October 2024 Tech Upload
The NEW Digital Alliance would like to thank Kimberly-Clark and Core BTS for their support as an Executive Level investor! |
NEW Digital News
2024 NEWDA Tech Summit
Registration is open – Join us!
A lot has happened in the past year since Generative AI burst onto the scene. Join us at our 2024 Tech Summit as we revisit this technology and dive into the advancements and current state of AI one year later. Interact with industry leaders from Gartner, Microsoft, and Google. You’ll explore how two regional businesses have positioned themselves in the past year, discuss the ongoing impact of AI on your business, and understand successful strategies for piloting and implementing AI technologies. In addition, we will hear a brief update on the recently announced action plan from the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce & Artificial Intelligence.
October 15 |
1 – 5 p.m. |
Best Western Premier Bridgewood Resort, Neenah, WI |
Learn more and register
October is Wisconsin Tech Month (WTM)
Wisconsin Tech Month (WTM) is a dynamic and statewide initiative dedicated to celebrating and advancing technology and innovation in Wisconsin. Throughout the month, a diverse array of events, including workshops, conferences, networking opportunities, and showcases, will bring together tech enthusiasts, industry leaders, and innovators to collaborate, share knowledge, and explore cutting-edge developments. This initiative not only highlights Wisconsin’s thriving tech ecosystem but also fosters community engagement, supports talent development, and promotes the state as a hub for technological excellence. The NEW Digital Alliance, Women in Technology (WIT) and Amplify Oshkosh are partnering together to promote and celebrate WTM right here in northeast Wisconsin.
View WTM Calendar and add your own events
We have created a northeast Wisconsin calendar of events for WTM, which you can view here. In addition, we would love for you to add your tech related activities to the calendar, which you can do here. These activities can be from your place of work, volunteer organizations, schools, etc. and can be for all ages.
Lastly, along with WIT and Amplify, we hosted a WTM Kick-Off Social event on September 24 at Fox Cities Stadium. You can view pictures from that event here.
Innovating AI in Northeastern Wisconsin: Fox Cities Chamber AI Website Assistant
The Fox Cities Chamber came to StellarBlue.ai searching for a solution to help their members and website visitors find information more quickly and efficiently. We partnered with the Chamber to address their needs for a more efficient user experience, leveraging our experience with website and artificial intelligence development. We implemented our flagship AI product, an AI Website Assistant, to enhance the user experience on the Chamber’s website, and bring visitors the answers they need. This process challenged our team and the Chamber as we pushed each other toward innovation.
Collaborative Beginnings: A Shared Vision
From the very first meeting, both teams were excited to create something new. The Fox Cities Chamber had a vision—they wanted their website to be more intuitive, with faster access to essential resources for their members. StellarBlue.ai was equally motivated, knowing this project would challenge us to blend cutting-edge AI technology with an understanding of the specific needs of the local business community.
This wasn’t just another AI project. It was an opportunity to bring advanced technology to Northeastern Wisconsin, making our region competitive with larger markets where AI solutions have already become the norm. During our initial discussions, the energy was palpable as both sides realized the potential impact of this tool.
Labor Market Insight – September 2024
By Matt Duffy
Carex Consulting Group
September 2024 Labor Market Insights – Key Takeaways
I don’t think we can discuss the labor market without addressing the news about the BLS job revisions. If you haven’t heard, in August the BLS announced that the labor market created 818,000 fewer jobs than previously reported, from March 2023 through March 2024. In summary, during that period:
- Total job creation decreased from 2.9 million to 2.1 million
- The monthly job creation average of 242k was in fact 175k new jobs added per month
What’s my take? Meh, not a big deal.
There’s an old (and immature) question – what’s more important, looks or personality? In this scenario, new job creation is the looks. While it’s what you might notice first, it’s what matters least. If you want to gauge the temperature of the labor market, look at its personality – specifically, unemployment, hires, terminations, and job openings.
