Category: Technology

Customers sharing data want to know what’s in it for them

/ Gary Hilson

It’s eleven o’clock. Do you know how your data is being used?

According to research recently released by marketing analytics firm Aimia, the average consumer now realizes their data is valuable to marketers – 42 per now see their data as being highly valuable – but they still don’t understand how it’s being used. Nor do they know how their data is being collected, what is being collected, or how they can maintain control over their personal information.

This insight arrives courtesy of Aimia’s annual Loyalty Lens report, which involved surveying more than 15,000 customers in nine countries in order to predict customer loyalty standards for the year ahead.

Optimism drives tech sector hiring in 2017, but skills shortage remains a challenge – Hays [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

Technology companies in Canada are optimistic about hiring next year, but some are skittish about investing in new grads, despite a shortage of talent, according to this year’s Hays Salary Guide.

Now in its seventh year, the annual survey polled employers across the country and in multiple industries for their take on 2016 and what lies ahead, and found the Canadian IT sector was among the country’s most optimistic.

In fact, Hays found that more than three-quarters of IT employers anticipate business growth in the new year, but in true Canadian fashion, they are playing it safe.

Read my full article on ITBusiness.ca.

Micron’s 3D NAND Hits Enterprise SSDs [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

TORONTO — Micron Technology is declaring spinning disk dead with the introduction of its first solid state drives (SSDs) using its 3D NAND for the enterprise market.

All-flash storage array vendors such as Violin Memory and others have been pushing the message that hard drives are dead for a number of years now, Micron sees spinning media winding down because its new 5100 line of enterprise SATA SSDs are able to offer a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), said Scott Shadley, the company’s principal technologist for its storage business.

In a telephone interview with EE Times, he said the launch of the 5100 series comes on the heels of the company’s success in the client segment with 1100 series of SSDs using Micron’ 3D technology. Shadley acknowledges it isn’t the first to then enterprise market with 3D NAND SSDs, but said Micron is looking to be strategic with its offerings.

Read my full article on EE Times.

Canada’s brain drain under control – but mainly flowing to cities, LinkedIn says [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

Canada’s brain drain to Silicon Valley has been a perennial concern for the IT sector, but the flow has stabilized, according to LinkedIn Corp., even if it’s arriving at only a handful of destinations.

Large hub cities such as Toronto are the primary beneficiaries of what appear to be significant spikes in tech-based entrepreneurship and software talent, the company’s Talent Buzz 2016 found, and it’s too soon to tell if a Trump presidency will dramatically redirect the current.

In fact, the report found that entrepreneurship was Canada’s top growing job function, with the number of Canadian sole proprietors increasing by 13 per cent this year, followed by businesses with one to 10 employees, which rose 3 per cent.

Read my full article on ITBusiness.ca.

Canadians are keeping their e-commerce dollars in the country, PayPal says [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

The “buy local” mentality is not only benefitting bricks-and-mortar shops in Canada, according to research from PayPal Canada, but e-tailers and their social media marketing departments too.

The digital payments company conducted its study in collaboration with Ipsos ahead of Black Friday and found that three out of four Canadian shoppers plan to buy holiday gifts online from Canadian retailers instead of buying from U.S. or international websites, with 43 per cent of those people planning to buy more gifts from Canadian retailers than they did last year. Millennials, meanwhile, are even more apt to buy online from a domestic e-tail site – 83 per cent, in fact.

So why is it cool to shop online in Canada now?

Read my full story on ITBusiness.ca.

Foster innovation and inclusivity through storytelling, Google-led report says [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

Using innovation and digital storytelling to both foster inclusivity and break down silos between the arts and business communities appears to have been the key message to emerge from a recent joint effort to discover what’s necessary for building a creative and entrepreneurial Canada.

Google Canada, Startup Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) recently embarked on a three-month national dialogue series tapping 1,000 Canadian artists, content creators, cultural entrepreneurs and leaders within the innovation, entrepreneurship and academic communities, organizing forums in six cities, a digital consultation, and dozens of in-person interviews to discover ideas that were common across the country.

Read my full article on ITBusiness.ca.

 

Walmart Canada tests 3D printed products in time for Christmas [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

Many of us would love to create the perfect unique gift for family and friends at Christmas, but if you’re not crafty or can’t knit a sweater to save your life, perhaps 3D printing might be the answer.

That’s what Walmart is looking to find out with a pilot program at its new Ancaster, Ontario store through December 20 with the help of Toronto-based Intersect. The company, formerly known as Bnotions, has partnered with Walmart Canada to guide customers on a personalized journey of designing and printing their own, unique holiday mementos.

“Walmart came to us,” said Amber Foucault, the VP of product management for Intersect, the innovation and custom services division of Symbility Solutions Inc.

Read my full article on ITBusiness.ca.

Black Friday is for the kids, SAS Canada finds [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

It looks like most Canadians are still doing a lot of their Christmas shopping in-store, but digital technology is shaping the expectations they have for their bricks-and-mortar experiences, a new report by SAS Canada has found, while young people are more likely to take advantage of Black Friday.

According to the report, 85 per cent of Canadians surveyed favour shopping in-store for their holiday gifts, compared to 59 per cent and 70 and per cent of their British and American counterparts, respectively.

The 2016 SAS Holiday Shopper Survey also found that online shopping is now as prevalent as in-store buying, and that most gift buyers will use both channels. Seven in 10 shoppers say they will visit stores, while an equal percentage plan to buy online.

Read my full article on ITBusiness.ca.

University Research Affirms Benefits of Eliminating Information Delays [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

My latest for EBN Online: A core principle of One Network Enterprises is that reducing information latency – even eliminating it, if possible – is fundamental to how it brings value to its customers, and it now has the science to back it up.

shield-229112_1280-1A study recently released by the University of North Texas (UNT) as part of a funded project between the school and the company has demonstrated that One Network Enterprises’ Real Time Value Network for leveraging a new inventory management strategy called the Science of Theoretical Minimums (STM) that minimizes inventory by reducing physical and informational lead times from the customer back through the entire value chain. Read my complete article on EBN Online.

Building Smart Cities requires collaboration and new mindsets, ITAC says [Portfolio]

/ Gary Hilson

Are you ready for the Smart Cities challenge?

As part of its fall economic update, the federal government said it’s looking to launch a new Smart Cities Challenge initiative next year. It’s a move lauded by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), and described as “timely” by the organization’s senior director of policy, David Messer, but it also means municipalities need to start rethinking their procurement policies.

Read my entire article on ITBusiness.ca