Learning platforms – Devine Pearson

Matching funds available for area teachers to boost STEM and anti-racism education

Bryan L. Lawrence — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:27:12 +0000

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is providing $250,000 in shareholder funds as matching dollars to help teachers supplement classroom learning with science, technology, engineering, and math projects ( STEM), as well as racial equity and inclusion education.

“We constantly hear from students that they want to see more diverse perspectives and examples of positive contributions – from their cultures and others – in their classrooms and curriculum. Students want to be seen and understood as they seek to see and understand others,” said San Diego County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Gothold. “We are grateful that SDG&E is supporting local educators as they seek to implement equitable practices and strategies in their classrooms.”

As part of the initiative for K-12 schools in the San Diego and southern Orange County area served by SDG&E, local K-12 teachers requesting STEM and/or racial equity and inclusion learning via DonorsChoose can receive up to $2 for every dollar they raise. for their projects.

“As a company deeply invested in the future of our region, we have long recognized the vital role teachers play in developing the next generation of citizens, leaders and knowledge workers,” said the director. of SDG&E Community Relations, Kazeem Omidiji. “And we want to do our part to support educators in their efforts to create meaningful and impactful learning experiences for their students.”

How it works

Eligible teachers can visit the DonorsChoose website to apply for matching funds for STEM projects and the DonorsChoose Racial Equity website for racial equity projects. The matching fund program will run from today until funds are exhausted.

STEM and distance learning projects of $1,000 or less at public schools in SDG&E’s service territory in San Diego and southern Orange counties are eligible to receive matching funds from SDG&E on the platform DonorsChoose. Last year, 65% of the 266 schools in 31 school districts receiving SDG&E funding were in disadvantaged communities.

To support educational equity, SDG&E will provide a double match (2-1) for eligible teacher projects in schools in disadvantaged communities, as determined by CalEnviroScreen.

About the partnership

This is the fifth year that SDG&E has partnered with DonorsChoose, a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that allows public school educators to post their projects online and raise donations to fund them.

SDG&E launched its partnership with DonorsChoose in 2018 so teachers don’t have to use their own money to buy supplies. The partnership over the first four years has provided a total of $1,164,159 in matching funds to teachers for STEM projects. To date, the STEM collaboration between SDG&E and DonorsChoose has supported more than 1,750 teachers and 250,000 students in more than 900 schools in a few dozen school districts. This is the second year that SDG&E has provided matching funds for anti-racism education.

SDG&E continues to expand the program to support teachers with new needs caused by the pandemic, such as supplies that can no longer be shared among students and equipment needed to enhance remote learning.

The Teen App Store: Creating a Digital Landscape for Teens

Bryan L. Lawrence — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 21:36:22 +0000

By Shubhangi Shah

“My background in education and working closely with teenagers has taught me that they struggle to find acceptance in the digital landscape despite their digital background,” says Saurabh Saxena, Founder and CEO from Uable, a social media app for teens. . “Teenagers spend a lot of time on Instagram and the Snapchats of the world and end up consuming information that isn’t always relevant or useful to them,” he says of what prompted him to start a platform.
for 13-19 year olds. Saxena’s previous stint was with ed-tech platform Vedantu, which he co-founded in 2014.

At first glance, a teen app looks interesting but tricky at the same time. After all, what can Uable offer that Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube can’t? In response to this, says the platform’s founder, Uable provides a “space exclusively for teens to connect with like-minded peers and creators, explore their passions, interests through safe communities, and build their profile”. The platform also allows users to join clubs based on their interests and hang out on chat servers similar to Discord. The app also has a built-in social currency called U-coins, which is given as a reward for high engagement. It can be used to unlock premium content and experiences, the creator explains. Uable is also ad-free. Yes, each age group has specific demands and expectations regarding their digital experience. This is particularly the case for teenagers, who are considered to be among the most digitally savvy. The two years of the pandemic, when everything was shut down and schools moved online, also added to that. Therefore, apps aimed specifically at teens don’t seem like overkill.

learn online
The founder of Uable is also the co-creator of Vedantu, an ed-tech platform. Although several such platforms have sprung up in recent years, Khan Academy remains the OG. Launched by Salman Khan, not the actor, in 2008, it also has an app. If you are a teenage student or a parent looking for ways to improve your child’s lessons, the Khan Academy app is something you can consider. As a student, you may spend some time studying on your own. And sometimes, you surely stumble over questions. Without help near you, the question could stay on the back burner, only to be forgotten and reappear on an exam like a nightmare or cause you problems to continue your lesson. The next time you encounter such a problem, look no further than your smartphone and head to an app called FILO. Click on your query photo or tap it on the app, which claims to connect with a tutor within 60 seconds. Its services are currently available for students in grades 8 to 12.

