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Traditionally, many engineers and developers of solar cell technology have turned to crystalline silicon — a tried and tested material absorber capable of efficiently converting solar radiation to electricity at just four times the thickness of a strand of hair.
At up to a 100th the thickness of a hair strand, nano-thin metal films offer an even more cost-effective and flexible material alternative, holding promise in the future development of everything from solar power to sensor technology.
However, metal nanofilms are currently more complicated to use as material absorbers due to complex processes that the material typically undergoes while the films are melted on glass panels or other solid substrates using intense heat generated by laser pulses.
NJIT investigators are now shedding new light on the mysterious changes that occur to metal nanofilms during this complex evolutionary process.
A team of researchers led by Lou Kondic, professor of mathematics at NJIT, has devised a new computational model capable of tracking how extreme heat impacts the evolution of thin metal films on thermally-conductive solid substrates. The lab’s recent discovery of major thermal and fluid dynamic factors that drive the evolution of metal films could potentially aid future development of more efficient thin film technologies.
“Until now, we have not been able to precisely see how these films evolve to nanoparticles and arrange themselves under laser heat because the changes happen so fast,” said Kondic. “The idea of our research has been to use our new model to understand and measure the mechanisms that govern thin films and what they do on the nanoscale during this process.”
In recent published research, featured in the AIP Publishing journal Physics of Fluids, Kondic’s lab used their model to accurately simulate fluid dynamics with spatial and temporal temperature changes in metal film and its substrate under nanoseconds-long pulses of laser irradiation.
Challenging previous understanding in the field, Kondic’s team found that the evolution of the film in its liquid state is mainly influenced by time-dependent surface tension changes as it heats and cools over the course of each laser pulse, rather than by thermally-driven stresses created by spatial variation of liquid surface tension, otherwise known as the Marangoni effect.
“The surprise was that we expected to show the Marangoni effect was crucial to the outcome of this process because other work had claimed that previously,” said Kondic. “It turns out that what is most crucial is that when you go from cold metal to hot metal, surface tension changes. At the beginning of each laser pulse we can see one surface tension, and later we can see a different one…the evolution of surface tension in time is what is really critical in determining the evolution of these films.”
Kondic’s team is now exploring how alloys involving more than one metal evolve under similar conditions. Kondic says learning more about how complex metal films evolve in a similar way may help boost development of alloys with even better radiation-absorbing properties. | https://news.njit.edu/researchers-record-blazing-fast-evolutionary-changes-not-so-heavy-metal-nanofilms |
A team at Idaho National Laboratory has created a new type of electrode, which it says could be used to lower the process costs of large-scale hydrogen, potentially allowing the energy to compete with conventional fossil fuel driven processes used in industry.
In certain areas of hydrogen production, electrolysis can already compete with fossil fuel driven steam reforming, as such processes are difficult to scale down to smaller applications, and have high emissions.
The Idaho National Laboratory researchers state, “Although hydrogen is already used to power vehicles for energy storage and as portable energy, this [their new] approach could offer a more efficient alternative for high-volume production.”
In their paper, the snappily titled 3D self-architectured steam electrode enabled efficient and durable hydrogen production in a proton-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cell at temperatures lower than 600°C, published in the journal Advanced Science, the researchers describe design and production of highly efficient proton conducting solid oxide electrolysis cells (P-SOECs). The cells operated efficiently for more than 75 hours at temperatures lower than, you've guessed it, 600°C.
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Key to the performance, according to the researchers, was the development of a ceramic steam electrode. “We invented a 3-D self-assembled steam electrode which can be scalable,” says Dr. Dong Ding. “The ultra high porosity and the 3-D structure can make the mass-charge transfer much better, so the performance was better.”
The electrode was created using a woven textile template, which is placed in a precursor solution and fired – burning away the textile and leaving behind a ceramic version of the structure. When placed into a solid oxide electrolysis cell, the team observed bridging between the strands in the ceramic textile, which they say should improve performance and stability.
Cells incorporating the new steam electrode were able to perform efficiently at 600°C, and the researchers say there is potential to bring the temperature even lower. Typical SOECs currently operate at temperatures above 800°C, so the new cell could significantly reduce the amount of energy needed to produce hydrogen. The researchers also point out operating at lower temperatures would allow for the removal of several expensive heat resistant materials in the cell design, further reducing costs.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected]. | https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/09/05/us-scientists-announce-breakthrough-in-hydrogen-production/ |
An international team of researchers has identified a mechanism that triggers shape-memory phenomena in the organic crystals used in plastic electronics. Shape-shifting structural materials have generally been made with metal alloys, but a new generation of economical printable plastic electronics is now poised to benefit from this phenomenon. Shape-memory materials science and plastic electronics technology, when merged, could open the door to advances in low-power electronics, medical electronics devices and multifunctional shape-memory materials.
The researchers report their finding of shape-memory phenomenon in two organic semiconductor materials in a paper in Nature Communications.
Devices like the expandable stents that open and unblock clogged human blood vessels take advantage of shape-memory technology. This involves physically deforming a material and then using heat, light and electrical signals, or mechanical forces, to trigger the material to expand, contract, bend and morph back to its original form, which can be done repeatedly. This effect works well with metals but remains elusive in synthetic organic materials because of the complexity of the molecules used to create them.
"The shape-memory phenomenon is common in nature, but we are not really sure about nature's design rules at the molecular level," said Ying Diao, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and co-author of the paper. "Nature uses organic compounds that are very different from the metal alloys used in shape-memory materials on the market today. In naturally occurring shape-memory materials, the molecules transform cooperatively, meaning that they all move together during shape change. Otherwise, these materials would shatter and the shape change would not be reversible and ultrafast."
The discovery of the shape-memory mechanism in synthetic organic materials was quite serendipitous, Diao said. The team accidentally created large organic crystals and was curious to find out how they would transform on exposure to heat.
"We looked at the single crystals under a microscope and found that the transformation process is dramatically different than we expected," said graduate student and co-author Hyunjoong Chung. "We saw concerted movement of a whole layer of molecules sweeping through the crystal that seem to drive the shape-memory effect – something that is rarely observed in organic crystals and is therefore largely unexplored."
This unexpected observation encouraged the team to explore the merger between shape-memory materials science and the field of organic electronics. "Today's electronics are dependent on transistors to switch on and off, which is a very energy-intensive process," Diao said. "If we can use the shape-memory effect in plastic semiconductors to modulate electronic properties in a cooperative manner, it would require very low energy input, potentially contributing to advancements in low-power and more efficient electronics."
The team is currently using heat to demonstrate the shape-memory effect, but are experimenting with light waves, electrical fields and mechanical forces for future demonstrations. They are also exploring the molecular origin of the shape-memory mechanism by tweaking the molecular structure of their materials. "We have already found that changing just one atom in a molecule can significantly alter the phenomenon," Chung said.
The researchers are very excited about the molecular cooperativity aspect discovered in this research and its potential application to the recent Nobel Prize-winning concept of molecular machines. "These molecules can change conformation cooperatively at the molecular level, and the small molecular structure change is amplified over millions of molecules to actuate large motion at the macroscopic scale," Diao said.
This story is adapted from material from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier. Link to original source.
A new magnetic shape-memory polymer can be transformed into a variety of different shapes with magnetic fields and then be locked into place. | https://www.materialstoday.com/crystalline-materials/news/shapememory-ability-found-in-organic-crystals/ |
A new design for thermal actuators can be used to create rapid movement in soft robotic devices, claim researchers at North Carolina State University.
Thermally actuated soft robots are not new, but they have been relatively slow. “We’ve made them fast,” said Yong Zhu, corresponding author a paper detailing the work in Soft Robotics. Zhu is also the Andrew A. Adams Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NC State.
“What makes this new actuator design work is a structure with a bi-stable design,” said Shuang Wu, first author of the paper and a Ph.D. student at NC State. “Think of a snap hair clip. It’s stable until you apply a certain amount of energy [by bending it over], and then it snaps into a different shape – which is also stable.”
New technique prints silver nanowires that stretch and flex
To make the material, the researchers layered two materials on top of each other, with silver nanowires in the middle. The two materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion, so they expand at different rates as they heat up.
This layered material was then shaped into a design that gives it a default curvature in one direction. When voltage is applied to the silver nanowires, the material heats up, making it bend in the other direction. When a certain temperature is reached – the critical temperature – the material snaps into its new default shape, curving up rapidly. When the voltage is removed, the temperature goes back down. Once it cools past another critical temperature, the material snaps back to its previous default shape, curving down rapidly. By applying current to the nanowires in a regular pattern, the material can be made to snap back and forth.
To demonstrate the technique, the researchers created two prototypes. One of the prototypes emulates the snapping behaviour of a Venus flytrap, while the other is a ‘crawler’ capable of moving more than one body length per second.
“Potential applications range from biomedical applications to prosthetic devices to high-end manufacturing,” Zhu said in a statement. “Any application in which you’d want to be able to move quickly, but also want to avoid rigid materials and conventional robotics.”
Next steps include developing sensor and control mechanisms that could more fully automate the actuation process, allowing it to operate more efficiently than purely manual controls. | https://www.theengineer.co.uk/soft-robots-snap-into-action-with-thermal-actuators/ |
GDPR is a new law that changes operation in companies, which collect, store or interact with user data. The regulation consists of 99 articles with a detailed description of new rules, applying to companies with business operations in еру European Union.
One of the reasons behind the GDPR’s initialization was the increase in unethical usage of information across companies and countries. It was issued to protect personal information and ensure it is used lawfully. For non-compliance, the document entails a fine of up to 20 million Euros or up to 4% of the annual turnover.
Companies all over the world are searching for an ultimate solution that could help to store user data and protect it from hacker attacks. Software R&D companies offer a range of solutions to be used to become GDPR compliant. Centralized and decentralized applications serve the same purpose; however, they differ in a few critical fields.
The pros and cons of centralized solutions
Storage of data in at the core of everything that GDPR regulates. Many companies have to rely on centralized databases to store information about customers. At first, such solutions can be an ideal and cost effective-choice for a small business. But as the company grows it needs to broaden infrastructure and add extra servers to ensure all operations run soothingly. As a result, scaling of the system can become a main spending pattern. And let’s not forget about bottlenecks that occur as a result of high traffics.
The vast majority of companies uses centralized solutions. Designing a centralized database is not very difficult, and many IT companies provide services for their development. You can easily find a contractor who will be responsible for the development and maintenance of a system. The competition in the market is high, so the cost of the work is relatively low.
However, there is always a “but.” The underlying idea of centralized databases is that only one database is kept at a single location on a given network. Usually there is minimal or no data redundancy, so if data is lost it is almost impossible to retrieve it and it has to be done manually.
Centralized databases are exposed to the risk of breaches and data leaks. Usually, the data configuration is so weak that it is easy to exploit. Very often it is even not necessary to use sophisticated hacking methods due to the initially totally insecure database. Even with a protection system in place, violators can use brute-force to crack weak or default usernames and passwords, target unpatched database vulnerabilities, apply SQL injection or steal backup records. The result of malicious actions may be a personal identification by the stored data, which is a major breach of the law in accordance to GDPR.
With a poorly protected database, a business can’t guarantee the security of user data. GDPR is very strict about data protection, and a chance of data breaches puts companies at risk. Even if a company complies with regulations, one successful hacker attack could cost millions of Euros and put a business in danger.
Blockchain-based decentralized solutions with security at the core
Decentralized solutions are a more reliable and secure method of interaction with user data. If centralized storage uses a single unit to store data, decentralized storage stores information on multiple physical locations that makes data restoration possible. And when we add blockchain to the equation, we get highly secure storage for any data, including the data of your users and customers.
The anonymity of users and data protection lie at the root of both GDPR and blockchain. The latter is designed to be intensely private and equally secure. The public and private keys allow participants to send and receive data with nearly absolute anonymity. The public key is detached from any person and information is hashed, thus can’t be used to identify the real person behind the scenes, making blockchain compliant with the regulations.
Increase in security is another advantage you should consider. The very nature of blockchain removes a single point of vulnerability. Data is stored on many nodes that are distributed all over the world, and it is the distributed network without single point of failure. Companies that use information from blockchain don’t have to operate with the threat of data leak. The chance of such an occurrence is minimized if not null at all.
Almost infinite scalability is one of the main advantages blockchain-based solutions possess. If using a centralized database you need to buy new servers, with blockchain you don’t have to spend money on their purchase and maintenance. As a result, it reduces the price of the services for your company.
Different blockchain companies provide tools to create your own blockchain solutions. You only have to hire qualified specialists and pay for transactions, though the price of them may be lower than the price of centralized storage maintenance. Moreover, it mitigates the risk of breaches that can result in multi-million penalties.
Emercoin is also working on a solution to help companies become compliant with GDPR. Blockchain provides more reliable solutions for data collection, storage and security as it follows the principles of “privacy by design” introduces by General Data Protection Regulation. | https://emercoin.com/en/news/centralized-vs-decentralized-solutions-for-gdpr-compliance-shoose-the-best-for-your-company/ |
CERT-UK, the UK National Computer Emergency Response Team, has published advice which aims to help businesses better understand the risks of cyber-security in supply chains. In CERT-UK’s publication, Cyber-security Risks in the Supply Chain, they explain where risks to cyber-security are usually found in supply chains and provide advice on mitigation and risk management.
The term cyber-security covers any technology, processes or knowledge which is employed to protect the data, programs, networks and computers of an organisation from any kind of cyber-attack, damage or unauthorised access. One of the challenging aspects of cyber-security is the constantly evolving nature of the security risks. CERT-UK have highlighted several recent examples of different ways in which supply chains can be threatened by cyber-attacks, including attacks on 3rd party software providers, website builders and 3rd party data storage.
One of the significant problems of trying to protect the supply chain from cyber-security breaches is the lack of procedures which focus on this kind of risk. Although general risk management procedures are common practice, the same level of attention is not generally paid to cyber-security. This results in a failure to adequately identify and assess the risks. Consequently, the risks posed by cyber-security breaches are not addressed at the strategic planning level.
Another common area of risk for supply chains focusses on the smallest organisation in the chain. Although not always the case, generally the smallest organisation is also the most vulnerable in terms of cyber-security due to a lack of resources. By the very nature of the supply chain, each link in the chain is potentially only as strong as the weakest link in the chain; the weakest link is often the smallest organisation in the chain.
To reduce these risks there are usually 3 broad areas that need to be addressed; upgraded technology, enhanced processes and education of the workforce. However, the overriding issue is one of trust. Ideally there would be a comprehensive approach across the supply chain, allowing each organisation to assess its position within the supply chain and identify its own cyber-security risks. This kind of inclusive approach can be held back by a lack of communication across the supply chain, in particular the lack of a shared risk vocabulary, as well as a lack of suitable strategic business planning.
To begin addressing these issues, the first step is to engage as many members of the supply chain as possible in a cyber-security risk assessment process. Small and medium sized businesses can improve their cyber-security credentials by joining the government’s Cyber Essentials Scheme, where they can gain accreditation. Larger organisations should follow the 20 security controls set out by the government in the Critical Security Controls guidance. Common standards are also available from the International Standards Organisation (ISO); the ISO 27000 series of standards addresses ICT security issues.
In addition, it is important not to neglect the basics. For example, it is necessary to ensure that cyber security is taken into account from the very beginning of the procurement process, that due diligence is thoroughly conducted when establishing a business relationship with new suppliers and that new suppliers show knowledge of cyber-security risks. It is also worth considering adding clauses which focus on security to contracts with suppliers; these clauses should indicate who is responsible for any data breaches or compromise and should cover all businesses within the supply chain including sub-contractors.
It is already challenging to have to deal with supply chain risk management without the added risks of cyber-attacks. The implementation of common standards, education of the workforce and upgrading of technology are all helpful in mitigating the risks posed by cyber-attacks, but one of the most important factors is the close working relationship of all members of the supply chain. Working closely together improves the strength of the supply chain and helps protect each member of the chain. | https://www.paultrudgian.co.uk/cyber-security-supply-chains/ |
Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor | Sep 12, 2019 10:49AM EDT
TradeLens, the global trade blockchain platform developed by IBM and Maersk, is enlisting help from a third-party solutions provider to establish what is known as organizational identity for entities participating in the platform.
TradeLens will use software from Blacksburg, Virginia-based Digital Bazaar, which develops blockchain-based identity management and payment solutions for enterprises.
Blockchain, also known as decentralized ledger technology, is a type of database designed to provide more trust in the data stored within it through more robust encryption than a traditional database. The decentralized nature of blockchain is thought to be a good match for the dispersed nature of global supply chains.
TradeLens is aimed at digitizing documentation related to container shipping and global trade processes, including data provided and used by ports, container lines, customs, authorities, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), and shippers. The platform is also intended to provide participants with better visibility of those processes, and digital authentication of the data and providers of data.
Part of the process of enabling trust between parties is ensuring that an entity participating in a blockchain is authentic, and one of the theoretical use cases for blockchain is in establishing identity credentials. That theory is being tested in financial, healthcare, and governmental sectors, among others.
“Identity and role management is an essential challenge to support [TradeLens’] ambition, and we are always on the lookout for new ways to achieve it,” Nis Jespersen, lead architect for TradeLens, said in a statement. “Participating in the Organizational Identity Proof of Concept has been a true eye-opener of how emerging standards and technologies should be embraced within our own solution.”
Balancing transparency, privacy, and performance
The partnership comes amid the release in recent days of a report that shines a broader light on data security of blockchains in supply chain and whether some logistics-oriented products called blockchains are, in effect, true blockchains.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday said that companies participating on supply chain blockchain systems need only share information with other parties relevant to those parties, and that all of an enterprise’s data shouldn’t be stored on a blockchain.
“For example, a logistics provider at origin must share the purchase order numbers with the origin consolidation facility for a given consignment or shipment,” Nadia Hewett, WEF project lead, blockchain, and Anne Flanagan, WEF project lead, data policy, wrote in a commentary for JOC.com. “However, the carrier does not wish to share other purchase order information, such as end-customer details. In this case, the purchase order number will go ‘on-chain’ but other details attached to the purchase order will be kept ‘off-chain’ and therefore will not be visible to the origin consolidation facility.”
Hewitt and Flanagan wrote that this approach not only has data security benefits, but also helps the performance of blockchain-based systems.
“The best technique for storing authenticated data on the blockchain is to simply store the hash of data on the blockchain, while the data itself stays in a database off-chain,” they wrote. “This is a popular solution for documents, which are data-intensive files. In addition to increasing data privacy, this structure helps with the throughput rate of the blockchain. The less data there is on the blockchain, the less time it takes to run a query on it so that the data can be processed.”
The commentary was related to the WEF’s fourth white paper on the practical deployment of blockchain technology in supply chains.
The report also touches on identity management.
“Where personal data must be incorporated into a blockchain supply chain application, a potential solution would be to store only a hash of the relevant personal data on the blockchain,” Hewitt and Flanagan wrote. “This keeps the control and security of the original personal data maintained by the data controller, and allows the data controller to continue to protect and fulfil any data subject rights.”
A hash is a cryptographic representation of a larger file and is made of a randomly generated sequence of numbers, letters, and characters.
Contact Eric Johnson at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter: @LogTechEric. | https://www.joc.com/technology/blockchain-platform-tradelens-seeks-%E2%80%98organizational-identity%E2%80%99_20190912.html |
The need for cyber security has been more important than ever as the increasing cost of data breaches and cyber attacks is raising alarms. In addition to disrupting business operations, cyber attacks now cause damage to that extent where it is almost difficult for organizations to recover from. In a recent study, it was found that the average total cost of a data breach has increased to $4.24 million in 2021.
If we dig deep into the roots of the growing costs, we will find that there are various factors that have impacted it, including the sudden shift to the remote working model. This transition brought a major change in the speed of incident detection and response, as well as expanded the time frame to determine and curb security breaches. Since this new working model is expected to stay for some more time, we can probably witness the spike of cybercrimes’ costs reaching heights. According to an estimate, by the end of the year 2025, cybercrimes will cost organizations across the globe nearly $10.5 trillion per year, up from $3 trillion in 2015. Irrespective of the type of cyber attack, each security incident results in some kind of damage, whether reputational or financial.
Most Common Cyber Attacks in 2021
Throughout the year 2021, we have seen businesses working remotely or in a hybrid manner and even in complete offline mode. This rapid shift has given cybercriminals a multitude of opportunities to amplify their intrusion attempts with new attack vectors. But, in most of the methods, human error remains the topmost vulnerability exploited by threat actors to breach the security perimeter of an enterprise. Your best employees can also become victims to cybercriminals if they click on any malicious link or download an infected document without proper security checks.
Now, let’s glance through some of the most common cyber attacks, which a majority of organizations faced in 2021:
- Ransomware Attacks
Nearly 37% of global organizations revealed that they were targeted with some form of a ransomware attack in 2021. (Source: IDC 2021 Ransomware Study)
- Phishing Attacks
In Q1 2021, the volume of phishing attacks increased by 22% as compared to Q1 2020. (Source: PhishLabs)
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
In a recent study, it was found that DDoS attacks increased by 233% in the first half of 2021. (Source: Nexusguard Threat Report)
Apart from the above-mentioned threats, there were some other types of attacks as well that impacted the global organizations, including session hijacking, spoofing attacks, credential stuffing, mobile device attacks, etc.
Key Takeaways From Cyber Attacks
Over the course of the years, one thing we have learnt is that staying on top of every new threat, especially in the cybersecurity domain, is extremely difficult. Adversaries come up with new tactics and techniques every time they penetrate any security infrastructure. Since the pandemic has begun, we have seen CISOs, CIOs and other C-level executives facing a stream of security breaches, large-scale supply chain attacks and social engineering attacks to compromise critical IT resources.
Let’s go through some of the key lessons learned from cybersecurity incidents in 2021 so far.
1. Each organization must implement endpoint protection
As a majority of the global workforce is operating in a virtual manner, the need for enhanced endpoint security cannot be ignored. Companies should consider advanced endpoint security solutions that must be capable of securely configuring, patching, managing operating systems and applications, as well as updating the security protocols.
2. Supply chains are not immune against cyber attacks
SolarWinds attack showcased that software supply chains are also vulnerable to cyber attacks. This incident taught us that every enterprise, be it small or large, need to implement strong and multiple security controls containing different elements, including (but not limited to) strong password policy, multi-factor authentication, privileged access controls, etc. In addition, attacks against the COVID-19 supply chains showed that cybercriminals leveraged social engineering and masqueraded as trusted entities to get access to privileged access credentials.
3. Cloud security misconfigurations are becoming a major cause of data breaches
Misconfigurations in cloud systems/software open up the doors for threat actors to commit data breaches. As per a survey by Ermetic, the top three cloud security threats are security configuration errors (67%), lack of adequate visibility into access settings and activities (64%) and improperly configured identity access management (IAM) and permissions (61%). Organizations can avoid data loss with the help of backup and archive solutions that make similar copies of data on different storage systems. They can create backups in different cloud accounts or even on-premises to stop intruders from deleting/encrypting them.
4. Cyber-security awareness is very crucial
Since humans are the first line of defence for any business, they are extremely prone to cyber attacks. Cybersecurity awareness training must be designed in a way that encourages employees to recognize different cyber threats, understand the potential impact of a cyber attack on the organization, learn about the ways to minimize the risk and prevent adversaries from penetrating their workstations.
5. Zero Trust solutions can be a good option
The traditional, perimeter-based security approach is gradually fading away as the workplaces are increasingly becoming highly dynamic and data is uninterruptedly moving across corporate boundaries. Organizations need to adopt a modern methodology where they should follow the principle of – Never Trust, Always Verify. A Zero Trust Security Solution provides in-depth visibility, safeguards user access and prevents data loss, despite users’ geographical location and devices being used. Such solutions help in continuous monitoring and validation, along with protection against advanced attacks like supply-chain, DDoS and ransomware.
Towards The End
The state of cyber security and growth of cybercrimes will keep evolving over time. The last two years have taught us a lesson that we should always be prepared to transition to a new normal. Unfortunately, cyber attacks will keep targeting more workforce unless organizations take proper precautions to prevent threat actors from exploiting vulnerabilities. Business leaders must keep investing in cybersecurity to keep processes running and remain alive in the competitive world.
References: | https://www.dailyhostnews.com/lessons-to-learn-from-security-breaches-in-2021 |
The Internet of Things (IoT) technology has very well made a prominent position in the business ecosystem.
All through the way of offering inter-connected products, services, people, and places, IoT helps to collect a large chunk of data and behavioural insights.
Each IoT-enabled device transmits the collected information to the IoT network, helping enterprises to convert insights into action, make profit-driven decisions, and leading to new ways of working.
There is no doubt in the fact that the Internet of Things (IoT) is doing commendable work allowing enterprises to streamline information collection by connecting a wide scale of devices.
In the midst of such a revolution, there lie security few loopholes that remain unaddressed.
So, here, our focus will be on possible security obstacles of interconnected IoT technology. And, how integration with Blockchain technology curbs the issue and ensure scalability challenges.
In this blog, we will have major touchpoints towards the below-mentioned factors:
* Possible security issues with the Internet of Things
* How Blockchain is the best solution?
* What is Blockchain technology?
* How Blockchain solves IoT security obstacles?
* Key Benefits of IoT & Blockchain integration
* Common Used Cases
* Challenges
So, let’s get started on this.
Table of Contents
Security Hindrance
When it comes to large scale deployment of IoT technology, it comes across several security issues.
It is a relevant fact that the Internet of Things is vulnerable to security issues that become an easy target for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. It is a type of cyber attack in which multiple compromised computer systems bombard a target such as a central server with a huge volume of simultaneous data requests. It leads to cause a denial of service to the targetted users. In recent years, there have been many DDoS attacks have happened causing major disruption for organizations.
Another security hindrance to come across the Internet of Things is that of scalability. There lies the limitancy to scale up IoT-enabled device with having an issue of current centralised system to authenticate, connect, and authorize different nodes in a network. To make it happen, you need to make a huge set of investment into servers that will handle a huge set of information supplied by IoT devices.
The above-mentioned security and scalability issues of IoT can only be handled by integrating the virtues of Blockchain technology.
So, let’s move on to the next section to better understand the same.
Solution Lies with Blockchain Technology
Blockchain Technology, which is also known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), has the potential to meet several security and scalability challenges of the Internet of Things (IoT).
