriminatory policing against minority communities in New York City," Matt Mahmoudi, an artificial intelligence and human rights researcher at Amnesty International, said in a statement to ABC News.

"The shocking reach of facial recognition technology in the city leaves entire neighborhoods exposed to mass surveillance," he added. "The NYPD must now disclose exactly how this invasive technology is used."

In a conversation about face recognition technology, New York City Police Department Deputy Commissioner John Miller told ABC News that the victims of violent crime in the city are "overwhelmingly" people of color.

"They not only deserve but demand that police respond to reports of crime and apprehend those responsible," Miller said.

Amnesty International's findings are based on crowdsourced data obtained as part of the Decode Surveillance NYC project, which mapped more than 25,500 CCTV cameras across New York City. The data was gathered between April 14, 2021, and June 25, 2021.

The logo of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is placed on a surveillance camera in New York, Sept. 12, 2019.

The project's goal was to find surveillance cameras in New York City and reveal where people are most likely to be tracked by face recognition technology (FRT). Amnesty International then worked with data scientists to compare this data with statistics on stop, question and frisk policies and demographic data.

Stop-and-frisk policies allow officers to stop, question and pat down anyone believed to be suspicious.

The research found that the areas heavily populated with CCTV cameras proved to be at greater risk of stop-and-frisk practices by police. Some people have criticized this policing tactic as discriminatory. In 2019, 59% of those stopped by police as part of stop and frisk were Black and 29% were Latino, according to the New York ACLU, which cited NYPD data.

According to data gathered by the United States Census Bureau in July 2021, of those living in New York City, 24.3% were Black and 29.1% were Latino.

In a statement to ABC News, Miller said that stop and frisks "have been down over 90% for over eight years."

"Numerically, the much fewer stops that are still made are based on descriptions of people given by crime victims who are most often members of the community where the stop is made," he said.

Miller added that these kinds of stops contribute to the NYPD's current level of gun arrests -- "the highest levels in 25 years," he said -- which is critical because "homicides are up by half, and shootings have doubled."

However, activists worry that invasive surveillance and face recognition technology threaten individual privacy and disproportionately target and harm Black and brown communities. Mahmoudi called the prevalence of CCTV "a digital stop and frisk."

The NYPD used FRT in at least 22,000 cases between 2016 and 2019, Amnesty International said, according to data S.T.O.P, an anti-surveillance non-profit, was able to obtain from the NYPD through the city's Freedom of Information Law.

"I'm not surprised that the surveillance technology hits, again, the same communities that have already been the primary targets of police enforcement, or specifically NYPD enforcement," Daniel Schwarz, a privacy and technology strategist at the ACLU, told ABC News.

"It's a highly invasive harmful technology. It presents an unprecedented threat to everyone's privacy and civil liberties," Schwarz said. "We've been calling for a ban on this technology, because we can't see how it can be safely used, given its great impact on civil rights and civil liberties."

The criticism comes as New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he'd expand the NYPD's use of technology, including FRT.

"We will also move forward on using the latest in technology to identify problems, follow up on leads and collect evidence from facial recognition technology to new tools that can spot those carrying weapons, we will use every available method to keep our people safe," Adams said at a press briefing in January.

Adams' office did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

A sign stands outside the Lambert Houses, a Phipps Houses Development low-income housing complex, in the Bronx borough of New York, Sept. 1, 2017.

The NYPD has been using FRT since 2011 to identify suspects whose images "have been captured by cameras at robberies, burglaries, assaults, shootings, and other crimes," according to the NYPD's website. However, the department says that "a facial recognition match does not establish probable cause to arrest or obtain a search warrant, but serves as a lead for additional investigative steps."

Robert Boyce, retired chief of detectives at the NYPD, said the department has stringent guidelines for using face recognition technology. No one is allowed to use the technology without a case number and approval from a supervisor, he said.

