Author: Peggy Smedley
With the rise of Industry 4.0 comes the convergence of IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology), which opens a new world of opportunities for critical organizations and manufacturers. More often, we see these two areas coming together, with the objective to improve efficiencies, safety, business acumen, and so much more. It will enable realtime decision making, a more coordinated response to business, shared resources, eliminate unplanned downtime through predictive maintenance, all while making better use of use of data. Quite frankly, I am not sure it makes sense to have these two areas of our business siloed anymore. But…
In 2015, Gills Creek broke through dams, flooding homes and businesses, and destroyed much in its wake. According to Bailey Parker, executive director, Gills Creek Watershed Assn., much of this could have been avoided if we would have been better stewards of watersheds—which she was kind enough to spend time explaining—which is a catch basin for where every bit of water comes into one point. Quite simply, a watershed is an area of land that channels—or sheds—rainfall and other water runoff into a single body of water. Everyone lives within a watershed, whether we know it or not, and our…
Construction is an industry that has been mobile by nature since the dawn of time. With the emergence of mobile devices and the cloud, BYOD (bring your own device) is something we talked about long before the COVID-19 pandemic. But now with the rise of remote work, it is a topic that is talked about more widely and broadly. As such, there is more research about the rise of enterprise security risks in an era of remote work and BYOD. Such is the case with a new report from Lookout about the State of Remote Work Security. Looking across all…
Wearable and hearable devices have grown significantly in the past decade. In fact, just from 2021 to 2022, the growth rate was 41.51% and it is anticipated to rise another 18% compound annual growth rate through 2026. Still, challenges remain such as energy density and charging capabilities—and many tech companies and manufacturers are working to solve existing hurdles in this market. Li-on (lithium-ion) microbattery has limitations that prevent product manufacturers from meeting demand for new features and better charging capabilities. Recently I discovered a company called, Ensurge Micropower that hopes to be at the forefront of solving this problem with…
The skilled labor shortage continues to be an ongoing challenge at most construction companies—something many are actively trying to solve. In fact, the National Assn. for Business Economics has found roughly 57% reported skilled labor shortages at the beginning of last year. Like many organizations, it is looking to provide resources to help. To help better identify the construction job landscape—and the opportunities that exist for skilled trades—Today’s Homeowner takes a look at the average pay for 10 jobs, their expected growth, and the places that are hot spots for skilled trade opportunities. As I have been saying for years,…
We are facing a host of climate challenges here in the United States—and across the globe, for that matter. For instance, different places in the United Kingdom openly report they are missing the mark. I recently had an opportunity to gain a better understanding of what is transpiring in the United Kingdom from Chris Stark, chief executive, Climate Change Committee. He stresses last year was the hottest year on record for the United Kingdom. “We also have droughts,” he says. “We have wildfires in this country. We have winter storms. All sorts of impacts are playing out. I think, for…
Supply chains, in general, are very complex—supply chains for automotive are another level of complexity altogether. In addition to all the components that go into a vehicle, it also stays in the field a lot longer, which means it has a long product lifecycle. The problem is when complexity is high, this leaves room for bad actors to come in and exploit it. This is exactly the conversation I was having recently with Henry Bzeih, global industry lead for automotive, mobility, and transportation, Microsoft, and Kaivan Karimi, global partner strategy leader, automotive, mobility, and transportation, Microsoft, on The Peggy Smedley…
Everyone keeps talking about the net-zero goals set forth for the next decade—but what will that truly look like in 2035? One new report aims to identify what a reliable, resilient, decarbonized electricity supply system could reveal by that time—and perhaps more importantly the steps we will need to take to even get there. The report, “Delivering a Reliable Decarbonised Power System,” from Climate Change Committee, uses real weather data and hourly analysis of Great Britain’s power system. In the hopes of helping us all learn together, let’s see what these folks have uncovered. Let my first salvo be that…
As of January 2023, one in 20 construction jobs were unfilled. The labor shortage is a discussion that was being had far before the words COVID-19 became a common household phrase. Still, the pandemic caused hiring to stagnant. Since that time, the industry has slowly began to recover jobs lost in the early months of 2020, according to analysis from Marcum LLP, but it is still slow going—and the pace of hiring certainly would be seeing a more rapid pace if not for the construction labor shortages. I know I am preaching to the choir, but this is a big…
We are seeing the rise of cloud services, 5G, and the IoT (Internet of Things), which is changing the way media and telecom companies conduct business. Add in the intense desire to be more sustainable and we have the perfect recipe for businesses to transition legacy businesses. This is something that Scott Campbell, industry executive advisor, SAP, sees and experiences every day. Many of the customers he works with have been using SAP for a very long time. “We have had to move their businesses forward to enable them to handle 5G and Internet of Things and all these new…