Q&A with Kootenay West candidates: Affordable housing

Q&A with Kootenay West candidates: Affordable housing

Kootenay West Candidates (L to R) Glen Byle (Conservative), Katrine Conroy (NDP), Andrew Duncan (Green), Corbin Kelley (Liberal), Fletcher Quince (Independent, Ed Varney (Independent). Black Press went to our readers to gather a list of questions they would like to ask the Kootenay West candidates in the upcoming provincial election.

The Kootenay West riding will have six names on the ballot: Glen Byle (Conservative), Katrine Conroy (NDP), Andrew Duncan (Green) Corbin Kelley (Liberal), Fletcher Quince (Independent) and Ed Varney (Independent).

We will posting one set of question and answers each day for the next week. RELATED: Where to vote for Trail […]

Editorial: Whose promises do you believe? Cast your ballot

Editorial: Whose promises do you believe? Cast your ballot

It’s been a remarkably short election campaign, and as it comes to a close, we can’t help but be struck by how many promises have been made to the electorate in the few weeks that our major party leaders have been trying to convince us to vote for them.

It’s been a unique election due to the COVID-19 pandemic, void of the usual door knocking and large public gatherings where constituents can question the candidates face to face. We applaud our local organizations who have gone to great lengths to produce virtual opportunities for the public to get to know […]

Hastening the use of tech that replaces workers

Hastening the use of tech that replaces workers

There’s no facet of our lives that hasn’t been touched by the coronavirus pandemic. For the luckiest among us, attempts to curb the spread of the virus have been simply an inconvenience. For those less lucky, there’s been a big financial hit, particularly if they’ve lost their livelihoods. The unluckiest have lost loved ones or even their own lives.

The first order of business in dealing with a pandemic is saving lives, focusing on the health of citizens. But discussions quickly turn to economics, from the cost of social supports to the implications of additional lockdowns if COVID-19 cases surge.

In […]

These tech jobs may disappear in the face of automation

These tech jobs may disappear in the face of automation

When Dale Wilkinson first set out to launch a website, he had never written a line of code before. His first step as a non-technical founder seemed clear – he needed to find a software developer to build out his vision.

He found one in Los Angeles, but then he discovered on Twitter a company called Bubble , a service that lets users build web applications with a visual editor, without writing any code themselves. For Wilkinson, it was a game changer. In mid-2019, the 37-year-old launched Goodgigs , which connects mission-driven companies with people seeking work. Sign-ups have since […]

Machines Predicted to Do Half Of All Jobs By 2025, per Report

Machines Predicted to Do Half Of All Jobs By 2025, per Report

Half of all work tasks will be carried out by machines by 2025, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report has predicted.

Though the oncoming " robot revolution " will create 97 million jobs worldwide, it will get rid of almost the same number, and will likely increase inequality and the digital divide, the think tank said. Robots replacing and creating jobs

The forecast is based on surveys carried out across 300 of the world’s biggest companies, who between them employ approximately eight million people globally, the BBC reports.Over 50 percent of employers surveyed said they expect the automation of certain […]

Merisotis: Indiana Can Play in Work of the Future

Merisotis: Indiana Can Play in Work of the Future

INDIANAPOLIS – The chief executive officer of Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation says as we continue to move further into the age of smart machines, the state of work in Indiana is changing. Jamie Merisotis says workers will have to focus on the kind of work that only humans can do as automation becomes more prevalent. "In this age of smart machines, our work isn’t going to focus on the kinds of replicable tasks that machines can do, that the algorithms can do; we’re going to have to do the things that make us human – our ability to be creative […]

Secure Act aims to boost the appeal of annuities in retirement plans

Secure Act aims to boost the appeal of annuities in retirement plans

An office worker on her laptop © Getty Images Adviser Joe DeNoyior believes the promise of a guaranteed income for life can be a game-changer for employees investing in 401(k) retirement accounts.

Yet the product best-positioned for the task — the annuity — comes with challenges that make it a tough fit for such defined contribution (DC) retirement plans. It is not just that an annuity can be costly and operationally complex; the product is also legendary for its jargon. Focused on mixing insurance with investments to guarantee returns, the annuity boasts contrasting features such as “death benefits” and “lifetime […]

Moving Universal Basic Income toward Liberation

Moving Universal Basic Income toward Liberation

“ssosva universal basic income now,” Andres Musta October 20, 2020; Vox

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic crisis has brought forth a necessary debate on the need for universal basic income (UBI) to reduce systemic inequities. Vox recently published a useful analytic map of places around the world that have implemented basic income practices and outcomes. Looked at from that distance, basic income is effective in reducing inequities depending on the money source (whether is private or public) and political intent (how it was structured).

Sigal Samuel, the staff writer for Vox’s Future Perfect project, found that when nations commit […]

Algorithms Are Making Economic Inequality Worse

Algorithms Are Making Economic Inequality Worse

HBR Staff/Oleksandr Shchus/Getty Images The risks of algorithmic discrimination and bias have received much attention and scrutiny, and rightly so. Yet there is another more insidious side-effect of our increasingly AI-powered society — the systematic inequality created by the changing nature of work itself. We fear a future where robots take our jobs, but what happens when a significant portion of the workforce ends up in algorithmically managed jobs with little future and few possibilities for advancement?

One of the classic tropes of self-made success is the leader who comes from humble beginnings, working their way up from the mailroom, […]

Future Jobs Report highlights Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of automation

Future Jobs Report highlights Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of automation

A new report by The World Economic Forum has found that the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns have accelerated the adoption of automation.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2020 Report indicated that the shift to automation would create 97 million new jobs by 2025 . However, it will disrupt 85 million jobs in the process.

The new jobs would have an emphasis on skills in analytical thinking and creativity. The top emerging professions will be in data and artificial intelligence, content creation and cloud computing.Although the number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ created, […]