Develop skills
Every age is the right age to learn new skills. However, it can be especially fruitful during your teenage years, as it can help you get to know your interests and skills.

Learning new languages helps you connect with people across borders, read literature from distant lands, and improve your employability. If you are looking for digital options, the Duolingo app offers lessons in several languages in the form of small lessons to practice on a daily basis. If you are planning to get creative, Skillshare is an app you can consider. The platform offers content on several creative disciplines such as painting, photography, etc. Then there are individual apps that cater to specific skills. Yes, the Internet has somewhat democratized information and learning. What was once held by a few is now within the reach of many.

What about user security?
There is an additional threat to user privacy and security especially on social media platforms which are used by many people. Whether it’s an app specifically aimed at teens or one that covers all age groups, issues like fake news, phishing, cyberbullying, and abuse are rampant. On how Uable plans to tackle this, given that teens are a vulnerable group, Saxena says, “We keep our teen users safe by filtering harmful, abusive, and disturbing content from the platform.” This, he says, is done in moderation on many levels. The app uses AI (artificial intelligence) moderation tools to prevent users from sharing unwanted posts. Explaining further, he says, “Each club in the app has a team of teen moderators. They check whether anything shared within a club is relevant and appropriate for the club. They also have the power to remove posts or ban users from the club. Apart from this, users can flag content, which is reviewed and then removed if deemed inappropriate.

Parental supervision
Each platform has its set of rules and regulations to keep users safe. But when browsing online, your teen may need extra security. Yes, as a parent you should do everything for your child’s digital independence, but if you are concerned about their safety, you can consider some parental control apps.

Canopy is one such app that can protect your teen from exposure to explicit content and inappropriate messages. You can also block access to certain applications that you consider inappropriate. Qustodio is another such app that you can explore.

The Editorial Board: Efforts to Inject Right-Wing Politics into Schools Harm Education | Editorial

Bryan L. Lawrence — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 10:38:18 +0000

News Editorial Board

Start with this: it is in everyone’s best interest that parents be involved in their children’s education. Indeed, one of the problems with public schools is that too often parents are little more than spectators.

But there’s more to what’s going on than just educational interest. Here and across the country, Americans are witnessing a nationwide effort to inject into local school boards the kind of right-wing politics that has infected American governance.

This is accompanied by an attempt by some parents not only to influence, but also to direct the education that all children can receive. Call it too much of a good thing.

Rebelling against Covid restrictions, books available in school libraries, 21st century issues revolving around gender and more, some parents seem determined to redefine public education as ‘what I want your child to know’ . It’s an approach that must ultimately fail, but perhaps not before it does its own damage.

Energized by struggles against face masks and other pandemic mandates, candidates in a number of local districts are running with the help of groups that have platforms such as the curriculum in partnership with parents and the medical freedom.

It’s become a cliché, but for a reason: the aphorism that “it takes a whole village” to raise a child is true. Parents are, and should be, the primary directors of their children’s lives, but they can never be the only ones. It has always been true that children are subject to the influences of other adults. Beyond public school teachers, they included ministers, rabbis, Sunday school teachers, scout leaders, older children and parents of friends.

It’s a big, interconnected world, and today it’s even bigger. Adding to these old analog influences is the relentless bombardment of digital manipulation, not just from television, but from the drone of social media. These outlets have nothing to do with schools, but it’s hard to shake off the feeling that their disruptions are a big factor in parental dissatisfaction. Schools are an easier target. And the groups that support these candidates are planning higher positions for them.

The pandemic is also influencing this phenomenon. In a bizarre twist of reality, many adults are blaming schools and government officials for requirements like distancing and masking when the fault — if that’s what you call it — lies in the callousness of a scary new virus.

It would have been irresponsible not to take these precautions. Nearly a million Americans have died of Covid-19 and many more than that sick or bereaved. If the American right cares about such things, its loudspeakers make it hard to see.

A significant number of parents have made their dissatisfaction known by refusing to wear the mandatory masks during meetings of school boards and other public bodies. It was ironic: adults behaved childishly while their children cooperated in an effort to respond to a legitimate and observable public health emergency. The fact is that without masks, Covid-19 would have infected many more people and killed some of them.

Elections are about choice and voters should exercise caution as school board elections on May 17 approach. Some contestants are running on platforms that include wispy boards such as “Parent-Partnered Curriculum” and “Medical Freedom.” What they are hiding is an effort to turn school boards into dysfunctional replicas of Congress and many state legislatures.

This would count as a terrible turning point in American life. We see what is being done in higher governments, but at the grassroots level we talk about our friends and neighbors – people who want to contribute, who want education to be better, who are willing to tackle tough issues in a demanding effort to prepare young people for the challenges of a highly competitive world. That’s the job, not making schools another battleground for America’s culture wars.

