The Art of Allen

We all know the past year has seen many challenges, including ongoing supply-chain disruptions, fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and widespread third-party breaches and security incidents. From healthcare to energy, no industry is immune to the attacks that are happening in our cyber world. New reports dig deeper into the trend happening in many industries today. It’s pretty darn scary, if you ask me. As one example, Prevalent’s new report The 2023 Third Party Risk Management Study provides deeper insights into current trends, hurdles, and programs that are impacting third-party risk management practitioners, which uncovers some current results. Let’s look at a few of them here. The report reveals roughly 41% of companies experienced an impactful third-party breach in the last 12 months. What’s more, they still depend on overlapping tools and manual process, which actually tend to slow incident response. The majority of respondents (71%) report the top concern regardin

PTC LiveWorx 2023, a live event in Boston, Mass., wrapped up last week after thousands of attendees experienced Xtropolis, the LiveWorx expo hall full of demos and interactive technology displays. It was PTC’s first LiveWorx event in four years. During those four years, PTC says it invested more than $3 billion in acquisitions and organic development, including its acquisitions of companies like Onshape, Arena, Codebeamer, and ServiceMax, as well as the launch of PTC Atlas and several SaaS (software-as-a-service) -based tools, including Windchill+, Creo+, and Kepware+ . The 2023 event focused on the importance of sustainable digital transformation. In his keynote address, PTC’s CEO Jim Heppelmann shared how PTC is supporting six trends in product development by enabling speed and agility, greater efficiency, an asset-centric vision, a focus on sustainability, and a transition to SaaS, in addition to building powerful partnerships. Heppelmann also gave examples of how PTC is helpin

IDC says ICT spending in Spain will reach $64 billion in 2023, with insurance companies driving AI growth. The post Fact of the Day – 5/24/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-24-2023/ via IFTTT

In the last two weeks, this blog has narrowed in on the subcontractor market and the remodeling market, looking at economic and technological trends for each market. Now, let’s look at nonresidential construction. The AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) notes that the price of materials and services in nonresidential construction specifically has increased about 0.5% from March to April, which is the largest increase since January. At the same time, an index that measures bid prices declined 0.3%. All this to say, margins are even tighter than they once used to be. Certainly, material price changes depend on the material, with some rising more rapidly than others during the month. For instance, liquid asphalt saw a 15.3% increase while asphalt paving mixtures and blocks saw a decrease of 5.9%. Also, a diverse range of input prices continued to increase in the month. Prices rose 13.7% year-over-year for cement, 13.3% for electrical switchgear, 13.2% for concrete produc

I have been writing about the labor shortage in multiple vertical markets for many years, covering manufacturing , construction , and even recently discussing the shortage of healthcare staff on The Peggy Smedley Show . Industries that are critical to the foundation of our country will falter if we don’t entice the younger generation to such careers—and the repercussions will be felt wide and far. Here at Constructech , I have even gone so far as to argue that finding the right workers is putting our country at risk. In fact, I went as far as to interview Whitney Jones who leads the Submarine Industrial Base Program to discuss the criticality of hiring a new generation of workers, which is truly national security. We need the workers to build the infrastructure that will underpin our nation’s footprint. It’s just that simple. I have been spending countless resources trying to emphasize the problem that exists so that as readers you do more than just read. You act. You go the extra mil

Gartner says employees are 12% more likely to leave their workplaces if employers don’t establish explicit hybrid work norms. The post Fact of the Day – 5/23/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-23-2023/ via IFTTT

ABI Research says automated storage and retrieval system revenue to reach $1 billion in micro-fulfillment centers by 2027. The post Fact of the Day – 5/22/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-22-2023/ via IFTTT

If you want to see true innovation, look to what is happening in the U.S. Army. As an example, the organization is using technology that leverages sensors and effectors, connecting and fusing multi-service sensor data to multi-service weapons. Consider this. Northrop Grumman Corp.’s IBCS (Integrated Battle Command System) is part of the Army’s air and missile defense modernization strategy. IBCS provides a modular, open, and scalable architecture that integrates available assets in the battlespace onto a common, integrated fire control network, regardless of source, service, or domain. This architecture offers integration of current and future systems as well. Here is how this can help: Deliver decision-quality fire control data across joint networks. Increase situational awareness. More time for decision making. Looking to the future, integration is key here. IBCS has integrated or demonstrated integration on numerous sensors and shooters from all U.S. service branches and a

