Tag: Services

The future of work 3 – automation

The future of work 3 – automation

In this third part of my series on the future of work, I want to deal with the impact of automation, in particular robots and artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs. I have covered this issue of the relationship between human labour and machines before, including robots and AI. But is there anything new that we can find after the COVID slump?

The leading American mainstream expert on the impact of automation on future jobs is Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT. In testimony to the US Congress, Acemoglu started by reminding Congress that automation was not a recent phenomenon. The […]

No One Talks About Too Much Automation Anymore

No One Talks About Too Much Automation Anymore

“Defending Digital” Series, No. 7: Remember all those breathless warnings that artificial intelligence would soon eliminate a wide range of “routine” jobs? So far, pretty much the opposite has occurred. Given today’s widespread worker shortages, corrosive inflation, and vast societal challenges, America clearly needs all the automation it can get.

As with many famous anecdotes, the accounts vary. When Milton Friedman was visiting India in the 1960s, he saw men digging a canal with shovels. When he asked why the workers didn’t use modern earth-moving equipment, he was told that using shovels created more jobs, to which Friedman is said […]

How to keep prices in check while fending off a recession

How to keep prices in check while fending off a recession

Higher interest rates will dampen demand, but supply-side measures must also play a large role

Central banks’ efforts to contain high and rising inflation are fuelling growth headwinds and threatening to tip the global economy into recession. But the proximate cause of today’s inflationary pressures is a large, broad-based, and persistent imbalance between supply and demand. Higher interest rates will dampen demand, but supply-side measures must also play a large role in inflation-taming strategies.

Over the past year or so, the rollback of pandemic-containment policies has spurred a simultaneous surge in demand and contraction in supply. While this was to […]

6 Ways You Can Use Technology to Boost Your Business

6 Ways You Can Use Technology to Boost Your Business

Whether you are an established businessman or a budding entrepreneur, you should never underestimate the role technology plays in modern business operations. Various traditional approaches have faded, only to be replaced by changing trends. While it has rendered many jobs obsolete, courtesy of how technology has eased operations through automation, it has also created new job opportunities.

As trends change, new talent is brought in, and people achieve things previously thought impossible. This has led to various companies making their mark and setting standards for others to follow. Growth is obviously a byproduct of this desire to progress further. Companies […]

Seven Automation Opportunities You May Have Overlooked

Seven Automation Opportunities You May Have Overlooked

Automation and robotics are becoming increasingly important for plastics processors. Faced with labor shortages, manufacturers can gain a crucial productivity margin from automating certain processes. Robotic automation can also help to make the workplace more people-friendly and attractive to the existing and potential workforce.

Indeed, studies show companies that adopt robotics grow faster than those that don’t. Unfortunately, many businesses are in a position to benefit from robotics but are unaware of where to start.

Larger plastics processing companies have used robotics for many years, especially for machine tending. The larger companies had higher production volumes, making the […]

Top Document Automation Trends in 2022

Top Document Automation Trends in 2022

The business world is constantly evolving and striving to move to a paperless culture. Electronic documents are replacing paper documents with the help of document scanning services . Once digitized, documents need to be stored for easy access and retrieval. This is possible with document automation. Document automation involves taking data and text from various sources and placing them in defined areas of document templates. These templates can include simple text blocks and more complex elements like tables, graphs, and images. Automation is useful when you need to assemble various types of complex documents at scale and store and […]

Tánaiste and Ministers Troy and English announce €85m ‘Grow Digital’ Fund

Tánaiste and Ministers Troy and English announce €85m ‘Grow Digital’ Fund

Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Damien English, TD; Tánaiste and Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD; and Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy, TD. (Library pic) • Funding for businesses for software, new equipment, staff training, automation and AI

• Grant aid for companies to develop new digital products, processes or services

The Tánaiste and Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment Leo Varadkar TD, the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy, TD, and Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Damien English […]

The fear of technology-driven unemployment and its empirical base

The fear of technology-driven unemployment and its empirical base

New technologies may replace human labour, but can simultaneously create jobs if workers are needed to use these technologies or if new economic activities emerge. At the same time, technology-driven productivity growth may increase disposable income, stimulating a demand-induced employment expansion. Based on a systematic review of the empirical literature on technological change and its impact on employment published in the past four decades, this column suggests that the empirical support for the labour-creating effects of technological change dominates that for labour-replacement.

The debate as to whether or not technological change replaces more jobs than it creates dates back to […]

Buena Park High becomes first in state to offer SACA tech certifications

Buena Park High becomes first in state to offer SACA tech certifications

A half-dozen Buena Park High School students recently became the first cohort in California to receive advanced technology certifications at their campus through the Smart Automation Certification Alliance , or SACA.

Lance Ramos, Edwin Ocampo, Allen Carino, Edwin Rodriguez, Xavier Arellano and Goura Salam were enrolled this year in the mechatronics program at Buena Park High, which is in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. If you’re not familiar with mechatronics, it’s a branch of engineering that merges mechanics and electrical systems with computers and robotics.

After successfully completing a rigorous training program based on the latest technologies including automation […]

Twin Falls Grows But Loses Ground Against Other Idaho Cities

Twin Falls Grows But Loses Ground Against Other Idaho Cities

Twin Falls Grows But Loses Ground Against Other Idaho Cities Twin Falls may be growing by leaps and bounds but hasn’t gained any ground when it comes to Idaho’s largest cities. In fact, the hub of the Magic Valley slipped a rung over the last two decades. From number seven to number eight. The city had a population of just over 35,000 in 2001 and now the Census Bureau explains the number of people who call the city home is just under 54,000. Still Lagging Some Neighbors

Twin Falls appears to be growing at a faster rate than Pocatello […]