What is your opinion? Send it to us at [email protected]. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and should express an opinion. The column does not print poetry, community event announcements, or thank-you letters. A writer or household can only appear once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact checking and editing.

SmarTek21 expands its AI IntelliTek platform in South Africa with smart AI technologies focused on streamlining healthcare and education across the continent in collaboration with t

Bryan L. Lawrence — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 07:28:07 +0000

JOHANNESBURG and SEATTLE, September 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — SmarTek21, headquartered on the West Coast of the United States, a global leader in AI-based solutions, today announced that it has teamed up with its regional AI partners Intelligent Technologies of South Africa to lead the transformation of healthcare, telecommunications and education across the continent.

The AI Intelligent Technology partnership with Smartek21 was born from a simple principle, “to partner with the market leader with the best solutions”. Although still in its infancy, AI Intelligent Technologies notes that they have already generated great enthusiasm in South Africa and on the African continent. The company expects to convert this enthusiasm into tangible implementation in a relatively short time in the key sectors of healthcare, education and telecommunications.

“We are truly excited to partner with AI Intelligent Technologies. Expanding our capabilities in Africa to serve a continent with diverse populations will demonstrate that AI solutions are truly open to all geographies. Africa’s population is young and growing, and the need for government departments to bring together high-quality data environments that will help ministers model the future is a top priority,” said Martyn Molnar (Global AI Products Lead & VP International SmarTek21).

In this collaboration, AI Intelligent Technologies will target new applications for the fundamentals of AI Solutioning (real-time data interoperability, natural language processing, machine learning and analytics) in its target sectors. Due to the growing demand and variety of services required for customers, its solutions will be able to help customers meet their growing needs and provide predictive market insights that will help them stay competitive.

In addition, Mr. Molnar stated, “One of the primary goals of the partnership is to accelerate the application of cutting-edge technologies in regions outside of the United States and to equip emerging markets with education, AI centers of excellence, and the tools empowering them to control their AI destiny within the hands of their local people. In this context, we are pleased to partner with AI Intelligent Technologies. This collaboration represents an exciting contribution to the evolution of content in as a major player in this field.”

About AI INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES PTY LTD

AI Intelligent Technologies, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, is a BEE (Black Economic Empowered) Level 2 certified private company.

The direction of AI Smart technologies reflect South Africa’s diverse demographic which all agree the next step in the fourth industrial revolution is the implementation of AI. The direction of AI Intelligent Technologies brings deep experience in various industry verticals as well as countries in Africa as the basis for the partnership.

About Smartek21, LLC

SmarTek21, LLC is a leading provider of cloud-hosted, enterprise-class products and services for developing, deploying, and managing AI solutions for industry customers. “Smart Services” is our portfolio of AI process design, development and deployment services for businesses. IntelliTek is an omnichannel, highly agile platform for interfacing with enterprise applications and services to create engaging AI-powered experiences. We have over 11 years of experience designing and deploying sophisticated UI and UI to millions of end users with Fortune 500 companies. Learn more at www.smartek21.com and www .intellitekhealth.com.

Media Contact:

James Meadows[email protected]

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SOURCE Smartek21

Budding Coders Build Apps to Make a Real Impact | MIT News

Bryan L. Lawrence — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 15:24:29 +0000

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How can IT be used to help make the world a better place? It’s a noble question, but one that drives the team behind MIT App Inventor, a virtual programming platform that allows aspiring programmers of all ages to build their own apps.

After a year of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the App Inventor team organized its second annual Virtual Appathon for real this summer, a marathon-type event in which over 1,000 coders used the App Inventor platform to build apps to help people in communities around the world. Participants in this year’s Appathon ranged from 4 to 82 years old and came from 86 countries.

Hal Abelson, Class of 1922 professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in Computer Science, explains that one of the goals of the Appathon is to help emphasize the importance of impact when it comes to designing new AI systems. Thanks to advances in computers, he says, it is now possible for high school students to create mobile apps that help people in everything from access to clean water to city planning.

â€œWe’re blown away by what the kids are doing this year and their vision for a better world,â€ says Abelson. â€œChildren are now using professional-grade tools to position themselves as engines of technology. “

From apps created to help improve mental health to food exchange platforms focused on reducing hunger and systems that help users avoid zombies in a dystopian future, Appathon participants showed how the technology has the power to enable coders to make a meaningful difference in the world.

Mental Health

The impact of closures, school closures and social isolation on the mental health of children and adolescents has been a growing concern during the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to facilitate communication between children and their parents, an American team of youth and adults participating in the Appathon for Good has developed Vividly, a platform that allows children to share their thoughts and feelings through an intermediary. virtual.

