Twitter will roll out verified gold and grey checkmarks as it relaunches the coveted blue check service next Friday, CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet, after holding off the roll-out earlier late last week.
“Gold check for companies, grey check for governments, blue for individuals (celebrities or not). Painful, but necessary,” Musk said in a tweet. All verified accounts will be manually authenticated before the check is activated.
“Individuals can have a secondary tiny logo to show they belong to an organisation if verified as such by that organisation,” Musk said in another tweet, adding that he will give a longer explanation next week.
The company had paused its recently announced US$8 blue check subscription service as fake accounts mushroomed, and had said the sought-after blue check subscription service will be relaunched on 29 November.
The blue checkmark was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists and other public figures. — Reuters
Dell Technologies’ research from 40+ countries details how after two years’ of accelerated digital transformation business leaders are more aware than ever of the role that employees play in driving successful change
After two years of accelerated digital transformation, more than half of IT leaders say their organisation knows what it takes to digitally transform a workforce, but after such rapid change, many employees are now facing a challenge to keep up the pace according to a new Dell Technologies survey. What’s more, 69% of respondents believe their organisations underestimate how to engage with their people properly when planning transformation programmes.
The results highlight how the recent period of rapid transformation is leaving businesses and their workforce in need of time to recharge, reflect and refine before embarking on new or iterating on projects. Despite the huge progress and efforts of the past few years, the research highlights how there is still a potential for transformation to stall as 62% of respondents believe their people’s resistance to change can lead to failure. While 50% say they are still worried that they may be left behind due to a lack of senior vision/authority to now capitalise on the opportunity in front of them.
“True, sustainable breakthrough transformation happens at the intersection of people and technology, along three frontiers: connectivity, productivity and empathy,” says Doug Woolley, Managing Director of Dell Technologies South Africa. “Building your breakthrough requires optimising your organisation to uncover strategic insights with simplicity, speed and scale. By connecting people, applications and data you can power your organisation with trusted IT solutions and focus on inspiring innovation rather than managing infrastructure.”
Now is the time for organisations to take stock before embarking upon new digital transformation projects, ensuring their workforce is supported and has clarity on the next stage of implementation.
Benchmarking readiness for digital change
Dell and independent behavioural experts studied survey respondents’ appetite for digital change and found that 20% of the workforce – from senior business leaders to IT decision-makers and staff – are pursuing modernisation projects. Further, 23% are slow or reluctant to embrace change.
This is how the global workforce is comprised today:
Steady: Poised to adopt technological change, selected by others.
53%
3
Slow: Inclined to hold back and observe/deliberate.
23%
4
Still: Tend to anticipate problems and resist proposed technology innovations based on perceived risk.
3,5%
The study charts a path forward. It signposts opportunities for businesses to focus and keep pace with transformation, with breakthrough happening at the intersection of people and technology along three frontiers:
1. Connectivity
Businesses performed tremendous feats to connect, collaborate and conduct business online during the pandemic. But they’re not finished.
More than 60% of respondents say they need their organisations to provide the necessary tools and infrastructure to work anywhere (along with the autonomy to choose their preferred working pattern). In fact, they worry their people might be left behind because they don’t have the right technology to shift to a highly distributed model (where work and compute are not tied to a central place but occur everywhere).
The technology alone isn’t sufficient. Businesses also need to make work equitable for people with different needs, interests and responsibilities, including the 83% of respondents that would like their organisation to do any of the following:
Clearly define their ongoing commitment to flexible work arrangements and the practicalities of making it work
Equip leaders to manage remote teams effectively and equitably
Empower employees to choose their preferred working pattern and provide the necessary tools/infrastructure
2. Productivity
People’s time is limited and there are now too few qualified candidates for open roles. To address these strains, businesses can delegate repetitive tasks to automated processes and free up people to focus on enriching, higher-value work.
At present, 40% say their work is stimulating and not repetitive. With the opportunity to automate more repetitive tasks, 75% would look forward to learning new, sought-after skills and technologies, like leadership skills, courses in machine learning, or focusing on more strategic opportunities to elevate their role.
However, businesses with limited budgets are concerned they won’t be able to advance their workforce and compete. This is when an as-a-Service model becomes a favourable option for many businesses.
3. Empathy
At their heart, businesses must build a culture, modelled by empathetic leaders, that treats people as their greatest source of creativity and value.
The research shows there is still work to do and empathy has to inform decision making, from simplifying technology for 54% of respondents who often feel overwhelmed by complex technologies, to tailoring change programmes to individuals’ skills (34% of employees believe their leaders do this).
Mohammed Amin, Sr. Vice-President – META, Dell Technologies
Every organisation and industry is transforming. All are striving to move faster, become smarter with data and innovate more with technology. You’ve heard it everywhere, especially during the last few years: digital transformation is a must-have. As organisations navigate this journey, they manage increasingly complex data and tasks. And while data is considered critical for any efficient operation, it also has the potential to become the number one barrier to transformation.