When combines with IoT technology, Blockchain helps make a machine to machine transactions possible and secure. All the information transactions are recorded and verified by multiple resources under the realm of Blockchain. And, further entered inside a common ledger distributed across every single node.
Furthermore, the information collected via IoT devices and effectively stored in Blockchain can be shared by a community of users. Selected members can maintain their copy of the information and validate any new transactions collectively through a consensus process.
What is Blockchain?
The term, “Blockchain”, which is commonly synonymous with Bitcoin has an extendible potential.
Blockchain is a large set of database that records a huge chunk of business information and provides easy access to respective enterprises. It is a database system that cannot be hacked or compromised, resulting in the safe storage of crucial information.
There are different databases, better known as blocks inside Blockchain that stores a wide range of information. Different blocks containing different information can be chained together to make a combination. Each transaction that is recorded in the block is bind together and kept safe under the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
How Does Blockchain Help to Solve IoT Security Issues?
Here, you will get to understand how Blockchain helps IoT deals with several security issues.
In general, the Internet of Things network processes large scale information transactions across multiple set of devices and administrated by different organizations. This makes it difficult for the technology to pinpoint any kind of data leakage or even attack of cybercriminals.
It is here comes the role of Blockchain technology that can alleviate the security issues of IoT in the following few ways.
* The distributed ledger of the Blockchain technology is tamper-proof and prevents enterprises to rely on third parties for data protection.
* Integrating IoT with Blockchain is like adding another layer of security. It prevents hackers to bypass the secured ecosystem to get access to the network. Blockchain offers an upscale level of encryption benefit to IoT network that makes virtually impossible to overwrite the existing information records.
* Blockchain offers the flexibility to particular stakeholders to get authorized access to the network and track past transactions.
* With the help of Blockchain, millions of devices can be coordinated among one another. The distributed ledger technology paves the way for the seamless processing of data across different devices and channels.
* Blockchain technology further helps enterprises to reduce their overhead cost in terms of getting new storage hardware, following traditional protocol, hardware, or another expense.
Key Benefits of Integrating Blockchain with the Internet of Things
The integration of Blockchain with the Internet of Things (IoT) has opened new doors of possibilities to:
* Add an extra layer of security
* Improve transparency
* Reduce inefficiencies
* Make virtually impossible for anyone to make changes in the existing data records
* Prevent malicious attackers
The coupling of both technologies provides a further scale of benefits that are as follows:
* Enhanced Security: Blockchain technology can add an extra layer of security to the IoT network by allowing verification of all data transactions. It ensures cross-checking the trusted party from where the information is coming from and enabling encryption while data is transmitted and stored. The technology also prevents any single point of failure and quickly identify the weak link in the data ecosystem.
* Cost Reduction: Once you automate the settings of data validation, verification, and the entire ecosystem, from that moment onwards, you started to reduce the overall operational cost.
* Ensure Transaction Speed: Specifically with reference to supply chain transactions among multiple suppliers, producers, manufacturers, etc., blockchain technology ensures quick transactions. Eliminating the manual processes of transaction and bringing automation in the power.
Some of the Common Used Cases of IoT & Blockchain Technologies Combined
To better understand the seamless amalgamation of Blockchain with IoT. Let’s take a good look at a few of the used cases below.
- Supply Chain Model
The combination of Blockchain and IoT works well for the supply chain and quality assurance. The integration of technologies helps to ensure the quality of products to decide whether to accept or reject. For example, perishable goods like wine or rare foods, need to be maintained at varying temperature and exposure to light. Blockchain & IoT together capture the location and temperate data collected to see, whether the stock of goods history passes through the supply chain and quality assurance model.
- Leasing of Trucks
There are IoT sensors placed inside the trucks and fleets to know the whereabouts, see returns, and manage the movements. It is important to support meaningful bill practices.
Now, all information related to the fleet will store inside the Blockchain Distributed Ledger. It supports the single version of the truth across all participants. The successful integration of technologies helps to manage the fleets data and leasing companies can verify the same from the distributed ledger itself. All of this helps the leasing companies to better manage the movement of trucks in real-time, cut maximum operational cost, and increase revenue.
- Oil Operations
Even at the oil fields, you can use IoT sensors on the oil and water wells that help companies to monitor the performance of hauling companies pick up, delivery of oil, and water well movements. It captures the data of the fleet across various destinations to eliminate any kind of fraud. Furthermore, IoT sensors in the oil wells schedule the truck pickups, monitor the amount of material picked up and safely store all the data in the Blockchain Distributed Ledger system.
This integration of IoT and Blockchain ultimately helps oil companies to skillfully operate pick-ups, delivery operations, and save money to an optimum extent.
Summing Up
It’s high time that companies should start considering the incredible combination of the Internet of Things with Blockchain technology. Blockchain has the scalability ability to handle a large amount of data supplied by IoT devices, regulatory and ensure data privacy issues as an important element for an organization. The favorable integration proves the fact that infrastructure is secure, efficiently working, and resilient in nature.
If you want to know more about IoT and Blockchain integration and avail services, then get in touch with OrangeMantra. It is a leading business transformation solutions provider company that offers profit-driven Blockchain and IoT solutions as well.
Author Bio – Sneha Rawat is a professional Sr. SEO Executive cum blogger, using the best of our talent in marketing and writing. She works for OrangeMantra – IoT application development company, which is a business transformation solutions provider company. For years, she has developed an exceptional level of efficiency in revolutionary technologies like the Internet of Things, Cloud, Blockchain, and more. | https://technewsgather.com/how-blockchain-technology-is-handling-security-scalability-issues-of-iot/ |
UK hit by more online attacks than ever
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the National Criminal Agency (NCA) have warned that more online attacks are targeting British businesses than ever before.
According to a new report published by the NCSC: “2017 will be remembered as the year of ransomware attacks and massive data breaches, supply chain threats and, of course, fake news stories.”
It continues: “With attackers able to achieve many of their aims by using techniques that are not particularly advanced, the distinction between nation states and cyber criminals has blurred, making attribution all the more difficult.”
The report notes that both the public and private sector must work together to handle the rise in cyber crime, as firms face a growing threat from ransomware, data breaches, and weaknesses in the supply chain.
It also mentions that there is a growing threat of theft from cloud storage, which according to the NCSC, "too many businesses put their faith in", as only 40% of data stored in the cloud is access secured.
Ciaran Martin, head of the NCSC, said: “The last year has seen no deceleration in the tempo and volume of cyber incidents, as attackers devise new ways to harm businesses and citizens around the globe.
He continued: “The NCSC’s aim is to make the UK an unattractive target to cyber criminals and certain nation states by increasing their risk and reducing their return on investment.”
Data released in January shows that no less than 34 significant cyber attacks took place between October 2016 and the end of 2017, while a further 762 arracks were less serious.
The report warns that 2018 will bring more of these attacks.
Donald Toon, director of the NCA’s Prosperity Command, said: “UK business faces a cyber threat which is growing in scale and complexity. Organisations which don’t take cyber security extremely seriously in the next year are risking serious financial and reputational consequences."
He continued: “By increasing collaboration between law enforcement, government and industry we will make sure the UK is a safe place to do business and hostile zone for cyber criminals."
The enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May could, in some circumstances, lead to heavy fines for organisations that do not put security measures in place. | https://blog.cyber-scanner.com/uk-hit-by-more-online-attacks-than-ever/ |
Ransomware attacks were one of the top causes of data breaches in Australia during the first half of this year, according to the latest statistics report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
According to the report, the number of data breaches caused by ransomware rose from 13 in the previous six-month period to 33 between January and June.
“Malicious actors and criminals are responsible for three in five data breaches notified to the OAIC over the past six months,” said Australian information and privacy commissioner Angelene Falk. “This includes ransomware attacks, where a strain of malicious software is used to encrypt data and render it unusable or inaccessible.”
“We are now regularly seeing ransomware attacks that export or exfiltrate data from a network before encrypting the data on the target network, which is also of concern,” she said.
“This trend has significant implications for how organisations respond to suspected data breaches – particularly when systems may be inaccessible due to these attacks.
“It highlights the need for organisations to have a clear understanding of how and where personal information is stored on their network, and to consider additional measures such as network segmentation, robust access controls and encryption.”
Notwithstanding the growing threats from ransomware, there was slight fall in the number of breaches reported (518) against the previous six-month period (532), but an increase of 16% compared to the same period last year.
Across the reporting period, approximately 77% of notifying organisations were able to identify a breach within 30 days of it occurring.
However, in 47 instances, the organisation took between 61 and 365 days to become aware and assess that a data breach had occurred, while 14 entities took more than a year.
“Organisations must be able to detect and respond rapidly to data breaches to contain, assess and notify about the potential for serious harm,” Falk said.
“A number of notifications also fell short of the standards required, in failing to identify all the types of personal information involved and not providing advice to people affected on how to reduce their risk of harm.
“In these cases, we required the organisation to re-issue the notification. We will continue to closely monitor compliance with assessment and notification obligations as part of our system of oversight.”
The number of notifications per month also varied widely across the reporting period, ranging from 63 in January to 124 in May – the highest number of data breaches reported in a month since the notifiable data breaches scheme began in February 2018.
While the increase coincided with widespread changes in working arrangements due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Falk said the OAIC had not found evidence to suggest the increase in May was the result of changed business practices.
“The report shows that more human error data breaches were reported in May, accounting for 39% of notifications that month, compared to an average of 34% across the reporting period,” she said.
“While no specific cause for this change has been identified, it reinforces the need for organisations and agencies to take reasonable steps to prevent human error breaches, including training for staff who handle personal information.
“Organisations must also continue to assess and address any privacy impacts of changed business practices, both during their response to the Covid-19 outbreak and through the recovery.”
Lindsay Brown, vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Japan at LogMeIn, said organisations should be equipping employees with appropriate training and tools to mitigate risks from human error.
“For example, the risks of credential theft, abuse and phishing can be minimised by organisations adopting password managers with single sign-on and passwordless multi-factor authentication to thwart password-related risks.
“However, there also needs to be a larger focus on educating employees on cyber security and privacy best practices, as simple things like failure to use BCC when sending an email contribute to employees being many organisations’ weakest link,” he said.
Read more about cyber security in Australia
- The federal government’s current approach of allowing each agency to make its own cyber decisions is not working and more needs to be done to hunt down adversaries.
- The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and the Digital Transformation Agency have released new cloud security guidelines to support the secure adoption of cloud services across government and industry.
- Supply chain security risks can wreak havoc if measures are not taken to deter cyber attackers from exploiting a supplier’s security gaps to target another firm.
- About four in 10 employees in Australia are sharing inappropriate data across mobile devices and half of all security incidents in 2019 occurred through inappropriate IT use, new study finds. | https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252487052/More-data-breaches-from-ransomware-attacks-in-Australia |
If you are a blockchain expert and want to prepare yourself for an interview, this guide will help you in cracking the difficult interviews at the beginner’s level.
Table of Contents
- Advent of Blockchain
- Best Interview Questions for Blockchain Experts
- Concluding Lines
Advent of Blockchain
Blockchain, a peer-to-peer, decentralized, distributed ledger technology is taking the world by storm. At present, it is one of the most demanding technologies because blockchain developers and experts are leveraging blockchain for adding values to their businesses by offering transparency, security, traceability, and efficiency. Moreover, tech giants such as IBM, Microsoft, and others are adopting and implementing blockchain solutions for their operations. Top companies such as FedEx, KIK, Walmart, and more have already utilized blockchain solutions for their operations. Public sectors have also started considering this technology to move away from siloed and inefficient centralized systems.
Best Interview Questions for Blockchain Experts
From the above discussion, it is clear that the demand for blockchain experts is constantly growing. Now, without further delay, let’s focus on a few questions you should be thorough with before sitting down for your job interview.
Question: What is blockchain technology? What is the role of P2P in Blockchain?
Answer: Blockchain is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, distributed, digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network. It is a time-stamped series of immutable records which is not managed by any single authority.
The peer-to-peer architecture of blockchain allows all cryptocurrencies to be transferred worldwide, without the need of any middle-man or central server. With the distributed peer-to-peer network, anyone who wishes to participate in the process of verifying and validating blocks can set up a Bitcoin node.
Question: Is blockchain a trusted approach?
Answer: Blockchain is undoubtedly a trustable technology that helps participating parties to share their valuable data in a secure and tamper-proof manner. It makes uses of cryptography for securing crucial information, thus making it extremely hard for attackers to play with stored data. Due to its high potential to provide security, it is widely adopted and implemented by various organizations and businesses for their operations.
Question: What are the requirements for implementing Blockchain technology for enterprise usage?
Answer: Here are the most basic ones:
- Is the network peer-to-peer?
- Does the system offer smart contract functionality for the execution of decentralized applications or not?
- Can data be stored permanently without compromising the security measures?
- Does it offer decentralized data storage?
- What are its data privacy aspects?
- Is the immutability ensured?
Question: What are the restrictions for putting records in blockchain?
Answer: There is no such restriction. One can store any kind of record, depending upon their requirements. The most common type of records that are recorded in blockchain are records of transaction processing, identity management, business transactions, health management data, and all other documentation.
Question: What are the components of the Blockchain Ecosystem?
Answer: The major components of blockchain are:
- Node Application
- Shared Ledger
- Consensus Algorithm
- Virtual Machine
Question: What is the role of the consensus mechanism in blockchain? Distinguish between PoW and PoS?
Answer: Consensus mechanisms are used for a system of connected users with no central database to verify the legitimate transactions. Consensus mechanisms are used by blockchain to verify which transactions should be added to the blockchain in a decentralized manner. In addition, they make sure that everyone in the network uses the same copy of the blockchain on their computers.
There are various consensus mechanisms, but the most common ones are PoW and PoS.
In PoW, the central principle behind is to solve complex mathematical problems and make the largest number of guesses as quickly as possible. In this mechanism, miners compete to be the earliest one to find a hash regarding a specific block, which can only be solved using sheer computing power to make the most significant number of guesses. While in PoS, miners can join the mining process using their coins to stake. It allows users to mine for rewards using very minimal hardware and software resources.
Question: What is blockchain mining?
Answer: Blockchain mining is a process by which transactions of a blockchain are verified without involving any third-party. Every time a transaction is sent from a Bitcoin wallet, it is sent to the transaction pool. Miners then pick hundreds of transactions and combine them to form a block with other overheads like Merkel Root, SHA-256 Hash, Nonce, etc.
Question: What are smart contracts?
Answer: The term smart contract is used to describe computer code that can facilitate the exchange of items such as money, content, property, or anything of value. When such smart contracts run on the blockchain platform, they become like a self-operating computer program that executes automatically when desired conditions are met. Since these run on the blockchain, they run exactly as programmed, without any chance of censorship, downtime, deception, or third-party interception.
What are the use cases of blockchain?
Blockchain can be implemented and applied across various domains such as:
- Supply Chain
- Manufacturing
- Automobiles
- Healthcare
- Travel Industry
- Cybersecurity
- Financial Industry and many others.
Concluding Lines
If learning blockchain deeply from scratch is beyond your current scope, these questions will help you in preparing yourself for the best.
Hope you will crack your next interview and get a job as a blockchain expert in a top organization. Good luck!
To know more about blockchain certifications and become a blockchain expert, check out Blockchain Council. | https://www.blockchain-council.org/blockchain/top-blockchain-expert-interview-questions-for-beginners/ |
Covid-19 has brought the world into a halt. The economy and markets, in general, are adversely affected. Technology, such as the blockchain technology may be the answer to dealing with the pandemic. As much as there have been many controversies regarding blockchain and cryptocurrencies in general, it has been widely adopted in dealing with the pandemic. Crypto enthusiasts may, therefore, use it as a means of dealing with the pandemic.
There are many issues faced by the healthcare systems that make it hard to deal with the pandemic. There are privacy and security issues since the health systems are centralized. Epidemiologists are also facing a challenge as they have to deal with data efficiently, and yet there is a lot of data, and the health systems are outdated. Corona data management is also an issue, especially when it comes to tracking the cases. Underreporting is also experienced, as the cases of corona on the ground is higher than that reported. There are no enough test kits, and also there are many infected people who do not have symptoms, hence they have not been tested. In many places, there is no innovation in healthcare systems.
Blockchain may be the answer to dealing with such issues. Some of the ways blockchain may be the solution to dealing with the pandemic include:
With the pandemic, the lack of the right information, or difficulty in sharing information is common. There is so much information that it may be hard to verify the right information. Blockchain has been used to fight that.
WHO in partnership with several IT companies, launched a blockchain platform for sharing data that concerns the COVID-19 pandemic. The main aim of the platform, MiPasa, is to enable early detection of the pandemic carriers and identify infection hotspots. Through the platform, private sharing of information is possible. The privacy of the patient is assured, due to the nature of blockchain technology. The platform uses AI to detect epidemiological trends, which are useful in decision making.
In Madrid, developers developed an Iota Tango platform, that enables a decentralized peer to peer data sharing ecosystem.
Blockchain has also been used for health surveillance. This can help to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic. The blockchain surveillance system has helped health agencies to access data, that has helped in decision making. The best part about a blockchain surveillance system is that it can be used even in areas where there is poor connectivity, it is cheap, and will give you real-time updates of information. Since it is based on blockchain technology, there is decentralization, and hence the data is decentralized and can be used by several organizations
Most of the time, healthcare systems have outdated medical records, which are inconvenient when it comes to the pandemic. Through blockchain technology, you can get decentralized medical records with real-time updates. A patient is also sure that their information is safe. Since it is a decentralized system, the information can be accessed from anywhere, and it can help deal with the pandemic. Since blockchain is immutable, the information cannot be manipulated, or tampered with, making it very accurate.
With the pandemic, the normal supply chain has been disrupted. There are some items such as masks and ventilators that are on high demand, and the supply is slow. There is no central body for procuring medical supplies. With the rise in demand, the current health care systems are forced to verify the suppliers and their credibility, which slows down the supply process. Blockchain may, however, be the solution to that. It will offer a mechanism for updating the requirements, can verify the credibility of suppliers, can use smart contracts to secure financial payments, can quickly validate customs certifications, and can help to track the transportation of the supplies. That makes the medical supply chain more efficient and fast, which is very important in dealing with the pandemic.
The pharmaceutical sector is maximizing on blockchain technology to ensure that the drugs comply with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). An example is MediLedger which is a blockchain platform for tracking pharmaceuticals.
The government of China has embraced blockchain technology to be able to track and manage the donations it is getting for dealing with the pandemic. This has helped it to use the donations efficiently, and that has helped in easier management of the situation. That has also helped to encourage more donations. Blockchain being decentralized helps to increase transparency which, in turn, helps to prevent misappropriation of funds.
Blockchain is widely getting adopted by medical insurance companies. With blockchain, there is increased transparency, which makes it easy to access all the patient’s records and easy management of claims. The process is fast and cheaper. Smart contracts ensure timely payments, as it is easier to know when the premium has expired. An example is LumenLab, that is using blockchain to automate insurance claims. In addition to that, blockchain can also be used for providing directories for insurance if one is looking for insurance. This can be very helpful in dealing with the pandemic.
As much as there is a lockdown in most places, the essential services are still on demand. One of the critical areas is the food and agriculture supply chain since people still have to eat. That explains why the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) included blockchain managers for food and agriculture, as critical workers. Blockchain can be used to track and manage the food and agriculture supply chain.
The possible applications of blockchain technology during this pandemic time is limitless. The strong factor of blockchain technology is its transparency and immutable open ledger. That can help to seal gaps that are currently being experienced as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. That explains why there are many blockchain applications in China for dealing with the pandemic. Even after the pandemic, there will be more blockchain adoptions with time.
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one weekly digest, just the important stuff. | https://crypto8.com/2020/03/29/blockchain-technology-against-covid-19/ |
Originally published in the NOWNodes blog.
Let’s take a look at what’s the meaning of blockchain before we dive into the role of API in the blockchain. You can compare blockchain to a spreadsheet or a diary that records all the digital transactions. It consists of multiple nodes, and a transaction is only recorded once a consensus is reached among all the nodes. Each node plays an important role as it stores the record of an event.
The majority of the global population that knows about blockchain usually associate it with cryptocurrencies. It’s kind of true that blockchain technology achieved mainstream attention with the rise of Bitcoin and altcoins. The network of blockchain nodes is playing a very important role in bringing decentralized devices to the forefront. It is because, with the blockchain nodes, the decentralized devices can offer a secured verification to the users. The best thing about this is that the verification happens without depending on a single node.
Six Steps That Explain How Blockchain Works
There are six basic steps of how blockchain works, and each of these steps forms a unique aspect of the blockchain.
First Step
It starts once a transaction is defined. Here, a transaction can be a situation where a user wants to send money or when a user tries to secure their identity.
Second Step
The transaction is then codified and turned into a block. Thereafter, the block is added to the network, and the processing begins.
Third Step
In the third step, the distributed members are presented with the block that was created in the second step. The distributed members compare the block among themselves to check its integrity. They even check the block against the record ledgers to confirm if the block is valid or not.
Fourth Step
In this step, the blockchain members approve or deny the block after confirmation.
Fifth Step
Fifth, the block is either denied or approved. If approved, the block is added to the chain of records.
Sixth Step — The Final One
The transaction is finally approved and carried out in this step. The process which is carried out depends on the type of transaction. When it comes to financial transactions, the money is transferred to the opposite party. For tokens, the process consists of verification first and then trusted in the whole network.
Let’s now take a look at the role that APIs play in the blockchain space. We will take a look at its use cases in depth.
Blockchain API & System of Connectivity
The concept of trust is one of the core tenets of blockchain technology. Every transaction on blockchain space has to pass through the trust and verification process. Likewise, trust is also very important for the APIs and is an integral part of APIs. That’s why APIs and blockchain are a combination of technology that is made in the heaven of innovation.
If you use blockchain as the basis of establishing communications for APIs then it would be possible to secure transaction histories in a decentralized and authoritative manner. Not only this, but you would also be able to prove that the previous transaction did occur and was legitimate.
Decentralization will prove very important in fields such as the internet of things because many times such data will likely hold legally protected data that it won’t be able to share. With blockchain, it would be possible to maintain a balance between technical usage and compliance.
Blockchain APIs will Deliver Robust Security
In the current digital age, security is one of the most contentious issues, and with each new technology, new security issues arise. We all can agree to the fact that the ledger of transactions is the most important element of blockchain technology. But at the same time, numbers of new security-related issues are arising.
All data and transactions that pass through the blockchain are secured in a decentralized manner. It means that all the interactions on the blockchain network are encrypted. Thus, the chances of an attack on the network are minimal.
We know that in many discussions the issue about the power of the single node threatening the entire blockchain network is ripe. But the fact of the matter is that due to blockchain consensus, this threat is mitigated.
Let’s say that there’s a situation where a single node is compromised. In this case, other nodes will reject the compromised node, or if the node allows, it will be forced to update. Once the node updates, the record correction process will initiate, and the network will again be resecured.
Moving from centralization to decentralization helps build a platform that is both reliable and authoritative. It is because decentralization increases both of these elements. You also don’t have to worry about the vulnerable security systems anymore after making the move to decentralization.
Achieve Distributed Processing and Delivery Through Blockchain APIs
Due to the nature of blockchain technology, it is a match made in heaven for distributed processing and delivery. Indeed, blockchain technology isn’t much suited for computing in itself. But when put to work as the token-based system, it will work wonders in renting and verifications of computations and its results.
With APIs by your side, you can leverage this feature quite readily. You can verify the results and build trust throughout the blockchain network by pointing accepted transactions to the API.
Build a Collaborative System Through Blockchain APIs
Collaboration is one of the core fundamentals of blockchain. Thus, if you want to build a collaborative platform, blockchain is the go-to technology for it. It doesn’t matter how many APIs you are using inline with the modern collaboration requirements, blockchain will still be an important pillar of it.
You will need to implement many technological solutions when the aim is to secure collaboration. Additionally, you will also have to encrypt everything from start to finish. You will also have to ensure that users are providing their identities correctly. Once you have implemented blockchain technology in your collaboration process, you won’t have to worry about users providing dubious identity. It’s because blockchain will allow you to authenticate and identify the users through distributed computing.
Now comes the part of collaborative data. The most worrying situation in this part can be when something leads to data being maliciously harmed. In this case, blockchain will enable you to track and tag the malicious element. You can also restore the versions of the affected data if you have already backed up the data through blockchain. It is possible because your backed-up data is stored in a variety of distributed resources, and the stored data is in a secured and encrypted form.
Adopt Blockchain APIs for Dynamic Management of Chains
Regardless of the chain being in supply chain or CRM, you will find the combination of blockchain & APIs is perfectly suitable for the dynamic management of chains. You would be able to connect all the transactions by specific categories such as user, time, and environment. Such powerful records will make staff accountable and responsible. At the same time, it would enable you to conduct investigations to resolve issues.
The interesting thing about chains of these kinds is that tracking them also improves the chain. You can say that the blockchain and API work as quality control by finding the common faults, inefficient nodes, and other issues in the chains. Thus, the network continually improves itself, and you can track its progress. Isn’t it interesting?
A System of Unification
So, what’s the most important benefit of integrating both APIs and blockchain technology? These technologies will help your platform by acting as a system of unification. We know what you are thinking – What is the system of unification? You see, trust is something on which almost every massively connected device relies upon. But we cannot discount the records of transactions and communication of intent at the same time. Here’s where blockchain and APIs play a key role as they act as the system of unification.
We can gauge the importance of unification from Boeing’s aeronautical platform. It has a combination of both IoT and APIs, and these technologies have enabled Boeing to keep costs low and improve the operational performance. They also saw improvement in reliability, and overall, the platform delivered exceptional value.
Conclusion
We hope this detailed article must have provided you with enough information about the blockchain and APIs. Both blockchain technology and APIs are playing a crucial role today in many sectors and will continue to evolve into many more crucial roles in the future.
If you want to know how blockchain APIs can benefit your business, reach out to the NowNodes team. With NowNodes API, you can easily connect to the blockchain. NowNodes offers both explorers and full public nodes that you can use in web3 development. The great thing about using our products is that it will save you both time and money. | https://www.publish0x.com/nownodes/what-s-the-role-of-apis-in-blockchain-xvrxrvd |
Deaconess Health System is the premier provider of health care services to 26 counties in three states (IN, IL, and KY). The system consists of seven hospitals located in southern Indiana: Deaconess Midtown Hospital, Deaconess Gateway Hospital, The Women’s Hospital, The Heart Hospital, The Orthopedic and Neuroscience Hospital, Deaconess Cross Pointe, and HealthSouth Deaconess Rehabilitation Hospital.
