More than half of businesses in the UK, US and Germany aren’t fully prepared to deal with a cyber attack February 7, 2017 More than half of businesses (53 per cent) in the UK, US and Germany aren’t fully prepared to deal with cyber attacks, according to a new study of 3,000 companies. Specialist insurer Hiscox’s cyber report – which assessed firms on strategy, resourcing, technology and process – found that UK firms are least likely to have [...]
A gig economy inquiry by MPs hears a tale of two Uber drivers February 6, 2017 Uber drivers have given evidence to MPs scrutinising the rise of the gig economy and its implications for workers, painting two very different pictures of their experience with the company. "There is no flexibility," said Uber driver David Dunn, giving evidence to the work and pensions committee chaired by Frank Field, who last year accused Uber of treating its drivers [...]
It’s lift off for Uber’s flying cars with a major hire from Nasa February 6, 2017 Think flying cars are just a pie in the sky idea? Think again. Uber is working on creating driverless cars and has already hinted at more sci-fi ambitions for airborne vehicles, but now its made a serious new hire to lead such technological development. And where else would you find someone to do such futuristic work? Nasa, [...]
Airbnb took a big swipe at Trump in its very last minute Super Bowl LI advert #WeAccept February 6, 2017 Airbnb has taken a swipe at Donald Trump's controversial travel ban with an advert at one of the most watched TV events of the year – the Super Bowl. The tech company aired a 30 second spot in prime time promoting diversity and featuring its own employees "We believe no matter who you are, where [...]
Meet the 96 companies taking a stand against Trump February 6, 2017 In an unprecedented uniting of mainly technology companies, 96 have joined forces to fight Donald Trump's controversial ban on people from certain countries entering the US. From giants such as Apple and Google, to smaller firms such as TaskRabbit and Stripe, they have filed what's called an amicus brief in the court of appeals, meaning they are interested [...]
Twitter could be the people’s platform – but not unless it turns a profit February 6, 2017 Twitter has a problem. Despite unbridled use by the President of the United States; despite being used the world round to mobilise protests and marches – to distribute news, to interact and advertise – it looks like it’s in trouble. Awareness of it has never been higher and yet, Twitter isn’t making a profit. While [...]
The irony of the filter bubble for advertisers is bittersweet February 6, 2017 "Algorithm" became a dirty word in 2016; few know what one is, fewer know how one actually works. Sure sounds scary though. “Filter bubble” can be added to that list, the latter a product of the former. The notion that social media algorithms nurture confirmation bias through reflecting self-affirming views, and therefore prejudice, is rife. [...]
Six surprising stats about FTSE 100 cyber security disclosures from their annual reporting February 6, 2017 Just a handful of FTSE 100 companies say they have a special technology or cyber security expert on their board, despite the growing risk to business a new analysis reveals – just one of several surprising stats about how the biggest firms in the UK inform shareholders about the issue. Only five per cent of board level individuals with such direct [...]
Replace 250,000 public sector jobs with robots, urges think tank Reform in radical workforce overhaul driven by technology February 5, 2017 Automating admin jobs could reduce the public sector workforce by more than a quarter of a million people saving the economy billions of pounds, a leading think tank has suggested. And adopting technology such as artificial intelligence, chatbots and drones, could radically overhaul the public sector and streamline Whitehall even further, according to a new report [...]
The 10 jobs where you’re most (and least) likely to be replaced by a robot February 5, 2017 It looks like you better get into some sort of medical related career if you want to avoid robots replacing you, but even Homer Simpson would likely be out of a job in future. Doctors, surgeons, audiologists, prosthetics makers and occupational therapists are among the more than 200 middle class jobs least likely to be lost to automation, according [...]