From my interactions with customers facing the same challenges, I noticed the path out of the data labyrinth is often a mix of the right set of tools with a human perspective. Here are five steps to help you navigate your digital transformation:
1. Have a clear shared vision of how digital transformation can help you realize your business goals.
Every IT problem starts with a business problem. Before laying down the foundation on how to deal with your data, think about the challenges you are trying to solve as a company. Once you have that vision, you can articulate the right technology solution and partner with the IT experts on your team to build a plan. You don’t have to build an aggressive timeline. A phased approach accounts for your most important asset – your people. Give them enough time to understand the strategy and align to it.
2. Invest in appropriate edge and as-a-Service Strategies that can scale.
As-a-service experiences help ease or drop the infrastructure management burden on your teams. When working with a flexible IT consumption model, you can operate with agility. But you can also control and scale your environment, adapting to different dynamics. And then there is an opportunity in the edge – where you can act on data near its point of creation to generate. With real-time data analysis, you can act faster and reduce the cost concerns associated with sending large amounts of data to a central location. This is especially true in industries like retail, healthcare, and even public transportation.
3. Automate mundane tasks.
The research shows that people would be willing to partner more with technology if the personal benefits are clear. In fact, 69% of respondents would look forward to having more time to develop their skills and elevate their roles. By automating work, people are available to focus on what inspires them and on uncovering business opportunities. The curiosity mindset is a valuable skill for data analytics. And once your teams have enough time to look at the data with a strategic approach, you start to pave the way for insights-driven decisions.
4. Start with small-scale pilots.
The sandbox environment is perfect for the test-and-learn method. People feel safe, and you have control over the impact. It is one of the best tactics to gain insights from analytics while stimulating people to adopt and publicize the successes. At this point, you go back to the number one step in this framework. Look at the initial business problem. Combine your newly added technology with your team’s recent gains in time to generate a positive outcome. Then assess your pilot. Replicate. Scale.
5. Provide adequate coaching, mentoring, and reassurance.
Real breakthrough happens at the intersection of people and technology. Thus, it is paramount to recognize that while consumption-based IT models provide the necessary breathing room to your teams, you must deploy them in ways that are sensitive to human behavior. Make sure that everyone is accessing the necessary tools and has enough training and resources to use them to their fullest. Communicate and establish a platform to contribute ideas and be heard. Lack of communication is one of the areas where respondents say their teams struggle the most.
I am positive that technology plays a role in unlocking a company culture shift toward data-driven decisions. Once you augment human capabilities with automation and consumption-based IT, you create new opportunities and experiences that excite your team. Then you can elevate their productivity to new heights and make sure they find purpose while delivering great outcomes.
To find out more on how to become a data-driven business using technology, you can register now for the highly anticipated Dell Technologies Forum South Africa which will take place on 10 November and will be held once again as an in-person event at the Kyalami Convention Centre.
By Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice President, Middle East, Turkey and Africa for Dell Technologies
With citizens, governments, and businesses more dependent than ever on digital connectivity, one of the most pressing sectoral issues for this decade is cybersecurity.
While this issue has been in the public consciousness for some time now, there is still a wide perception gap between organisational executives, who feel positively about their cyber resilience, and security leaders who do not.[1] The reality is that cybercrime is showing no signs of slowing down, posing risks across all aspects of society. In 2021, ransomware attacks were up 150% and more than 80% of experts say this growth is now threatening public safety.[2] These statistics demonstrate the gravity and prevalence of cybercrime today. The question is, as we focus on global recovery, and a new era of economic growth, how do we protect against cyber threats?
In recent months we’ve seen an unprecedented policy focus on the threat of cyberattacks and digital resilience though prominence in WEF’s Global Risk Report for 2022, and the G7 communique that saw a formal agreement for governments ‘to work together to share expertise and minimise cyber risks’. In order to deliver on globally ambitious designs of digital inclusion, sustainability, improved health outcomes, defence, and much more for the economies of tomorrow; cyber resiliency is a key building block and enabler.
The adverse financial impacts involved with cybercrime are seismic, and unsustainable for economies to absorb long-term. It’s no secret that advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and IoT are the key building blocks for future progress, but perhaps ironically, it’s these same technologies that can present new opportunities for cyber criminals. The ultimate challenge will be securing such technologies and enabling more resilient, long-term solutions to the threats posed by cyber criminals. Economic rebalancing will only be equitable if these tools are accessible to all organisations and businesses. To make this vision a reality, the need for collaboration and support between the public and private sectors has never been more vital.
SME Cyber support vital for wider economy
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of local economies and yet are highly at risk. SMEs are seen as a key facet to trade and logistics, partner networks, and digital ecosystems, however, increasingly find themselves the target of cyberattacks. Research shows that [3]43% of cyberattacks are made against small businesses, up from 18% just a few years ago. Significantly, recent WEF reports indicate that 88% of respondents are concerned about the cyber resilience of SMEs in their ecosystem.