Article | January 8, 2021
Prioritizing health and managing it, has become highly important because our lifestyle is continuously evolving in ways that take a toll on us mentally, physically, and emotionally. However, the major issue for the patients lies in the inaccuracy of treatment due to the lack of complete health records in any hospital. With the recent changes in privacy legislation and data management, patients are even unable to retrieve their own health records.
For example, someone had an accident and was taken to the emergency room. The first thing they will need to do in their condition is to fill the hospital’s form. Then, for the treatment, if the injured person is conscious enough, doctors ask questions like if they are allergic to some medicines or do they suffer from diabetes or any other disease. Besides, what if the individual denies having allergies or diabetes in their half-conscious state? And the previous hospitals where they have already had treatment before have denied sharing the medical details of the person either due to privacy issues or data corruption. Well, it can create a lot of fuzz.
Solely, to improve the health industry without compromising the security of the individuals, blockchain has remained in the discussion. It has the potential to address the operability challenges present in the healthcare industry. But, what is blockchain, what are its underlying fundamentals, why blockchain, and what are its advantages?
Today’s blog will help in understanding every aspect of blockchain and its impact on the healthcare industry. So let’s get started!
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a P2P or peer-to-peer distributed or decentralized ledger technology. It stores a chain of data called blocks of information. These blocks are chained together by cryptographic signatures. These signatures are called hash that is stored in the shared ledger and backed by a connected processes network - node. These nodes reserve a copy of the complete chain and get continually updated by synchronization. Though, to include blockchain in the process it’s necessary to hire a developer who has prior experience and knowledge about its architecture and can work with the components efficiently as blockchain is a designed pattern that consists of three major constituents - a distributed network, a shared ledger, and all the digital transactions.
a. Distributed Network
As discussed before, blockchain is built on peer-to-peer networks. While having no central point of storage, it makes the information on the network less vulnerable to being lost or exploited.
Unlike the traditional client-server model that has a centralized storage point or controlling party, all the information in the blockchain network is constantly recorded and transferred to the participants of the network that are also known as nodes or peers. These peers also own several identical copies of the information. That’s why blockchain is seen as a huge improvement to centralized models and is considered the future of data storage and ownership.
b. Shared Ledger
Each authorized participant in the network records the transactions into the shared ledger. If they want to add any transaction, it is important to run algorithms that evaluate and verify the transactions. If the majority of members agree to the transaction’s validity, a new transaction gets added to the shared ledger. The changes done in the shared ledger is reflected in minutes or even seconds in the copies of the blockchain. Once the transaction is added, there’s no way to modify or delete it. Also, as the copy is shared in the form of a ledger to each member, no single member can alter data.
c. Digital Transaction
Transactions are information i.e. data transmission to one block. During the process of data transmission, each node acts as a central point to generate and digitally sign the transaction. As the nodes connect each other in the network, each of them has to verify the transaction independently for its conflicts, validity, and compliance. Only after the transaction passes the verification, the information is added into the shared ledger. The major element that makes digital transactions successful is cryptographic hashing that encrypts the data for security.
Why Blockchain technology in healthcare?
It has happened so often that the patient remains unable to gather all of their previous medical records in one format from one place swiftly or sometimes cannot even collect the required information at all. Unfortunately, in most cases, the information of critical patients remains scattered across several different institutions of healthcare that too in different formats. Besides, the data management systems along with the security regulations also vary in different institutions making it difficult to trace and fix mistakes.
But, what can blockchain do?
A blockchain is a system used for storing and sharing information with security and transparency. Every block in the chain is an independent unit of its own and a dependent link among the collective chain that creates a network controlled by participants rather than a third party.
As blockchains are managed by network nodes instead of central authority, they are decentralized that prevents one entity from having complete control over the network. With the incorporation of blockchain, the need for a central administrator will be removed by cryptography. Healthcare providers will be able to promote data management processes beyond perception. It will help in collecting, analyzing, sharing, and securing medical records. It will provide the access to healthcare workers for retrieving health records with the cryptographic keys provided by patients from anywhere without creating any privacy or security problems.
Advantages of Healthcare Blockchain
Although applications of blockchain in the healthcare industry are inceptive, some early solutions have shown the possibility of reduced healthcare costs, improved access to information among different stakeholders, and streamlining the entire business process. So, keeping aside the buzz, let’s see the real advantages of blockchain in healthcare.
1. Master Patient Indexes
The master patient index helps in the identification of patients across separate administrative systems. It is often created within the EHR or electronic health record system. As these EHRs have different vendors, there are several irregularities of MPIs. In many cases, the data of a patient between these healthcare systems become mismatched. However, with the nature of decentralization in Blockchain, it possesses the ability to solve the issue. In the blockchain-based MPIs, the data will be hashed to the ledger and content will remain unique as only the authorized nodes of the data can make changes to the hashes while all parties with access can only check the related information.
2. Single, elongated patient records
Blockchain technology is potent to transform health care by placing patients at the center of the system while increasing the security and privacy of health records. It provides a new model for health information exchange by forming electronic elongated patient records secured and efficient. Additionally, the fact that the data is copied among all the nodes of the blockchain network creates an atmosphere of clarity and transparency that enables healthcare providers and patients to know how their data is handled by whom, how, and when. It can also help healthcare from potential frauds, data losses, or security attacks.
3. Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management in healthcare is a challenging aspect. With scattered settings for ordering drugs, medical supplies, and critical resources, there’s an inherent risk of compromising the supply chain that might impact patient safety. Indulgence of blockchain technology in the transactions can tap into the complete process of medicine or drug products movement. As all the transactions will be recorded onto the shared ledger with every block recording and maintaining every transaction, it will become easy to verify the vendor, distributor, and origin of the drug within a matter of seconds. It will also enable healthcare physicians and officials to check the authenticity of the supplier’s credentials.
4. Claims Justification
Currently, the insurance claim processes face difficulties like lack of transparency i.e. most customers don’t even know how insurance works; human errors and inefficiencies i.e. insurances are full of confusion along with human errors that create inefficiencies that lead to the increased cost to customers; higher frauds in claims. But, blockchain technology can simplify and enhance recordkeeping, payment processing, claims registration, contract management, and closure with its immutable ledger.
5. Interoperability
Interoperability is the capability of distinct healthcare information technology to interpret, exchange, and use data. Due to the privacy issues, the alphanumeric code to identify a patient has been revoked that caused problems in gathering the required record of the patient. Enforcing measurement standards for industry-wide interoperability is also a challenge in interoperability. With blockchain in healthcare interoperability, data can be shared in real-time on the trusted network and provides access to the patient’s record in a secured manner. Moreover, with the pri
The global market for precision medicine is projected to top more than $84.5 billion by 2024. Targeted therapies for rare, genetic diseases, cancer and chronic conditions come with the hope of a cure. Companies such as Roche, Novartis, Spark Therapeutics, Pfizer, Editas and BioMarin are among the pharma players in this space. There seem to be new developments in precision medicine on almost a weekly basis. So what do educational institutions need to do to create fertile ground for gene therapy research to produce the next generation of companies developing these therapies? And what needs to happen to facilitate data sharing, ensure access to genome sequencing and these promising therapies?
As the world grapples with the tragic COVID-19 pandemic, it is tempting to imagine a post-COVID future that includes some silver linings. As terrible as the situation is today, maybe this calamity will at least lead to some lasting, positive changes, particularly in healthcare. Telemedicine has already emerged as the poster child for this line of thinking. Providers and patients have dramatically increased the use of telemedicine to ensure continued access to healthcare services while maintaining social distancing and respecting the enormous burden on our healthcare workers and facilities. Regulators and payers are encouraging and enabling this shift by temporarily relaxing policies that have limited telemedicine.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) continues to advocate for improved data exchange, with the interoperability and information blocking rules being the latest federal push. One of the ONC’s goals with its latest guidance is to establish an ecosystem of innovation, with electronic health records (EHRs) serving as the foundation — i.e., the platform enabling application development and user access. But when it comes developing an EHR-based marketplace for innovation and mandating open APIs, there are many challenges for all players involved — including EHR vendors, tasked with standing up these sustainable marketplaces for innovation, and third-party developers, forced to bet big on which EHR platform(s) to innovate for and hope they chose right. How could the latest interoperability and information blocking guidelines impact the likelihood EHRs will be successful in developing sustainable innovation marketplaces?There are four key factors that stand to impact the success of EHR-based marketplace development, including:
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The SolarWinds breach, while incredibly serious, is a flash in the pan brought upon by a simple vulnerability that was leveraged to gather intelligence, mine data, and to sow animosity and resentment between organizations. It is not the first breach, nor will it be the last, that reverberates through a web of connected enterprises, and government institutions.
Unfortunately, even organizations with mature security programs are still at high risk. While they may feel insulated from the consequences of a breach like SolarWinds, the vulnerabilities exploited in this attack demonstrate that even the most robust security programs can be undermined by less secured third-party vendors and/or supply chain partners.
The time is now for organizations to prioritize understanding or appreciating the exposure brought on by expanding their vendor ecosystem. By acknowledging the common need to protect ourselves and making strategic changes to how we manage vendors, ideally by creating consistent and comparative pictures of risk and exposure, organizations can work together to mitigate the greatest vulnerabilities.
Here are some steps organizations can take to ensure a more secure future:
Assess the security posture of companies within your vendor ecosystem
One out of every five enterprises are connected to high-risk third parties within a given cyber ecosystem. Unfortunately, even when just one vulnerable organization is breached, severe consequences can occur to a variety of organizations, even if they hold stronger security postures. These types of detrimental third-party security incidents have resulted in some of the biggest breaches known today, such as Target, Experian, Quest Diagnostics, Facebook, Lord & Taylor, the FBI, and many others. When an organization is able to identify which third-parties and supply chain partners pose the highest risk, they can ensure the proper security controls are in place to best mitigate risk.
Communicate and share intelligence and data amongst organizations
A recent study found that organizations tend to focus on assessing the same set of vendors, but it is often the vendors they aren’t looking at that pose the greatest risk. In order to keep up with the sheer volume of developing cyber risks and security vulnerabilities, the individual, and siloed management of third-party cyber risk must pivot to more comprehensive, collaborative solutions. Creating a safe cyber ecosystem will take all organizations within it. Understanding exposure cannot be done in a silo; it's imperative that we not only break down the cybersecurity silos within an organization, but also break down these silos between vendors as well. Perimeter security is no longer sufficient, so a more collaborative security is the best approach moving forward.
Use standardized risk data to create comparative pictures of risk
We encourage a standardized approach to identifying and mitigating risk which provides organizations with insights about potential risks assumed in a partnership as well as a validated understanding of the controls third parties and supply chain partners have in place to prevent threats. Using such an approach enables enterprises to make informed decisions about new and existing vendors and also allows organizations to disseminate comparable information via a risk exchange or other channels. As a result, enterprises can create and visualize consistent and comparative pictures of risk, crowdsource efforts, and work collectively with third parties to mitigate the greatest vulnerabilities.
Over 60 percent of breaches are linked to third parties - whether they are a supply chain vendor, cloud provider, or POS provider - and it's time to reduce and manage these third party risks. Until organizations realize how interconnected they are within cyber ecosystems and just how much damage a tangentially-related cyberattack can do, bad actors who understand these connections will stay a step ahead. Time is overdue for enterprises to take charge of the common, mundane, and everyday attacks that happen because of unknown, unassessed vendors and suppliers. Until then, devastating breaches will continue to happen as this issue remains the biggest cybersecurity issue no one is talking about. | https://www.cybergrx.com/resources/how-to-stop-the-next-solarwinds-hack |
Data published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner reveals that Australia is subject to nearly three significant data breaches every day, with leading cybersecurity and blockchain experts referencing China as the cause of ongoing cyber attacks.
The January – June 2020 Notifiable Data Breaches Report, published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), places the total number of reported data breaches across Australia for the last financial year at over 1,000.
The OAIC’s Notifiable Data Breaches scheme from which the data presented in the report tracks the occurrence of data breaches in which personal information is accessed or distributed without authorization. While many of the breaches in the report are attributable to human error, hundreds of the breaches occurring between 2019 and 2020 were executed by malicious or criminal actors.
Australian Health & Finance Sector Targeted, Bank Details Leaked
Data breaches reported in the report were executed by a variety of means, such as social engineering, storage device theft, insider threats, phishing, and malware. The majority of attacks executed in the last year were associated with malicious actors gaining access to user data through phishing attacks, closely followed by ransomware attacks.
The Australian health sector was the hardest hit by cyber attacks, accounting for over 10 percent of all data breaches, followed by the finance sector. The number of users affected by the breaches exceeds 10 million, with the contact information of 84 percent of affected individuals released along with home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses as well as passport numbers and license numbers.
Concerningly, data breaches reported to the OAIC in the same period contained tax file numbers, bank account details, credit card numbers, and health data.
Key Industry Experts Identify Blockchain as Solution to Cyber Threat
A panel discussion hosted on July 30 by recently appointed Blockchain Australia CEO Steve Vallas saw blockchain specialists and experts from various sectors come together to discuss potential cyber security solutions to address the ongoing cyber threat faced by Australia.
The panel, consisting of liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, CyberCX CEO John Paitaridis, National Blockchain Lead Chloe White from the Department of Industry, and several other speakers identified blockchain technology as a key driver in protecting Australia from future cyber attacks.
During the panel, CyberCX CEO John Paitaridis noted that attacks directed toward Australia are increasing in frequency, and identified China as the primary actor executing cyberattacks against the country:
“In June this year, the Australian Prime Minister announced an ‘unnamed state actor’, you can read into that — China — as being targeting businesses and government agencies across Australia as part of a large, dedicated, persistent scale attack.”
Blockchain technology, stated Paitaridis, is able to prevent the manipulation of data after publishing, preventing data tampering and addressing the vulnerabilities that are currently exploited by malicious actors in cyber attacks. | https://cryptonews.com.au/australia-under-attack-3-major-data-breaches-reported-daily-as-gov-turns-to-blockchain-solution |
In a digital environment where most data is siloed, there is no real incentive to share it. As a result, corporations are hoarding tons of consumer data (i.e. Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Baidu). Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) platforms help to concentrate power in the hands of those few organizations who are able to source and process large amounts of data.
As sensors are embedded in all sorts of everyday objects, from connected cars to devices across the IoT, consumer data will be generated exponentially by these devices and stored on centralized databases. There will be a race to own this data – raising further questions around our privacy.
AI enhances blockchain’s framework, and together they solve many of the challenges that come with sharing information securely over the IoT.
AI provides intelligent analytics and real-time decision-making, while blockchain provides a decentralized ledger of all transactions (which are conducted directly between users), away from storing any personal information on a centralized server.
Not only will this open the door for more effective security measures that will ultimately protect users from major breaches, it will also allow users to take back ownership and control of their personal information. | https://zighra.com/blogs/how-close-are-we-to-merging-ai-and-blockchain-2/ |
In this article, we’ll cover the fundamentals of Blockchain, including how it’s different from traditional banking systems. Blockchain technology, on the other hand, is decentralized, meaning that any transaction that takes place in the network is accessible by anyone. In contrast, a traditional banking system requires all data to pass through a central authority – usually a bank – before it can be processed and stored. As a result, the transaction is inherently insecure and energy-intensive.
Blockchain is a decentralized ledger database
A blockchain is a decentralized ledger database that is distributed among many computers, making it possible to execute transactions without a central authority. Because the ledger is distributed among so many computers, a blockchain allows cryptocurrencies to function without the need for a central authority. As a result, many transaction and processing fees are eliminated. In the future, blockchain-powered transactions may allow cryptocurrencies to function without a central authority.
A blockchain consists of many copies of the same data, known as blocks. These blocks are linked together through a network, or chain, of nodes. These nodes update each other’s blockchains at regular intervals, meaning that the data is secure. The blockchain is decentralized, and a single transaction cannot compromise its integrity. Its immutability means that data cannot be tampered with within the network. In contrast, traditional databases lack this immutability, making them more prone to manipulation.
It is a proof-of-provenance
Provenance is the concept of recording a person’s provenance of an object. Provenance is a word derived from the French, meaning “to come from.” It is used to identify the owner of an object and is essential for economic transactions. The process of authenticating the ownership of an object involves using cryptography to record all its details. A large network of computers solves complex mathematical problems to validate ownership change transactions.
The process of establishing provenance relies on the laws of the country in which the data is stored. Likewise, what is considered a copyright violation in one jurisdiction may not be considered such in another. Because of the distributed nature of blockchain storage, it is difficult to determine which jurisdiction is applicable. The privacy laws of all countries, including the United States, should be complied with. Therefore, a company that is using blockchain to document art provenance should hire a data privacy expert to assist in determining the best course of action.
It is secure
Although the technology is still in its infancy, blockchain has been around for over a decade. In recent years, however, blockchain has exploded in popularity, from a tech fad to serious research involving government agencies, large corporations, and startups. Its primary purpose is to act as a secure, immutable digital ledger, but the security of blockchain information is crucial to its success. To make sure that your data and transactions are safe, you should take a course that covers blockchain structure and security. You will learn about cryptography, attacks, smart contracts, and more.
There are two types of blockchains: public and private. The public blockchain is a network that anyone with internet access can sign in to and become an authorized node. This type of blockchain is often used for mining and exchanging cryptocurrencies, and its users must adhere to strict security protocols. Private blockchains are closed networks that only a small group of people can access. They are used for private data such as digital identity and asset ownership. This method of sharing information is highly secure, and this makes it an ideal tool for companies and other large organizations.
It is energy-intensive
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple are very energy-intensive. The original blockchain algorithm consumes massive amounts of energy, equal to the electricity consumption of several mid-sized countries. The energy required for a single block to be created is about ten times higher than the energy consumed by the entire country of India. China accounts for 80% of the energy needed to mine these cryptocurrencies. Server banks in China work in unison to provide round-the-clock computational power. The cost of energy and computer hardware are significantly cheaper in China than in other countries.
The energy used by a single bitcoin transaction is around 110 Terawatt hours a year, the same as the total annual electricity production of a small country. While this figure seems low, it does raise the question of whether cryptocurrency mining and trading is a sustainable solution to climate change. Many critics have called for regulations limiting the energy usage of cryptocurrencies, while enthusiasts hail their decentralized peer-to-peer lending system and autonomy.
It could be used in many industries
There are many ways in which blockchain can improve the efficiency of various industries. One example is the healthcare industry, which is among the largest in the world. Currently, healthcare systems are plagued by inefficiencies, with up to 6% of global health expenditures going to fraudulent claims. Blockchain could help eliminate the lag time and inefficiencies in this industry, and make payments and claims more transparent. Additionally, the blockchain can help healthcare organizations reduce the friction associated with the current intermediaries that can lead to delays in receiving medical records.
Transportation is another example. The use of blockchain can improve transaction times, shipment tracking, and fleet management. It can also help to protect assets, optimize routes, and provide real-time data. A blockchain-based public ledger could be used for these applications, including transportation management. The decentralized ledger needs buy-in from all players, including customers, suppliers, and drivers. In addition, blockchain could help in the on-boarding process for new drivers and freight brokers. | https://hermevsimbitki.com/what-is-blockchain-and-why-is-it-important-to-your-business-85.html |
It’s estimated that due to significant budget cuts, as many as 17,000 first-tier prime vendors may have abandoned the defense market between 2011 and 2015. This decline in military contractors may or may not be reconcilable, but in the face of this decline, it’s imperative that any form of field-leveling technology also be embraced to ensure that the U.S. defense sector does not fall any further behind. Though the 2018 budget for the defense sector came in just under $700 billion, this sum alone does not tell the entire story and is not an indicator that the American military cannot use more technological assistance — it can.
Military members are an increasingly small percentage of the U.S. population, down to 8% of Americans in 2014 from 17% in 1990. Yet our security concerns as a nation are as pressing as ever, if not more so, with a wider number of threats taking a more complex array of forms. Yet technology is still lacking in some respects. Despite 15 years of development and more than $17 billion invested, the military’s attempt at developing a “universal radio” for communication leaves much to be desired.
While the blockchain should never be put forth as a cure-all, there’s belief that the military’s supply chains, cyber security, and in-field as well as inter-branch communications could benefit from facets of blockchain technology. With the world seemingly on edge and America’s military manpower seemingly on the decline, exploring how blockchain can be used for defense purposes is a worthwhile pursuit.
With most industries, supply chain is critical to maintaining the bottom line through reducing losses, waste, and fraud. In the defense industry, the stakes are always higher, and therefore the imperative to maintain supply chain security is greater. While everybody can agree that we need to support the troops, the defense industry is not above financial loss and waste — quite the contrary, actually. The Pentagon estimated that the cost of wasteful and misguided expenditures in Afghanistan-related spending totals $17 billion. The Pentagon employs more than 600,000 private contractors and awarded $304 billion to corporate contractors in 2016.
Obviously, there are limits to how much oversight the civilian population and politicians can have over military affairs and spending, but a general idea of where these funds are going and how they’re being used would be nice. William Hartung has made it his mission to audit military spending himself, and he has not been pleased with many of his findings. These include $2.7 billion spent on a non-functional air surveillance balloon, $150 million on private villas for personnel in Afghanistan, $640 for a toilet seat, and $7,600 for a coffee pot. Fiscal accountability aside, the military should simply have the most advanced, secure supply chain management tools, and blockchain technology falls in that category.
If a shipment goes unaccounted for in the defense sector, the result could be some really bad guys ending up with potentially lethal weapons. Needless to say, the stakes are higher when it comes to effectively tracing the weapons, gear, and other items that are essential to facilitating national defense at home and abroad. This makes the companies conceiving the most cutting-edge supply chain oversight platforms on the blockchain some of the most critical blockchain-related innovators there are. And considering the amount of questionable spending in the sector, this oversight could be beneficial for civilian accountability purposes, too.
Department of Defense – Seeking blockchain automation for back office functions.
When Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon expressed concern that the U.S. Military was not taking advantage of the STARTTLS encryption technology in their email communications, such a sentiment likely took many by surprise. In fact, DISA, the protocols that mandate protection of emails by the Department of Defense, was one of the few agencies that had not begun incorporating encryption as of 2015. Instead, they stated that they reject 85% of emails outright, and investigate the remaining 15% for advanced, persistent cybersecurity threats.
It’s difficult to believe that the U.S. military’s encryption departments don’t know what they’re doing, and we’re not suggesting that. However, as with each use case, it’s possible that they could add a measure of automation through blockchain cryptographic encryption techniques, reducing the cost of oversight not just for email, but other forms of interagency and in-field communications.
DARPA – Seeking secure messaging applications on the blockchain.
The line between a cyber attack that is simply a for-profit heist and one that qualifies as an act of war can be quite thin. Taking precautions against either is critical, but it’s not difficult to see that acts of cyber warfare are a more daunting problem than a ransomware intrusion against a corporation. The federal government was the target of 61,000 cyber attacks last year, each of varying levels of danger.
It’s a widely-held viewpoint that the U.S. energy sector, with its connected grids and dependence on computing and connected technologies, may be the most vulnerable point for a critical cyber attack. The energy industry was the most targeted sector by hackers in 2014, with 79 incidents recorded. Roughly 55% of those attacks were conducted by advanced persistent threats (APT), which is a way of saying that they were sophisticated hackers. The blockchain may not be a prevent-all solution — in fact, it’s certainly not — but we know that it is a more advanced launching point for security infrastructure than centralized fail points, which are the makings of a doomsday scenario, considering the topic at hand.
Whether it means protecting power grids, computer systems, or insulating other potentially vulnerable networks from cyber intrusion, creating all-encompassing defenses against cyber threats is one of the top priorities of the defense industry. High-level blockchains are known for their security, as they can alert those in charge of security to potentially hostile anomalies in the system and limit the damage incurred.
U.S. Government – Donald Trump signed a military spending bill mandating research into blockchain technologies for cybersecurity.
GuardTime – Deploying blockchain solutions for security and protecting hardware.
In September 2018, it was reported that the United States military had begun constructing an on-site concrete barrack using 3D printing techniques. The USMCSC (US Marine Corps Shipments Command) completed the 500-square foot prototype in only 40 hours, utilizing what is now being referred to as the “world’s largest 3D printer.” It’s far from the first example of how the U.S. defense sector is testing the limits, and benefits, of additive manufacturing. In July 2017, the Marine Corps printed the first 3D-printed submarine hull using their Big Area Additive Manufacturing machine. In June of the same year, they were able to successfully create a nibbler drone using additive manufacturing. In April, the Army showed off yet more applications for 3D printing technology, including grenade launchers, body armor, and customizing military meals.
It’s clear that the defense industry has embraced the art of 3D printing. But how could their processes be improved even more with blockchain technology? Just as the chain can serve as a more secure transmission tool for data, proprietary additive manufacturing blueprints and designs could be shared on a private blockchain, as opposed to being stored centrally. As the technology evolves and possibilities are realized, the military may find alternate ways to marry blockchain technology and their emergent reliance upon additive manufacturing tools.
U.S. Navy – Using Blockchain to power next-gen 3D printing security.
As part of the 2016 NCI Challenge, innovators were encouraged to share ideas, including ideas in the category of “military applications of blockchains” that would allow better cooperation between members of NATO. NATO, along with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has also announced their intention to assist members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by implementing blockchain solutions. With 29 member countries spanning Europe and North America, communications among member nations must span borders and, because of the United States’ participation, the Atlantic Ocean.
Established in 1949, NATO agreements are always evolving and in something of a state of flux, as evidenced by the 2014 agreement that allies would move toward investing 2% of their GDP into defense spending by 2024. In the 2017 meeting, the members discussed how to better align to fight terror and how to implement fairer burden-sharing, especially in terms of defense. While each annual meeting is critical to improving the alliance, communications in the interim must also be easy, secure, and accessible by all member nations.
Proposals for NATO blockchain applications include streamlining and closely tracking payments and goods transfers between members and aid recipients, decentralizing military logistics in a secure manner, and the general sharing of information between members in a way that is easily accessible, tamper-proof, and secure.
NATO – Included Blockchain in its 2016 Innovation Challenge.