â€œTechnology is so integrated into all of our lives these days, and children and teens are growing up using technology as a whole other medium. This fact can be used to improve parent-child communication, â€says Bella Baidak, a 22-year-old graduate student who helped lead the Vividly team as a mentor, which took second place in the mixed team category. young people and adults for their efforts. .

â€œOften, teens can feel more comfortable posting their feelings on social media or texting a friend rather than having a face-to-face conversation with their parents,â€ adds Baidak. â€œWhen it comes to vulnerable subjects, technology can be a more comfortable outlet for many teens. While technology certainly shouldn’t replace face-to-face communication, an app like Vividly could certainly help break the ice.

Sophia Cho, a 17-year-old student from the United States, created a platform to help users maintain and improve their own mental health, based on her own experience using techniques such as meditation, exercise, goal setting and journaling. The app, named Mentallia, lets people track what they’re doing to promote mental well-being and uses a points system to motivate participation.

â€œI love computing and creating useful applications and programs. A lot of people also face a lot of stress on a daily basis, so I knew that by creating the app, I could help other people while still meeting one of the themes of the Appathon, which was action. IT, â€Cho explains.
“I plan to add a machine learning aspect to Mentallia so that the app can find patterns between certain situations and the user’s emotions and physical symptoms, and give advice on what to do,” more or less, to alleviate any distress. “

Inspired by a family friend with dementia, Louie Chiang, an 11-year-old student from Taiwan, developed the NoWorries app, which aims to improve the quality of life for the elderly. The app offers a memory game that users can play with their family photos.

“[When users] playing the game, they can see the photos and bring back old memories to make them happy, â€says Chiang of the inspiration for the game. He adds that in the future he hopes toâ€œ focus on helping people. elderly people by creating more apps that can make their life easier and happier â€.

Hunger

A number of Appathon participants were also motivated to create platforms addressing hunger and facilitating access to pantries. Community, a food exchange platform created by a team of young people and adults from the Philippines, was developed to serve as a hub for pantries so people in need can find help. The app also aims to connect community organizers looking to establish local food resources. Community users can access a map to see established pantries around the world and to find directions to nearby pantries.

Another app, dubbed Love Parcel, helps users find ways to donate items to people in need. Love Parcel allows people to submit requests for needed items and charities to help meet needs for specific items, such as food, clothing, or toys.

Cities of the future

Motivated by a desire to improve pedestrian conditions in Hong Kong, Nathan Lam, a 19-year-old Hong Kong student whose team worked out of the MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node, and his teammates developed an app that uses live street data to help traffic lights work better for pedestrians. Lam noted that since red light racing and jaywalking are common in Hong Kong, he and his teammates were inspired to make a significant impact on daily life by improving the city’s traffic light system.

â€œThe Appathon gave us the perfect opportunity to bring our idea to life and improve the community with our app,â€ Lam and his teammates say. They add that they plan to implement several changes in their application in the coming months, such as “the use of a better network device that supports 5G connection to reduce network latency in data transfer. , improving the intercommunication between traffic lights to increase the efficiency of intersections, and incorporating a priority index to allow emergency vehicles to clear traffic more quickly.

From traffic lights to visions of the future, some participants have created platforms to help people survive in dystopian worlds. From a tracker that could be used to help track and avoid zombies, to a platform that explores what life might be like if we live among aliens, and a community watch app for residents of the Moon, the Appathon participants invented creative solutions to a myriad of futuristic challenges.

Whether or not a zombie tracker is needed in the future, the App Inventor team hopes that giving children and adults the opportunity to create programs that can make a difference in the world around them will help reinforce a whole new generation of IT action.

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CEO Chat: Q&A with Nikolas Kairinos of Soffos.ai

Bryan L. Lawrence — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 03:19:29 +0000

Credit: Fotosr52 / Shutterstock

Nikolas Kairinos is the founder and CEO of Soffos, the education technology (edtech) startup that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to make knowledge accessible to everyone.

Kairinos founded and became the CEO of Soffos in 2018. Since its launch, the company has raised $1.1 million in venture capital. Its most recent raise was in 2020 in a $750,000 seed funding round. The startup isn’t the only one in the edtech space that has enjoyed raising funds recently. Other significant players in the industry include Indian unicorn BYJU and Austrian GoStudent, which raised a $340 million Series D round in January.

During the pandemic, edtech innovators have been quick to tout the virtues of digital learning. China has even suggested new regulations that could result in the introduction of a new agency to oversee all private educational platforms.

The peak of interest is reflected in the data. The number of deals in the global edtech sector rose from 151 in 2019 to 326 in 2021, according to data from research firm GlobalData. However, while the number of rounds has jumped during the pandemic, it seems that hasn’t translated into bigger sums of money flying their way.