"It's a high bar to be able to use it and that's the way it should be," Boyce, who retired in 2018, told ABC News. "We don't use it for anything other than a criminal investigation, and we wrote a very strict policy on this, because it was under scrutiny by a lot of people."

The quality of CCTV footage is often not good enough for police to use it for face recognition, Boyce said, based on his time with the department. More often, he said, police use social media accounts to find images of individuals they are looking into rather than conduct FRT searches.

Images from social media accounts are often of better quality and are therefore more useful in getting accurate results when using face recognition software, according to Boyce. Police use FRT as a pathway to help them find someone, but they still need a photo array or lineup to identify a subject for it to be admissible in court, he said.

"I can't tell you how important it is. Our closing rates have gone up significantly because we do this now," Boyce said of FRT. "I think it's a tremendous aid to us. But like anything else, it can be abused, and you have to stay on top of that.

"If I had to give it a number, I would say they went up something like 10%," Boyce said of the department's closing rates. Closing rates refer to the number of cases the department is able to solve.

Boyce argued that FRT should be adopted by more states and used more widely around the country with federal guidance on its usage.

A closed circuit security camera (CCTV) mounted on a street light in Times Square in New York.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 18 out of 24 federal agencies surveyed reported using an FRT system in the fiscal year 2020 for reasons including cyber security, domestic law enforcement and surveillance.

Along with the research, Amnesty International also created a new interactive website that details potential FRT exposure. Users can see how much of any walking route between two locations in New York City might involve face recognition surveillance.

Amnesty International claimed that there were higher levels of exposure to FRT during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

"When we looked at routes that people would have walked to get to and from protests from nearby subway stations, we found nearly total surveillance coverage by publicly-owned CCTV cameras, mostly NYPD Argus cameras," Mahmoudi said.

"The use of mass surveillance technology at protest sites is being used to identify, track and harass people who are simply exercising their human rights," Mahmoudi said, calling it a "deliberate scare tactic."

He added, "Banning facial recognition for mass surveillance is a much-needed first step towards dismantling racist policing."

The NYPD responded, saying it had no control over where protestors walked.

"We did not choose the route that the demonstrators took. Nor could we control the route that the demonstrators took," Miller said in response to Amnesty International's claims.

"There was no scanning of demonstrations for facial recognition," Miller said.

"The facial recognition tools are not attached to those cameras," Miller said. "In the cases where facial recognition tools were used, it would be where there was an assault on a police officer or serious property damage, whether it was a viable image to run against mug shots."

The ACLU has also called for a ban on face recognition or biometric surveillance by the government toward the public, Schwarz said.

"Any surveillance technology can have a chilling effect on how people engage and how they make use of their free speech rights. It's extremely frightening thinking about how protests can be surveilled," Schwarz said. "I think there should be a clear guardrails on its use."

Miller, the NYPD deputy commissioner, said Amnesty International's research does not tell the full story of how FRT is used.

"Amnesty International has carefully cherry-picked selected data points and made claims that are at best out of context and at worst deliberately misleading. In the characterization of how the NYPD uses 'artificial intelligence,' the report has supplied only artificial information," Miller said to ABC News.

Last year, Amnesty International sued the NYPD after it refused to disclose public records regarding its acquisition of face recognition technology and other surveillance tools. The case is ongoing.

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More facial recognition technology reported in non-white areas of NYC: Amnesty International - ABC News

Rick Bannan / rick@thereflector.com

A $90,000 grant through an organization of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe will provide laptops and monitors to teachers in the La Center School District.

Late last month LCSD announced it had received the grant through the Cowlitz Tribal Foundation Clark County Fund. The fund is an extension of the tribe and has representation from the tribe, Clark County government and nonprofits. This year the district announced it received the grant for the first time, which will bring in more technology to help teachers both in and outside the classroom.

The need for technology improvements in the district became clear after the construction and opening of the districts middle school this year. The new school features a number of technology improvements, so upgrades are needed at the elementary and high schools, the districts Director of Teaching and Learning Michelle ONeil said.