The world’s largest powers are all in a race to implement blockchain technology, and there is no use case more apparent for military application than defense against outside threats. Ironically, the likes of China, Russia, and the United States — the nations with the most sophisticated digital weaponry — are in the midst of an arms race to find out how they can use blockchain as a blockade against each others’ digital spear chucking. Even smaller nations have proven viable threats to national security without even having to set foot on their enemies’ soil. In October 2017, it was reported that North Korea was behind the cyber theft of 235 gigabytes of classified information belonging to American and South Korean intelligence departments.
The Department of Defense is directly responsible for shielding a global network of 3.2 million personnel from cyber attack. But beyond that, they must protect the massive stores of classified and highly-sensitive information that the Department is constantly generating, and the “terabyte of death” — a phrase assigned to the likely theft of a massive cache of classified information by foreign actors — is a matter of when, not if, according to the DoD. In other words, defense departments the world over can use all the help available when it comes to playing the defensive game.
The military utilizes international supply chains with regularity — it’s a necessary aspect of attaining the best materials and keeping costs down. However, the digital age has presented a new kind of threat that promises attempted disruptions of essential international military supply chains, whether through the attack of critical infrastructure, specific transactions, or the ledgers that govern international military operations. The military is already experimenting with, and likely perfecting, the ways in which blockchain technology can effectively detect and block penetrative attempts aimed at disrupting, obtaining, or eradicating records pertaining to military transactions and supply chains.
Russian ERA – The Russian military technology accelerator is developing blockchain systems to prevent security breaches.
Military threats and offensive campaigns are becoming increasingly digital, which makes many people envision tech whizzes stationed behind the most advanced computers the world has to offer, detecting outside attacks and launching their own offensives against adversaries. This is not an unrealistic perception of where the military is going, but more traditional weapons of war remain at the forefront of battle, and the Navy’s Aegis Combat System, an essential aspect of many naval destroyers, combines the digitization of the military with traditional weaponry. The sea-based ballistic missile defense system has become an increasing comfort as rhetoric is ramped up and the global military climate becomes increasingly tenuous. But preserving the integrity of Aegis’ underlying computing and radar capabilities is critical to its function, as well as the need to ensure that Aegis’ blueprints don’t fall into the hands of adversaries.
The blockchain could soon be used to decentralize the data necessary to operate the Aegis Combat System. As with any computer-dependent system, the centralized nature of the Aegis System leaves it open to the threat of hack. And if the Aegis is successfully hacked, then the entire vessel may be compromised along with it. Providing blockchain-level security for the Aegis’ — and other military weapons’ and systems’ — critical data could ensure that all incoming information is accurate, and that these lethal weapons remain as insulated as possible from outside threats.
DARPA – Partnered with Galois to create blockchain based weapons monitoring.
GuardTime – Partnered with LockheedMartin to secure physical systems. | https://www.disruptordaily.com/blockchain-use-cases-military-defense/ |
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 43 workers died from heat-related illness in 2019 and at least 2,410 others suffered serious injuries and illnesses. On September 20, 2021, the White House annou...
#BeCyberSmart: Overcoming 2021's Greatest Cybersecurity Challenges
Written by Jeffrey Julig
October 05, 2021
Cybersecurity Awareness Month has arrived! The theme for 2021 is “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.” This message is meant to empower individuals and business leaders to own their role in protecting their part of cyberspace. If everyone does their part, we can build a safer and more resilient digital environment for everyone to enjoy.
The first full week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month focuses on best security practices and highlights general cyber hygiene to keep your data—and your clients’ or customers’ data—safe from cyberattacks.
Many broad and consequential cybersecurity breaches in the past year have provided a chilling reminder to business leaders around the world about the heightened threat of cyberattacks. As a result, cybersecurity has become a board-level issue for many firms in 2021.
- Corporate leaders have already begun elevating the importance of cybersecurity to their companies.
- But recent high-profile attacks show how much more needs to be done in the year ahead.
In this blog post, we’ll evaluate data from the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2021, which ranks cybersecurity high among global risks to businesses. We’ll also take a look at the top four cybersecurity challenges that businesses need to overcome to thrive in 2022 and beyond.
Challenge #1: Increasingly Complex Digital Landscape
Digitization was already a major component of our lives before COVID-19 hit in 2020, but the global pandemic increased rates of digital adoption across the board. Businesses that might not have leaned as heavily on technology pre-pandemic are doing so now. Restaurants, for example, have largely embraced managing to-go orders in a digital environment.
We wouldn’t have been able to navigate the major transition through the pandemic without increased reliance on digital technology, but this also means we’re more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats today.
Challenge #2: Remote Work Decreases Efficacy of Traditional Network Perimeter
One of the most broad-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the massive shift to remote work. Statistics from a survey conducted by Upwork found that over half the American population was working remotely at least in some part in Q2 2021, and 41% of those workers are fully remote.
This shift in the traditional work model has created unique cybersecurity challenges for employers, including the decreased efficacy of their trusted security tactics. According to Deloitte, “Remote work has obliterated many remnants of the traditional network perimeter, and with it the concept of perimeter security, where virtual “fences” keep the bad guys out. Identity has become the new paradigm of enterprise security – if you can ensure that only the right resources are accessed by the right people doing the right things, then you have a more secure environment.”
Two ways to do this are:
- Keeping administrative access separated for a need-to-know only basis. This also prevents a perpetrator from getting all the keys to the kingdom in one stroke.
- Deploying multi-factor authentication for access to ensure that the perimeter is only available to those with permission to access it.
Challenge #3: Fragmented and Complex Regulations
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 report, “Privacy and data protection regulations are necessary, but can also create fragmented—and sometimes conflicting—priorities and costs for companies that can weaken [their cyber] defense mechanisms. Within organizations’ budgetary boundaries, companies have to defend and protect against attacks while they also seek to comply with complex regulations.”
If you have cyber liability insurance for your business, you want to make sure your broker has a thorough understanding of the complex regulatory landscape that affects your organization.
Challenge #4: More Interconnected Businesses Now Vulnerable to Supply Chain Hacks
According to the report mentioned above, “Organizations operate in an ecosystem that is likely more extensive and less certain than many may recognize. The concentration of a few technology providers globally provides many entry points for cybercriminals throughout the digital supply chain.”
In a supply chain hack, cybercriminals target a company’s trusted vendors or IT-service providers with the goal of inserting malware into the “supply chain” of software updates that they provide their clients. These vendors and IT companies tend to have hundreds of clients, so a successful supply chain attack would grant cybercriminals virtually unlimited access to all of their clients’ data and the customer data for each company in the supply chain.
Cybercriminals have tended to target major companies and key pieces of infrastructure in the past, but given that supply chain hacks allow criminals to access entire networks of companies from a single access point, small and mid-sized businesses that wouldn’t otherwise look like appealing marks are now much more vulnerable to attack.
One easy way to help your organization be less susceptible to vendor and supply chain attacks is to make sure that tight procedures are in place in the event that any accounts receivable or payable accounts are authenticated to the primary source if a change is requested. Remember, most accounts do not change their bank accounts. Make sure your employees challenge those that do!
Related Reading: Supply Chain Hacks Threaten U.S. Companies. Is Yours Protected?
While cyberattacks are devastating for those who are ill-prepared, cyber liability insurance provides valuable resources to help regain lost business. Although prevention should be the primary focus of your cybersecurity strategy going into 2022, it’s wise to have a plan in place in the unfortunate event that you are faced with a breach. Cyber liability insurance will help ensure that you’re prepared for any repercussions from a cyberattack or data breach, including loss of trust from employees and customers.
As we kick off Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2021, remember to #BeCyberSmart for your business!
Related CategoriesFraud & Cyber Security
Jeffrey Julig
Jeffrey Julig is Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for SWBC. In this role, he leads a team of security professionals to protect SWBC’s diverse lines of business from internal and external cyber threats. Jeffrey is passionate about information security and privacy and belongs to numerous international, national, and local professional and community organizations. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Cybersecurity from the University of Maryland University College and earned several of the information security industry’s most respected certifications, including the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), and Law of Data Security and Investigations (GIAC-GLEG) certifications. Jeffrey attended the Department of Defense Cybercrime Investigations Training Academy (DCITA) and is a certified digital forensics examiner. | https://blog.swbc.com/businesshub/becybersmart-overcoming-2021s-greatest-cybersecurity-challenges |
Cryptyk is building the world’s most complete cyber security and cloud storage platform. Instead of trying to prevent data security breaches, Cryptyk assumes hacks are inevitable and makes files effectively ‘safe to hack’. Cryptyk’s Hybrid Blockchain Technology integrates encrypted decentralized file storage with blockchain auditing and monitoring. This hybrid solution effectively mitigates against the five major threats to cloud security. It is the first complete cyber-security and cloud storage solution from a single vendor and dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of cyber-security for all enterprise. | https://crpt.io/ico_listing/cryptyk/ |
In the last 18 months, two high-profile supply chain cyber attacks have hit the headlines. First, the software company, SolarWinds, suffered a hack when attackers inserted malicious code into its software, allowing them to access thousands of customers’ data.
Then there was the Kaseya attack, a similar story where hackers compromised the IT provider’s software and laterally moved into its clients’ networks.
Supply chain breaches can damage companies of all sizes – across all sectors, and small and medium-sized businesses are especially vulnerable. Below, we’ll explain more about how supply chain attacks work – and how to protect your company.
What is a supply chain breach?
A supply chain breach refers to an event where cybercriminals can compromise the network or systems of one company – and then use this advantage point to gain access to the systems of the company’s clients and partners.
Typically, supply chain attacks target IT and software providers, who are likely to be digitally connected to a number of different companies, as was the case with SolarWinds and Kaseya.
Why are cyber criminals targeting supply chains?
From an attacker’s perspective, a supply chain attack is highly efficient. By compromising one company, they can get access to the data of many others.
Moreover, many large companies have become more focused on building robust security defenses. This makes them harder to breach directly. Consequently, hackers are looking for ‘weak links in the supply chain that they can exploit to reach high-value targets.
In line with this, research shows that almost 90% of IT professionals think supply chain attacks will become one of the biggest threats to business within the next three years.
Why SMBs need to be worried about supply chain attacks
Most SMBs won’t be the prime target of a supply chain attack. However, that doesn’t mean you can breathe a sigh of relief. The way supply chain attacks work mean that SMBs can get caught in the crossfire and become collateral damage in these broader attacks. In fact, an estimated two-thirds of data breaches are a result of supplier or third-party vulnerabilities.
The good news is that, just as supply chain attacks have increased, so too have supply chain security processes. With the right solutions and procedures in place, you can keep you, your customers and partners safe. Here’s how.
- Vet your suppliers: Do you know if your suppliers have good security protocols in place? Have they achieved certifications like ISO 27001? Do they have an incident response procedure, and what’s the process for informing clients of a breach? All of these are critical questions you should ask your suppliers to ensure that they’re at low risk from a supply chain attack. Having the technical know-how to demystify security requirements is essential. If you’re stuck, consider working with an IT consultant who can help you clarify the security of your supply chain.
- Use the principle of least privilege: In the same way that employees should only have access to the data and resources they need to do their job, your suppliers should only have access to the systems they need to provide their services. Having the principle of least privilege in place should prevent an attacker from using supplier accounts to cause damage to your systems.
- Bolster your defenses: There are lots of security solutions out there designed to help you spot signs of an attacker in your systems. There are also technologies like data loss prevention, which prevent unauthorized users from accessing your sensitive data. All of these things can help prevent a successful supply chain attack, but deploying many solutions can quickly drive up costs. To help you make sense of the solutions out there and find the best ones for your business, we advise working with a managed IT services provider like us. We can assess your network and manage your security for you, so that cyber-attacks are one less thing to worry about.
- Prepare for the worst: Even with the right security solutions in place, a sophisticated supply chain cyberattack could impact your company. To that end, you need to have a plan in place for the worst-case scenario. You’ll need to consider things like data backups, disaster recovery and the creation of an incident response plan. Again, we can help you with this, so get in touch.
Get a Security Assessment to Improve Your Security Posture
Unity IT can help your Fresno area business bolster your cyber security defenses, so you can reduce the likelihood of a successful supply chain security incident. We’ll do a full security assessment and let you know of any vulnerabilities in your network.
Contact us today to schedule a technology consultation at 559-297-1007 or reach out online. | https://www.unityit.com/risk-supply-chain-breach/ |
Often, most people associate blockchain tech with cryptocurrency or bitcoin, but the former term is much more than just Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency. They might be related but these two concepts are quite different.
Supply Chain in today’s scenario is complex, multi-echelon, highly disjointed, and geographically spread across corners of the world. All these together alongwith different government policies and human behavior make it nearly impossible to investigate incidents and events in case of supply chain disruptions. The inherent cost involved in managing supply chain intermediaries, their consistency, reliability, traceability, and transparency further set hurdles in the supply chain. The solution to such complicated issues lies in improving supply chain transparency through the concept of Blockchain.
This article helps you to understand what blockchain technology is, and how it is changing the face of the supply chain and delivering transparency and authenticity. The article first discusses and introduces the concept of blockchain technology, the protocols of blockchain, and its architecture. After deep dive into the design of blockchain, we will talk about the challenges of blockchain in the supply chain domain and lastly, the synergy and integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems of the supply chain domain with blockchain.
The advent of Cloud ERPs has enabled supply chain processes to be more global with the ability to source and manufacture with the best economy, have greater than before quality, be closest to the market, and impart augmented value to the customer. However, it has ended up being more complex and rigid. The transactions include inefficiencies, frauds and pilferages, and a greater trust deficit, which gave rise to numerous codes like the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC), Universal Product Code (UPC), compliance with Country of Origin (COO), and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). All these help the supply chain to be more reliable but escalate its cost. The need of the hour is visibility in the supply chain, but it is next to impossible with the existing architecture.
As of today, we cannot map, link, trace, or make the entire supply chain of a particular product visible from cradle to grave, but there are new developments in technology and communication architecture that can make these possible and achievable. And the answer to this problem lies in the technology of blockchain. A definition filled with jargon and difficult words won’t help. A simple explanation of the term is a distributed ledger, which is a list of transactions, that are being shared among a number of computers rather than being stockpiled on a central server. The transaction logged in it will have supply chain-related information like location, price, date, and quantity which will be present in the distributed ledger. The publicly available information in the distributed ledger makes it possible to trace back each and every transaction to the grassroots. It becomes almost impossible for a single party to manipulate as they do not hold the ownership. In fact, blockchain is considered “Unhackable”, as it is a groundbreaking solution in many ways-
Every time a transaction occurs between the members of the bitcoin network (which is a decentralized network), it needs to be verified and validated to ensure that every transaction occurring within the network is between two individual accounts and there lies absolutely no risk of double spending. Now, who does the verification? The verification of transactions is carried out by members of the blockchain network known as “miners”. These miners use their expertise, software, their own coding skills, and computers to verify the transactions. The “block” in Blockchain refers to the occurrence of transactions. The verification of the transaction or block, the availability of the validated transaction thereafter, and its irreversibility paves the platform for the blockchain. After the substantiation by the fastest miner, the birth of a legitimate and immutable block takes place. The transactions are consolidated in a block and each block is associated with the previous transaction block via addresses. Clustering all these blocks leads to the formation of blockchains. The grouping of blocks occurs as per the protocol that is dictated by the algorithm and this protocol is referred to as the Blockchain Protocol. The figure below illustrates the Blockchain Protocol-
The blockchain operations are segregated into three layers, each layer having its own significance, specific purpose, and role. The Blockchain layer, Data Store layer, and Application layer define the architecture of the Blockchain.
It maintains the “pointers” or “hashes” of transactions. Helps to represent the notifications to a status change and validate the data integrity. The blockchain layer helps you to connect with the Data Store layer. It ensures transparency through decentralization, data integrity, and immutability.
The blockchain layer just refers to the hashes or addresses while the Data Store layer or the Collection layer actually stores the data. This layer is arranged through auto-hash transactions onto the public chain at required intervals. The data is encrypted, therefore, if a third party wishes to derive any meaningful information from the data, they cannot unless they have specific keys that allow them to decrypt each individual record. This particular layer throws light on permission, scalability, and security.
This layer processes and interacts with the other two layers and transforms them into a useful business application. The application layer has monitoring units that pinpoint changes in the blockchain layer, read the pointers, extract the decrypted data from the Data Store layer and final validation is performed. This layer also has the capability to interact with ERP applications like Oracle, SAP. Infor etc.
Some of the major limitations are as below:
Blockchain lacks a legal framework. Single ownership or autonomy is missing, thus a legal framework on territoriality for issues like jurisdiction and the applicable directives and principles needs to be there. Its a critical requirement as each network node may be in a different geographical location under legal law or enforcement like chalk and cheese.
Again, there is no central administrator or supervisory authority for the distributed ledger. Eventually, this leads to a concern that there is no person, group of people, or organization responsible for the functioning of distributed ledgers and the crucial data contained in them.
It is very essential to have a legal deed declaration of ownership of the existence of an asset on the node or genuine and legitimate proof of the subsistence of the said asset.
To facilitate interoperability between blockchains, standards are required that can be in XML (eXtensible Markup Language), or EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) formats which are accepted forms of communication.
Often it is deemed that most of the blockchains are financial-transaction validation-oriented, but they are not utilized to their full potential. They need to diversify in other fields like manufacturing, procurement, logistics and HR. The growth will certainly be phenomenal after that.
In the case of Blockchain, energy consumption remains one of the biggest issues with miners. Researchers at Cambridge University have estimated that Bitcoin consumes more energy than the entire nation of Switzerland. The energy is primarily supplied to keep the complete network alive and working all the time. That’s the case of just one blockchain, imagine the condition if we have many more such networks.
Blockchains suffer from high latency issue as there is a time lag between the verified blocks and their addition to the ledger. For some of the leading blockchains, the time lag varies between around 17 seconds and a minute which is considered way more than the average database transaction time.
Transactions recorded among the blockchain network is surely a challenge but also the need of the hour. There are a few independent software vendors who are developing individual connectors of some ERP or transactional systems with these blockchains. With greater connection and more popularity, blockchain technology can be easily integrated with ERP applications.
As blockchain continues to mature, it has witnessed its promising future in the tech industry quickly. IT experts and professionals understand how it can influence our daily life, so it becomes necessary to integrate it with various business application systems like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), etc. So, let us check how Blockchain integration with ERP enhances the existing features of the latter:-
ERP systems tend to create visibility problems between different departments known as trust gaps. Blockchain ERP integration eliminates these trust gaps between siloed ERPs while providing visibility and transparency throughout the system.
Blockchain and ERP integration help to improve the automation supply chains by reducing the visibility problems within the supply chains. The decentralization attribute of Blockchain gives companies the potential to unify a large supply chain network. Each member can trace the product journey from manufacturing to the final delivery. Each transaction would be recorded on the blockchain automatically. Companies will have full visibility into the entire supply chain, however, if they want, they can still record and keep the private data relevant.
ERP systems, for a long time, have been used for recording financial transactions like process claiming of insurance and financial institutions. For this, companies are required to scrutinize the customer’s identities and authenticate financial transactions. It can also be used to verify customers’ identities as a part of post-sales support or during the servicing of older products, provided they are under warranty.
Blockchain is reckoned for its robust security features, particularly in financial transactions. It ensures risk-free transactions, henceforth, banks and insurance companies are expected to use blockchain-based authentication systems. Blockchain ERP integration ensures that B2B purchases and payments meet regulatory compliance.
Integration with ERP, WMS, and MES systems will diminish disputes over invoices, shipments, returns, and purchases.
With Customer Relationship Management software, it can bring transparency around customers and the chain of ownership.
The benefits of Blockchain ERP integration are twofold. Firstly, it will ensure transparency, and secondly, it will significantly reduce the cost of tracking and reporting, considering multi-echelon and multi-staged supply chains.
It can be concluded that a lot of research has already been done on Blockchain with ERP applications, and the field still remains wide open. Blockchain works as an additive technology for ERP just like AI, IoT, and other future trends. There are yet plenty of efforts underway to establish Blockchain’s capabilities. So, if not now, wait for the near future, once the technology matures, its adoption will increase at a commendable rate.
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There are zero sub-categories in this parent category. | https://www.alinscribe.com/articles/4106/integration-of-blockchain-and-erp-a-great-futuristic-solution-beyond-cryptocurrency.html |
Local at-home care provider, Home Instead Senior Care, has partnered with national scam awareness charity, Think Jessica, Norwich Police and Norfolk Trading Standards to launch a public education programme to raise awareness of mass market scams and provide tips and advice to educate individuals on how to protect themselves from falling victim to this abuse.
As part of the campaign, the team at Home Instead Senior Care in Norwich will host a free fraud awareness workshop on Tuesday 25th March at St. Andrew’s Church Hall in Eaton from 2:30pm until 3:30pm. The workshop will share information with attendees on the scale of the problem, the most common scams targeting the elderly, how to prevent scams as well as what to do if they have fallen victim to scammers. Home Instead will be supported by the Norfolk Constabulary and members of Norfolk Trading Standards, who will also be attending to offer further information, support and advice regarding local scams.
In addition to the workshops, Home Instead has put together a ‘Senior Fraud Protection Kit’ which contains information on the most common scams, tools to help assess the risk of an elderly loved one, plus really useful checklists to help seniors take practical action to lower the risk of becoming a victim of a scam. Organiser of the local workshop, Hayley Howes, said, "The ‘Faceless’ criminals who use email, telephone and post to lure their victims into parting with their life savings, personal banking information and other assets, can prey in particular on the elderly who they see as easy targets for their crimes."
PCSO Laura Baitey added, "These types of scams defraud individuals in the UK of an estimated £3.5 billion each year and have very serious consequences for the elderly who can suffer devastating emotional distress affecting their confidence and trust which can lead to a loss of independence. However with better awareness and education I hope that we can alert the community in order to prevent them from becoming victims." | https://www.homeinstead.co.uk/norwich/news-events/scam-proofing-norwichs-elderly |
Financial experts on Wednesday in Lagos urged financial institutions in the country to regularly educate the public on phishing attack and how to protect themselves from falling victim to the act.
The experts spoke at a Finnovex West Africa summit on Financial Services Innovation and Excellence, organised by EXHIBEX, United Arab Emirates, at Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island.
Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit cards.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit gave insights on how financial institutions could utilise technology to champion innovations in areas such as customer experience, cyber security and seamless digital channels.
The Group Chief Information Security Officer, Access Bank, Mrs Favour Femi-Oyewole, said that many bank customers were still falling victim of identity theft because of knowledge gap.
“With regards to taking awareness to all the end users, consumers need to know how to guard their identity, because many are still falling victim of identity theft because of knowledge gap. That is why user awareness is very key.
“All banks are already doing this, but there is need for financial institutions to come together and do something that will ensure that we take awareness to the nooks and crannies of the nation.
“It is our duty to ensure that everybody understands the situation of things; starting from the woman selling pepper to the tailor,’’ she said.
Femi-Oyewole said that many fell victim to the fraudsters because they didn’t know how to protect themselves and their funds.
According to her, such people don’t even know how to detect legitimate text messages from banks and the ones from fraudsters.
She said that by the time there was increased awareness, people would be conscious of the devices of the hackers.
Femi-Oyewole said that service providers should also be mindful that people could be forgetful and needed to be reminded regularly on how to better equip themselves.
The Business Consultant Team Manager of OneSpan, a Cybersecurity technology company in Switzerland, Mr Gregory Hancell, urged financial institutions to protect and secure customers’ data.
“We are in the age of mobile banking which everyone is crazy about, but the thing is many institutions are not building security to what they are doing, neither are they working in synergy.
“ One of the easiest ways attackers use to exploit people is the vulnerability in the network,and we must ensure that security is embedded from the beginning.
“Customers’ secret should be regularly authenticated and monitored regularly to stop fraud, it should not be an afterthought thing,’’ he said. | https://promptnewsonline.com/phishing-attack-financial-experts-advocate-increased-public-awareness/ |
The RCMP from Ottawa are concerned about the infamous “tax scam” fraud circulating in Alberta and are calling attention to the problem.
“The Alberta RCMP continues to receive reports of Albertans being targeted by this scam and would appreciate the media’s help in raising public awareness on this issue in communities throughout the province,” stated a press release from RCMP HQ in Ottawa dated Feb. 11.
“Anyone who believes they may have been victimized by this scam or who has given out personal or financial information in error, is advised to contact their local police service and their financial institution.
“The RCMP and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are warning Canadians about an ongoing scam in which taxpayers across the country receive phone calls or emails from individuals impersonating CRA employees. These people are scammers.
“The scammers tell taxpayers that they either owe money to the CRA or have a tax refund. Taxpayers are threatened with arrest or jail time if they do not take immediate action and provide money or personal or financial information.
The federal minister responsible for CRA also commented. “The CRA takes these matters very seriously and provides substantial information to Canadians about how to protect themselves from scams undertaken using the CRA’s name. Informing yourself is particularly important during the tax filing season, when such scams peak,” said the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue. This information, including examples of real scam telephone calls and e-mails, can be easily found on the CRA web site.
“The RCMP plays a crucial role in educating the public about scams, and has a number of programs in place to track fraud, including one run by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC),” stated the press release. “The CAFC monitors all types of scams, and warns Canadians to be on the lookout for scammers during the upcoming tax season. The RCMP also works closely with the CRA to raise awareness about tax-related scams.
“When CRA employees call taxpayers, they follow established procedures to ensure personal information is protected. To confirm the authenticity of a call, contact the CRA by using its official telephone number for individual tax enquiries: 1-800-959-8281. You can also verify your individual tax account through a secure CRA portal: My Account.
Pipestone Flyer readers should remember the federal government will never threaten to send police to arrest you over an unpaid tax bill, especially over the phone.
The RCMP note if you believe you may be the victim of fraud or have given personal or financial information in error, contact your local police service (Wetaskiwin or Leduc) and your financial institution. | https://www.pipestoneflyer.ca/news/rcmp-say-tax-scam-getting-worse-in-alberta/ |
Thank you for inviting me to speak today. It is a pleasure to be here with all of you at an event focused on the important topic of avoiding community-based financial fraud.