It is essential that we work to support and protect such businesses, particularly as we look to build more resilient, balanced societies. SMEs, unlike other businesses, often require and are entitled to greater government support and nurture. Governments that recognise SMEs as integral to a truly flourishing society will empower and deliver the most economic progress. Helping these smaller organisations protect themselves against the ever-growing cybersecurity threat must be a priority for public sector recovery strategists, in the months and years ahead.
Public to Private Sector Empowerment
It is now more important than ever that public sector infrastructure empowers business resilience to help identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover from a cyberattack and enable a rapid return to fully functioning operations. Even with strong cyber defences in place, it’s impossible for companies to avoid all cyber disasters and their resultant, adverse impacts upon data, privacy, and trust.
Therefore, the key objective should be developing a cyber resilience strategy that can anticipate and quickly recover from significant disruption. The real test should be how quickly and seamlessly organisations can return to “business as usual”. One essential component of such resilience is to create and implement thorough cybersecurity training exercises amongst workforces. This not only prepares employees to identify security risks and lures, but also heightens awareness and reinforces the need for teamwork, skills, and collaboration across the whole organisation.
Frontier technology solutions are the forces driving digital transformation. They offer us all a bright and exciting digital future. However, advanced capabilities also throw up new cybersecurity challenges, with greater opportunity for cyber criminals to disable critical infrastructure and cause huge upheaval at a societal level. Cybersecurity should be at the forefront of public sector and business leaders’ minds. A comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that works in alignment between governments and industry is a key component to post pandemic recovery for businesses, national economies, and citizens around the world.
Cybersecurity is more than just an insurance policy against attacks. Cyber resilience, if implemented effectively, can help turbocharge long-term economic prosperity and innovation, and provide the digital defences crucial to our modern world.
Dell’s innovative programs drive progress toward our goal to take back as much as we produce
By Christopher Quirk
Last week Friday was International E-Waste Day. This year’s theme – “recycle it all, no matter how small” – reminds us that discarded, unused electronics, or e-waste, present one of the fastest-growing global environmental challenges of our time.
According to the Global E-waste Monitor, 57 million tons of electronics were produced worldwide. This is equivalent in weight to 82,000 school buses or 4,700 Eiffel Towers – enough to cover the size of Manhattan – and that’s just e-waste production in a single year. Only 17.4 percent of that volume is recycled as e-waste each year.
When returned for reuse or recycling, end-of-life electronics contain valuable, reusable components, parts and minerals that can be responsibly harvested for other uses. The carbon footprint of electronics shrinks when components and materials are reused because we extend their life. And for every pound of steel, aluminum, plastic or copper we recover for reuse, we save a pound of material from being newly manufactured or extracted from the ground.
End-of-life electronics returned through our Dell Technologies’ recovery and recycling services are given a second chance. We extend their usable life and accelerate the circular economy. In fact, we have recovered more than 2.6 billion pounds of used electronics since 2007.
To avoid turning end-of-life electronics into e-waste, we work to unlock their value:
1. Design for circularity – we imbed circular principles into every aspect of product design.
2. Repairability – We make it easy for consumers to repair a device by providing product manuals online, offering services like our Dell AR Assistant, and designing for better repairability. The longer we keep our electronics in use, the greater the impact.
3. Take back services – We provide convenient services to recover and recycle end-of-life devices when the technology no longer meets a user’s needs.
4. Maximize reuse – Once a device is returned, we maximize its reuse potential by taking the following steps:
· Sanitize and secure data*
· Refurbish systems that can be resold or donated for continued use
· Harvest all usable parts to extend the lifecycle
· Extract key materials – like plastics, magnets and aluminum – to reuse in new Dell products
· Responsibly recycle all other materials
We understand the value of legacy electronics – both for our commitment to circularity and for the health of the planet. In fact, we have set an ambitious goal to tackle this challenge, which is by 2030, for every product a customer buys, we will reuse or recycle an equivalent product.
In addition to our existing recycling services, we continue to find innovative new ways to make it easier for people and businesses to return their used electronics. In the last year, we launched pilot programs to raise awareness about the importance of electronics recycling and to drive people to act:
We reached consumers who purchased certain laptop models with an on-package recycling message encouraging them to reuse the box to return their old equipment.
We tested an innovative service that uses delivery lockers in apartment buildings. This campaign encouraged apartment dwellers to deposit unwanted electronics in shipping lockers for recycling.
We joined forces with technology peers to pilot a curbside recycling program for consumers in Denver, Colorado.
And, for business customers of all sizes, we modernized Dell’s Asset Recovery Services globally – now supporting 36 countries and available through our channel partners.
We established our global recycling services more than 25 years ago and we continue to evolve to keep pace with changing consumer and business demands. We are driving innovation to increase the volume of products (of any brand, not just Dell) for refurbishment, reuse and recycling.
Help us put a dent in e-waste by trading in or recycling your end-of-life device today. Visit Dell’s Recycling Solutions page for more information and to learn how. We’ll take it all – no matter how small – as we continue to unlock the value in e-waste.