Energy efficiency is essential for our homes—and for our data centers. Used to house computers, storage systems, and computing infrastructure, data centers account for roughly 2% of total U.S. electricity consumption while data center cooling can account for up to 40% of data center energy usage overall. Now, the government is looking for a way to improve this, in an effort to make all our communities a little bit more sustainable. To help, the U.S. DOE (Dept. of Energy) announced $40 million in funding for 15 projects that will build high-performance, energy-efficient cooling solutions for data centers. The projects will be located at national labs, universities, and businesses and they look to reduce the energy necessary to cool data centers. The objective is to lower the operational carbon footprint of powering and cooling the critical infrastructure. It’s no surprise that some of these projects are making great strides. Let’s take a peek at some of the energy-efficient projects—

Few would argue that, of the common construction materials, concrete is a hard substance. Perhaps not as hard as steel, but still pretty hard. And, as commonly created, a source of considerable GHG (greenhouse gas), especially CO 2 . Luckily, the industry is seeking ways to mitigate the damaging elements and improve the positive elements. As you might recall we had a discussion about this a week ago, both on The Peggy Smedley Show and here in the news. But here today, we are going to add even more context about a very growing segment to help the industry address its environmental impact. The environmental impact of CO 2 on the climate is no longer debated, it’s accepted globally. Many European Union countries have formulated extensive plans to combat the damage done by GHG, focusing on the major industries creating the problem. For example, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, France is focusing on the construction industry, which accounts for 25% of its CO 2  emissions. The new e

Berg Insight says the number of smart homes in Europe and North America reached 120 million in 2022. The post Fact of the Day – 5/19/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-19-2023/ via IFTTT

Do you want to create the perfect modern home? Combining natural elements with modern technology is key. Here's what you can do. The post Combining Natural Elements With Modern Technology To Create the Perfect Modern Home appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2023/05/combining-natural-elements-modern-technology-create-perfect-modern-home/ via IFTTT

Juniper Research says operators will lose $1.3 billion to flash calling globally in the next five years. The post Fact of the Day – 5/18/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-18-2023/ via IFTTT

Are you ready to take that next step in your digital transformation journey, but you aren’t quite sure where to start? Well, you are not alone. Recently , I had the pleasure to spend some time with Joseph Msays, global managing partner, EA Managed Services, IBM Consulting . to talk about the digital transformation journey, what IBM Consulting is showcasing at SAP Sapphire, May 16-17, and how companies can take that critical next step. “We have been a partner of SAP for the last 50 years,” Msays explains. “I don’t know if you know this, but the three original founders of SAP were ex-IBMers and since then our relationship has been really close.” At the SAP Sapphire event taking place this week, IBM is showing many of the critical capabilities that span from advisory, to implementation, to migration to cloud, to managed services, industry solutions, and more. He goes on to explain SAP has around 45,000 customers and now the focus is to move many of these clients to the cloud. “(We wan

Every second of every day, business, individuals, and devices are creating data. While no one knows for sure exactly how much data is created every day, it could be up to 463 exabytes per day by 2025 . And even with all this data overflowing from every smart device and connected machine, businesses still crave more—more connectivity, more data, and, ultimately, more data-driven insights that can lead to data-driven decisions. As the demand for connectivity grows, so has the demand for data centers to process this information. Projections suggest this upward trajectory in data centers will continue throughout the decade, and, as a result, the data center infrastructure will inevitably swell as well. Spherical Insights suggests the global data center infrastructure market will grow from $50 billion in 2021 to $120 billion by 2030, in part due to the prevalent rise in connected applications and online services globally. The research firm also suggests more small and medium-sized busine

IDC says worldwide IT and business services revenue is expected to grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023. The post Fact of the Day – 5/17/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-17-2023/ via IFTTT

Safety is a top priority for many construction companies. And that’s really good news. Safety needs to the be a priority for every company. How can we keep workers safe? One of the best places to start is to look at the trends and the data surrounding workplace accidents and injuries to gain better awareness about who is getting injured—and why. One place to find such insights is the 2023 Travelers Injury Impact Report, which is an analysis to identify trends that can help inform businesses about workplace safety risks. The organization analyzed more than 1.2 million workers compensation claims submitted from 2016 to 2020. The data is based on lost time claims from those accident years. Here is what it found. Who Is Getting Injured? The answer to this is nuanced. For one, new employees seem to be injured very frequently. Roughly 34% of workplace injuries occurred during an employee’s first year on the job, resulting in almost 7 million missed workdays. First-year injuries made up o