Community-based, or “affinity” fraud, works precisely because fraudsters—like the Goldstein brothers—know their audience. Whether preying on vulnerable populations, or using painstaking research to pass themselves off as members of their targets’ ethnic group, faith community, or dating pool, these victimizers prey on people’s trust and kindness for profit. It’s a growing problem and one that has rightly become a law enforcement priority. This afternoon, I’m going to talk to you about elder fraud, as well as some other types of affinity fraud, what my Office and the Department of Justice are doing to combat them, and strategies that you and your clients can use to avoid becoming victims.
Elder Fraud
Fraud against our nation’s elders is a particularly egregious category of fraud and the one that I’ll spend the most time discussing today. Hopefully none of you or your friends, family members, or associates have been victimized but the odds are that, with a crowd this size, at least some of you will have some personal experience with fraud – or attempted fraud – against elders.
There are numerous and varied financial scams targeting elders. Some are quite basic and others are more sophisticated. Either way, the impact can be devastating. The amount of money that older adults are losing each year to financial scams is staggering. Loss estimates are in the billions. And financial loss is not the full measure of the loss from these scams – there are often physical, mental, and emotional costs to victims and to their families as well.
Let’s talk about the different types of elder-targeting financial scams, what the Department of Justice and my office are doing to try to combat this problem and protect our elders, and what elders and those who come in contact with them can do to guard against elder fraud.
By way of some background, on October 18, 2017, the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act was enacted to address the serious problem of elder abuse in our country. (A word on terminology: for purposes of the Act, an “elder” is defined as 60 or older and “elder abuse” is defined to include abuse, neglect, and exploitation of an elder – and that includes the financial as well as the physical.) The Act contains important provisions relating to, among other things, the support of federal elder justice cases, improved data collection in the area of elder justice, and assistance to the victims of elder abuse.
Part of what the Act did was mandate that there be a designated Elder Justice Coordinator for the Department of Justice and that there be at least one Elder Justice Coordinator in each of the 93 United States Attorney’s Offices across the country, including my office. The Elder Justice Coordinators in the United States Attorney’s Offices serve as in-house legal counsel on matters relating to elder abuse; prosecute and assist in the prosecution of elder abuse cases; ensure the collection of data required to be collected under the Act; and conduct public outreach and awareness activities relating to elder abuse.
The Act also mandated the establishment of a working group to provide policy advice to the Attorney General on elder abuse. And, the Act required regular and comprehensive training of FBI agents in the area of elder justice. The FBI is deeply committed to addressing the problem of elder abuse, as are numerous other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
For many years, there have been elder justice prosecutions and prevention efforts here in New York and across the country – sadly, the exploitation of elders is not a new problem. Following the passage of the Act, the Department of Justice has redoubled its efforts at combatting this problem. DOJ has devoted significant attention and resources to preventing elder fraud and abuse and to prosecuting crimes against elders, under its Elder Justice Initiative. Over the past two years, the Department has conducted targeted sweeps aimed at focusing resources against those who defraud America’s seniors. Those sweeps have collectively resulted in criminal and civil criminal and civil actions against more than 500 defendants responsible for defrauding over 1.5 billion dollars from at least 3 million victims.
If you have not yet visited DOJ’s Elder Justice Initiative website, I encourage you to do so. The address is www.elderjustice.gov – it is a publicly accessible website that contains information that I think you will find useful and that you might want to pass along to people in your organizations, to your clients, and to the elders in your life. Among other things, the site has contact information for various Government and non-Government resources, including information on how to report financial fraud against elders.
On the website, you will also find descriptions of different types of financial scams targeting elders. To mention just some of the ones we are seeing in my office and across the country: grandparent scams, romance scams (which I’ll talk more about later), tech support scams, mortgage scams, mass marketing scams (for example, foreign and domestic sweepstakes and lottery scams), IRS scams, and investment scams. And new scams tend to pop up over time.
Not only is there variety in the types of scams we are seeing, there is also variety in the categories of scammers. To name just some of the categories: family members; neighbors; friends; caregivers; trusted advisors (bankers, lawyers, accountants, investment advisors/brokers, tax preparers); Powers of Attorney, guardians, and conservators; and affinity group members.
So what are we doing about the proliferation of financial fraud against our senior population?
Elder fraud is an area where prosecution of appropriate cases is vitally important and where public outreach and education are at least as important. My office and DOJ are taking a two-pronged approach: prosecution and prevention.
Prosecutions are important for several reasons: (1) prosecutions hold responsible those who cause harm to elders; (2) prosecutions also bring some justice to victims, including sometimes enabling them to obtain at least some restitution; (3) along with targeted sweeps, prosecutions can deter people who might otherwise be inclined to try to defraud elders; and finally (4) prosecutions raise awareness about financial scams targeting elders, which can thwart future crimes.
In the last couple of years alone, my office has handled some significant prosecutions involving crimes against elders.
By way of one example: My office partnered with HSI and NYPD to prosecute 17 defendants for federal crimes arising from their participation in a telemarketing fraud scheme targeting the elderly, many of whom were over 70 years old. The scheme involved luring victims into making “investments” in so-called online or work-at-home businesses. The payments were purportedly made for business development, website design, grant applications, and tax preparation services but in fact, the scammers simply stole the victims’ money. When some victims sought refunds and contested their credit card charges, the scammers falsely represented to the credit card companies that the victims had received the promised services. The people my office prosecuted played important roles in the telemarketing scheme: several were founders and owners, others were sales managers and trainers, and some were telephone salespeople who told egregious lies directly to victims and sold them the worthless products and services. In some cases, when a victim would become heavily in debt due to the scheme, the salespeople would try to sell the victim on a debt settlement service that cost them even more. The losses associated with the defendants’ scheme exceeded approximately $10 million. All of the defendants sentenced to date have received sentences of imprisonment (up to 87 months) and collectively have been ordered to pay several million dollars of restitution and forfeiture.
In another example of egregious criminal conduct, my office prosecuted several members of a criminal enterprise based in Ghana that was involved in defrauding more than 100 American businesses and individuals of more than $10 million through business email compromises and romance scams that targeted the elderly. The romance scams succeeded because the criminals took advantage of particularly vulnerable older men and women, such as those who lived alone or had recently lost a spouse or child, and who were susceptible to being contacted by someone who pretended to take an interest in them. These were long cons; the scammers gained the trust of the victims over time through countless emails, text messages, and messages through online dating websites, in order to delude them into believing they were in a romantic relationship with a fake identity assumed by members of the criminal enterprise. Often, the scammers also posed as members of the U.S. military or humanitarian organizations working abroad who were in need of help. In order to appear more legitimate, the scammers also introduced the victims to other individuals who assumed fake identities and purported to be, for example, consultants or lawyers. Once the scammers had gained the victims’ trust, they used false pretenses to cause the victims to wire money to bank accounts controlled by members of the criminal enterprise. And the fraud did not end there. In addition to stealing the elderly victims’ money, the scammers also used false pretenses to cause the victims to receive funds in their own bank accounts, which, unbeknownst to the victims, were fraud proceeds, and to transfer those funds to other accounts under the control of members of the criminal enterprise. In other words, the members of the criminal enterprise used their network of elderly victims across the country to launder money stolen from other victims. The stolen money was then transferred from the bank accounts of victims to the bank accounts of mules working for the criminal enterprise and ultimately transferred to the leaders of the enterprise based in Ghana.
One of the dozens of victims in this case was a woman in her late 60s who lived alone and whose husband and son had recently passed away. She responded to a newspaper advertisement and ended up speaking with a man who purported to be a single father with a nine-year-old daughter whose wife had been killed in a car accident. After speaking with the man for an extended period of time, talking to someone who posed as the man’s daughter, and receiving pictures of the man and his daughter, the victim began to trust the man. He convinced her to send large sums of money to him, claiming that he and his daughter had gotten into trouble during a trip in Ghana related to his work as a gold dealer and needed help getting back to the United States. The victim ended up sending over $800,000, including money she obtained from mortgaging her house. She thought the money was going to a man who desperately needed her help in order to get back to the United States to see her, when in fact her money actually went to three members of the criminal enterprise living in the Bronx. My office successfully prosecuted these men; sentences for two of the three were in the four-year range. In her victim impact statement to the court, the victim said: “I have always lived a very modest life and worked hard and saved. [This has] destroyed my life. I had never heard of this kind of fraud and couldn’t believe someone could do this to me. I could lose my home.”
My office handled another case which, while differing in scale from the ones I just described, also involved disconcerting criminal behavior against elderly victims: An elderly couple was contacted by someone claiming to be their family friend—and had done enough research to pull it off. The person impersonating the friend told the couple that he had been in a car accident that had caused the death of a pregnant woman’s unborn child. The impersonator told the couple that he had been arrested and needed the couple’s help with bail. He told the couple not to call his parents because he did not want his parents to know what had happened. The couple did as he requested, kept quiet, and the next day sent $7,000 cash to a Bronx address that the impersonator had provided. The couple then received another call. This time it was from someone claiming to be their friend’s lawyer. The purported lawyer told the couple he could make the case against their friend “disappear.” All they needed to do was send $12,000 to the lawyer so that he could pay off the prosecutor. That day, the couple received more calls from the purported lawyer, from the impostor, and even from someone claiming to be the prosecutor. Fortunately, the couple became suspicious. They called their friend’s parents and learned the truth – that this was a scam. The couple’s next call was to law enforcement. The NYPD, working with the FBI, acted promptly. Dressed as a FedEx delivery worker, an NYPD officer delivered the $12,000 to a man, who was then placed under arrest. In his wallet at the time of arrest was a fake ID with the couple’s friend’s name on it. The man was charged by my office, pled guilty to a conspiracy charge, and was sentenced to eight months in prison. Sadly, these sorts of schemes are all too common and monetary losses in some cases are far greater than they were here.
I am very proud of the work that my office has done to bring to justice those who prey on our nation’s elders. But prosecuting individual cases is not all that we are doing to address this serious problem. My office has also conducted public outreach and education. For example, earlier this year, my office partnered with the Postal Inspection Service and the SEC in staffing an information table at Grand Central Terminal. Over the course of several hours, my office’s Elder Justice Coordinator spoke with members of the general public – listening to their experiences with elder fraud and abuse and providing information and resource materials on elder fraud and abuse. The information was very well-received. We have also sought out opportunities—like this one—to discuss elder-fraud related issues with key audiences.
Our goals in doing public outreach and education have been (1) preventing future crime, by getting the word out to the public about what to look out for; (2) if a crime is committed, ensuring that victims report the fraud; and (3) helping those who have been defrauded get the assistance they need.
It is clear to us from our interactions with the public that elder fraud is a topic of concern for people across all walks of life. But elder fraud is an underreported crime, for several reasons. Victims sometimes don’t realize they have been victimized; sometimes they realize they have been defrauded but are too embarrassed, ashamed, or even afraid to do anything about it—in at least one instance that my office has encountered, an elder-fraud victim continued to send money to the man defrauding her even after the FBI had met with her to alert her to the scheme. And, of course, sometimes victims simply don’t know where to turn to report fraud and/or to seek help. We hope that by raising public awareness around this issue, there will be better reporting of crimes against elders and that victims will get the help they need.
What can you – and the elders you are in contact with – do?
For those of you who come in professional contact with elders – as clients or otherwise – listen to them; observe how they are presenting to you; and observe how their representatives are interacting with them and with you. Social isolation and cognitive impairment are two big risk factors for becoming a victim of elder fraud. You might be well positioned to see red flags in these areas before they lead someone to fall for a scam. You might also be well positioned to detect if a so-called trusted advisor is acting outside the interests of your elderly client.
You can also talk to the elders you come in contact with about the specific frauds I mentioned. It may not occur to a doting grandparent that someone would even think to impersonate a grandchild to try to steal money from the grandparent. Or that someone would impersonate an IRS employee in order to steal money. You can also talk to the elders you encounter about the victimizer categories I mentioned earlier. It may not occur to someone that a family member or someone like an accountant or financial planner might be trying to take advantage of them. Recognizing a scam for what it is can go a long way in preventing victimization. Knowing that even when one has been victimized, he is not alone in having fallen prey to a certain type of scam can also go a long way in how a victim copes with and responds to having been defrauded.
Even very basic advice can be invaluable. Telling your older clients that if something that is being pitched to them aggressively sounds too good to be true, it likely is not true might very well save someone from investing – and losing – her life savings. Reminding your older clients to discard financial information in a safe way – by shredding rather than simply placing in trash or recycling bins – can also go a long way. So too can reminding them not to give out personal information over the phone or via email. And encouraging older clients to reach out to a trusted person if they think something is suspicious can help to prevent victimization. Often, the first that the family of an elder victim will hear that their family member has sent large sums of money to a fraudster is after the money is long gone. My office has made a point of prosecuting defendants who enable elder fraud by laundering fraudsters’ proceeds—and we have sometimes been able to recover money for victims. But it is not easy to do in many cases. When the co-conspirators are overseas – often it is not possible at all. In sum, anything that can be done to empower elders to help protect themselves is welcome.
Romance Fraud
Of course, community-based fraud is not limited to elders. I cited an elder victim of romance fraud earlier. Such scams target people of all ages and draw on the vast reservoirs of information available online and social media to lure and deceive victims. Decades ago, an aspiring romance fraudster would have had to fool a victim in person. Today, the proliferation of online romances has empowered aspiring con artists to deceive multiple victims simultaneously from the anonymous comfort of their computer or phone. The FTC reports that last year alone more than 21,000 victims lost more than $140 million to romance scams.
My office recently prosecuted a five-man romance-fraud crew, which created fake profiles on dating websites and used those profiles to trick victims into providing money and gifts—often in exchange for promises of a continued relationship. The defendants crafted elaborate online identities, tailored to allay any suspicions. After engaging with victims for weeks, the defendants would ask for money, typically claiming they needed it to travel to see their victims and take their romance to the next stage. Once a victim paid, the defendants would come up with new explanations for why more money had to be sent—in one instance for alleged “lawyer’s fees” to recover diamonds seized at the airport. Moved by compassion and excitement for a nascent “relationship,” victims wired money time and again. Eventually, HSI caught on to the crew’s scheme and my Office charged them with wire fraud and money laundering. Working in close coordination with HSI, we were able to identify seven victims, who had collectively paid more than $1,000,000 to the crew. Last year, the lead defendant was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment.
As with elder fraud, there’s work to be done in educating the public about romance scams. Our casework and FBI guidance point to some simple steps that your clients can follow to avoid falling prey to fraudsters:
- As always, be careful about what you post online. Your personal details and social media presence can be harvested by scammers looking to use that information to craft a persuasive fraud. The person you met online who just happens to share your love for Albanian food and German opera might just be repeating what they saw you post on Instagram.
- Research anyone you meet online to see if their profile picture or other material has come from elsewhere on the Internet. If someone’s profile picture is the spitting image of Tom Cruise, it’s safe to say that the person really is involved in Risky Business.
- And a big one: Be wary of anyone who asks for your financial information or for you to send money for any reason. Let someone else pay for them to get their diamonds back at the airport.
Ponzi Schemes
As some of the examples I have discussed suggest, the Internet has vastly expanded the resources available to aspiring affinity fraudsters. But, of course, community-based fraud doesn’t only live online. More than a decade after the Madoff prosecution—and a century after the notorious Charles Ponzi deceived prospective investors looking for a sure-fire return on postal coupons—my office continues to see a steady stream of Ponzi schemes, in which charismatic financiers abuse their clients’ trust to line their own pockets.
By way of example, last year, my office charged one such fraudster who preyed on the naiveté of both young and old clients to induce more than 275 victims to invest more than $57 million in a series of ill-fated real-estate projects. The defendant told an array of lies to his victims—claiming, for instance, that investments were tied to particular attractive properties, only to siphon money away for his own purposes. In classic Ponzi-scheme style, he also used investor funds earmarked for the development of one property to pay the monthly interest payments to earlier investors in that same property or in other real estate projects he was pursuing. Even as his house of cards began to collapse, the defendant continued to solicit investments and offer rosy prospects of profit.
As is so often the case with Ponzi schemes, the defendant’s fraud left devastated victims in its wake. A young couple lost the vast majority of their savings; another lost a half million dollars they’d earmarked for their children’s education; and an array of elderly victims lost their life savings, which, as one victim noted in connection with sentencing, represented “his safety net for illness and disability.” The defendant was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. But while my office was able to help hold him accountable for his brazen fraud, some of his victims’ losses can never be repaid.
Here, too, I can offer a few words of advice for you and your clients, none of which should come as a surprise to the people in this room:
- Always look gift horses in the mouth. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
- Be sure to do your due diligence. No matter how credible a marketer seems, how entrenched in your community they are, or how well you know them personally—there’s no substitute for careful research.
- On that note, always get an unbiased third party’s advice before making an investment decision. Affinity fraudsters are hoping you’ll let your trust in them overcome your better judgment. An impartial set of eyes and ears can be your best defense.
* * *
These are just some of the community-based frauds that my office and the Department of Justice are working to prevent and counter. As the cases I have discussed demonstrate, community-based fraud is all the more troubling because its perpetrators prey on the better angels of our nature—our trust, faith, and even love. The Department of the Justice and the SDNY are committed to fighting affinity fraud in all its forms—and doing our part to help prevent people from becoming victims in the first place. We look forward to partnering with all of you to do that. | https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/speech/manhattan-us-attorney-geoffrey-s-berman-delivers-keynote-address-sec-and-fordham |
Because of many recent events happening in the financial world, many people have reverted to a whole new market that uses digital currency and blockchain technology.
Many people need to preserve some money or transfer it from one border to another.
By learning about cryptocurrency exchanges, the average investor can secure his bag from any unforeseeable economic crash.
This article will look at 5 things you should know about the crypto market if you want to start investing in the stock market.
We will review this investment advice and see whether it is an excellent investment to buy crypto assets.
Table of Contents
Investing in Cryptocurrency: 8 Things a Beginner should know
#1. Consider Why You Are Investing in Cryptocurrency
The reason is the most critical question you should ask yourself before investing in cryptocurrencies. Many investment products exist, providing more stability and lower risk than digital currency.
Do you want to learn about cryptocurrency just because it’s popular? Is there a stronger case for buying one or more different digital tokens?
Many people want to invest in cryptocurrency because they have different financial decisions and goals. Because of this, it is essential to know that there will always be people that know more about these digital assets.
#2. Get a Feel for the Industry
Before investing, it’s critical for investors, especially those new to digital currencies, to understand how the industry operates.
Spend some time learning about the many currencies available. Given hundreds of different coins and tokens to choose from, it’s critical to go beyond the most well-known names, such as Ripple, Ethereum, and Bitcoin.
For that reason, it’s essential to take a grasp of blockchain technology and the methodology behind it.
Some features of blockchain technology will be complicated for you to understand if you don’t have a background in computer science or coding.
There are various beginner guides about blockchain technology available.
When you’ve already decided which cryptocurrency (or tokens) to invest in, research how those tokens utilize blockchain technology and whether they offer any unique features that set them apart from the competition.
You’ll be better able to judge whether a possible investment opportunity is worthwhile if you have a deeper grasp of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
#3. Join an Online Community of Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts
Things change and increase in the digital currency industry since it is such a fashionable subject. Part of this is that a large and active community of digital currency investors and enthusiasts communicates constantly.
For example, the most popular platform for getting information about cryptocurrency exchange is Reddit. With this platform, you will stay updated with any news about crypto investing.
There are also many online groups you can find where you can meet so many investors.
#4. Read Cryptocurrency White Papers
The characteristics of digital money, rather than word of mouth, are more significant. Take the effort to find the project’s white paper while investing. Every blockchain project must have at least one, easy to find. Consider it a red flag if it isn’t.
Make sure to read the white paper carefully. The paper should contain all you need to know about the project’s authors’ intentions, including a timeline, a basic summary, and specifics. It is often seen as a negative if the white paper lacks statistics and precise facts about the project.
If the paper seems a bit insufficient or deceptive, this is a sign that there might be some more significant issues with the project.
#5. Timing is Key
After thorough investigation, you’ve probably got a feel for the bitcoin business and may have decided on one or more projects to invest in. The following stage is to determine the best timing to invest. The world of digital currencies evolves swiftly and is highly unstable.
If you want to invest in a virtual currency that has yet to become popular, it might motivate you or any new cryptocurrency investors.
However, as mentioned before, it is good to do proper research before you decide to purchase cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies have their own set of pricing trends. Bitcoin is frequently the forerunner among cryptocurrencies, which usually follow its usual path.
The news of an exchange breach, fraud, or market manipulation may send shockwaves through the cryptocurrency world, so keep an eye on what’s going on.
Lastly, keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are quite volatile. Many other investors have pumped millions into the virtual reality world only to watch it evaporate for every sudden bitcoin billionaire. Investing in this area entails taking a chance.
You may offer yourself the most excellent chance of winning by completing your study before investing.
#6. Watch Out for Scammers
You may notice a lot of buzz on social media about an investing technique that promises massive profits from obscure crypto assets.
Others make inflated predictions regarding Bitcoin’s price. Unfortunately, some dishonest people in the crypto industry and Ponzi schemes and exit scams have cost billions of dollars.
You can find a piece of straightforward advice on preventing a crypto scam on CoinMarketCap’s blog and another one on maintaining your cryptocurrency security.
#7. Learn about FIAT currency
If you’re new to crypto, ensure your exchange or brokerage supports fiat money transfers and purchases in US dollars.
Many exchanges only purchase additional cryptocurrency using another cryptocurrency, so you’ll need to locate another exchange to acquire the tokens your chosen exchange allows before starting trading cryptocurrency on that platform.
#8. Make sure to invest in an amount you’re not afraid to lose
Many new traders who want to invest in their cryptocurrency project have to know that the most important thing is investing in an amount you’re not afraid to lose.
In general, there is something known as the 5% rule regarding investing. Only 5% of your earnings or net worth is anticipated to be invested in volatile assets.
Even if they are less lucrative, the remaining proportion can be invested in more fixed bitcoin cash.
What is Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency or virtual money protected by encryption makes counterfeiting and double-spending practically impossible.
Many cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology, a blockchain platform enforced by a global network of computers.
Cryptocurrencies are distinguished because they are not issued by any centralized government, making them potentially impervious to government intervention or exploitation.
How to Buy Cryptocurrency
Choose a Broker or Crypto Exchange
You must first choose a broker or a crypto market to purchase bitcoin. While both allow you to acquire cryptocurrency, there are a few significant distinctions to be aware of.
Coinbase, Gemini, and Binance are three of the most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges. While the conventional trading interfaces of these organizations may be intimidating to newcomers, especially those with no prior experience trading stocks, they do provide user-friendly, simple buying choices.
Create and Verify Your Account
You may establish an account with a cryptocurrency broker or exchange once you’ve decided on one. You may be required to prove your identification depending on the platform and the amount you intend to purchase. This is a necessary step in preventing fraud and complying with federal regulations.
You might not be able to purchase or trade cryptocurrencies until the verification procedure is completed. You may be required to produce a copy of your driver’s license or passport and a selfie to verify that your look matches the documentation you submit.
Deposit Cash to Invest in cryptocurrency investments
You must have money in your account to purchase cryptocurrency. You may fund your cryptocurrency account by connecting your bank account, approving a wire transfer, or making a debit or credit card payment.
Depending on the exchange or brokerage and your payment method, you may have to wait a few days before utilizing the money you deposit to acquire cryptocurrencies.
Place Your Cryptocurrency Order
You may place your first bitcoin order after having money in your account. There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies to select from, varying from a very well names like Bitcoin and Ethereum to more minor well-known cryptocurrencies like Theta Fuel and Holo.
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Conclusion: Investing in Cryptocurrency
One of the most challenging things for investors to avoid regarding cryptocurrencies is getting caught up in the excitement.
Cryptocurrencies remain volatile and unpredictable, according to analysts. If you’ve started investing in the crypto market, you should do your homework just like any other investment.
Buying cryptocurrency has its own both positive and negative sides. However, you must be good at reading the market value to ensure you get good investment profits in the foreseeable future.
Investing in Cryptocurrency FAQs
Is Investing in cryptocurrency a good investment?
While experts warn buyers about cryptocurrency’s volatility and uncertainty, some investors are ready to take the risk in exchange for a possible return. To evaluate whether investing in cryptocurrency is good for you, you must first conduct an analysis.
Can you get rich investing in crypto?
Some bitcoin traders have undoubtedly made billionaires due to their successful investments. Whether you want to sell or invest in cryptocurrency trading, you have to know that this doesn’t work like traditional currencies.
It is not a centralized exchange where you have an actual wallet. Many early investors mistake not knowing the difference between hardware and software wallets and decide to buy bitcoin randomly.
This is why it is good to have an investment strategy that will guarantee you immense profit. | https://www.dumblittleman.com/investing-in-cryptocurrency/ |
The Dean of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Professor Justice Bawole, has urged the government to intensify the campaign on financial literacy to help deepen awareness of the subject among the public.
He said as an important component of national development, it was necessary for the government to shift from the "command and control" approach of tackling the recurring challenges in the financial sector.
"’Command and control’ means that aawe set rules and expect the people to obey them, and when they don't, then we chase them with regulators. But that is expensive to deal with and difficult to achieve in developing countries where corruption is high," Prof. Bawole said.
He was speaking at the launch of a programme — Improving financial awareness and financial literacy movement — at the UGBS in Accra yesterday.
Effects of financial illiteracy
Prof. Bawole said illiquidity, insolvency, under-capitalisation and the high level of non-performing loans which had stifled growth in the financial sector were a result of financial illiteracy in the country.
The lack of public awareness of financial products and services, he added, had also contributed to fraudulent activities in the financial sector, which had led to the revocation of the licences of some financial institutions in the country.
“We need to tackle the problem from the supplier perspective, which is that you educate the population; you make sure that people are aware of what they should avoid and also provide market incentives to make sure that financial institutions have much responsibility in leading the education of the public.
“In the United Kingdom, if you give me a loan but I was not properly advised by you and I default in paying, you will not only be compelled to write it off but also be sanctioned by the regulator,” Prof. Bawole said.
Role of Banks
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB), Mr John Awuah, said aggressive actions were needed to improve financial awareness among the population.
He said for that to be effective, financial literacy initiatives needed to be scaled up to include banks, adding that “banks must coordinate community engagement efforts to register impact in financial literacy awareness and education”.
Mr Awuah said the education of customers, workers and the public should be considered a fundamental right and need, rather than a privilege.
“Banks must continue to make financial products more accessible through digital platforms and also do more to enhance financial literacy by reaching out to rural communities and the underprivileged in society,” he said.
