Split (1)

train · 2.6M rows

text stringlengths 9 88.1k
Now that we know what Gartner said on stage, what did those in the audience think of the vision? To find out we talked to three CIOs at site:the conference in Orlando – one with a private firm, one with a non-profit organization, and one with the government.
Sondergaard’s second pillar, the customer experience, is the one that resonated most with Michaelis as to why he’s building out a digital platform at Canadian Blood Services. This non-profit charity works with provincial governments to collect blood products from Canadian donors and get them to where they’re needed – h...
The charity traditionally had just two ways to reach out to potential donors – when they came to the clinic and with a call centre. But in the spring of 2014 that changed with the launch of an app, GiveBlood, to iOS and Android platforms. That fall, a new web portal was launched as well. In the first year alone, the ap...
Making a donation more convenient isn’t easy when you’re talking about a process that requires hooking up an IV to your customer’s vein. But Canadian Blood Services is trying to do that with more than just apps. This past Spring, it changed policy to allow donors to make same-day appointments. Now if a donor finds they...
As to Gartner’s fifth pillar of digital platforms, Michaelis says Canadian Blood Services hasn’t been making more partnerships lately. The charity is using social media to extend its digital ecosystem in terms of reaching existing and potential donors, and sees areas where there’s opportunity to connect with partners i...
“Right now they’re ordering from by via fax,” he says.
Canadian Blood Services hasn’t examined how it could use artificial intelligence yet, he adds. But he sees opportunity to improve operations using analytics.
“Should we bump up our recruitment efforts if there’s inclement weather?” he asks.
Wagner’s just two months into his job at the National Research Council (NRC), but is coming from a posting at the Department of Justice, so he’s no stranger to how government relates to the sort of digital platform vision outlined by Gartner. He appreciated that Sondergaard didn’t gloss over the important first pillar ...
The principle of building digital ecosystems is also relevant to the current work of many within government, Wagner says. Government departments are undergoing a period of integration to provide services to citizens more seamlessly and from one universal touch point. That means not only building solid connections betwe...
He points to the example of the revamped Canada.ca website, which organizes government services by the events occurring in a person’s life – getting married, having children, looking for a job, and so on. That also links to the customer experience pillar, which Wagner says is about understanding what your service is of...
Another hurdle for building a connected government are policies around data-sharing between departments, he says. Staying compliant can sometimes weigh against the desire to be agile.
Brett Gagnon, CIO, New Gold Inc.
New Gold is a mining company that manages the process that goes from the discovery of valuable minerals to delivery and technology is a primary focus in making that work, Gagnon says. He’s used to handling relationships with the other departments of this publicly-listed, Toronto-based firm as a service provider. That h...
New Gold works with somewhere between three to five partners for its technology. That number hasn’t changed over the past few years, but how they’re working with those partners has changed.
“You can’t manage partnerships when they get into the double digits, especially at a company of our size, that’s too many divisions,” he says.
Gagnon is balancing the traditional roles of IT with a modernization of the business in as close to a 50/50 split as possible. New Gold has a “value creation team” that IT is involved with and the focus is on finding efficiencies and improving business processes that helps drive the innovation agenda.
Gartner’s “Things” pillar also resonated with Gagnon’s agenda, as he’s seeing a lot of opportunities to deploy IoT solutions to assist in making the work of mining more efficient. From automated vehicles that haul ore around worksites to modified tablets in the hands of miners working in the field, IoT could be a major...
Bradford chairman Peter Hood has issued an apology to the club's fans for another dismal season.
The Bulls, who reached five consecutive Grand Finals up to 2005, missed out on the play-offs for a third successive year after winning just nine of their 27 Super League matches.
Attendances soared after the club sold more than 10,000 cut-price season tickets but performances on the field failed to pick up despite the arrival of 10 new signings under new coach Mick Potter.
'I want to publicly acknowledge the pain that every fan is feeling because 2011 was a very poor season for the Bulls, a situation made worse by the excitement and expectation generated by a new era under a new head coach,' said Hood.
'Some of our performances simply weren't quite good enough. We need to fix things up and we will.
Bradford are ringing the changes again with new signings Keith Lulia, Luke Gale, Jarrod Sammut and Adrian Purtell filling the void created by the departures of Patrick Ah Van, Shad Royston and Marc Herbert and Hood is confident of an upturn in fortunes in 2012.
'Looking to the future, we've re-signed the two overseas players fans most wanted to retain - Brett Kearney and Heath L'Estrange - and we've also signed two overseas outside backs of proven quality and two quality half-backs,' he said.
“The doors are locked at 10 o’clock,” he said.
It sounds like a new concept is going in the space.
It could be the expanding Bricktown Brewery from Oklahoma City.
