Author: Peggy Smedley
The construction industry is facing an ongoing labor shortage that has been years in the making and has reached new heights this year. Research from the ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) suggests construction has the tall task of attracting an estimated 546,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2023 to meet the demand for labor. As such, it becomes critical to find ways to optimize each labor hour to get the most performance and value. This is where technology enters the equation. Field solutions can help improve efficiency on the construction jobsite while also attracting…
I have been writing about the supply chain—and cybersecurity—for decades, warning that we needed the right technology—and the right security protocols—in place to make our supply chains resilient and more secure. Seriously, for those of you who follow this column, you must be saying I sound like a broken record. I know what the heck is that? But all kidding aside, this is a problem. And a new report shows cyberattacks targeting software supply chains will cost businesses billions, and I mean billions, and most businesses can’t afford paying out millions, let alone billions. The study, from Juniper Research, examines…
EVs (electric vehicles) are speeding on the scene at a rapid rate—something my team and I love to talk about and one we have shared a lot right here on this blog many times. But we would be remiss if we didn’t address the fact that material shortages are quickly putting the brakes on the rapid growth? Research from a university in Europe uncovers some interesting trends. With the growth of electrification and digitalization in the car, there is a growing need for critical metals in electric vehicles, but the challenge is only a small amount of metals are currently…
Homes are changing, with the rise of smart and connected devices. Such is the case with home health devices, which are poised to transform the smart-home market, driven largely by remote-monitoring technologies. This will absolutely transform our homes, enabling many of us to age in place. New research shows the smart-home healthcare market is still growing, but the challenge is the scale of the opportunity still remains largely underpenetrated. That means a lot of opportunity and growth still exists for many companies. Here’s just a quick glimpse at what the numbers are showing from ABI Research, which reveals how this…
Like the construction industry in general, M&As (mergers and acquisitions) in the construction-technology space are often cyclical, coming in waves, sometimes faster than others. But it seems like the pace of change continues to roll faster than it ever has in the past, especially in construction digital transformation. To illustrate the impact on the construction sector let’s take a closer look into three case studies today. Sage Centers on SMBs Arguably some of the biggest construction-technology acquisitions Sage has made are Intuit, Contractor Anywhere, and Peachtree, stapling the software provider as one of the big players in accounting for construction…
We all know the past year has seen many challenges, including ongoing supply-chain disruptions, fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and widespread third-party breaches and security incidents. From healthcare to energy, no industry is immune to the attacks that are happening in our cyber world. New reports dig deeper into the trend happening in many industries today. It’s pretty darn scary, if you ask me. As one example, Prevalent’s new report The 2023 Third Party Risk Management Study provides deeper insights into current trends, hurdles, and programs that are impacting third-party risk management practitioners, which uncovers some current results.…
I have been writing about the labor shortage in multiple vertical markets for many years, covering manufacturing, construction, and even recently discussing the shortage of healthcare staff on The Peggy Smedley Show. Industries that are critical to the foundation of our country will falter if we don’t entice the younger generation to such careers—and the repercussions will be felt wide and far. Here at Constructech, I have even gone so far as to argue that finding the right workers is putting our country at risk. In fact, I went as far as to interview Whitney Jones who leads the Submarine…
Energy efficiency is essential for our homes—and for our data centers. Used to house computers, storage systems, and computing infrastructure, data centers account for roughly 2% of total U.S. electricity consumption while data center cooling can account for up to 40% of data center energy usage overall. Now, the government is looking for a way to improve this, in an effort to make all our communities a little bit more sustainable. To help, the U.S. DOE (Dept. of Energy) announced $40 million in funding for 15 projects that will build high-performance, energy-efficient cooling solutions for data centers. The projects will…
Are you ready to take that next step in your digital transformation journey, but you aren’t quite sure where to start? Well, you are not alone. Recently, I had the pleasure to spend some time with Joseph Msays, global managing partner, EA Managed Services, IBM Consulting. to talk about the digital transformation journey, what IBM Consulting is showcasing at SAP Sapphire, May 16-17, and how companies can take that critical next step. “We have been a partner of SAP for the last 50 years,” Msays explains. “I don’t know if you know this, but the three original founders of SAP…
What is coming next for the smart home? In a few words, connected home charging—something many automotive and technology companies are beginning to tout. But when exactly will it come to a neighborhood near you? Perhaps sooner than you think, especially if the car companies can live up to hype, production, and regulation. We all know EVs (electric vehicles) are speeding onto the scene at rates faster than ever before. New numbers from Precedence Research show roughly 2 million electric vehicles were sold globally in just the first quarter of 2022. Looking to the future, the global electric vehicle market…