Of course, the total investment injected into the sector has increased from $2.8 billion in 2019 to $13.2 billion in 2021. However, this is lower than the peak year of 2015, when 82 deals were worth a total of $67.9 billion. It is also lower than the $23 billion raised in 110 deals in 2018.

In this new episode of our CEO Chat series, Kairinos reveals how having a coffee led him to found Soffos and how the pandemic created an edtech boom.

Eric Johansson: Tell us a bit about yourself. What were you doing before starting the business?

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Nikolas Kairinos: I got into computer coding when I was just 11 – it all started because I was so into math and felt that computers could solve math problems faster than people, if we could just program them properly. AI seemed like the inevitable next step, and from there I started my first company at 17 and sold it at 19.

For over 30 years, I am proud to say that I have been involved in accelerating, nurturing and raising capital for a range of different businesses – from real estate to hotel management to lead generation and social media platforms. Right now, I work in edtech, but the prospect of widely harnessing the power of disruptive technology to solve some of the world’s biggest societal problems has always been close to my heart.

Where did the idea for Soffos come from?

I was having coffee with a friend in Cyprus and we were casually discussing our frustration with the way education is delivered. bizarrely, teaching and learning methods still seem to be based on Victorian-era practices, despite the huge advances in technology that could make things much more efficient. This means that there are some pretty fundamental issues that still need to be resolved when it comes to providing lifelong learning for children and adult learners.

One such problem is that the world is currently experiencing a “knowledge explosion”. Never before has so much information and data flown through the air or via fiber optic cables – by the time traditional methods have been used to gather and organize this into a program model, knowledge is obsolete. That’s why there’s very little point in buying a textbook on anything these days. Try reading a book that’s only been in print for six months on, say, web design – not only can this way of learning be extremely expensive, but the information is very likely to be out of date shortly. time after it hit the shelves. Essentially, most of what people learn is irrelevant to the specific problems at hand.

In a world where knowledge is changing faster than it can be passed on productively, it gave me the idea that teaching needs to be more personalized, easy to follow, strongly targeted via micro-lessons on very specific topics or scenarios. Likewise, if we don’t apply and use the information we learn almost immediately, we quickly forget it. Soffos strives to translate these principles into practical solutions.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about edtech?

People think AI-powered edtech software should just be able to interact like a human, right out of the box. This mostly comes from people assuming we’re much more advanced with AI than we actually are, or those who don’t fully realize the limitations of natural language processing assistants like Alexa and Siri. These technologies simply haven’t reached their full maturity yet, and the problems are much more difficult to solve when it comes to more complex tasks, such as the production of personalized learning materials.

How has the pandemic changed edtech?

It has already been said that necessity is often the spur to genius. Without a doubt, the restrictions imposed throughout the pandemic meant that edtech had to change for the better – and quickly. Schools were suddenly forced to start teaching distance courses online, which the majority were ill-equipped to do, while companies were already well aware that their staff training procedures had to change to adapt to the current situation. modern era, but had not yet implemented significantly new technologies. With the vast majority of white-collar workers working almost all the time from home, the adoption of more efficient solutions has naturally accelerated.

That sounds like a good thing – and of course it is – but the truth is that business owners still aren’t the most knowledgeable when it comes to choosing the best solution for their business. Even now, many organizations are implementing multiple platforms in different departments resulting in inefficiency with many people pulling in different directions. The best solutions meet the needs of everyone in the business, rather than relying solely on anecdotal hearsay from various department heads as to their various preferred edtech options – so business leaders should spend more time on their research.

What advice would you give to other CEOs?

One of the best pearls of wisdom I have to offer is to always hire people smarter than you and support them as much as you can – the best CEOs are the company’s first sellers, and it’s vital not to run out of money, so hire smarter lets you focus on those goals. For example, hire someone with investor connections to do the heavy lifting of finding potential investors. Running the business while spending more than half of your time trying to raise capital for seed rounds is incredibly hard work, so don’t spread yourself too thin. The same goes for other initiatives.

What is the most surprising thing about your job?

Every day is different. The most pleasant surprise is how quickly people understand and add value when you invest enough time and quality support – it’s a sure sign you’ve taken the time to hire the right people for the job. work, and that’s something that can’t be rushed. I also like to be surprised by occasional flashes of inspiration where you least expect it – when the social media intern suggests a way around something that has the science team baffled! These light bulb moments prove that everyone’s opinion matters.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

I have a few. The fact that there are never enough hours in the day is my most obvious bugbear, and as I mentioned before, people’s misconceptions about AI can also be a source of frustration. Whether it’s because they’ve seen too many Hollywood movies or otherwise, many people think that AI is smarter than humans, or that it’s going to become self-aware and destroy us – but we don’t. don’t live in Terminator-land or deal with Robocop. Even scientists aren’t immune to misunderstandings about AI – in fact, many seem obsessed with doing things the ‘textbook’ way, relying solely on learning by doing. depth, while the overview of symbolic AI should always be taken into account.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done for fun?

