Coffee Briefings are timely deliveries of the latest ITWC headlines, interviews, and podcasts. Today’s Coffee Briefing is delivered by IT World Canada’s editorial team!
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What’s new this week
Hybrid work no longer just a ‘perk’: Cisco survey
Just over 80 per cent of Canadian employees say that being offered flexibility in work location and hours directly affects whether they stay at or leave a job, Cisco’s second edition of its benchmark Hybrid Work Study, conducted by Angus Reid, found.
One thousand employees and 509 employers were surveyed from Dec. 9 – 15, 2022 across Canada.
The survey showed that flexibility is no longer perceived as a perk by employees, but an expectation, with over 23 per cent of employees choosing it as a top priority, second only to a higher salary (34 per cent) and ranking above work/life balance, benefits, purpose and office perks.
Women are more likely than men to value flexibility (59 per cent vs. 51 per cent). Overall, 79 per cent of employees state that hybrid work has positively impacted their work-life balance.
Despite these numbers, 61 per cent of employers are setting a mandatory number of days for employees to be present in the office. Some employees are on board with that mandate, with 46 per cent expecting more opportunities for engagement in the corporate culture if they choose to be in-person more often.
But technology can help standardize work experiences for those at home and in-office. Employees (33 per cent) and employers (29 per cent) alike believe that investing in technology will make hybrid work smoother.
Bayshore Healthcare’s virtual visits platform validated by Ontario Health
Wave, the virtual visits platform of Bayshore Healthcare has been verified by Ontario Health to be compliant with provincial privacy, security, interoperability, and technical requirements, as well as safeguarding personal health information.
Bayshore Healthcare has over 100 locations across Canada, with 13,000 staff members and serving over 350,000 patients.
With Wave, the company seeks to empower patients to self-schedule visits with Bayshore Specialty Rx nurses, who also support them with virtual injection training for complex diseases such as multiple sclerosis. It also allows patients to access pharmacy virtual consultations for medication review, diabetes care, oncology care, and older adult care through a secure online portal.
Other features of the platform include consent management, notifications/reminders, sync with Outlook Calendar, self-service booking, rescheduling, and canceling options. The platform also allows Bayshore HealthCare to partner with healthcare organizations across Canada on digital initiatives by supporting ease of integration.
“Virtual care is a great tool to help reach patients in remote and isolated homes and communities across the country. It also helps reduce the risk of disease transmission and increases capacity within the healthcare system,” said Maureen Charlebois, chief nursing and clinical officer, Bayshore HealthCare.
IBM study reveals misconceptions of students and job seekers looking to work in STEM
Over 60 per cent of Canadians do not feel qualified to work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) because they do not have the right academic degrees, a study, administered by Morning Consult and commissioned by IBM, found.
As part of the study, more than 14,000 interviews were conducted with students, people seeking new jobs, and people looking to change careers, across 13 countries including Canada.
The survey revealed 4 key findings on the perspective of students in regards to STEM training:
- Misconceptions – respondents thought STEM training was too expensive (36 per cent), aspirants do not know where to start and lack knowledge about digital credentials. An average of 64 per cent of Canadians do not think they have the right qualifications to pursue a STEM job.
- Looking for change – 68 per cent of Canadian students and career changers are looking for a new or additional job in the next 12 months, while 30 per cent plan to build their skills in the next two years. More than 90 per cent think they can develop skills from an online program.
- Lack of clarity – Awareness of options around STEM roles is low – 40 per cent of Canadian career changers and 33 per cent of job seekers are not familiar with STEM jobs.
- Digital credentials a valuable supplement to traditional education – 85 per cent of Canadians with digital credentials agree that it helped them achieve career goals.
“It is vital we raise awareness of different paths available today to step into technology roles across industries,” said Frank Attaie, general manager – technology, IBM Canada. “We’re deeply committed to driving this progress in Canada, and investing in programs including our alliances with IBM SkillsBuild partners to enable pathways for all Canadians to pursue futures in tech.”