Smart IS Reaches New Heights: Proudly Announcing Our Official Blue Yonder Partnership
Smart IS is proud to announce an exciting milestone in its 30-year journey: we are now Blue Yonder partners! Smart IS has been working in the supply chain industry alongside Blue Yonder for over two decades. This partnership solidifies what has long been recognized: Blue Yonder values our solutions as unique toolsets that enhance and streamline their WMS applications. As official partners, we are now poised to expand our global reach and broaden our customer base. This partnership gives Smart IS access to Blue Yonder’s resources, allows for strategic collaboration, and provides more robust support to our clients.
The access and collaboration available at the partner level create extensive possibilities for innovation and growth. This partnership gives Smart IS access to Blue Yonder’s product roadmap, enabling us to align our innovations with their strategic direction. Our resources now have direct access to the Blue Yonder Partner Portal, offering real-time updates on the latest developments in the Blue Yonder ecosystem. This ensures we remain agile and responsive to the dynamic needs of our clients and the market. By leveraging this collaboration, Smart IS can continually enhance its offerings, ensuring we stay ahead of industry trends.
Regional News
Will AI improve our world, unravel it … or a little of both?
By Tom Still
Wisconsin Technology Council
You and millions of other people likely harbor feelings about artificial intelligence that range from awe to anxiety, and from hopeful to fearful.
Both ends of that spectrum are visible at this point in the evolution of generative AI, which can create text, images, videos and more through user prompts. The genie cannot be squeezed back in the bottle, so the challenge is how to harness AI for societal good – and how to build guardrails that prevent AI from being hijacked by bad actors or taking on a life of its own.
That challenge is front and center around the world, including in Wisconsin.
Stern warnings about AI were issued Sept. 16 by a seemingly unlikely source: An international group of AI scientists who were central to its development. Scientists from the United States, China, Britain, Singapore and Canada were among those who met in Venice, Italy, and concluded “loss of human control or malicious use of these AI systems could lead to catastrophic outcomes for all of humanity.”
These are pioneers of the science, yet they believe some AI models may begin to autonomously self-improve and spin out of human command unless safeguards are put in place, starting within nations that are major developers and progressing to a system of red flags shared worldwide.
Others also predict AI will forever change the nature of warfare. Might the exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon been equipped with an AI trigger? The losers in warfare throughout history have often been those who fought with the technology and tactics of the previous war.
With climate change already a concern, others worry the data centers that power AI functions will consume ever-growing amounts of energy and water for cooling. Still others fear AI will destroy jobs now done by real people, deep fakes will manipulate politics, autonomous vehicles will run amok, and human interaction itself will end like a bad sci-fi movie. The list goes on.
The flip side is more heartening. Experts believe AI will create more jobs than it will end, especially higher-end jobs. It can make manufacturing and other businesses more efficient, improve health-care delivery, make natural resource discovery more precise and econ-friendly, uncover energy inefficiencies and even extend life itself by opening new doors to cellular research.
One prominent example of AI hitting home in Wisconsin is the emerging Microsoft data center in Racine County, which will built in phases and cost $3.3 billion through 2026. It will support Microsoft’s Copilot, a generative AI chatbot, and is already working with the UW-Milwaukee Connected Systems Institute to reach manufacturers. In fact, it’s the only Microsoft data center focused on manufacturing research, development and education.
Cybersecurity could be ‘Achilles’ heel’ for manufacturers, report shows
By WisBusiness
The Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity says cybersecurity may be the “Achilles’ heel” for manufacturers as online threats become more sophisticated thanks to AI.
The WCMP recently released its Growth Opportunities in Manufacturing report, ahead of insights from the more in-depth Wisconsin Manufacturing Report being unveiled in early October through a series of readout events.
Buckley Brinkman, executive director and CEO of the WCMP, underlines the importance of continued growth, calling it the “lifeblood” of any successful manufacturing business.