Since the La Center School Board approved a local levy for the ballot which had the same rate as the current one on the books, the district needed to find another source of funds for the upgrades. Thats when the Cowlitz Tribal Foundation came in, which the district identified as a good partner to fund those improvements, ONeil said.

The district has identified a number of priorities for the grant money. The top priority is mobile laptops for teachers to help students around the classroom, ONeil said. The laptops will also come in handy if remote learning is required, and they will also aid professional development.

That means when theyre coming to trainings, they have that laptop, they can better access technology right in the moment, ONeil said.

The grant will also fund computer monitors in classrooms, allowing for easier instruction.

Although it hasnt been approved by the school board yet, ONeil said the district has also requested microphone and speaker systems for the classroom to help students and teachers hear each other. Rising costs of those systems may prove to be cost-prohibitive, however.

ONeil said the districts technology funds are limited. The improvements at the middle school were funded through a voter-approved bond, while the other schools have to rely on what comes from the state and what is locally approved through regular levies.

So this will definitely bring us up to the place where we can have all teachers functioning at an equitable place, as far as the technology in their room, to serve students, ONeil said.

ONeil said an organization can apply for one grant per calendar year and can request funding for up to three years. She thanked the foundation for approving the districts grant, which is part of millions the foundation gives every year for similar initiatives, a release from the district stated.

They have been very generous and are definitely focused on students and educating our community, ONeil said. We are so grateful to be able to take advantage of this and bring our technology up to par.

ONeil said the grant will allow for greater equity for teachers and students across the districts schools.

We want for all of our students, regardless of the circumstances or their ability, to have access to instruction, ONeil said. In order to make that happen, we want to make sure that our educators have the technology that they need.

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Cowlitz foundation grant will bring equity to La Center school technology - The Reflector

RED DEER, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Azolla Hydrogen has been identified as a high potential, growth-stage start up and has been accepted to the Canadian Technology Accelerator which will represent the Canadian Hydrogen technology sector in Germany.

The government of Germany has ambitious plans to make hydrogen the foundation of a low emission economy. Massive public and private sector investments create significant opportunity for Canadian experts in hydrogen and related Carbon Capture, Usage & Storage (CCUS) technologies. Corporations are expanding their technology scouting efforts and many have deemed hydrogen as the foremost of their priorities. Germany is Europes largest economy and the environmental impact of this economic success is being challenged by ambitious plans to drive down emissions from energy consumption and industrial processes. Hydrogen is widely regarded as the cornerstone of the countrys future energy supply moving forward.

The Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) program is a six-month program that offers participants customized support including an overview of local industry and culture, marketing campaign support sessions, virtual pitching and B2B matchmaking, and a company booth to showcase the technology at the H2Expo in Hanover, Germany.

We are honoured to have been selected to represent the future of the Canadian hydrogen technology industry in Germany. We look forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the German markets needs and wants so we can deliver innovative solutions. The opportunity to present our transformative hydrogen production technology in this promising growth market while identifying and informing new customers provides Azolla the opportunity to kickstart our exports to Germany, states Jared Sayers, Azollas President and CEO.

To kick off the program, the CTA will be hosting an online event on February 23, 2022. The event will feature nine Canadian hydrogen start-ups accepted into the program alongside Azolla Hydrogen, with a focus on areas of hydrogen production, infrastructure, and distribution. Three influential speakers will lead the event through discussions on the role that hydrogen will play in the green transformation of Canadian industry, the dynamics of how international start-ups can boost the hydrogen ecosystem and explore the internationalization pressure of the hydrogen economy.

Azolla Hydrogen is excited to explore the applications these innovative possibilities are bringing to the hydrogen industry, and we welcome you to join this event and see how it can impact your future, comments Jared Sayers. Following the event, personnel from each company will be available for 1:1 video chats to answer your questions and continue the discussion.