Economic forces, political unrest, labor shortages, supply-chain woes, and so many other factors are having an impact on the construction industry. What do projects look like for the years to come? This week, let’s dig into one specific market: home remodeling. The homebuilding market overall has seen strong growth in the past several years, even amid a pandemic and other disrupting factors, but now it appears growth may begin to stall. The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University releases its LIRA (Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity) quarterly and uncovers declines in the year ahead. In fact, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University suggests year-over-year expenditures for homeowner improvements and maintenance will post a modest decline of 2.8% through the first quarter of 2024. Looking a bit more at the research, the organization suggests that higher interest rates and sharp downturns in homebuilding and existing home sales are some of th

Gartner says worldwide PC shipments declined 30% in the first quarter of 2023. The post Fact of the Day – 5/16/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-16-2023/ via IFTTT

If anything, 2022 was challenging for business in ways rarely seen. Costs up, inflation up, employment up and down, revenue for many up and down, and the inventory of skilled workers, down. At the end of 2022, the AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) and Sage cosponsored a survey that found construction contractors were less optimistic about many private-sector segments in 2023 than they were in 2022, but their expectations for the public sector market remained relatively bullish. The net reading—the percentage of respondents to the survey who expected the available dollar value of projects to expand compared to the percentage who expected it to shrink—was positive for 14 of the 17 categories of construction included in the survey. Respondents were most optimistic about infrastructure categories. There were net positive readings of 42% for both highway and bridge construction and transportation projects. Contractors were almost as upbeat about sewer and water construction,

ABI Research predicts enterprise WLAN infrastructure revenues will reach $14.5 billion by 2028. The post Fact of the Day – 5/15/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-15-2023/ via IFTTT

If you are unsure of what needs to be done then take a look at the following list, it might give you some ideas and inspiration.  The post 9 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Summer appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2023/05/9-ways-prepare-home-summer/ via IFTTT

Berg Insight says the TMS market value in Europe and North America will exceed €4 billion by 2027. The post Fact of the Day – 5/12/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-12-2023/ via IFTTT

Juniper Research says $42 billion global CPaaS market will be driven by retail, finance, and tourism. The post Fact of the Day – 5/11/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-11-2023/ via IFTTT

If we are going to have conversations surrounding sustainability, then we must also have conversations around data centers. We all know many large organizations have ambitious targets to meet net-zero emissions by the year 2050. The only way we are going to hit these goals is if we pay close attention to data centers. Traditionally, data centers tend to consume a lot of energy. In fact, C&C Technology Group reports data centers spend roughly 1,000 kWh per square meter, which is about ten times the power consumption of a typical American home. Yikes. Certainly, many in the technology world see this as an opportunity ripe for innovation. To that end, Gartner predicts 75% of IT organizations will implement data center infrastructure sustainability initiatives by 2027. The good news is we are beginning to see a lot of innovation from technology companies as well. In an investor webinar earlier this year, Sandra Rivera, executive VP and general manager of data center and AI group,

IDC says smartphone market continues to decline 14.6% in the first quarter of this year. The post Fact of the Day – 5/10/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-10-2023/ via IFTTT

If you are keen to try and live in a greener way, then there are many things you might want to consider on that front. The post 4 Essentials for Green Living appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2023/05/4-essentials-green-living/ via IFTTT

Whether you’re looking to sell your property soon or you’re perhaps thinking about selling years down the line, adding value at any point is worthwhile. The post Five Tips To Add Value To Your Home For Future Sale appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2023/05/five-tips-add-value-home-future-sale/ via IFTTT

Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending will grow 5.5% in 2023. The post Fact of the Day – 5/9/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-9-2023/ via IFTTT

Material and labor costs are rising, rising, rising, and one new report digs into the impact these extra material and labor costs are having on subcontractors, suggesting they bear the brunt of the rising costs to the tune of billions in unplanned expenses. This is according to the third annual report from Billd titled 2023 National Subcontractor Market Report: $97 Billion in Extra Weight on the Shoulders of America’s Subcontractors. The company surveyed about 900 commercial construction professionals across the country. Most were business owners or executives who have been in business for 10 years or longer. This issue of rising material costs and price volatility isn’t necessarily a new one. In fact, the company found 81% of those surveyed report a negative effect on their businesses in 2022; with 80% of them expecting that trend to continue in the future. The challenge is material costs continue to rise. In fact, 26% report they see this happening. Another ongoing challenge for