A lot of people would find that strange, especially those who are a bit nervous about being on a plane – but I really like flying from place to place when I get the chance. It helps me think, especially when there is no internet or email in the air!

What is the most important thing happening in your field right now?

The convergence of various technologies, such as AI, virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing, IoT, Internet everywhere. In short, learners of the future can expect a much more immersive educational experience, wherever they are in the world. Learning is all about experiences, and these technologies will hopefully allow people to access a whole range of different opportunities, wherever they are in the world and whatever their personal circumstances. . I think it’s very exciting.

What is your backup plan?

Other than continuing to breathe and enjoy great coffee, there is no backup plan. I don’t believe in plan B – I just make plan A work! Obviously, there will be a few pivots along the way to make things work and find the right formula, but I believe staying true to your vision is critical to success.

#WomensMonth: “We must push ourselves to discover our full potential”

Bryan L. Lawrence — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 13:05:53 +0000

Origin: Supplied. Lynne Africa, Chief Financial Officer of Konica Minolta South Africa

This is the message from Lynne Africa, Chief Financial Officer of Konica Minolta South Africa, a division of Bidvest Office.

Her challenging yet rewarding role sees her straddling finance and technology while using her skills to ensure the company’s financial operations.

She isn’t shy about broaching the topic of working in a male-dominated environment and is generous with her advice for women in finance looking to move up the career ladder.

“I believe my role is still very masculine in many industries. While our company has done – and continues to do – a lot to promote deserving women, into senior and even technical roles, the industry can still do more.

“There is not enough of a female presence in the office automation and technology industry. There are a lot of bright female minds in the industry, and I think it’s up to senior management to nurture their skills and talents, and give them the opportunities they need to grow further and prove their potential.”

In a quest to solve this problem, Konica Minolta aims to support and empower women in the workplace by offering technical internships on an annual basis.

The 12-month Certified Technical Support Level 4 apprenticeship program for young BEE candidates, ages 18-25, combines a structured learning component with hands-on work experience.

“Women who apply for these internships are assessed on the same basis as men,” says Africa.

The apprenticeship programs, launched in May 2012, have since been in high demand. They are available to young men and women and have nurtured and developed fantastic talents.

“We’ve had great success with female intakes so far.”

Improving people’s lives

“For Konica Minolta South Africa, these learning programs and their contribution to B-BBEE go far beyond bragging rights; they are about empowering and improving the lives of individuals and communities in South Africa,” adds Africa.

These programs promote equity and inclusion.

“Women with the required qualifications have the same opportunity as men to enter the industry. Some graduates have been hired by companies in the IT sector while others have found permanent employment with Konica Minolta, its branches and its dealerships.

“Evaluation for promotion is done on the skills and performance of individuals and this process is no different when evaluating men or women, thus giving everyone an equal chance for promotion,” says Africa.

Anticipate, think big

Africa’s hope for future generations of women in her field is for more and more women to believe and invest in themselves and their careers, and her advice to rising young women in the financial sector remains true to advice she would give him when he was younger: “Be more confident in your abilities. If you don’t believe in yourself first, others will have a hard time believing in you too.

“Always persevere and do not settle. Hard work always pays off; I am the testimony of it.”

But as financial industries do their part to transform their workplaces, women should ultimately make their voices heard, Africa points out.

“Too often we find brilliant women of extraordinary potential sitting in roles where they are overshadowed by a male counterpart.

“A woman shouldn’t be afraid to speak up and seize opportunities when they arise. Very often, women do not apply for leadership positions because they doubt their abilities.

“I believe we are just as capable as men and should push ourselves to discover our full potential by raising our hands when opportunities arise.

Get community support

Last but not least, Africa speaks to the importance of women surrounding themselves with the support and inspiration of a community of strong and capable women.

“I am lucky to have precious friendships. These women take the form of friends and family, and they have each played a part in my growth and success, some of them are still in my life and they continue to encourage and support me on my journey. .

“Two of these special ladies have passed away, but I hold their memories, their lessons and their roles very dear to my heart.

“My two daughters are also the driving force behind me. They are the reason I never give up! I hope my testimony will encourage them to reach greater heights, just as my late mother’s testimony did for me.

“I watched and admired her strength growing up and whenever I face obstacles I think of her and the strength she represented in the face of many adversities,” says Africa.

“She never gave up and so neither did I.”