To find out more information and join us for this event on February 23, 2022 from 7:00AM-9:30AM (MST), please sign up using the following link: https://matchmaker.ruhr/events/innovation-bridge-north-america-presents-hydrogen-startups-canada/1RvxgL325Y

About Azolla Hydrogen Ltd.:

Azolla Hydrogen is an Alberta based start-up with a focus on the Alberta, California, and the North American hydrogen economy. We help companies transition from a default reliance on fossil fuels. As we edge toward decarbonizing the energy sector, hydrogen as a transportation fuel is gaining influence. Azolla Hydrogen has identified a pathway to generate low-GHG hydrogen that is scalable and not reliant on the grid as power for electrolysis or fossil fuels for small modular reactors.

For more information about the Canadian Technology Accelerator see: https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/cta-atc/technology-accelerator-germany-allemagne-atc.aspx?lang=eng

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Azolla Hydrogen Ltd. Has Been Accepted Into the Canadian Technology German Accelerator - Business Wire

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Millimeter Wave Technology Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By End-Use; By Product; By Frequency Band; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2021 - 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global millimeter wave technology market size is expected to reach $5.13 billion by 2029 according to this new study. The report gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.

Companies Mentioned

The MMW technology has enabled the radar tech for automotive & transport applications. It implies the technique in radio-frequency modules which renders an effective radar performance. These emerging applications of MMW across the automotive and healthcare industries are therefore expected to fuel the demand for MMW devices. As a result, the global market is anticipated to experience a notable swift over the estimated time.

Moreover, the ability of millimeter waves to penetrate through almost all the materials including concealed solid as well as liquid objects have made the technique extremely reliable from the security perspective. Therefore, resulting in the heavy adoption of MMW scanners at a fast pace across the security sector, in turn helping the overall MMW technology market to flourish significantly.

A few important parameters to be considered to achieve better MMW imaging include careful selection of the targets depending upon the transmission & reflecting principles, illumination, distance, detector type, and image processing. Radars and satellite communication systems are another major product based on the millimeter wave technique. The Military & defense sector was one of the initial sectors to implement small, high gain antennas that operate at high frequency in the MMW radar aircraft.

Recent years have been witnessing an increasing interest in circuits and communication systems across the educational as well as industrial sectors. The research and advancements have led to the building up of several innovations in the MMW technology and developing various components implementing the technique in the market.

The publisher has segmented the millimeter wave technology market report on the basis of product, component, frequency band, application, and region.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Overview and Scope

2. Executive Summary

3. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Insights

3.1. Millimeter Wave Technology - Industry snapshot

3.2. Millimeter Wave Technology - Ecosystem analysis

3.3. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Dynamics

3.3.1. Millimeter Wave Technology - Market Forces

3.3.1.1. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Driver Analysis

3.3.1.2. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Restraint/Challenges analysis

3.3.1.3. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Opportunity Analysis

3.4. Industry analysis - Porter's five force

3.4.1. Bargaining power of supplier

3.4.2. Bargaining power of buyer

3.4.3. Threat of substitute

3.4.4. Threat of new entrant

3.4.5. Degree of competition

3.5. Millimeter Wave Technology Market PEST Analysis

3.6. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Value Chain Analysis

3.7. Millimeter Wave Technology Industry Trends

3.8. Competitive Ranking Analysis

4. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Size and Forecast, 2017 - 2029 by Product

4.1. Key Findings

4.2. Telecommunication Equipment

4.3. Imaging & Scanning Systems

4.4. Radar & Satellite Communication Systems

5. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Size and Forecast, 2017 - 2029 by Component

5.1. Key Findings

5.2. Antennas & Transceivers

5.3. Amplifiers

5.4. Oscillators

5.5. Control Devices

5.6. Frequency Converters

5.7. Passive Components

5.8. Others

6. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Size and Forecast, 2017 - 2029 by Frequency Band

6.1. Key Findings

6.2. V-Band

6.3. E-Band

6.4. Others

7. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Size and Forecast, 2017 - 2029 by Application