Jeff Davis has three players set to play in this year’s Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
Offensive lineman Preston Mixon, defensive back Zyon Gilbert and defensive lineman Alec Jackson will represent the Vols in the Dec. 10 game at Cramton Bowl.
Robert E. Lee receiver Henry Ruggs was among five other metro players also on the Alabama roster announced by the AHSAA on Monday. The others: Stanhope Elmore’s Zech Byrd, Catholic’s Brian Anderson, St. James’ Sterling Jones and Park Crossing kicker Jake Lane.
Troy football coach Neal Brown will be the featured speaker at the Montgomery Quarterback Club on Tuesday.
Park Crossing quarterback Malik Cunningham and Catholic running back Tyler Price will be honored by players of the week at the meeting.
The Quarterback Club meets at the Montgomery Country Club. The social hour begins at 5:15 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:15 and the program at 6:45. Guests must make an advance reservation and pay $35. For a reservation, call Ben McNeill at 303-3166 or Perry Hooper Jr. at 409-3119. For more information, visit the club’s ...
Tuskegee quarterback Kevin Lacey has been added to the Black College Football Hall of Fame player of the year watch list.
Lacey has led the Golden Tigers to a 5-0 start and the No. 8 ranking in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll.
Lacey has thrown for 1,036 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions.
The senior has orchestrated two come-from-behind victories this season, including rallying from a 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit for a 21-16 win over 21st-ranked UNC Pembroke this past Saturday.
Lacey joins senior defensive end Julian Morgan, junior linebacker Osband Thompson, junior safety Jonah McCutcheon and junior offensive lineman Leeward Brown on the list.
Thompson, who was named Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference defensive player of the week, had 13 tackles and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter of UNC Pembroke that led to a Golden Tiger touchdown --- the second in 19 seconds and triggered the comeback.
Tuskegee (5-0, 1-0 SIAC) will compete in the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic at 1 p.m. Saturday at the McClung Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Georgia.
CAMP HERO, Afghanistan – Explosive ordnance disposal troop commander Lt. Caroline Pollock squats by a culvert on a dusty training ground and looks at what appears to be a pile of harmless junk. A plastic jug. Some metal casing. Wiring. All the makings of deadly roadside bombs.
Such bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have long been the most feared insurgent weapon. Combating the threat has taken on new urgency as the surge of 37,000 new U.S. and NATO troops means more targets for the bombs.
"The IED fight is like a chess game, in which only one side plays by the rules," said Canadian Maj. Chris Cotton, commanding officer of the Task Force Kandahar counter-improvised explosive device squadron. "We are very diligent about studying each event. But that is what the bad guys are doing, too."
Cotton said IED experts are getting better at finding the explosives before they go off, but added it is a constantly evolving battle that exacts a high toll. As coalition forces add more armor on their vehicles, for example, the Taliban have increased the size of their explosives.
"Casualties to IEDs significantly outnumber casualties to any other threat," Cotton said. "They are efficient, cheap, and omnipresent. IEDs are obviously the enemy's weapon of choice right now."
Pollack said some of the improvised explosives consist of material that costs as little as $50.
There were more than 7,000 IED incidents in 2009 — including explosions, the discovery and defusing of the bombs or civilians turning them in — compared to just 81 in 2003, according to U.S. intelligence figures.
An Associated Press count, based on daily reports from NATO's International Security Assistance Force, found that 129 of the U.S. fatalities in 2009 — or more than 40 percent — were caused by IEDs. About three-quarters of all American deaths and injuries in Afghanistan are believed to have been a result of improvi...
Cotton said the homemade bombs are hidden along roadsides or near buildings and detonated by remote control or triggered when troops cross simple pressure plates.
"If only one strikes coalition forces, they have been successful," Cotton said. "It demonstrates to the world that the Taliban is still in the fight."
Four Canadian solders and one journalist, Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang, 34, were on their way home late in December when they were killed in a roadside bomb blast outside Kandahar. Their deaths came just one week after Lt. Andrew Nuttall, 30, was killed during a foot patrol outside the Afghan village of Nakhon...
The Taliban were slower than Iraqi insurgents to adopt IEDs, but they are now the coalition's biggest threat.
In the "training lane" at this base in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar Province, civilian instructors teach Afghan infantry soldiers in what to look out for.
They are alerted to twists in roads, which force vehicles to slow down, making them easier to target. Something as innocuous as a rag on a wall or a pile of rocks can be used as a locator.
Cotton said that turning around the fight against IEDs will require a significant boost in the training and capabilities of the Afghan security forces. There is, for example, no police bomb squad in nearby Kandahar city, Afghanistan's second-largest and one of its most volatile.
Afghan police have been known to simply shoot at an IED once it has been located.
"At some point, we are going to be pulling out," he said. "But they are going to remain. They know much better than we do where to find them."