“The emphasis on domestic manufacturing plays to our strengths as a state and major investments in AI and green manufacturing provide additional momentum during 2024,” he said in the report. “The manufacturers who lean into growth and take advantage of these opportunities will thrive into the future.”
The report notes companies that “focus too intently” on reducing costs may undermine their own future growth, while investing in automation and boosting productivity can help reduce workforce pressures. Large companies are able to adopt automation more quickly, while smaller manufacturers are finding it “much more challenging” to deploy automation technology and benefit from it.
“The inability to implement automation projects increases the productivity gap between large and small companies, placing small companies in a precarious long-term position,” report authors wrote.
The differences between small and large manufacturers also come into play in cybersecurity, as the report notes larger companies present more prominent targets for hackers. But at the same time, smaller companies with fewer cybersecurity resources “may make a more attractive target,” report authors noted. Still, larger companies are reporting getting hacked more often.
Last year, 39% of manufacturing companies with 50 or more employers were hacked, marking a 129% increase from 2021, according to the report. Meanwhile, 17% of those with fewer than 50 employers were hacked last year — a 13% increase from 2021.
WCMP says cybersecurity threats will continue to increase as more machines are controlled remotely through computers rather than manually, while hackers using AI and other new technologies can “launch increasingly sophisticated attacks” against companies. The report urges manufacturers to constantly adapt their defensive strategies to these threats and create plans for responding to an incident.
See the report and get more info on the upcoming Wisconsin Manufacturing Report.
State task force recommends using AI tech in classrooms, support for businesses
By Joe Schulz
WPR
Proposals also include support for small businesses and training for workers who lose jobs to AI
Artificial intelligence could transform the future of work in Wisconsin, but state leaders hope to help the technology expand in a way that protects workers and fills existing gaps in the labor force.
A state task force composed of state agency officials, industry leaders, representatives from organized labor and education officials wrapped up months of work around that issue last week. Its final advisory action plan includes policy recommendations around artificial intelligence in K-12 and higher education, government, workforce development and economic development.
Those recommendations are aimed at creating pathways for workers to gain AI skills, boosting competition for Wisconsin companies and encouraging ethical decision-making related to the technology.
Gov. Tony Evers’ office says the proposals in the action plan include efforts to expand digital literacy, develop flexible training programs, improve government service and incentivize industry adoption of artificial intelligence. Those proposals may be included in Evers’ next two-year state budget proposal, but individual state agencies may include specific investments in their funding requests as well.
Somesh Jha, a computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison researching artificial intelligence, said the rapid development of AI is expected to lead to more efficiencies in the workplace. But he said it could also lead to job losses in some industries, as well as lead to the creation of new jobs.
Tech leaders are ramping up IT modernization, but they’re wary of the productivity nosedive that comes with it
By Ross Kelly
ITPro.
Enterprises simply cannot afford to mess up IT modernization efforts, new research finds
IT modernization projects have a significant negative impact on enterprise productivity, according to new research.
A survey from Rocket Software and Forrester Consulting found IT leaders are wary of the potential risks of IT overhaul programs, with one-third believing they are highly disruptive to operations.
Common roadblocks encountered during modernization projects often lead to reduced productivity, but there are broader considerations at play, the study found.
Some of the most common hurdles faced by IT leaders include costly and time-consuming application rewrite projects. Just over half (51%) of respondents admitted to having attempted at least six rewrite projects as part of a cloud migration strategy.
“Rewriting applications can be a costly mistake for businesses, as it often leads to extended timelines, operational disruptions, and frequently fails to deliver the expected outcomes,” the study noted.
Other challenges include concerns over cybersecurity, identified by 41% of respondents as a recurring issue, and talent shortages.
Just over one-third (38%) of respondents specifically highlighted talent shortages and skills gaps as a major roadblock during IT modernization projects. Worse still, IT leaders noted that modernization challenges have impacted their ability to recruit new talent.