7.1. Key Findings

7.2. Telecommunications

7.3. Military & Defense

7.4. Automotive & Transport

7.5. Healthcare

7.6. Electronics & Semiconductor

7.7. Security

8. Millimeter Wave Technology Market Size and Forecast, 2017 - 2029 by Region

9. Company Profiles

9.1. NEC Corporation

9.1.1. Overview

9.1.2. Financials

9.1.3. Product Benchmarking

9.1.4. Recent Developments

9.2. Siklu Communication Ltd

9.2.1. Overview

9.2.2. Financials

9.2.3. Product Benchmarking

9.2.4. Recent Developments

9.3. Bridgewave Communications, Inc.

9.3.1. Overview

9.3.2. Financials

9.3.3. Product Benchmarking

9.3.4. Recent Developments

9.4. E-Band Communications, LLC

9.4.1. Overview

9.4.2. Financials

9.4.3. Product Benchmarking

9.4.4. Recent Developments

9.5. Aviat Networks, Inc.

9.5.1. Overview

9.5.2. Financials

9.5.3. Product Benchmarking

9.5.4. Recent Developments

9.6. Millitech, Inc.

9.6.1. Overview

9.6.2. Financials

9.6.3. Product Benchmarking

9.6.4. Recent Developments

9.7. Millimeter Wave Products Inc.

9.7.1. Overview

9.7.2. Financials

9.7.3. Product Benchmarking

9.7.4. Recent Developments

9.8. Keysight Technologies, Inc.

9.8.1. Overview

9.8.2. Financials

9.8.3. Product Benchmarking

9.8.4. Recent Developments

9.9. Ducommun Incorporated

9.9.1. Overview

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Worldwide Millimeter Wave Technology Industry to 2029 - by Product, Component, Frequency Band, Application and Region - ResearchAndMarkets.com -...

OCALA, Florida For Apis Cor, a construction company based in Melbourne, Fla., building certain kinds of homes relies an awful lot on a key team member named Frank.

Frank has an arm that reaches more than 16 feet, said Anna Cheniuntai, the company's founder and chief executive, and can follow a computerized design blueprint while pushing out a steady stream of beaded construction material used to make walls.

Frank, you see, is a large, mechanical component of the technology used to build 3D-printed homes.

Proponents of the technology in recent years have pointed to 3D-printed homes as an innovative step toward addressing housing needs in the United States and elsewhere. Several projects are underway as communities cope with housing shortages and experiment with options.

The nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity unveiled its first 3D-printed home in December in Williamsburg, Va., and is due to unveil another in Tempe, Ariz., in February.

"We're at the very beginning of 3D printing," said Janet V. Green, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg in Virginia. "I hope that this does help some of the affordable housing crisis that we have across the nation."

Other examples exist inside and outside the U.S. In northern Italy, 3D-printed dome-shaped houses were made out of raw materials, such as clay. And in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Municipality, a government building, stands as the largest 3D-printed structure in the world.

Here's some of what several construction business officials and observers described as key points to know about 3D-printed housing:

Homes built with 3D-printed technology use large-scale equipment for much of the construction, but also rely on traditional techniques for other basic needs of a home, such as roofing, electrical wiring, insulation and window installation.

Andrew McCoy, professor and director of the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech, said a general idea of what to expect in the U.S. would be a 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 3D-printed home that sells for about $264,000 to $330,000. As with any home construction, factors such as the region where the home is built, floor plan design, number of stories, textures and finishes can change the price of the home.

In September, researchers at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., also known as Freddie Mac, estimated the current shortage of available homes in the United States to be close to 3.8 million.

Here are examples of 3D-printed home projects underway in different parts of the country:

In Palm Springs, the Oakland-based construction company Mighty Buildings is working on a 3D-printed community of 15 homes in the Coachella Valley.

In Austin, Texas, a development of more than 500 homes is underway by the Icon Co. The company had already broken ground in 2020 on a 51-acre development called Community First! Village that is expected to provide 3D-printed housing to approximately 480 homeless people when complete.