Larsen & Toubro launches L&T EduTech, appoints Sabyasachi Das as CEO

Bryan L. Lawrence — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 03:14:11 +0000

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Larsen & Toubro (L&T), an industrial giant, entered India’s booming ed-tech sector with the launch of L&T EduTech. It is a portal that will offer courses in the fields of engineering and technology.

Courtesy of: Larsen & Toubro

The new company will be a technology-driven, industry-led, application-based hands-on learning platform with a strong technology backbone that will cover all disciplines of engineering and engineering. technology to help produce industry-ready talent.

Sabyasachi Das has been appointed CEO of the company’s new venture. Das was Senior Vice President and Member of the Management Team (ELT) of Cognizant before joining L&T.

Das commented on his appointment, â€œIt’s exciting to join such a big and reputable brand as L&T and to have the reins to lead a new company that aims to train young Indians to improve their employability. “

L&T EduTech plans to provide three verticals which include College Connect, Professional and Vocational Skills, as well as assessment and certification processes. While College Connect will focus on providing students with hands-on, application-based learning, Professional Skilling will encourage future professionals to accelerate their careers in their respective fields, the company noted at the launch of the platform. Professional skills include skills certification programs offered by industry experts to maximize employability.

L&T plans to strengthen the skills of engineers and support its multinational company using the ed-tech platform. Professors would be chosen from industry, academia, and learning and training, depending on the company, to impart their experience and knowledge on hybrid learning and training platforms.

Larsen & Toubro, which has a market capitalization of around Rs 2.51 lakh crore, is a multinational engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company with operations in over 50 countries. As the electronics technology sector in India continues to grow, large companies have invested in the sector in order to keep up with the changing business landscape.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the oil and telecommunications conglomerate, announced in 2018 that it would purchase a majority stake in Bengaluru-based electronics technology start-up Embibe. Hero Group also entered the ed-tech space in April of this year with Hero Vired.

The country’s ed-tech sector has flourished dramatically over the past 18 months, and India now has five unicorns. This year alone, three ed-tech startups, upGrad, Vedantu and Eruditus, have joined the unicorn club. According to reports, Indian electronics tech startups attracted around $ 3.2 billion in funding in the first three quarters of 2021.

Given the uncertainties surrounding the reopening of schools, universities and other educational institutions, electronics technology companies are expected to experience an increase in user base and venture capital funding.

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Electronic consent in clinical research: overcoming the challenges of protocol amendments

Bryan L. Lawrence — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:38:48 +0000

Electronic informed consent (eConsent) tools are emerging as a valuable solution in the quest for a more patient-centric clinical trial experience. eConsent platforms take the complex paper consent document and turn it into a multimedia, interactive digital experience that translates the protocol into patient-friendly language and appeals to most learning styles to enhance patients’ understanding of their obligations – leading to better engagement and compliance. However, technology alone is not a panacea.

Creating and deploying eConsent will inevitably require an investment of time, human ingenuity and patience. Additionally, even after making this investment to design an optimized eConsent, unavoidable protocol changes must be handled within the platform, otherwise they could severely impede its functionality and delay ongoing or new patient visits. For this reason, organizations need to think about how to overcome the challenges to reap the full benefits of e-consent adoption.

The Challenge: Protocol Changes and Barriers to Paper-Based Informed Consent

Protocol changes are an integral part of clinical trials, yet they remain one of the leading causes of protocol deviations. After each change, each clinical trial participant is asked to review the protocol changes and renew their consent to the trial. Dealing with paper consent documents can naturally become a frustrating and time-consuming undertaking for participants. They will probably need to reread the informed consent form (ICF) in its entirety. When they do, detailed changes in protocol amendments can still be missed or misunderstood, leaving them with a lack of critical understanding or awareness of what the changes entail. This, in turn, could lead to participants not completely completing the required trial actions or giving up.

For example, many protocol deviations seen during inspections and audits stem from the patient consent process, such as:

• Missing signatures and dates in new consent ICFs

• Incorrect versions of ICF documents used for consent or new patient consents

• Participant’s new consent is not collected until receiving ongoing treatment or procedures

• ICF lost or damaged paper

The solution: implement eConsent

Thanks to eConsent, and with the support of experienced experts, when protocol changes are introduced, patients only receive the sections of the electronic informed consent form (eICF) that have been updated, saving them time time while mitigating the risk of miscommunication or misunderstanding.

Additionally, participants may have the option of completing the consent renewal process remotely, rather than traveling to the trial site to complete a hard copy. The eConsent system also ensures that all required fields and signatures have been completed. For new trial participants, the eConsent system will present the latest Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved eICF, eliminating the risk of a patient completing an invalid version of the eICF.

On the trial site staff side, upon entering the eConsent platform, they will be presented with a simple dashboard with features to filter participants based on who is up-to-date on their consent forms . As this process occurs, external monitors have real-time access to patients’ consent status, a full audit trail of each consent, and the active eICF version of the patient’s consent site. ‘test.