With collaborations like IBM SkillsBuild, the tech giant seeks to advance its commitment to skill 30 million people globally by 2030.
DecisioningIT now uses credit data from Equifax
DecisioningIT, the company responsible for the AI-powered automotive lending Lucy F&I (finance and insurance) platform, has announced that Equifax is now available within its predictive decisioning platform.
This integration seeks to give customers the assurance that their their creditworthiness is being established using the most current and accurate credit data.
“Anywhere you go, you have options on how to finance your purchase – but this doesn’t always exist when you want to buy a car,” said Rosa Hoffmann, chief executive officer of DecisioningIT. “We are making it possible for consumers of all kinds – prime or non-prime – to get the vehicle they need with more transparency. Dealers can now attract and retain that customer, and satisfy them in ways they never could before.”
One-third of Americans and one-in-five Canadians are non-prime consumers. With costs for consumers going up, inflation and rising rates battering spending power and vehicle prices at historic heights, DecisioningIT’s AI platform seeks to provide the best financial solution based on the consumer’s credit profile in just seconds. And that decision is now backed by Equifax’s credit data, improving DecisioningIT’s reliability.
Telesat Opens Applications for its Annual National Women in STEM Scholarship Program
Telesat announced that applications are now being accepted for its third annual National Women in STEM scholarship program, administered by Scholarship Partners Canada (SPC), a division of Universities Canada, on behalf of Telesat.
Through this program, Telesat will be awarding C$5,000 scholarships to eight full-time undergraduate students pursuing studies in STEM. This year, the satellite operator is expanding eligibility to include applicants enrolled in accredited technical college programs.
“Having more women in STEM drives innovation, advances gender equality and creates a stronger economy for all Canadians,” said Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth. “Telesat’s scholarship program will equip the next generation of leaders with the support they need to thrive in their studies.”
Applications are being accepted until 1:00 p.m. ET on March 27, 2023.
More to explore
Cogeco Connexion acquires ISP oxio
Cogeco Connexion, which brings together all of the Canadian cable operations of Cogeco Communications, this week announced the acquisition of the telecommunications activities of internet service provider (ISP) oxio.
RingCentral and AWS enter strategic partnership
Cloud giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) will offer RingCentral MVP (Message Video Phone) and RingCentral Contact Center solutions to its customers, as part of a multi-year agreement announced last week.
Government of Canada invests $48.3 million in training ICT talent
Today, the government of Canada announced an investment of C$48.3 million, through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program, to train workers in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
Technicity GTA 2023: How municipalities prioritize data security
Most municipalities are different from organizations in the private sector, however, they have one thing in common: the need to prioritize their data to meet privacy and security obligations.
CRTC puts off-tariff agreements under scrutiny again
TekSavvy’s application to the CRTC to address issues of undue preference arising from off-tariff agreements (OTAs) stirred up a hornet’s nest, with interventions pouring in from sympathizers and critics alike.
The Russia-Ukraine cyber war: one year later
To soften up Ukraine just prior to its February 24, 2022 invasion, Russia, or Russian-backed threat groups, unleashed a wave of wiperware against the country’s organizations, deployed a new version of the Industroyer malware against power generating stations and took down thousands of routers used by Ukrainian (and other) subscribers to Viasat’s satellite internet service.
Canada bans employees from using TikTok on federal devices
Federal employees have been banned from using the Chinese-based TikTok video app on Canadian government-issued computing devices.
Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
Hashtag Trending Feb.28th- Man runs cryptomining operation under a high school, Tesla pauses installations of driver assist software following recall, Apple unhelpful as woman’s iPhone stolen
Listen to the latest episode of Cybersecurity Today
Cyber Security Today, Feb. 27, 2023 – More lessons from the Russia-Ukraine cyber war, a US medical lab fined after theft of old data, and more
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Tendances
If you live in Québec, or prefer to consume the latest technology news in French, our sister publication Direction Informatique has you covered. Follow them on Twitter as well.