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!
Missed last week’s Coffee Briefing? We’ve got you covered.
What’s new this week
Mastodon Canada partners with CIRA
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the organization that manages the .ca top level domain, has announced a partnership with Mastodon Canada to support the rapid growth of the self-hosted social networking service.
With this partnership, CIRA seeks to support Canadian internet communities built on the open web and powered by the .ca domain. “Mastodon’s decentralized, open-source network and emergence of a Canadian server was an ideal fit for CIRA’s community-minded mission, leading to a natural partnership,” the release noted.
“The challenges being experienced by social media platforms around the world are a wakeup call that we should be rethinking the role of these for-profit global communications networks,” stated Spencer Callaghan, director of brand and communications at CIRA.
YouTube removed a record 5.8 million channels in Q3 2022
According to an analysis by Atlas VPN, YouTube removed a record 5.8 million channels during its last quarter. The highest volume of removed channels previously recorded was during the third quarter of 2021, at 4.8 million terminations.
Over 91.2 per cent of all removed channels last quarter were flagged as either misleading, participating in scams, or simply spamming.
Another 194 thousand channels, or 3.3 per cent, were terminated due to violation of YouTube’s community guidelines by showcasing nude or sexual content.
According to the report, most of the videos from the terminated channels, or 1.7 million were from India, followed by 629,000, 534,000, 276 000 and 218,000 from Indonesia, U.S., Brazil and Russia, respectively.
Video streaming services to grow by 106 per cent by 2027: report
According to a report by financial product comparison site HelloSafe, revenue from the video streaming service industry will reach C$5.21 billion by 2027, representing a growth of 106 per cent from 2022.
Between 2017 and 2022, the industry revenue increased by 266 per cent in Canada, from C$0.7 billion to C$2.53 billion.
Netflix is the leading streaming platform in Canada, with 25 per cent of the market share, in front of Amazon Prime Video (20 per cent) and Disney Plus (19 per cent).
The report also showed that in 2022, 28.4 million of Canadians were classified as regular video streaming viewers, which represent almost three out of four Canadians (73.7 per cent). The total number of regular video streaming viewers should grow by six per cent by 2025, with a new 1.7 million viewers expected by this date (creating a total of 30.1 million viewers).
CIO Strategy Council and CRTA to co-host virtual workshops
CIO Strategy Council and the Canadian RegTech Association (CRTA) will be co-hosting virtual workshops this month with leaders from financial institutions, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) vendors, academics, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The goal is to develop a Workshop Agreement on baseline requirements for vendors offering AI lifecycle solutions to financial institutions.
The workshop is aimed at experts involved in the data collection and processing, AI/ML design and building, AI/ML validation, verification and performance evaluation, model drift, auditing, and refining, AI/ML procurement, regulation, and assessment, stakeholders interested in financial institutions’ privacy, risk, and operational policies involving AI/ML ethics. It is open to the public and anyone can attend, but it is a technical session designed to identify requirements that will serve as the basis of a standard.
In March, the Workshop Agreement will be published, setting the stage for the development of National Standards of Canada using CIO Strategy Council’s accredited standards development process. According to the council, this National Standard will shape the direction of future standards by documenting best practices and providing a roadmap to improve their quality and interoperability.
The workshop will be offered in English and French. The workshop date for the English section will be Jan. 11 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm EST. The French session will be held on Jan. 17 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm EST.
Registration details can be found here.
Scientists use Canadian Light Source imaging technology to understand why lithium-ion batteries fail
A team of scientists from the United States, Canada and Germany, led by researchers from Texas A&M University, have combined powerful imaging techniques and large data sets to better understand why lithium-ion batteries fail and how they can be improved.
The team was able to visualize the flaws and map defects that occur within the batteries using the SM beamline at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) located at the University of Saskatchewan.
“The X-ray tools at the Canadian Light Source are great for eavesdropping on the batteries, and the little secret conversations that ions are having and understanding what makes them fail,” said Texas A&M chemist Sarbajit Banerjee.
By identifying real time flaws that occur, the team seeks to measure the complex relationship between the battery’s materials, its shape, and chemical reactions that occur within. As a result, the researchers will be able to proactively discover design failures. More efficient batteries also reduce the risk of safety hazards and limits their environmental impact.
More to explore
Influencers of 2022 in Canadian tech
Merriam-Webster defines an influencer as someone who inspires or guides the actions of others, and throughout this year, we have covered a multitude of them on IT World Canada, IT Business, Channel Daily News and Direction Informatique.
Data centres can save energy through hybrid immersion liquid cooling technology
OVHcloud has recently introduced a new hybrid liquid cooling approach to cooling its data centres, which aims to reduce costs for businesses, manage their data responsibly, and help them reduce their carbon footprint.
Updated – the battle continues: Rogers-Shaw merger battle: 2022 roundup
The Rogers-Shaw merger saga continued along its bumpy path in 2022, following pushbacks from more than one competition watchdog, some short-lived wins, new ventures, and disillusionment after one too many failed mediation processes.
2023 Cybersecurity predictions – Part 1
Making cybersecurity predictions is easy (“Cybercriminals will become more inventive”). Making actionable ones for IT security leaders is much harder. We’ve assembled what we hope is a useful list of predictions from cybersecurity vendors – people who know what threat actors talk about on dark web forums, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their customers’ IT infrastructures.
Ransomware gang gives decryptor to Toronto’s SickKids Hospital
In a New Year’s Eve apology, the LockBit ransomware gang has expressed regret for attacking Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and sent a free decryptor so files can be unscrambled.
New Mastodon site dedicated to technology news and information launches – technews.social
IT World Canada (ITWC), in association with sister U.S. tech publication TechNewsDay, has launched a Mastodon social network site for those who work with or have a keen interest in technology.
Canada’s investments in broadband: 2022 roundup
This year, the Government of Canada, through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF), has taken action to help improve internet service for Canadians across the country. By 2026, it is aiming to ensure 98 per cent of Canadians have access to high-speed internet.
Log4j2 vulnerability on year later: ‘It is still being exploited’
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the Log4j2 vulnerability. Technically, it’s a 2021 cybersecurity event. However IT and infosec leaders spent much of 2022 hunting for and patching applications using the buggy open-source logging library module.
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.
The new Matter standard and what it means for smart home devices
The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has officially launched the Matter standard, which allows compliant Internet of Things (IoT) devices to communicate with one another, so consumers can buy connected devices without having to worry if they’re compatible with an existing system.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
Hashtag Trending Jan 3 – Tesla in Norway; Apple increase battery replacement price; Social media giants to expect more government regulation
Listen to the latest episode of Cyber Security Today
Cyber Security Today, Jan. 2, 2023 — New Year’s Resolutions
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Tendances (Hosted by Direction Informatique)
If you live in Quebec, or prefer to consume the latest technology news in French, our sister publication Direction Informatique has you covered. Follow them on Twitter as well.