Fabian Meyer-Broetz, head of 3D construction for Houston-based construction company Peri, said his company expects to complete construction on a 3D-printed home for Habitat for Humanity in Tempe by mid-February. Peri officials said the company's 3D-printed projects included an apartment building in Beckum, Germany.

Peri, like several construction firms, hopes to make housing more affordable and viable to a broader range of people, Meyer-Broetz said.

Cheniuntai of Apis Cor said one of her company's overall missions is to complete construction on a $336,000, 1,700-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom house and make it move-in ready in just seven days. Apis Cor has received 25 reservations for 3D-printed homes, mainly in Florida, which are scheduled to begin construction in 2023.

"Today, the average time for a wood stick house is at least seven months," Cheniuntai said. "So with the technology that we have, we can build a house in up to two or three months."

How might 3D-printed homes perform against Mother Nature?

A study conducted by Pew Research in 2020 showed that 63% of Americans live in communities directly impacted by climate change, and that number is expected to increase. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that $145 billion worth of houses and infrastructure were lost or damaged in wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes and other climate-related disasters in 2021.

"By far, weather is your biggest problem variable," said Zach Mannheimer, CEO of Alquist 3D, an Iowa City-based construction company specializing in 3D-printed buildings.

Mannheimer said that because 3D-printed homes rely on concrete, they're resistant to threats such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.

Alquist 3D was the construction company behind the 3D-printed Habitat for Humanity home in Williamsburg, Va. The company had built a model home in Richmond before breaking ground on the Habitat home a few months later.

What are some concerns tied to 3D-printed homes?

Although concrete is versatile and has high durability compared with other construction materials such as wood, it has a nasty carbon footprint, emitting lots of greenhouse gases and making it the third largest source of industrial pollution, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

McCoy of Virginia Tech said some efforts exist and others are underway in the construction industry to develop options that reduce such environmental damage and create "a better footprint."

Some builders and contractors worry that some jobs traditionally done by people are being handled with the new technology, Mannheimer said.

The U.S., however, is facing a soaring demand for construction workers, with an estimated 345,000 open jobs in construction unfilled, according to a November 2021 study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America in September 2021 found that many contractors and firms are struggling to find qualified workers to fill open positions for builders and inspectors.

Some analysts said it's too soon to tell whether 3D-printed homes will hold up to traditional construction in the long run. Even some of those people in favor of using the technology said they can understand why potential homeowners might tread lightly when considering a 3D-printed home.

"For some homeowners, buying a home might be the biggest investment they'll ever do," Meyer-Broetz said.

Timothy Turcich, who lives in Orlando, has reserved a 3D-printed home with Apis Cor. He said he read the news over the holidays about the 3D-printed home that was built in Williamsburg. The next week, he was on the phone with Apis Cor to submit a deposit for a reservation.

"When I first started saying I wanted to build something, it was a fringe idea of mine, but I actually feel like it's less fringe," Turcich said. "This offers the lightest friction to building a house that I've seen."

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Technology helps offer 3D-printed homes as an option for ownership - The Salem News

The best job in America in 2022 is in tech, according to Glassdoor. That job, enterprise architect, pays a median base salary of more than $144,000. But there are plenty of other tech jobs that pay well and have scores of job openings.

A job in tech has always been lucrative, but as the digital landscape evolves and the world more than ever depends on tech, especially during the global COVID-19 pandemic, companies are hiring faster and jobs are paying top dollar.

With an emphasis on cloud and growing databases, more and more jobs are created in tech. Positions cover a wide array of expertise and skills and can used toward anything from a solutions engineer to a business analyst to a scrum master.

In fact, more of these positions were in demand in 2021 than in 2020, according to a Dice report.

With work-from-home or a hybrid model here to stay, companies need more and more help to better serve their customers in an ever-changing digital landscape.

Here are the 30 highest paying tech jobs, according to Glassdoor, in the U.S.

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The Best Paying Jobs In Technology In 2022: Glassdoor - CRN