Meanwhile, the CEO said the GAB would spearhead school-based financial education programmes and also fund research into the causes of sub-optimal financial decisions and broader understanding of the role of financial literacy and its relationship with the country’s financial services and consumer protection laws. | https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/govt-urged-to-deepen-awareness-of-financial-literacy.html |
As an ever-evolving cross-structural sector, SSR needs to keep up with new trends so as to provide better solutions to institutions and develop more efficient processes. This includes recognising the potential of using new technologies to service SSR and building on these to implement sustainable reforms. The pillars of a successful Security Sector Reform (SSR) process are transparency and accountability. This blog argues that these two features can be put into practice by integrating blockchain to the process. This blog’s aim is not to answer every question but rather to initiate a debate. The blockchain’s implementation to the security sector will depend on experts’ creativity and set priorities. This call for discussion approaches budgetary control issues and the need for transparency and accountability when tackling corruption. However, the blockchain could become a remedy to other structural and organisational challenges such as the compilation of statistics, public contracting, staff, material and information management, inter-services coordination and much more. The first application of the blockchain to the defense sector, a secure messaging app providing a non-hackable platform for the U.S. military, is an illustration of the technology's reliability.
In short, the blockchain is a decentralized ledger system administered by a predetermined network of actors that enables the recording of data transfers. The data is contained in connected “blocks” which are sealed by a unique cryptographic key for each block. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be retrospectively modified without altering all subsequent blocks. It means that data cannot be transformed nor hidden from the network, a valuable asset when one wishes to ensure transparency and accountability while using a cost-effective and accurate technology. Ultimately, the blockchain’s usefulness emerges when it comes to processing and managing substantial database. It is a reliable, cheap and easy-to-use tool that is transparent and immutable.
A recurrent issue in the security sector that is difficult to tackle is corruption. Applying the blockchain technology to budgeting and resources allocation would enable all involved actors to keep track of where the money is going and what it is being used for. To exert their scrutiny rights, control bodies could be associated with the process by being part of the network. As the record of transactions would be unalterable and the information available to all network members, embezzlement would prove to be much more challenging. Although the method has not yet been fully applied to the security sector yet, there are some government initiatives using it to tackle fraud and corruption, especially regarding land title management and business registration. For instance, in Brazil, many government services integrated the blockchain through the Serpro platform while, in Georgia, the blockchain was integrated to the National Agency of Public Registry. Both platforms were used to establish a public register guaranteeing the data’s integrity which could help to prevent future disputes or frauds.
It would also allow authorities to tackle another damaging issue to the security sector reform: institutional distrust. By reinforcing transparency and ensuring records-tracking involving multiple actors, institutions at the heart of the process would not only gain legitimacy internally but also in the eyes of the public. As such, they would gain greater support and room for manoeuvre, face less defiance and optimise the system as a whole through a better image and thus, gain greater operational capacity. Transparency is a milestone for the successful implementation of SSR and applying blockchain technology to the sector would ensure that it is fully enforced.
Ensuring the sector’s full transparency goes hand in hand with accountability. Once transparency is achieved, holding concerned actors accountable would be facilitated. On one hand, involved parties will be naturally deterred from undertaking misappropriate actions as they will be aware of the scrutinising system in place. On the other hand, if one does engage in such actions, the data entered in the network would eventually come under the scrutiny of oversight bodies and then, they could be personally held responsible. Additionally, this could help to end the practice of overcharging. For instance, Mexico has developed a blockchain platform to handle public contracting and eliminate the sector’s rampant corruption.
To develop and implement a wider use of blockchain technology in the field of SSR, I suggest these would be the steps to follow:
1- Raise awareness on the blockchain opportunities in the SSR process
2- Engage with SSR experts in a discussion on what would be its most promising applications
3- Build partnerships with governmental institutions
4- Develop protocols, institutional structures and set in place the technology
5- Train staff to the use of the technology
6- Have a central support unit encouraging reporting and feedback
Nonetheless, it is important to have a critical retrospective. Technology is not an end in itself but it is merely a tool to achieve a stated objective. It is control bodies and how they are institutionally empowered that will influence the effectiveness of a blockchain application to SSR. It is important that they are able to consistently and concretely verify data entries which might require a significant organisational restructuring. The authenticity of the data should also be ensured and this could initially be done by conducting a public expenditure review. Otherwise, governmental initiatives can turn into failed projects due to the data’s misrepresentation as was the case in Honduras and its platform developed by Epigraph.
Incorporating new technologies in the field of SSR could prove to be a fruitful opportunity. Blockchain technology, while being cost-effective and accurate, could allow greater transparency and accountability in the reform process and daily activities of security actors. In the foreseeable future, the blockchain could become an indispensable tool for any institution aiming to reinforce and reform the security sector. Today, what matters the most is to engage in a debate, study the realm of possibilities and how the technology could be implemented. Any actor involved in SSR should seriously consider the prospect of strengthening the impact and reach of future projects through innovative technologies. | https://issat.dcaf.ch/ser/Share/Blogs/ISSAT-Blog/New-technologies-to-service-SSR-the-Blockchain-and-its-multiple-applications |
Hong Kong authorities have launched a campaign to educate the public on the risks associated with ICO and cryptocurrency investment.
Kicking off yesterday, the campaign started on Jan. 29 and was launched by the government's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Investor Education Centre (IEC), a subsidiary of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
Aiming to reach citizens via a range of channels, including the city's metro system, TV and social media, the campaign comes as the latest government-led initiative in offering the public a holistic understanding of ICO and cryptocurrency investment following the recent rise in market interest.
"Through this series of public education initiatives, the government aims to provide the public with a correct and comprehensive understanding of ICOs and 'cryptocurrencies', so that they can thoroughly assess the risks before making transactions or investment decisions," said Joseph Chan, the under secretary of the FSTB.
In addition, the IEC has made ICO- and cryptocurrency-related resources available to the public through its website, called the Chin Family.
The initiative also follows recent warnings from the SFC which specified in September last year that tokens issued through ICOs could be regarded and thus regulated as securities. The financial regulator also stated last month that only licensed firms are allowed to offer bitcoin futures and other cryptocurrency-related financial instruments.
Hong Kong road crossing image via Shutterstock
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The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG. | https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/01/30/hong-kong-to-educate-public-on-crypto-and-icos/ |
In the recent past, prolonged Crypto markets bears and risks that are associated with Crypto investments are prompting conversations of whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK should rethink its approach to Digital Assets management. Questions about necessity, possibility, and end result are now prominent and experts are divided on opinion and aftermath.
The significance of Crypto markets environment in the UK is that being a member of the G20, the G8, the Commonwealth, etc., the country is a point of reference for policymakers in nations across the world. Hence, the FCA decision is likely to have a worldwide impact on Crypto markets across the globe in the like the US SEC or Japan’s FSA.
Crypto Regulations, A Healthy Balance?
In mid-September, a group of MPs called for more action from the FCA in regulating Crypto markets. This came following an initiative from a UK Treasury Committee to create a healthy balance of Crypto usage.
On their report submission, the policymakers claimed that Cryptos have no “no inherent value,” in addition to being “vulnerable to manipulation.” According to them, these factors justify urgent regulation particularly to check ICOs that can be exploited to defraud investors.
Consequentially, many concerns have emerged surrounding the assertions from the lawmakers as not everyone is agreeing with a need for a more stringent regulation. Further, some experts may want to protect Blockchain technology from any detrimental regulation given that Crypto regulation is likely to have an inversely proportional effect on the emerging DLT.
In Europe, Cryptos Are Unregulated But Their Usability Is Regulated
The CFO at Crypterium, James Davies, who is a derivatives markets expert and a long-term financial technology specialist told Finance Magnates that regulation in Europe and the UK is different. For instance, the laws are silent on Cryptos and instead target their usability in areas such as payment, fundraisings (ICO), and futures services.
Therefore, Davies says that the likely direction that the FCA should take ought to consider regulations that promote Cryptos and Blockchain technology. Further, Davies speculates that Digital Assets will be treated as financial market securities rather than currencies. In regards to other Crypto-related challenges such as money laundering, the AML rules are likely to be strengthened to clamp down system misuse.
Crypto Regulation In The UK Will Be Ideal For Removing Anomalies, But Opinion Is Divided
Doubtlessly, the days when Western governments issued a blanket ban on Cryptocurrencies are over following an increased public interest in Digital Assets. Also, the steadily rising demand for Blockchain-based solutions for institutions is likely to prompt the FCA to create policies that change the perception of the ‘wild west’ in Blockchain and Cryptos matters.
Akin Fernande of Aztec believes that regulation will be a chance for the UK government to gain control over the public Cryptography key similarly to the SSL that secures browsers. However, he feels that regulation is not advisable as it may hamper positive progress in the nascent technology and industry.
On the other hand, a European Partner at Cosimo Ventures, Connor Cantwell, believes that more individuals and high-level institutions such as Banks will invest in Cryptos with more regulations.
Due to the divergent views, it is only evident that much research has to be done in the UK Crypto and Blockchain industries before the FCA or the parliament acts. | https://coinrevolution.com/is-it-time-for-the-fca-to-tighten-crypto-regulation/ |
World Population Day is a great event being celebrated all through the world annually on 11th of July. It is celebrated to increase the awareness of the people towards the worldwide population issues. It was first started in the year 1989 by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It was exalted by the interest of the public when the global population became near about five billion at 11th of July in the year 1987.
The following message “Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations.” was distributed worldwide by the theme of 2017 World Population Day celebration when the worldwide population was approximately 7,025,071,966. The big step was taken by the authority for more small and healthy society as well as sustainable future of the people. A crucial investment is made to fulfill the reproductive health care demands and supply. The step was taken for increasing the reproductive health as well as reducing the social poverty by reducing the population.
It was the huge challenge for the development when the population on the earth has reached to around 7 billion in the year 2011. According to the decisions of the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in the year 1989, it was recommended that 11th of July every year should be noticed by the community globally and celebrated as the World Population Day in order to raise the awareness among common public and find out the real solutions to combat with the population issues. It was started to focus the required attention of people towards the importance of population issues.
World Population Day: Background
World Population Day, which seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.
By resolution 45/216 of December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly decided to continue observing World Population Day to enhance awareness of population issues, including their relations to the environment and development.
The Day was first marked on 11 July 1990 in more than 90 countries. Since then, a number of a number of United Nations Population Fund, formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) country offices and other organizations and institutions commemorate World Population Day, in partnership with governments and civil society.
Population Trends
Current estimates indicate that roughly 83 million people are being added to the world’s population every year. Even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline, the global population is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to the medium-variant projection.
The UN and Population
The UN Population Division collaborates closely with the agencies, funds, programmes and bodies of the United Nations system in the implementation of the work programme on population and in the follow-up to the International Conference on Population and Development. United Nations missions, national Government offices, United Nations offices, researchers, media representatives and the public regularly consult the Population Division regarding population estimates and projections, and information and analyses on population and development issues.
At its thirty-eighth session, the Statistical Commission requested the United Nations Statistics Division and other international agencies to increase their technical assistance to national statistical offices in order to strengthen national capacity for the implementation of the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses. In addition, the Commission requested countries to begin implementation of the revised Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses.
UNFPA works with many partners, both within and outside the United Nations system, including Governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society, faith-based organizations, religious leaders and others, to achieve its mission. To better respond to local needs, UNFPA increasingly devotes resources to country-led efforts, placing emphasis on country-focused and country-led implementation to achieve improved results, at the same time addressing mutual accountability and strengthening harmonization and alignment.
UNFPA works to support family planning by: ensuring a steady, reliable supply of quality contraceptives; strengthening national health systems; advocating for policies supportive of family planning; and gathering data to support this work. UNFPA also provides global leadership in increasing access to family planning, by convening partners – including governments – to develop evidence and policies, and by offering programmatic, technical and financial assistance to developing countries.
Nine standards to uphold the human right to family planning
- Non-discrimination: Family planning information and services cannot be restricted on the basis of race, sex, language, religion, political affiliation, national origin, age, economic status, place of residence, disability status, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Available: Countries must ensure that family planning commodities and services are accessible to everyone.
- Accessible: Countries must ensure that family planning commodities and services are accessible to everyone.
- Acceptable: Contraceptive services and information must be provided in a dignified manner, respecting both modern medical ethics and the cultures of those being accommodated.
- Good quality: Family planning information must be clearly communicated and scientifically accurate.
- Informed decision-making: Every person must be empowered to make reproductive choices with full autonomy, free of pressure, coercion or misrepresentation.
- Privacy and confidentiality: All individuals must enjoy the right to privacy when seeking family planning information and services.
- Participation: Countries have an obligation to ensure the active and informed participation of individuals in decisions that affect them, including health issues.
- Accountability: Health systems, education systems, leaders and policymakers must be accountable to the people they serve in all efforts to realize the human right to family planning.
How do we celebrate World Population Day?
World population day is celebrated on international level by organizing variety of activities and events to draw attention of mass people to work together on the issues of growing population. Some of the activities include seminar discussions, educational competitions, educational information sessions, essay writing competition, public contests on various topics, poster distribution, songs, sports activity, speeches, poems, artwork, slogans, themes and messages distribution, workshops, lectures, debates, round table discussions, news distribution through press conferences, TV channels and news channels, relay of population related programmes on radio and television and so many. Various health organizations and population divisions works together to solve population issues by organizing conferences, research works, meetings, project analysis and etc.
World Population Day Images For Students And Children
Why do we celebrate World Population Day?
The aim of the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme is paying great attention towards the reproductive health problems of the community people as it is the leading cause of the ill health as well as the death of the pregnant women worldwide. It has been distinguished that around 800 women are dying daily in the procedure of giving birth to a baby. The campaign of the World Population Day every year increases the knowledge and skills of the people worldwide towards their reproductive health and family planning.
Around 1.8 billion youngsters are entering to their reproductive years and it’s very necessary to call their attention towards the primary part of the reproductive health. According to the statistics, it is noted that the world population on 1st of January 2014 has been reached to 7,137,661,030. The annual celebration of world population day is planned with lots of activities and events to make aware people about the reality.
Through this great awareness celebration, people are encouraged to take part in the event to know about population issues like importance of family planning towards the increasing population, gender equality, maternal and baby health, poverty, human rights, right to health, sexuality education, use of contraceptives and safety measures like condoms, reproductive health, adolescent pregnancy, girl child education, child marriage, sexually transmitted infections and so many.
Sexuality related issues are very necessary to get solved among youths especially between 15 to 19 years of age as according to the statistics it is noted that around 15 million women of this age give birth every year as well as around 4 million go through for abortion.
Some of the objectives of celebrating the world population day are mentioned below:
- It is celebrated to protect and empower youths of both gender like girls and boys.
- To offer them detail knowledge about the sexuality and delay marriages till they become able to understand their responsibilities.
- Educate youths to avoid unwanted pregnancies by using reasonable and youth friendly measures.
- Educate people to remove the gender stereotypes from society.
- Educate them about the pregnancy related illnesses to raise the public awareness about dangers of early childbirth.
- Educate them about STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) to get prevented from various infections.
- Demand for some effective laws and policies implementation in order to protect girl child rights.
- Make sure about the access of equal primary education to both girls and boys.
- Make sure the easy access of reproductive health services everywhere as part the basic primary health for each couple.
World Population Day Greeting Cards For Students And Children
World Population Day: Themes
- 2020: –
- 2019: –
- 2018: Family Planning is a Human Right
- 2017: Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations
- 2016: Investing in teenage girls
- 2015: Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies
- 2014: ‘A time to reflect on population trends and related issues’ and ‘Investing in Young People’
- 2013: Focus is on Adolescent Pregnancy
- 2012: Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services
- 2011: 7 Billion Actions
- 2010: Be Counted: Say What You Need
- 2009: Fight Poverty: Educate Girls
- 2008: Plan Your Family, Plan Your Future
- 2007: Men at Work
- 2006: Being Young is Tough
- 2005: Equality Empowers
- 2004: ICPD at 10
- 2003: 1,000,000,000 adolescents
- 2002: Poverty, Population and Development
- 2001: Population, Environment and Development
- 2000: Saving Women’s Lives
- 1999: Start the Count-up to the Day of Six Billion
- 1998: Approaching the Six Billion
- 1997: Adolescent Reproductive Health Care
- 1996: Reproductive Health and AIDS
World Population Day Facebook Covers For Students
- World Population Day
- Famous English Quotes about Population
- Hindi Slogans on Population Control जनसंख्या नियंत्रण पर नारे
- Hindi Poem about Over Population जनसंख्या
- Kids poem on Overpopulation in English
- Short English poem about – Increasing Population
- Population Explosion – English Poetry about Population
- 95 per cent of world’s population has health problems
- More than one-fifth of the world’s population lives in just one country. Which one? | http://www.4to40.com/public-awareness/world-population-day/ |
Elder Fraud Prevention Campaign during COVID-19
SAN JUAN, P.R (STL.News) The United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow, and the Elder Justice Task Force (EJTF) announced today the launch of an elder fraud education and prevention campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The public service campaign aims to raise awareness about the different types of fraud associated with the pandemic that have been prevalent during these past months; advise senior citizens and their caretakers on how to prevent becoming victims of these scams; and inform the different ways to report cases of fraud. The campaign encourages the public to provide information to the federal and state authorities in a confidential manner.
“This educational campaign seeks to provide the elderly and the general public with the tools to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the crisis we are living through. As I have stated in previous occasions, the well-being of our elderly citizens during this pandemic is one of our main priorities. I commend the efforts of the Elder Justice Task Force and those who have joined our mission during this emergency,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow.
The Acting Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, Inés del C. Carrau Martínez, urged Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to protect themselves, be cautious, and disregard any unsolicited calls or visits that offer COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, or medical equipment, if they suspect anything is amiss. “We are dealing with a serious and complex health issue. We have to take care of our elderly so they don’t become a target for scams through false advertisement or offers,” stated Secretary Carrau.
“We have been very diligent in providing guidance to the population we serve and at senior centers so that they do not become victims of fraud. Today we are doubling our efforts with this excellent task force in order to raise awareness about these illegal practices,” said the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs, Orlando López Belmonte.
“As part of this initiative, we call on the family caretakers who support the elderly to be alert, because they are a key part in detecting, avoiding, and reporting these new scams associated with COVID-19 that threaten their own and their loved ones’ financial safety,” warned José R. Acarón, local director of AARP PR.
“This educational campaign is part of a preventive approach geared towards protecting the rights of the elderly population in Puerto Rico, and fighting crimes that target them. There is a pressing need for education, particularly during the pandemic,” informed Dr. Carmen Delia Sánchez Salgado, Ombudsman for the Elderly.
Other entities that have joined forces in this campaign are the Postal Inspector Service; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
This campaign stems from the Elder Justice Initiative. The EJTF’s mission is to support and coordinate the U.S. Department of Justice’s compliance efforts to combat abuse, neglect, financial fraud, and scams that target our nation’s seniors. The EJTF in Puerto Rico is coordinated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Novas.
Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors. The Department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act. | https://themedianote.com/elder-fraud-prevention-campaign-during-covid-19/ |
The FBI Phoenix Field Office is raising awareness about cyber scams targeting the elderly in Arizona.
As a response to the increasing prevalence of fraud against the elderly, the Department of Justice and the FBI partnered in 2017 to create the Elder Justice Initiative. Elder Fraud is defined as a financial fraud scheme which targets or disproportionately affects people over the age of 60. The FBI, including IC3, has worked tirelessly to educate this population on how to take steps to protect themselves from being victimized.
Victims over the age of 60 may encounter scams including Advance Fee Schemes, Investment Fraud Schemes, Romance Scams, Tech Support Scams, Grandparent Scams, Government Impersonation Scams, Sweepstakes/Charity/Lottery Scams, Home Repair Scams, TV/Radio Scams, and Family/Caregiver Scams. If the perpetrators are successful after initial contact, they will often continue to victimize these individuals. Further information about the Elder Justice Initiative is available at justice.gov/elderjustice.
According to the latest FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3 report, residents over the age of 60 made up the majority of Arizona cyber-crime victims in 2020 (3,053) and accounted for the most adjusted losses (more than $27 million).
Here are the top 5 crimes, targeting Arizona seniors for fiscal year 2020 (according to IC3):
Top 5 Arizona crimes by victim count (ages 60+)*
1. Type: Non-Payment/Non-Delivery
- Victim Count: 815
- Victim Loss: $2,129,253.472. Type: Personal Data Breach
- Victim Count: 315
- Victim Loss: $584,952.73
3. Type: Terrorism/Threats of Violence
- Victim Count: 247
- Victim Loss: $287,729.33
4. Type: Identity Theft
- Victim Count: 231
- Victim Loss: $966,096.77
5. Type: Extortion
- Victim Count: 200
- Victim Loss: $140,054.57
Top 5 Arizona crimes by financial loss (ages 60+)*
1. Type: Business e-mail Compromise
- Victim Count: 98
- Victim Loss: $7,226,827.59
2. Type: Investment
- Victim Count: 112
- Victim Loss: $6,807,103.58
3. Type: Confidence Fraud/Romance Scam
- Victim Count: 174
- Victim Loss: $5,191,756,68
4. Type: Real Estate/Rental
- Victim Count: 138
- Victim Loss: $3,066,291.37
5. Type: Virtual Currency
- Victim Count: 101
- Victim Loss: $3,026,100.57
While anyone, young or old can fall victim to these scams, seniors with cognitive impairment, health issues, or other concerns are at higher risk. Add that to the fact that many seniors have a set amount of money in retirement, with little ability to recover financially should fraud occur, and the results can be devastating.
If you are an older American, or a caregiver, here are some things you can do to protect you and your family:
- Contact an attorney before signing any legal document.
- Check financial statements every month for unusual activity.
- Avoid unsolicited contacts—whether by phone, e-mail, at your door, or in-person while you are out and about. It is OK to hang up the phone, delete the e-mail, or tell someone you are not interested and walk away.
- Be wary when someone asks you to form a company in order to open up a new bank account.
- Never give your financial details or personal information to someone you don’t know and trust, especially if you met them online.
- Be suspicious when the individual you met on a dating website wants to use your bank account for receiving and forwarding money.
- Be careful of IRS imposter/Sweepstakes scams where the fraudsters tell you that you won the lottery/sweepstakes and you have to pay taxes before you collect your winnings. This is a scam!
Remember:
- A legitimate company will not ask you to use your own bank account to transfer their money. Do not accept any job offers that ask you to do this.
- The government will never request money or personal information from you over the phone.
If you believe you are a victim of fraud, or know a senior who may be, regardless of financial loss, immediately report the incident to your local law enforcement agency and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or call your local FBI office. | https://www.allaboutarizonanews.com/fbi-warns-of-elder-fraud-in-arizona/ |
Why should we care about fraud? Fraud costs billions in damages to companies, governments and individuals each year.
It also severely affects the quality of life of its victims resulting in job losses, the loss of savings and investments, weakened trust in public institutions and a significant strain on resources.
As part of Fraud Awareness Week 2021, Collin Dubignon, Head of Financial Crime at Absa Bank Seychelles talks about his time in the field and why the world of counter fraud is becoming more relevant for every financial institution in the post Covid era.
Q: How long have you worked at Absa Bank Seychelles and what are the responsibilities of your current title?
A: I’ve been with the bank since 2008, so close to 14 years now and held many positions within the Operations function. These include Payments, Governance and Control, Fraud Management and my current position as Head of Financial Crime.
Q:What exactly does a Head of Financial Crime at Absa Seychelles do?
A:Well, I’m currently in charge of five portfolios that includes Business Continuity Management, Physical Security, Forensic Investigations, Financial Crime and Fraud Management.
My role is to direct and improve the design and execution of key portfolios that support Anti Money Laundering, Sanctions, Anti Bribery and Corruption and Fraud Risk Management across the bank.
So effectively, what I do is provide expertise on financial crime and fraud management. This means overseeing the establishment of fraud processes, procedures and controls, carrying out best practices in the industry as well as representing the Absa Seychelles Fraud team and our mission across the business.
Being the Head of Financial Crime also means I have to remain updated on the latest industry trends and emerging fraud threats.
Q:What is a normal day like for you?
A:I’m not quite sure there’s a normal day as the Head of Financial Crime and that’s why I love what I do! Despite planning my day ahead of time, I always need to be prepared for the unexpected.
The first hour of my day usually consists of me checking in with my team for any important issues that would require urgent attention.
That’s when we usually discuss any unusual or suspicious transactions or non-compliance matters that come up. I could be in the office attending an important meeting one moment, and the next, in the middle of handling a fraud matter.
Despite the hectic days, we make sure that our guard is never down and every day means giving attention to details.
Q:How do you stay organised? What tasks do you prioritise?
A:What I’ve found when faced with challenging work is focusing on one item at a time rather than trying to do too many things at once. Priorities also change throughout the day and I often have to reassess my goals.
Work calendars and planners have become an essential part of my day. It helps immensely with the tracking and reporting process. Schedules and deadlines make my job easier and a big part of my responsibility is to delegate tasks to my team. I don’t like procrastination. I think what is more effective is prioritising work based on importance and urgency. Always consider effort, constantly review and be realistic above all.
Q:What keeps you up at night or worries you the most about your job?
A:Fraud keeps me up at night. It’s always a hot topic and the exposure is real in almost any industry. Fraudsters are evolving and constantly discovering new methods of acquiring a personal gain.
The nightmare of a fraud attack is enough to keep any Head of FinCrime up at night. Knowing that we have some of the best systems in place to protect against common fraud helps me rest a little easier.
What keeps me hopeful about my job is that there are still people on the frontline of the fight against fraud. Banks like Absa Seychelles know the importance of educating their customers and the public on how to spot financial fraud.
Fraud Awareness Week is the perfect medium to get this message across and this entire week the bank is posting Fraud Awareness messages and tips on social media to help us spread the message.
Q:How is technology currently being used to fight fraud?
A:This is a pretty cool topic especially in light that Absa Seychelles is the leading Seychellois bank in technology.
Nowadays when fraud is suspected, AI (Artificial Intelligence) apps can be used to flag transactions for further investigation.
These AI models are instrumental in helping banks improve their internal security and speed upfraud detection in real-time.
The AI also learns from the analyst and when suspicious transactions are detected, also learns to avoid trends that do not necessarily lead to fraud. The machine learning is used to analyse and predict behaviour at a granular level of a transaction and this leads to a bigger picture of what is actually happening, making fraud detection faster and easier.