Ultimately, considering the time spent and costs associated with managing and reviewing consent documents and deviations, and improving patient understanding and experience, eConsent obviously presents a positive return on investment.

Take on the challenge

It is undeniable that deploying a new technology in a complex clinical trial will require a significant time investment. Therefore, it is critical that the rollout of modified e-consent does not further extend this timeframe or delay ongoing or new patient visits.

The industry has seen a marked increase in the amount of protocol amendments. Previously, an amendment shut down the eConsent application and sites had to revert to a traditional paper-based process pending scanning and IRB/EC approval of changes. This inevitably caused unnecessary complications for site personnel by creating two processes to manage instead of just one. But today, it is essential that eICFs are equipped to remain fully operational even throughout these modifications.

By continuously refining e-consent systems and operational learnings, modified eICFs can be deployed efficiently to eliminate system downtime. New and improved eConsent platforms have been programmed from years of operational learning that allow the solution to efficiently deploy modified eICFs and eliminate system downtime.

Revolutionary Electronic Consent

While it’s hard to embrace change, digital clinical trials are the way of the future, and agile, comprehensive eConsent solutions have the ability to help sponsors and trial sites improve compliance and patient engagement.

Planning protocol changes early helps ensure well-organized and compliant consent procedures for patients, sites, and study teams worldwide. As eConsent solutions become increasingly popular among sponsors, it is likely that eICF IRB approval processes will become the new standard in clinical trial delivery processes rather than a challenge to overcome.

Mercado Libre publishes its third transparency report, showing continuous improvements in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy

Bryan L. Lawrence — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 17:11:05 +0000

In order to protect intellectual property rights, Free market deploys algorithms that learn from member reviews and remove over 99% of counterfeit listings.
The company’s third transparency report lists the main projects and results of the measures deployed to ensure the security of digital services, data protection and the fight against counterfeiting and piracy.

Montevideo, Uruguay, May 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Free market (Nasdaq: MELI) released its third Transparency Report with technology as a central pillar in building an ever more secure and trusted user experience across all of its e-commerce and financial services platforms. This report corresponds to the period July-December 2021.

Published every two years, the Transparency Report focuses on results in four main areas: requests for information from law enforcement, response rate to opt-out lists that violate company terms and conditions , measures for the protection of intellectual property rights and the management of personal data.

“This new report reinforces our commitment to the security of our ecosystem and the experience of our users while showing our cooperation with law enforcement authorities throughout the region. We will continue to innovate to develop new tools that will allow us to improve everything we do. says Federico Deyá, head of the Central Legal Department at Mercado Libre.

REPORT KEY DATA

During the reporting period, we received more than 16,000 inquiries about user transactions or information from law enforcement authorities. 90% of them received the requested information, while the remaining 10% consisted of incorrect requests or asking for information. Free market doesn’t.
Only 1.09% of the 585,879,265 active registrations during the semester were withdrawn or suspended due to a court order or violation of terms and conditions. Compared to the previous Transparency Report, the number of listings removed due to violations dropped by 27%, which clearly shows the effectiveness of our detection and monitoring tools. 99% of removed content was proactively detected by Mercado Libre’s own teams and systems.
The Brand Protection Program (BPP) uses automated artificial intelligence and machine learning tools that feed on the reviews of its registered members. During the reporting period, 569,451 notices based on alleged intellectual property rights (IPR) violations were received, representing only 0.1% of the items offered on the site, showing that technology and the platform’s machine learning tools reduced reviews by 41.2%. % compared to the previous period.
ARCO rights (Spanish acronym for right of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition to processing) guarantee users control over their personal data. During this period, 19.3% less ARCO rights were exercised compared to the previous period: 13,438.

Free market was the first Latin American company to adopt the practice of sharing performance indicators that reflect its efforts to create a safe environment, build trust, guarantee a good user experience and work in collaboration with different stakeholders. Innovation and technology are the engines that maintain the positioning Free market as the most secure e-commerce ecosystem and digital payment solution in the region.

See the full report

On Free market
Founded in 1999, Free market is the leading e-commerce technology platform in Latin America. Through its platforms Free market, Mercado Pago and Mercado Envíos, it provides solutions for individuals and businesses that buy, sell, advertise, ship and pay for goods and services online. Free market serves millions of users and creates an online marketplace for a wide variety of goods and services traded in a simple, secure and efficient manner. It is among the 50 most visited sites in the world in terms of page views and it is the mass market with the highest number of unique visitors in its key countries according to measures provided by comScore Networks. The company is listed on the Nasdaq (NASDAQ: MELI) following its IPO in 2007.

Source: MercadoLibre, Inc.