The concrete industry is responsible for 8% of the global CO 2 emissions. Why is it so important that we look to reduce those CO 2 emissions? This was the exact question I asked Tapio Vehmas, CEO, Carbonaide , when we sat down for a candid conversation about climate change and the environment. “We need to do something with concrete. There are no real alternatives for concrete. Globally, we use 10 billion cubic meters of concrete every year,” says Vehmas. “We have to deal with concrete and make it less carbon intensive.” Perhaps we need to first encourage our structural engineers to design structures that emit fewer of the gases during the actual building of these structures, throughout their use, and finally their end of use. In fact, an ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) report suggests building construction and use contributes to more than 40% of human-caused emissions of GHG (greenhouses gases). And while we can’t eliminate all GHGs, just yet, as I see it, reducing some

Are new homebuyers really interested in energy-efficient homes? If we look at the data, then it seems the answer is yes, as more homeowners are often claiming home-related energy-efficiency tax incentives today. But let’s back up a bit because these types of tax incentives for homes are relatively new in the past two decades. If we look back to 2005, Congress began establishing many energy-efficiency tax incentives for housing. The benefits extend to both new homebuyers and remodeling homeowners—and let’s not forget the most important point here is to have a lasting impact on the environment around us. A closer look shows us the policies include section 25D of the internal revenue code, which is a tax credit for the installation of power production property in new and existing homes. From 2019 to 2020, claims associated with solar electric power grew by 86,000 taxpayers and $2.1 billion. The NAHB (National Assn. of Homebuilders) analyzed data to discover most of the claimed qualify

ABI Research says the SCADA HMI software market will grow to $11.3 billion in 2033. The post Fact of the Day – 5/8/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-8-2023/ via IFTTT

There are many innovative ways to lower home expenses while preserving quality of life, from wise shopping habits to taking advantage of internet discounts. The post Creative Ways to Cut Costs on Everyday Household Expenses appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2023/05/creative-ways-cut-costs-everyday-household-expenses/ via IFTTT

Guidehouse Insights says global market for software-defined vehicles estimated to exceed $110 billion by 2031. The post Fact of the Day – 5/5/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-5-2023/ via IFTTT

There has never been a better time to go into AEC (architecture, engineering, or construction). Not only has the need for infrastructure—such as water treatment facilities, roads, bridges, buildings, and power generation—never been greater, but the technology being applied to design, build, and operate infrastructure has also become more mature, easier to use, and more fun. However, there is a serious shortage of professionals with the required skills that need to be filled. We need to attract and train younger workers. Infrastructure employers of all kinds—whether they employ designers, engineers, construction providers, or owner-operators—need to clearly convey what appeals to the workforce of today and tomorrow. Inc. Magazine asserts baby boomers were motivated by a paycheck and Gen Xers by career progression. According to Forbes , millennials are three times more likely to stay if they believe that their work is fulfilling. Gen Zers are similarly purpose-driven; according to a

Juniper Research says business messaging traffic is set to grow to 2.8 trillion by 2027 globally. The post Fact of the Day – 5/4/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-4-2023/ via IFTTT

IDC says Asia/Pacific tablet market grew slightly in 2022. The post Fact of the Day – 5/3/2023 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-5-3-2023/ via IFTTT

The current systems for food production, transportation, and storage involves a lot of waste—including food waste and resource waste. How can technology make a difference in these systems to reduce waste in all its forms? It’s a question worth answering and a problem worth solving, because in the U.S. alone, food waste is estimated by the USDA to be 30-40% of the food supply . The USDA estimates that a 31% rate of food loss at the retail and consumer levels equals about 133 billion pounds of food, valued at $161 billion. Imagine all the inputs that went into the production, transportation, preparation, storage, and disposal of that discarded food. If governments, industries, and citizens truly want to increase their sustainability, they ought to look no further than cutting down on waste in the agriculture and food supply chain. Michael Abramov, CEO of Kelabs , Keymakr’s SaaS platform, says the transportation of food across long distances requires significant energy, predominantly d