Q:What advice can you give our customers to prevent them from falling into fraud traps?
A:What you need to remember at all times is to keep your personal details secure and NEVER share them with anyone.
We don’t often think much about this in Seychelles but it’s really important to be mindful of how much personal information you share on social media. Fraudsters are getting bolder and even in a fairly unaffected country like ours, your information can be used in identity theft.
Always look out for security tips shared by your bank over social media, leaflets and posters and for those who enjoy online shopping, be sure of the authenticity of the websites you visit before entering your card details.
If your information has been leaked and you think you are at risk, contact your bank immediately. They are there to advise you and tell you what you can do in this situation.
Keeping an eye on your bank account will allow you to quickly identify any suspicious transactions and alert your bank immediately.
These tips don’t guarantee that you will never be a victim of financial fraud but what they will do is make you more aware of it and help you avoid major financial losses. | https://nation.sc/articles/11439/shining-a-light-on-fraud---absas-financial-crime-expert-talks-risk-counter-fraud-and-how-you-can-remain-protected- |
Preventative health focusses on education and training to create working environments where individuals are pro-actively empowered to manage their own health, safety and wellbeing. Our preventative health services provides clients with the flexible approach of both face-to-face and digital delivery, enabling access to all employees.
Vita Health Group provides a range of workshops and digital training modules which improve the health, safety and well-being of employees. All courses are designed and delivered by expert trainers and clinicians, underpinned by current research and evidence-based practice. A flexible, bespoke and innovative approach to the delivery of our training ensures engagement and effective return on investment. To minimise time and travel costs, all face-to-face training is delivered at our client’s location.
Our workshops address the most common causes of employee ill health and work absence including stress, anxiety, depression, and musculoskeletal disorders. We also provide specialist training for employees and managers on topics such as suicide, trauma, bullying and harassment, work-life balance and how to effectively manage change.
This workshop provides an overview of common mental health problems and provides delegates with an understanding of factors which influence mental health and clearly outlines pathways for accessing appropriate support and treatment. Delegates gain the tools they need to help support and talk to colleagues and loved ones, and take practical steps to improve their own well-being.
This workshop is similar to Mental Health Awareness at Work for Employees, but has a focus on the roles and responsibilities of being a manager in relation to mental health. It explores in more depth the need to attend mental health as a manager and reduce stigma, and provides delegates with the tools needed to become a mental health advocate. Delegates are taught how to support, and talk to team members with their mental health difficulties, and to provide pathways for accessing appropriate support and treatment.
In the same way that a physical first aider can provide immediate support, Vita Health Group’s Advanced Mental Health Awareness at Work course provides the tools for delegates to offer the same support for someone who’s in psychological distress.
This workshop consolidates the knowledge gained through attending either the Employee, or Manager Mental Health Awareness at Work workshops and helps delegates to be able to identify the early warning signs, and engage with colleagues showing signs of distress. Delegates receive guidance and the practical skills to be able reduce the risk of situations becoming escalated, and become confident to seek and handover to external organisations, such as the police or ambulance services.
This is a bespoke, 3.5 hour workshop that explores the incidence and complex nature of suicide. Delegates will recognise key factors that increase the risk of suicide, and help individuals to identify the signs and engage with a colleague showing signs of distress. The course offers practical advice to support at risk employees and signpost individuals to relevant clinical pathways, or make the informed decision to call for appropriate emergency services to intervene. Key aspects of how and what to report during an incident process are reviewed and explores ‘Duty of Care’ and boundaries to involvement.
Note that this course is restricted to individuals who have already completed the Mental Health Awareness Training for Managers, or the Advanced mental Health Awareness at Work Workshop.
These specialist training courses have been designed specifically to help employees who encounter disturbing or traumatic events or materials as part of their work. These courses combine a 3.5 hour workshop with three follow-up coaching calls at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. Vita Health Group offers two versions of this training, one for employees and another for managers.
Employee Training:
This workshop is designed to increase understanding of how people can be personally affected by their work, and dispel the myth of professional detachment. Delegates will understand the importance of seeking peer support, and explore what practical steps can be taken to avoid becoming overwhelmed by their work.
Managers Training:
This workshop provides both information and practical solutions to help managers identify and react appropriately to increasing stress levels and distress amongst their employees. These workshops build upon managers’ existing skills, promoting dialogue with colleagues and engagement with psychological theories.
It can be easy to rush through life without stopping to notice much.
Paying more attention to the present moment, to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you can improve your mental wellbeing.
Vita Health Group have developed a unique, unbiased and evidence based 2 hour workshop. The evidence that underpins mindfulness is explored, and delegates become familiar with the rationale for mindfulness practice. Delegates are taught and have the opportunity to practice several different mindfulness techniques that can be used both at home and in the workplace.
No one is immune to stress, and we can all experience and exhibit the signs of stress in different ways. Building resilience increases the ability to recover quickly from setbacks and adversity; resilient people stay committed and increase their efforts when ‘the going gets tough’. This 2 hour, interactive workshop is designed to help delegates understand what stress is, to recognise their own triggers, and to become more resilient to the pressures and adversities in today’s workforce.
This is a more in-depth, 3.5 hour course that pays particular attention to the theoretical underpinnings of stress and resilience. It explores what they are, and how to recognise their signs and symptoms. Delegates learn strategies to enable them to effectively cope with stress by developing resilience. During this course, a range of different practical techniques that can be used at home and at work are explored and practiced to help develop and maintain resilience.
The aim of this 2 hour workshop is to take an holistic approach to well-being, stimulate thinking and discuss a range of work-life balance aspects. Delegates will explore their personal ‘choices’ in life to help identify what could be done to achieve a more healthy work-life balance. Work-life balance is a complex and highly personal topic, but through facilitated discussions and activities, this workshop can provide a range of useful tools and techniques for participants.
This 2 hour course has been developed for employees and managers, and aims to help employers implement a culture free from bullying and harassment. Delegates will become familiar with key terminology and concepts and recognise why and how bullying and harassment needs to be addressed in the modern-day workplace. Case studies are used to highlight key points and generate group discussion and debate, and delegates will also get the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviour in an attempt to identify if they may have been perceived as a bully.
This 2 hour workshop provides delegates with effective strategies to successfully manage change, and can be tailored to have an emphasis on either employees or managers. This workshop is specifically designed to be attended during times of organisational change, and helps delegates improve their confidence by increasing their understanding of the change process and how best to manage their personal reactions, or if a manager, the reactions of their team(s).
The aim of this 2 hour workshop is for delegates to be able to handle difficult conversations in a confident manner, whether these are with team members, other colleagues, or customers. The workshop can be focussed on a specific type of difficult conversation, such as return to work interviews, or dealing with vulnerable customers, or simply general topics that managers are experiencing difficulties with. One of the key benefits of this workshop is that it allows delegates to practice new skills in a safe and supportive environment. It is highly interactive and is most effective when delegates are prepared to share past experiences and to experiment with new strategies and skills.
The aim of this 3.5 hour workshop is to teach delegates how to apply safe and efficient manual handling techniques in a real-life work environment. A significant emphasis is placed on how employees can take responsibility to improve their own health, safety and well-being by improving their lifestyle, and how to prevent or manage musculoskeletal disorders. During the workshop delegates are provided with the opportunity to complete a ‘Mini-MOT’ to assess their strength and flexibility, and learn how these can be improved to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. All of our manual handling workshops are tailored specifically to our client’s needs and their workforce.
We ensure that we reiterate our client’s health and safety policies, and during the hour long practical activity, replicate typical work tasks in a live yet controlled environment. All of our trainers are either chartered physiotherapists, or rehabilitation therapists. As expert clinicians, they’re able to optimise manual handling techniques for employees with a variety of different capabilities, including those with pre-existing musculoskeletal conditions. As a key focus of this workshop is for employees to take responsibility for their own health, safety and wellbeing, employees are taught how to set effective ‘SMART’ goals, and overcome common barriers that might prevent their goals being achieved.
This 3.5 hour workshop teaches delegates how to prevent and manage musculoskeletal disorders and stress; the two most significant risk factors for office-based work. Delegates learn how to assess and optimise their own workstation through a combination of theoretical, problem-based learning scenarios, and practical activities. Delegates are offered the opportunity to complete a ‘Mini-MOT’ to assess their strength and flexibility, and learn how these can be improved to prevent work related musculoskeletal disorders. All of these workshops are delivered by chartered physiotherapists and rehabilitation therapists as they’re experts at identifying and reducing postural risk factors associated with office-based work. This workshops also helps employers fulfil their health and safety obligations, and can prevent unnecessary costs often associated with external and independent workstation (DSE) assessments.
Vita Health Group are able to deliver fully interactive, live webinars across a range of different topics. All of our webinars are tailored to our client’s specific needs, and can range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Our webinars can be used as stand-alone training, or used in conjunction with face-to-face workshops to help consolidate learning. We’re able to provide insightful webinar data including who registered and attended the event, how attentive participants were, what questions were posed, and responses to live polls. Webinars can also be recorded so that they can be viewed again at a later date. | https://www.vitahealthgroup.co.uk/corporate-services/preventative-health/services/ |
It would be a pleasure to speak to your group about ADHD, EMDR, Stress Management, Mindfulness, Resiliency, and Compassion.
Notable Speaking Engagements
During the pandemic, in both July & August 2020, I presented to the Mental Health Association of Nassau County. A introductory review of EMDR was discussed. EMDRIA material was shared to convey the definition and process of EMDR. Resources for becoming trained in EMDR was shared. In 2019, I presented at the Regional Meetings for EMDR Therapists on Long Island. My work on small t traumas and A.D.H.D. was discussed. Several resources and tools were offered to support EMDR processing for individuals with A.D.H.D.
In 2018, I was the keynote speaker in Osaka, Japan. My presentation focused on how Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Parent Training, EMDR, and Social Skills. Mindfulness Groups cumulatively has been helping clients with A.D.H.D. to improve their compliance, attention, concentration, emotional modulation, and adaptive behavior. In addition, this multi-modal approach assists parents and other care givers to develop the skills and strategies they needed to effectively manage a child with these symptoms. | https://drcarlanatalucci.com/speaking-engagements/ |
The Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner (NP) provides clinical leadership at The Al & Malka Green Artists’ Health Centre (Centre) by performing an initial assessment with each client and establishing a relationship that is patient-focused and patient centred. The NP role is an advanced nursing discipline that enables the NP to order medications, diagnose and offer appropriate treatment, and make referrals to specialists as deemed necessary. The NP can provide complete physical examinations, order laboratory examinations, and request any imaging that is necessary such as x-rays, ultrasound imaging or CT scan. The NP works in collaboration with the Medical Director of the Centre and is responsible to the Clinical Director of Family and Community Medicine.
Nursing provides rich context for a holistic assessment wherein each individual is seen not only in the context of their artistic craft, but within their social, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual environment. One of the gifts of the Nurse Practitioner role is that this comprehensive assessment is performed in an understanding, appreciative environment. The purpose of the initial assessment of each patient is to define their specific needs whether they are physical, mental or emotional. An individualized care plan is mutually agreed upon that best suits each person.
The NP reviews the services offered by all the care providers at the Centre to clarify the available resources and plan the best course of action. The added richness of an interdisciplinary clinic devoted to the needs of performing and creative artists provides context where healing on many levels can be initiated.
The NP at the Centre can treat urgent and ongoing concerns of performing and creative artists related to their individual artistic practice, such as repetitive strain and other injuries, as well as offer health promotion and injury prevention management plans. The interdisciplinary team can offer short term treatment options for both physical and mental health concerns.
The Centre practitioners work as an integrated team of care providers to meet the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the population. The mission of the Centre is to ensure that artists have access to health care so that they can continue in their artistic careers with healthy bodies and healthy minds
Practicing in this unique environment with such gifted individuals requires an appreciation and understanding of the world of the performing and creative artist.
Upcoming Workshops
STRESSED! Workshop Series
May 02, 2019
Stress is a tricky part of life. Too much of it, and you’re a blob on the floor. Too little of it, and you’re a blob on the floor. For artists, stress comes not only from the normal pressures of life, but also from the precarious nature of the arts sector which usually means too little time, ...
OVERWHELMED! Strategies to Regain Clarity ***Rescheduled***
February 13, 2019
Please note: New date/time ***February 13, 2019 4:30-6:30 pm What’s this got to do with stress? Feeling overwhelmed is a particular aspect of stress. In this workshop, gain perspectives, tools and techniques to help overcome this specific stress experience. In this workshop, you can ...
COMPLEMENTARY! Live Well with Stress
March 06, 2019
What’s this got to do with stress? Explore a range of complementary care strategies such as Shiatsu Therapy, a Japanese massage involving pressure points, as well as acupressure, mindfulness and more to help you live well with stress. In this workshop, you can expect to: Understand how it is ... | https://artistshealth.com/services/nurse-practitioner/ |
The partners on the project have produced a report comparing the different training needs in each of the different countries. The report refers specifically to what teachers/trainers need to consider when developing and delivering training to first responders – this includes those in the emergency services, and those who have a first response role, such as in an educational centre or the local community.
TRAINING PROTOCOLS, MATERIALS, GUIDELINES
This is a comprehensive document that provides guidance for all the partners on this project on how to develop their individual training programmes. These individual training programmes will be tested at a 5 day training event in Plymouth, UK in 2021.
TRAIN THE TRAINERS PROGRAMME TOOLKIT
One of the main aims of this project is to develop a ‘Train the Trainers Toolkit. This will be for anyone outside of this project who wishes to use the materials to learn more about trauma awareness, emotional self – regulation, and preparedness for responses to any traumatic event.
The partners have agreed that this toolkit must be flexible in that is can be delivered through a mix of e-learning and/or classroom delivery. E-learning is even more important now due to the impact of Covid. This toolkit will be available for download in October 2021.
WORKSHOPS
During this project, partners will deliver 12 workshops in total. These are available below.
1) Helping those who help us
Useful Information
There is a lot of really good information available on trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and interventions. We have compiled a list of the following useful websites and resources to help further your learning:
In this free webinar, former paramedic, law enforcement trainer and resilience expert Mike Taigman will explain how stress affects first responders and provide strategies you can use to manage during the long haul of this pandemic.
More information here
This webinar on trauma informed practice in post Covid-19 recovery is provided by South East Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism (MHLDA) Cell and the University of Oxford and is being made available to system leaders across the NHS South East region.
More information here
The leading mental health charity in the UK. This organisation has lots of helpful information on trauma, and it is easy to read and understand.
More information here
The UK National Health Service provides detailed information on PTSD, what it is, how to recognise it, how to get support etc.
More information here
Due to the daily stressors and increased mental health concerns first responders face, building resilience is of paramount importance. In this engaging and informative webinar, Rick Campos—a veteran firefighter, paramedic, and educator who served in the US Air Force and as an officer for a Federal Fire Department—discusses a holistic approach to helping first responders and leaders build resilience, effectively communicate, and create safe spaces for personnel to honestly voice their struggles.
These free webinars offer guidance from mental health experts, share findings from recent studies and provide practical resources and tools to foster healthier and safer working environments. | http://traffir.eu/resources |
Mental health volunteer careers have changed in the past few years, with new requirements and standards.
This article explains how to find and hire a mental health professional at your company.1.
What is a mental illness?
A mental illness is a physical or mental condition that causes someone to have difficulty thinking, feeling, or thinking critically.
People with mental illness can be:Those with severe mental illness are often referred to as having a psychotic disorder, or a “schizoaffective disorder.”
They have a mental disorder that affects their thinking, emotions, or behavior.
There is a range of mental illnesses, and a diagnosis can be a physical problem or a mental one.
There are a number of ways to diagnose mental illness, and many of them are not immediately clear.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that more than 1 million Americans suffer from a mental problem, with around 1.5 million of those experiencing severe mental disorder.2.
What are the mental health professions?
As mentioned above, mental health professionals can be employed at companies that are located in a variety of industries, including government, educational institutions, and the military.
Many people with mental health issues also work as nurse practitioners, social workers, counselors, and others.3.
What kinds of jobs are there in mental health?
Mental health professionals work with people in a wide variety of settings.
Many mental health workers also have a range and expertise in a specific field, such as child development, health policy, and other health care professions.4.
What skills are required for a mental wellness professional?
Mentally healthy individuals have different strengths, and they can be expected to have a wide range of skills, abilities, and abilities.
Some people with severe or severe mental illnesses have special interests, or can work with special needs children.
Some individuals with severe psychological disorders are more at home with their family, and therefore have more specialized training.
Some mental health care professionals are also skilled at managing a variety in different situations.5.
What do mental health volunteers need to know about themselves and their mental health needs?
Mens mental health is an important topic that requires specific training.
A mental health educator will have the ability to explain to an individual how to deal with the symptoms of a mental condition, such the loss of a loved one, loss of an income, or other social distancing issues.
Mental health workers should also be able to identify and help individuals who have severe mental health problems, and help them to recognize and manage symptoms.6.
Can mental health organizations provide mental health training?
Miscreated mental health conditions can be treated through various approaches, but some groups do not have the training to provide mental wellness training.
The Mental Health First Aid Training and Counseling program provides training to individuals who are suffering from severe mental disorders, but have not received treatment, and has been able to help them through their illness.7.
How do mental wellness programs work?
Mills mental health programs are structured to provide individuals with mental wellness with the tools and resources to manage their mental illnesses.
They also have the expertise to work with the individuals to address symptoms, such managing a job loss, a loved partner, or finding housing.
Mills training programs also offer training in job placement, family planning, employment, and financial literacy, as well as health and mental health strategies for employees.8.
What mental health advocacy groups are there?
Mans mental health advocates are also important advocates, as they provide training to the public about mental health and its causes and treatments.
Maintaining a dialogue with mental Health First aid Training and Mental Health Counseling programs provides a range on how mental health resources are available to the general public.
Mental Health Action Alliance and Mental health advocates also work together on a national level.9.
What types of mental health interventions are available?
Mains mental health intervention programs are designed to help people with a mental disease manage their illness, as there are many different types of treatments that can be used.
These include behavioral health, pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and even physical therapy.
Mentalhealth advocates also provide support for mental health caregivers through workshops, conferences, and educational programs.
Mains supports include the Mental Health Alliance and the MentalHealth First Aid Trainers and Counselors.
MentalHealthFirstAidTraining and MentalHealthCounseling.org offer a range, from a self-help approach to help individuals get started with their health, to a full treatment and support network, as part of the National Mental Health Initiative.
Mens health advocacy organizations are also able to provide resources for individuals to connect with a local mental health agency.
These resources include information on mental health in your community, mental illness in general, and mental wellness in particular.
Maintaining connections with mental healthcare professionals is essential, and it can be challenging. | https://twiceuponalife.com/2021/10/how-to-find-the-best-mental-health-volunteer-for-your-workplace/ |
COLUMBUS, May 4, 2022: In recognition of May as Mental Health Month, the Ohio Departments of Health (ODH) and Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) are teaming up with Governor Mike DeWine’s RecoveryOhio initiative to shine a spotlight on mental illness, create awareness, share resources, and combat stigmas that discourage some Ohioans from reaching out for help.
These resources include Stress First Aid – an easy-to-use, evidence-based tool that can be used by anyone to recognize and address signs of emotional distress and take action to promote wellness for self and others.
“Mental Health Month provides an opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of mental illness, and to remind Ohioans that’s it’s OK to not be OK and it’s OK to ask for help,” said RecoveryOhio Director Aimee Shadwick. “It is critical that access to timely and effective care is available to those who need it.”
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 Americans experience a mental illness and 12 million have contemplated suicide. The numbers are even more alarming among younger populations as an estimated 1 in 6 adolescents (12-17) experienced a major depressive episode, while 1 in 3 young adults (18-25) experienced a mental illness and three million had serious thoughts of suicide.
To help Ohioans better manage stress and know when it might be time to get help, the state is promoting the use of Stress First Aid (SFA) – a time-tested, proven intervention model that helps people identify stress reactions in themselves and others along a color-coded continuum and offers concrete steps to help reduce the likelihood that stress outcomes develop into more severe or long-term problems.
Originally developed and created for use by the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with the United States Navy, SFA has since been successfully adapted for other groups, including law enforcement, healthcare workers, and the public. The model identifies seven core actions focused on recognizing and addressing problems associated with various levels of stress in oneself and others. It is a widely used model that makes it easy for anyone to use the tools to help manage their response to stress. All materials – including a free, 30-minute training and facilitator, training guide on how to use SFA in a variety of settings — are available on the OhioMHAS website.
“Stress is a normal part of being human. Learning how to effectively manage stress while keeping our emotional responses in check is vitally important to our overall mental and physical health,” said OhioMHAS Director Lori Criss. “Stress First Aid addresses stress reactions before they create larger problems that can derail health, relationships, academics, or a career, and offers simple, practical actions anyone can use for themselves and others. You don’t have to be a mental health professional to make a positive difference.”
SFA is not meant to address all ranges of issues – it is a first aid model, and not designed to deal with lifelong problems, personality issues, serious mental health issues, or complex problems that would require more intensive interventions.
For those who need additional assistance, the State of Ohio operates a free emotional support CareLine (1.800.720.9616) to provide confidential help. Trained counselors are available 24/7 to provide guidance and support, and if necessary, facilitate connections to community treatment resources. Ohio also offers a Crisis Text Line (text the keyword 4HOPE to 741 741). More information on these and other resources can be found on mha.ohio.gov.
“Stress is a normal reaction to an adverse situation, and while most Ohioans will be resilient, seeking professional help is recommended if you or someone you know is having difficulty adjusting and is experiencing disabling or persistent stress reactions,” said ODH Director Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D., MBA. | https://laprensanewspaper.com/index.php/2022/05/11/may-is-mental-health-awareness-month/ |
TestSmart is an efficient and humane approach to collecting Screening Information Data Sets (SIDS) data for the HPV Chemical Challenge Program. The first public meeting was held April 26-27, 1999, to bring together representatives of organizations committed to finding alternatives to the high number of animal tests called for by the HPV program.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing established the Vision 20/20 program in 1998 to create a forum of industry leaders, scientists, and representatives of government and animal welfare organizations who could identify opportunities for making rapid progress in the alternatives field through collaboration.
TestSmart is the first Vision 20/20 project. It is a collaborative project with the Environmental Defense Fund, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh. TestSmart is funded, in part, by a grant from the Heinz Foundation.
The EPA announced that it encourages use of the fixed dose procedure for acute toxicity testing, two in vitro assays for genetic toxicity, and combination protocols to obtain reproductive, developmental, and repeat dose toxicity. These changes result in an 80% reduction in the number of animals originally predicted. Further reductions will be possible following collection and examination of existing data, categorization of chemicals, and SAR analysis.
A number of promising in vitro methods require additional testing and validation. It was predicted that the TestSmart approach created for the HPV program will set the standard for future in vitro work.
A summary of individual workshop sessions follows, with recommendations from each group.
Chairperson: Phil Sayre Speakers: Phil Sayre, Kurt Enslein, Mark Cronin, Terry Schultz, John Bantle
The focus of this session was on alternatives to acute toxicity testing in fish. The goal is to decrease the number of fish used and, if possible, replace the fish assay with other available assays. Currently, the EPA requires SIDS endpoints for ecotoxicity, which include chronic aquatic toxicity studies in invertebrates and acute toxicity tests in fish, invertebrates, and plants. At this time, no terrestrial toxicity tests are required, which eliminates the need to test in earthworms, terrestrial plants, and avian species. EPA is considering accepting only chronic aquatic invertebrates for high log KOW chemicals, thus obviating the need for any acute toxicity testing for these compounds.
Presentations in this session compared results from five alternative tests with existing acute toxicity data from the fathead minnow. These five tests are SAR, Tetratox, Microtox, FETAX and ECOSARs. Specific recommendations were made for each method.
SAR
The status of SAR for predicting ecotoxicity was discussed. Current results show that SAR can predict toxicity of acyclic compounds in fathead minnow from Daphnia data, but for other classes of compounds, there is insufficient Daphnia data to evaluate the usefulness of the method.
Recommendation: More Daphnia testing should be done to allow a comparison of data with the large amount of available data from the fathead minnow.
Tetratox
For the Tetratox assay, which uses the protozoan Tetrahymena, there is a high correlation with fathead minnow data for neutral organic compounds. However, this assay has some serious drawbacks due to the differences in bioreactive mechanisms and basic physiology between the two organisms. There is an ongoing study of Tetratox sponsored by the Danish and German EPA's to further evaluate its usefulness.
Recommendation: More data using Tetrahymena should be generated for comparison with available data on fathead minnow.
Microtox
A similar recommendation was made for the Microtox assay, which uses a bioluminescent assay with the bacterium Vibrio fischeri. There is a need to further evaluate this test in comparison with available fathead minnow data. The existing Microtox results show a good correlation for non-polar narcosis and for esters. It was suggested that this assay might ultimately be a good screening tool to assess fish acute toxicity, but not a good candidate as a complete replacement.
FETAX
It was pointed out that most data generated with the FETAX assay have been collected for pharmaceutical chemicals and not industrial chemicals. FETAX currently is in peer review as an alternative developmental toxicity assay.
Recommendation: More studies should be done to assess its usefulness as an alternative to acute fish toxicity tests.
ECOSAR
Finally, the ECOSAR system was presented as an ongoing effort by EPA to replace acute fish toxicity tests. ECOSAR is a program that uses chemical structure to predict the LC50 in fish. It also functions in correlating log KOW with fish LC50. In a recent collaborative study by the European Union and the EPA, ECOSAR was demonstrated to have a high validation score in its correlation with fish acute toxicity data.
Recommendation: More ECOSARs should be built or the 48 existing ECOSARs should be strengthened. The HPV Challenge Program may provide an opportunity to generate chemical classes that can be tested in systems with a high-demonstrated level of predictability.
Chairperson: Bernard Robaire Speakers: Gerard Cooke, Kim Boekelheide, Bernard Robaire, Sally Perreault
Participants agreed that the reproductive system is so complex that no single in vitro test can replace the two-generation study, or the 28- or 90-day studies. However, different components of the system can be developed for study in vitro. For example, in Leydig cells, there is a lack of data on the effect of toxicants on steroidogenesis, and there are several cell lines now available that make steroids.
