Centralized virtual schools and synchronous delivery: How remote learning is shaping up for fall

Posted by & filed under COVID-19, IT Infrastructure.

Regina Public Schools hasn’t finalized numbers, it is also setting up a centralized virtual school, and in its case, the division will unite dedicated teachers under one roof as well. Working from one location will help ensure “robust” internet connectivity on the teachers’ side while staff will “also benefit from working together with their colleagues, so they can… Read more »

Vendor Risk Management – the Importance of Vendor Vetting

Posted by & filed under Amazon, Google, IT Infrastructure, IT Security, IT Standards, IT Strategy, IT Trends, Microsoft.

Most of us wouldn’t trust just anyone to watch our children, home, or pets, right? And we typically don’t hire just anyone who applies for employment, do we? What about the guy living out of his van offering low cost tax prep? Probably not your first choice this tax season. It’s our instinct to take… Read more »

Google’s Sidewalk Labs signs deal for ‘smart city’ makeover of Toronto’s waterfront

Posted by & filed under Google, Green Technologies, IT and Politics, IT Infrastructure.

A unit of Google’s parent company, devoted to urban innovation, has signed a deal to map out a new kind of neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront that could demonstrate how data-driven technology can improve the quality of city life. On Tuesday, Sidewalk Labs, a division of Alphabet Inc., and the government agency Waterfront Toronto announced a partnership in… Read more »

Digital Solutions Can Help Even the Poorest Nations Prosper

Posted by & filed under Emerging Economies, IT and Politics, IT Infrastructure, IT Investment.

AMONG THE SPENDING choices for governments of poorer nations, kick-starting the technological revolution may at first seem like a low priority. Compared with critical infrastructure, healthcare, or schools, improved digital access and less waiting times for birth certificates feel like luxuries that should come further down the road, or perhaps be left to private enterprise. But… Read more »

Why didn’t electricity immediately change manufacturing?

Posted by & filed under Cloud Computing, History of IT and IS, IT Infrastructure, IT Investment, IT Strategy, IT Trends.

For investors in Boo.com, WebVan and eToys, the bursting of the dotcom bubble came as a bit of a shock. Companies like this raised vast sums on the promise that the worldwide web would change everything. Then, in the spring of 2000, stock markets collapsed. Some economists had long been sceptical about the promise of computers. In… Read more »

Inside a Google datacenter

Posted by & filed under Google, IT Infrastructure.

Joe Kava, VP of Google’s Data Center Operations, gives a tour inside a Google data center, and shares details about the security, sustainability and the core architecture of Google’s infrastructure. It is very interesting to compare and contrast the Google setup of a datacenter to the Facebook setup of a datacenter here: http://wileyinformationsystemsupdates.com/2017/05/11/facebook-servers/ Source: Google Date: May 11th,… Read more »

Facebook Servers

Posted by & filed under Big Data, Facebook, IT Infrastructure.

Although from 2013, this video does a really good job of taking you inside one of Facebook’s datacenters, and brings up all the issues that arise when you have to build and manage a datacenter Source: Facebook Date: May 11th, 2017 Link to YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d2JyaW9X34 Discussion 1) What are some of the physical security issues that Facebook… Read more »

The U.S. is still using floppy disks to run its nuclear program

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, IT and Politics, IT Infrastructure.

A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that the Pentagon was still using 1970s-era computing systems that require “eight-inch floppy disks.”   Such disks were already becoming obsolete by the end of that decade, being edged out by smaller, non-floppy 3.5 to 5.25-inch disks, before being almost completely replaced by the CD… Read more »

Ron Bouganim is transforming “the operating system of government.”

Posted by & filed under Competitive Advantage, Emerging Technologies, IT and Politics, IT Governance, IT Infrastructure, IT Investment.

Source: CNN Date: February 25th, 2016 Link: http://money.cnn.com/interactive/technology/15-questions-with-ron-bouganim/index.html?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool&iid=obnetwork Discussion 1) Comment on Ron’s statement that “since government is the glue of society, I can’t think of a more scalable way to have personal impact every day.” 2) “The government isn’t typically known as a bastion of innovation, but Ron Bouganim is banking on changing that perception.”  Are there… Read more »