Pollock, 27, of Calgary, Alberta, said the Taliban are making more of an effort to reduce civilian deaths from IEDs because they are concerned that the population will turn against them.
The toll on civilians remains high, however.
In the last four months of 2009, 117 were killed by the devices, either deliberately or inadvertently, including 30 who died when a bus ran over an IED in September.
"Gradually they are going to have to take more responsibility," she said of the Afghan soldiers. "We are giving them exposure. We try to cover the most up-to-date threat."
Solange brings A Seat at the Table to late night.
Following her performance on “SNL” last month, the R&B songstress captivated viewers with an exhilarating medley of “Rise” and “Weary” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday (Dec. 15).
Backed by singers and a live band, Solange delivered the soothing harmonies that made A Seat at the Table one of the year’s most widely-celebrated releases and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance.
While she connected with her fans emotionally, she literally connected with her singers, as fabric on stunning red jumpsuits linked them into a trio.
Solange’s mother Tina Lawson designed the outfits, based on Solo’s idea, and she shared this with a proud mom’s joy.
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is risking offending European carmakers by apparently asking for a Japanese rather than a European car.
It is rumoured that the heretical Mr Dimas wants a green Toyota Prius to replace the gas-guzzling Mercedes he inherited from his predecessor.
The Greek commissioner is currently battling to impose tough CO2 emission limits on new cars sold in Europe.
A spokeswoman said he had asked for a car that was the greenest in its class.
Officials say there is no rule that says a European commissioner may not have a Japanese or other non-European car - but commission sources say they are rarely seen in the car park.
Mr Dimas' embrace of the Prius could be taken as an insult by the European car industry, which is already feeling battered by his proposal to cap CO2 emissions from new cars at 120g per kilometre by 2012.
The latest signs are that the industry may be winning the war, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel announcing this week that she would "never agree" to rules that penalised makers of big cars.
EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has been driving a hard bargain within the commission itself.
According to one report, Mr Dimas asked Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last August if he could have a Toyota Prius hybrid car when his existing car is replaced this April.
Mr Barroso has been keen to commit the EU to ambitious environmental targets, such as a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, but has come under attack for driving an Volkswagen Touareg 4X4, which emits at least 265g of CO2 per kilometre.
Each of these would be suitable for the commissioner, they said, assuming he was being driven around, and "wanted to read the latest IPCC report on climate change" in the back seat.
But British Green MEP Caroline Lucas questioned whether Mr Dimas needed a car at all.
"It's perfectly possible to travel around Brussels by bicycle, or on its excellent public transport system. Millions do, after all," she said.
Journalists at the European Commission press briefing on Thursday asked whether, following Mr Dimas' example, the agriculture commissioner would start eating organic food, and the fisheries commissioner would eat only the least endangered species of fish.
Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger replied that while everybody at the commission tried to set a good example, the EU was not about prescribing to citizens "one single standard".
"It's up to each individual to decide whether to eat an apple or a pear, or steak or cod," he said.
As many as 90 million Facebook accounts may have been hacked, the social media giant announced today.
And advice has now been issued on how to spot if yours has been compromised.
If your account was part of the attack, you’ll be prompted to log back into your Facebook , and any other apps that use Facebook login.
Once you’ve logged back in, you’ll get a notification at the top of your News Feed explaining what happened.
Surprisingly, Facebook says there’s no need to change your password, as accounts are now secure, reports The Mirror .
If you think your account has been hacked or taken over, you should visit this page to secure your account.
- Facebook will ask you to change your password and review recent login activity.
How many accounts have been affected?
The issue was discovered on Tuesday, and has since been resolved.
While the investigation is still in its early stages, Facebook has revealed that attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that impacted the ‘View As’ feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else.
This allowed the attackers to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people’s accounts.
Saturday, June 25, 2016 ratings — New Episodes: People’s List and 20/20: In an Instant. Sports: Major League Baseball, U.S. Olympics Trials, and Premier Boxing Champions. Reruns: 48 Hours.
Wilmington alt-country duo Talkin' Ugly plays Saturday, March 6, at Bottega.
Beach music? Country? A benefit? We’ve got it all this weekend, including a trio of shows (on one night, no less) at the Soapbox.
A super-dancy Philadelphia band that pours liberal amounts of reggae, hip-hop and rock into a propulsive sonic mix. Details: 9 p.m. Thursday, 417 S. College Road in University Landing, Wilmington.
One of the top beach music bands in all the South, Quick and company will get you thinking about summertime, even if it hasn’t warmed up quite yet. Details: 9 p.m. Thursday, 5001 Market St. in the Ramada Inn, Wilmington.
Tuneful, heartfelt country from this longtime Wilmingtonian. Next week, Marks has a big gig when he and his band head to Durham to open for country star Gary Allan on March 12. Details: 10:30 p.m. Friday, 1331 Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington.

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.