In order to study seminiferous tubules and spermatogenesis, Sertoli cells must interact and interdigitate with germ cells. Currently, the assay with the most promise in this area is the Popov assay, which uses cocultures of germ cells and Sertoli cells and can measure the level of cell death of germ cells in response to chemicals.
While there has been some promise in developing cell cultures of seminiferous tubules, no one is yet able to culture germ cells and get them to undergo spermatogenesis. Similarly, there are no Sertoli cell lines that maintain differentiation, nor immortalized cell lines from the epididymus.
It also was pointed out that spermatozoa are good markers and that genotoxicity tests have been developed using spermatozoa. Although these cells alone are not adequate for assessing reproductive toxicity, they are useful for assessing certain parameters including chemical effects on sperm motility, DNA damage via COMET assays, capacitation, sperm/egg interactions and penetration of the sperm into the egg. Moreover, in vitro fertilization can be used to study the effects of toxicants on early development.
In summary, while the current in vitro systems are not sufficient to completely assess reproductive toxicity, they can provide insight into mechanisms of toxicity and allow for screening of certain classes of drugs. More research is necessary to understand the mechanism of each step.
Recommendations included:
Chairperson: Katherine Stitzel Speakers: John Moore, Thomas Re, Rajendra Chhabra, Michael Holsapple
In this session, it was determined that combining protocols:
Because current OECD guidelines question the acceptance of these protocols, it was cautioned that laboratories using combined protocols need to have the expertise to conduct all parts of combined protocols well. To meet OECD guidelines, it also is necessary to use doses that would satisfy all endpoints. However, for HPV screening purposes, this is not viewed as critical.
(In this session, it was proposed that an immunotoxicity endpoint also could be added to a combined protocol. It was emphasized that immunotoxicity is not required by the SIDS battery. However, in other test batteries, it would be possible to immunize animals with an antigen (e.g. sheep red blood cells) early in the study and then use an ELISA assay to look for antibody production rather than removing the entire spleen. If the animals are immunized early in the study, the reaction will have subsided by the end of the study, minimizing the effect on histopathology.)
Finally, the question was raised about whether acute toxicity data are really needed to classify chemicals. The NTP does not require acute toxicity for dose setting, but instead uses information obtained from the literature and/or SAR data. The response to this is that the European Union has an issue with dose setting and needs acute toxicity data for assigning chemicals in their classification system.
Chairperson: Katherine Stitzel Speakers: Ian Munro, Lois Lehman-McKeeman, Michael Holsapple
The major focus of this session was to identify all of the possibilities for obtaining and using existing data and other information in screening chemicals in the HPV Program. A first step in accomplishing this is to place chemicals into classes. It is also necessary to determine whether a chemical is absorbed, and if so, what form of the chemical is absorbed. Questions that need to be addressed: If a substance is metabolized, should the metabolite or the parent compound be tested? If the toxicity of the parent compound is known is it necessary to test the metabolite and vice versa?
Chairperson: Thomas Flynn Speakers: John Bantle, Elaine Faustman, Manfred Liebsch
This session produced the following recommendations:
In summary, positive and negative results in in vivo tests must be established as the gold standard, and these must be sensitive to false negatives. It also was noted that in order to determine the validity of using lower species for developmental toxicity assessment, their similarities to and differences from human development must first be identified.
Chairperson: Charlene McQueen Speakers: Charlene McQueen, Charles Crespi, Paul Silber, Stephen Strom
Although participants in this session concluded that no perfect in vitro human system is currently available, a number of systems show promise for development and could be used in combination to provide valuable information. (Participants also concluded that the HPV Challenge Program should take advantage of the wealth of information and experience with in vitro human systems shared by pharmaceutical companies.) The evaluation of available human systems was organized into four areas of consideration: suitability, availability, variability, and sensitivity.
Suitability:
Availability
While the availability of human tissue for experimental purposes used to be very limited, there are now a number of commercial and non-profit groups that provide human tissue. Thus availability is not as serious a concern as it once was.
Variability
Humans are a heterogeneous, outbred population. Variation can exist, but the level depends upon the parameter being measured. For example, there is wide variability among individuals for receptor levels and biotransformation enzymes, but for other markers, there is less variability. Thus, it is necessary to look at multiple donor samples and have a bank of reference samples available when conducting studies on human tissue. Maintaining a reference bank would necessitate characterizing a large number of cells from a single donor, emphasizing the importance of the development of good cryopreservation techniques for human cells.
It was noted however, that there is less variability among individuals than once thought and thus this should not be an obstacle to using human tissue.
Sensitivity
Current indicators of toxicity are cytotoxic (e.g. membrane integrity, cell function) and genotoxic endpoints. More sensitive indicators of toxicity are needed. Ideally these should be markers of early events in the process that can be predictive of toxicity.
Chairperson: Martin Stephens Speakers: Pamela Reilly Contag, Bernie Doerning, Ginger Moser, Raymond Poon
The four methods discussed in this session were telemetry, bioluminescent markers, a neurobehavioral screening battery, and urinary biomarkers. These methods have several advantages in common:
Specific recommendations were made for each of the methods discussed.
Telemetry
Telemetric methods give an unfiltered readout of the physiological state, uncompromised by handling, etc., and can give insights into normal physiological processes such as diurnal cycling of various parameters.
Bioluminescent Markers
Bioluminescent markers offer researchers the ability to generate high-quality data, improve statistical analysis, provide models with clear relevance, and develop methods that result in no pain or distress and/or a reduction in the use of animals.
Neurobehavioral Screening Batteries
Neurobehavioral screening batteries provide sensitive indicators of neurological effects and general health. They are non-invasive, non-stressful and result in the collection of a wealth of data from every subject. Also, these methods force scientists and technicians to look at animals to observe their responses to toxic insult.
Urinary Biomarkers
Chairperson: Rodger Curren Speakers: Erik Walum, Bjorn Ekwall, John Frazier
Much of this session focused on the Multicentre Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) Program, a worldwide study to evaluate in vitro test results of 50 materials for predicting acute lethal concentration and dose in humans. The premise of this program is that chemicals kill an organism by affecting individual cells, and that toxicity from cells can be extrapolated to the death of the whole organism. In comparing the efficiency of contemporary toxicologic models to predict human toxicity, it was noted that for the LD50 of rat or mouse vs. human for the 50 chemicals, the r2 = 0.607. The weakest correlation in the group was off by 2.5 logs. For human cells as predictors of acute lethal concentration (concentration in the growth medium vs. concentration in serum), the estimated r2 = 0.69, with the weakest correlation being off by 2.5 logs. An important distinction to note is that the cell cultures do not predict a dose, but rather a lethal concentration. If kinetic information is incorporated into the prediction, better data result. There is an ongoing European effort to extend the findings of the MEIC study using an integrated approach from several assays, including those using neuronal components.
The need to develop accessory in vitro models to give additional toxicokinetic information was emphasized as a mechanism to increase the accuracy of the predictive power of existing in vitro models. Examples included models of gut absorption to assess bioavailability and correcting predictions based on whether the material can cross the blood-brain barrier. With additional endpoints such as these, it is hoped that dosage rather than lethal concentration can be predicted in the future.
Chairperson: Neil Wilcox Speakers: Sandra Steiner, Jeff Paslay, Frank Sistare, Pamela Reilly Contag, J. Christopher Corton, Oliver Flint
HTS includes genomics, proteomics, in vitro models, non-invasive imaging, transgenic models, microarrays, SAR and combinatorial synthesis, data mining, and predictive modeling.
These assays share a number of common denominators:
The benefits of HTS methods are:
The limitations of HTS technology relate to the potential difficulty in establishing a hierarchy of toxicology study questions. An additional limitation is that these novel methods, integrated early in the evaluation stage, are considered supportive rather than replacement of animals. | http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/workshops/TestSmart/hpv/ |
Animal vivisection and ‘Laudato Si’: an holistic approach
The European Commission has just refused to take the action requested by the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Stop Vivisection’, which called for a total ban of use of animals in scientific research and for the compulsory use of alternative testing methods. This ECI, taking a radical approach to animal protection, referred to the “right to life, to liberty and to welfare of all living beings” and the “fundamental rights of animals”, and to the “abolition of animal experimentation”. The perspective of the promoters was that of the invalidity of “the ‘animal model’ for predicting human response” as it, allegedly, cannot provide “data directly relevant for the human species” as some alternatives can.
In the Communication from the Commission on the ECI, of 3.6.2015, the promoters have been told of the disagreement of the EU executive body with regard to such invalidity. Recalling examples of ‘treatments’ developed thanks to animal research – anesthetics, vaccines, penicillin, insulin, organ transplants, to name a few – the Commission shares the position in favor of phasing out animal testing, but concludes that it is still required in certain cases and, therefore, that the current EU legislation is adequate. Moreover, the European Commission warns that a total ban can redirect research to countries where standards of protection are lower, therefore where more animals are required for achievement of the same results. As regards the replacement of the animal model, it claims that actions are being taken to “enable faster progress in the uptake and use of alternative approaches”. Alternatives include methods that make use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) – and that have been financed by the EU – whose harvesting entails the destruction of human embryos.
‘Laudato si’, the value of all creatures and the hierarchy among them: the case of animal experimentation
On 18 June last, Pope Francis grabbed international media attention with the presentation of his first encyclical, devoted to ‘integral ecology’ and including important developments to the Church’s magisterium with regard to the moral status of animals and to our responsibility towards them. The value of each animal is not dependent on their usefulness to humankind, as they “have a value of their own”. Human beings are put not in the center but on the ridge of creation; however, primacy brings responsibility: “everything is connected”, and we shall not declare “independence from reality” and act with “absolute dominion”; instead, we shall “respect creation and its inherent laws (and) our ‘dominion’ over the universe should be understood more properly in the sense of responsible stewardship”.
As ‘integral ecology’ necessarily includes human beings, who possess “a particular dignity above other creatures”, Pope Francis considers it “troubling that, when some ecological movements defend the integrity of the environment, rightly demanding that certain limits be imposed on scientific research, they sometimes fail to apply those same principles to human life”. And he proceeds asking “how can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings (…) if we fail to protect a human embryo?”, only to conclude that, with regard to experimentation with human embryos, there is a “tendency to justify transgressing all boundaries”.
This tendency referred to by Pope Francis is also felt at the EU level where the legislation and the practice of the Commission do not greatly differ from the position of the proponents of the ECI when it comes to the promotion of alternative methods that make use of hESC (see also europeinfos no. 149, of May 2012).
In this field, a debate must be carried out that be dispassionate, non-ideological, ethical and evidence-based. There can be no doubt that the legal principle of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement) is also a moral one: thus, to give an example, it is unethical not to spare millions of animals used in duplicative chemical toxicity tests. However, an holistic approach to this question ought to recognize that replacement with alternative methods that make use of hESC is also ethically inadmissible. Primacy has always to be recognized to the human beings: for caring or saving human lives, animal testing should be given priority to researching on human beings (cf. Article 5 of the Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention, concerning Biomedical Research), unless it has been proven ineffective or there are better, non-animal, ethical alternatives. With the protection of animals, a new priority, human beings should not become the new guinea pigs either. | http://www.europe-infos.eu/europeinfos/en/archive/issue184/article/7437.html |
The problem with choices: Recommendations and alternative strategies
Previously, we've addressed aspects of the advice process including Goals and Objectives and File Notes, but with ASIC's recent focus on vertical integration (Report 562), we thought we’d discuss the perennial issue of alternate strategies.
In my experience, many advisers struggle with identifying and articulating strategies. It’s hard to generalise why but many often struggle because they only start to consider alternatives after they’ve formed their recommendation.
Cynics might suggest that alternative strategies, in these cases, are only included to make the advisers’ recommendation appear more considered, less biased and more reasonable. I don't believe that was the intent of the legislation, but have you ever wondered why advisers need to ‘waste time’ thinking about and recording strategies and products that are inferior to what they recommended?
Brakes, mirrors or air-bags?
Sean Graham, a Principal of Assured Support, argues that there are three ways advisers can see their obligation to consider ‘alternate strategies’:
1. It slows down the adviser’s drive towards a (potentially inappropriate) recommendation (“brakes”). The obligation doesn’t require you, as the adviser, to change your recommendation but it does require you to pause and consider the other options before you proceed;
2. It demands that the adviser consider the recommendation they’re about to offer and reflect on the appropriateness and suitability of the recommendation and viable alternatives. (“mirrors”); and
3. It adds depth to the recommendation and provides consumers with detailed information of all the strategies and products the adviser could have recommended with the aim of protecting the adviser/licensee (“air-bags”). This type of padding is often used to legitimise a pre-determined recommendation, or when materially inadequate alternatives are presented, to validate the recommendation. ‘Cookie-cutter’ advice models tend to trivialise the need for alternatives or, more commonly, rely on mandated disclosure of often irrelevant, impractical or impossible alternatives. Self-insurance anyone?
As a former adviser, I agree with Sean’s metaphors of brakes and mirrors but, I’m sure that none of the SoA’s I provided ever contained ‘padding’. (In fact, the 90+ page documents that were prepared by the centralised paraplanning unit from lock-down templates, were in retrospect ‘clear, concise, and affective’. And I’d say that even if there wasn’t a Royal Commission into Banking).
Considering alternatives is never a waste of time. The simple truth is that the consideration of alternatives is a fundamental part of a professional advice process.
Why?
It helps to prove your advice is in the best interests of your client and that you have prioritised their interests over expediency.
The continuing obligation
The advice process itself should be seen as a series of considered, tested and validated (or discarded) strategies that are likely to deliver the client’s desired outcomes. Regularly (and competently) considering alternatives not only improves the quality of the advice that is being given, it also combats the view that financial advice is synonymous with ‘churning’ and ‘product flogging’.
An agent selling a single product has no interest in alerting a prospective buyer to better alternatives, but an objective and professional adviser understands the importance of informed consent in building a sustainable and profitable business.
Mixed messages
Those of you that have read RG90 would have noted that ASIC’s example SoA did not include any alternate strategies. I appreciate that it was not an oversight and that they were consciously omitted, but personally, I think ASIC missed a perfect opportunity to guide the industry to better practices. I appreciate that their previous endorsement that “the document should…clearly state the alternative products or strategies that were considered in reaching the recommendation and why the recommendation is appropriate in light of the alternatives considered.”
So, ASIC consider ‘alternative strategies’ are both explanation and demonstration. Focused on relevancy and clarity, ASIC appreciate that this obligation should improve advice outcomes. ASIC approach the obligation from a principle-based perspective and allow Providers the flexibility to decide the appropriate approach.
The FPA, in contrast, have released a document titled Taking Other Steps to provide assistance for advisers to better manage their advice process and, address alternate strategies and products at different stages of the advice journey.
Dante De Gori, CEO of the FPA, has previously said that the FPA’s minimum expectation for compliance with the Best Interests requirements is:
1. Maintaining current strategy/product (ie: change nothing)
2. The new, and recommended strategy/product
3. An alternative but not recommended strategy/product
True Alternatives
Section 961B of the Corporations Act requires the adviser to consider a range of strategies and products and to conduct a reasonable investigation into any financial products that are to be recommended and when dealing with replacement advice and this reasonable investigation includes any existing products.
Prior to researching and considering any additional or alternative products, the adviser needs to determine whether the recommended strategy can be implemented within the existing product. Only then should the additional research be done, and further consideration being given as to whether there is a better way of meeting client goals. It is also very important to note that any findings need to be documented and if there is to be a replacement, outline the specific reasons as to why it does not meet the client’s goals and objectives.
Another key area in these considerations is relevancy. The second last step of best interests duty requires that all judgements are to be based on circumstances, so the alternate strategy should be relevant to the situation.
Some final thoughts on alternative strategies
Generally speaking, ‘self-insuring’ is not a viable or real alternate strategy for parents of small children in school, paying off a mortgage with minimal savings.
When breaking down the documentation of the alternate strategy, there should be a focus on the structure of the alternate strategy itself so that your research and considerations can be adequately explained.
When constructing, and documenting, alternate strategies:
1. Always start with the client goals, basing all judgements on client circumstances
2. Outline What alternate strategies/products were considered
3. Explain why you considered it (Relevancy - relate back to the client goals and objectives)
4. Explain how the alternate strategy/product does not meet the client needs (there should already be enough explanation as to why the recommended strategy/product is being recommended)
5. Provide the proof in the file for any statements that are being made.
In our article "Risk Advice and Advice Risk" we referred to Commonwealth Financial Planning v Couper NSWCA 444 and the Court of Appeal's view of alternative strategies.
It's a worthwhile read for any adviser and I endorse the author's view that "advice must involve the objective consideration of alternatives". Professionalism requires advisers both to consider real, meaningful and relevant alternatives as part of their advice process and to explicitly link those alternatives to the client’s needs and objectives.
Embracing this obligation will not only minimise your compliance risk but significantly improve the quality of your advice. | https://www.assuredsupport.com.au/articles/2018/3/5/the-problem-with-choices |
Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc.
A searchable citation database and links to full-text documents on alternative methods in toxicology.
Jump to Main Content
Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc.
A searchable citation database and links to full-text documents on alternative methods in toxicology.
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods.
Links to information about the reviews of alternative test methods, the respective categories of toxicity, and/or the ICCVAM Working Group assigned to the assays.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Provides internationally agreed testing methods used by government, industry and independent laboratories to characterize potential hazards of new and existing chemical substances.
DHHS. NIH. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. National Institutes of Health.
Describes how to use in vitro cytotoxicity tests to estimate starting doses for acute oral lethality assays.
DHHS. Food and Drug Administration.
June 2012- Includes guidance regarding the use of alternatives to the rabbit pyrogen test (RPT) and the bacterial endotoxins test (BET) for detecting pyrogens in pharmaceuticals and other products. Examples of alternative assays cited include the recombinant horseshoe crab Factor C assay and monocyte activation type pyrogen tests (MATs).
US Environmental Protection Agency.
US Environmental Protection Agency. (2020). New approach methods work plan: Reducing use of animals in chemical testing (Work Plan EPA 615B2001; p. 21).
EPA uses information from a broad range of animal tests to evaluate the potential risks of chemicals, assess potential impacts on the environment, and approve chemicals for certain uses. Given the large number of chemicals regulated by EPA, the number of animals used to generate the necessary information is substantial. EPA’s New Approach Methods (NAMs) Work Plan was created in response to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s 2019 directive to prioritize agency efforts and resources toward activities that will reduce the use of animal testing while continuing to protect human health and the environment. This work plan was developed by experts across the agency to set the objectives and strategies for using New Approach Methods to meet the ambitious goals set out in the Administrator’s directive.
International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology.
The objective of this workshop [was] to explore progress to date in implementing new, revised and alternative toxicological test methods across regulatory evaluation frameworks and decision-making programs in the U.S., identify barriers to progress and explore potential bridges to facilitate overcoming such barriers. These barriers may be technical, regulatory, economic or societal.
The first step in a European research initiative to address the long term strategic target of "Safety Evaluation Ultimately Replacing Animal Testing (SEURAT)".
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA’s ToxCast uses high-throughput screening methods and computational toxicology approaches to generate data and predictive models on chemicals.
European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Health and Consumer Protection.
A tool to provide information on the status of alternative methods as they progress from scientific protocols to validation for being used in a regulatory context. | https://www.nal.usda.gov/legacy/awic/toxicology |
How to Do an Animal Research Project
Students can do an animal research project in several ways. For instance, they can create a collage with pictures of animals and 3-D items, or they can pretend to be a reporter for Animal Planet, and write a newscast. For the newscast, students can create a PowerPoint presentation, in which they share the most interesting facts about the animal.
Focus on animals facts
One of the best ways to engage students in a research project is to focus on animal facts. Students can use animal facts as the text for their animal research project book or to write paragraphs about animals. The information they collect can then be used to create a bubble map. They can also use an Animal Atlas book as a resource. Students can also focus on a particular region of the world. For example, students could study animals in the Pacific Northwest.
In order to help students get a better understanding of the different species of animals, teachers can introduce them to the PREPARE checklist. This checklist provides a number of links to latest resources on animal research. It includes topics such as animal welfare and data quality. Once students have completed the checklist, they can then begin their research.
In addition to learning about the various animals in the world, students can also learn about their habitats. This project also provides the opportunity for students to expand their vocabulary and develop a glossary. Moreover, it teaches students how to create an informational text. In addition to that, the resource includes over 30 pages of anchor charts, mini-lesson ideas, writing planners, graphic organizers, and more.
Alternatives to animal experimentation
In many cases, alternative testing techniques can be used to reduce or replace animal experimentation in a research project. In most cases, these tests will not require additional animal experiments, and they can take advantage of existing historical data. For example, running an in vitro test on the same material can be an effective alternative to animal experimentation. However, in some cases, it may not be possible to replace animal experiments.
Fortunately, the concept of alternatives is relatively simple. It was first put forward by two British scientists in 1959. They argued that scientists should always use the principle of the Three R’s, which stand for reduction, replacement, and refinement. As a result, they were able to develop a number of alternatives to animal experimentation.
Another important alternative is the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging, a noninvasive technique that offers many advantages over invasive methods. FMRI can be used to study pain without causing undue stress. While this is more expensive and may require more personnel, it can still be used in a research project. Unfortunately, many researchers are unwilling to change their practices or reduce the use of animals. Ultimately, they must be educated about the risks associated with using animals in research.
Steps to create a project
When working on an animal research project, the first step is to select a subject. Once you have chosen your topic, gather information from multiple sources. These may be books from the library or online sources. Document the information in a graphic organizer, paraphrasing it when necessary. Each category in your document should relate to your focus question.
Next, choose the animal you wish to research. Students should make sure that they take good notes about the animal they choose. This will help them write their paper later on. It is also important to use their own words when writing the paper. Once you have the facts, you can then ask yourself a series of questions. The questions you answer will become the basis of your research paper.
A great way to present your animal research project is to create a collage. This can include pictures, 3-D objects, and facts about the animal. You could also pretend to be an animal news reporter. Write a brief script, then videotape the newscast. Be sure to share the most interesting facts about the animal. Then, you can present your project by using a PowerPoint presentation. | https://royalpitch.com/animal-research-project/ |
“That’s funny,” he thought as he grabbed one of the Petri dishes that had not been in contact with the Lysol tray. He noticed that there were separate colonies of staphylococci on the Petri dish. Toward the edge, he noted a colony of mold approximately 20 mm in diameter (Ligon, 2004). He did not see any staphylococci around the mold.
The Discovery of Penicillin
In the year 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming made one of the biggest medical breakthroughs ever recorded – the discovery of penicillin and its antibacterial properties. Some may classify this discovery “accidental,” however, this does not acknowledge its sheer importance to the medical field. Fleming’s experiment demonstrated that penicillin’s bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties, meaning that it would not only kill microbes but inhibit future microbial growth (Ligon, 2004). However, Fleming was unsure of how to apply this discovery to humans. In the war-stricken 1930’s, thousands of people were sick and dying due to septic infections that weren’t easily treatable in the field. Medics needed an easy and effective way to prevent infected wounds from infiltrating the rest of the body. The need for penicillin in a pharmaceutical capacity became critical. (Freedman et. al, 1981). Luckily Ernst Chain, Howard Florey, and their team of research assistants were up for the challenge.
Chain and Florey began working with their assistants day in and day out. For two years straight, Chain, Florey, and their assistants worked tirelessly to come up with a way to apply penicillin to the human body for the treatment of bacterial infections. Finally, in May of 1939, one experiment changed everything. This experiment was repeated multiple times over the course of the following year, leading to positive results. In 1945, Fleming, Chain, and Florey were awarded the Nobel Prize for one of the most important medical advances in history.
However, one could say that this medical breakthrough wouldn’t have been possible without their assistants. They were the real winners behind the Nobel Prize. These assistants probably weren’t named Jim, or Robert, or Larry. They were probably labeled by number because these assistants weren’t of the human variety – they were mice. These mice were really the ones behind the 1945 Nobel Prize for the discovery of penicillin. During their research, Chain and Florey injected a virulent strain of streptococcus into eight laboratory mice. They then injected four with penicillin, while the other four served as untreated controls. The mice treated with the penicillin survived, while the untreated group did not (Ligon, 2004). Through this experiment, Chain and Florey were able to demonstrate the bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties of penicillin. From this research, millions of lives have been saved through the use of penicillin (Alharbi, S., Wainwright, M., Alahmadi, T., Salleeh, H., & Chinnathambi, A., 2014). Undoubtedly, the discovery of penicillin was revolutionary and would not have been possible without the use of animal models in research.
The Threats to Animal Research
It’s quite obvious that the use of mice in the penicillin experiment proved to be beneficial for human medicine. Contrary to popular belief, using animal models in research is the best way to make breakthroughs in the medical field. Many people don’t realize how highly regulated animal research is in terms of ethical treatment of these subjects. Animal-based medical research is one of the many controversial topics in the world today, and similar to other fields there will always be room for improvement to better the lives of these animals. However, the problem is that the majority of people in today’s society see these animals as being tortured, and would rather promote the usage of other research model alternatives such as in vitro, computer models, or human volunteers. Society has been misinformed as to the use and benefits of utilizing animal models in research, and therefore are persuaded into thinking that other methods are superior.
One possible reason is that animal advocacy groups spread propaganda about animal-based medical research in a negative light. Animal advocacy groups, such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) describe animal research as “cruel” and “generally inapplicable to humans.” They also describe animal research as “unethical,” “bad science,” “wasteful,” and “archaic” (PETA.org) when animal-based medical research isn’t any of those things.
Another reason the public may be misinformed is due to the fact that some researchers do not make it a priority to continually promote their research. They neglect to emphasize the importance of animal models and their contribution to medical discoveries. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute for Health (NIH) are responsible for awarding grants to aid the scientists in completing their research. According to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook (2012):
Institutions using animals need to communicate effectively and on an ongoing basis with the internal and external community and the media. It is important to build these relationships over time and to keep individuals in all of these areas informed about the significance of the work in which animals are used, and the institution’s commitment to scientific standards through quality animal care and use. Being proactive by conveying significant advances in research using animals ethically and humanely can reduce the potential for negative public reactions in a crisis situation. (p. 73)
These organizations mandate that these researchers participate in community outreach opportunities in order to continually receive this funding. However, the enforcement of this policy isn’t highly regulated. As a result, community outreach isn’t always completed in a timely manner.
It is easy to see why the public can have such a skewed view of animal models used in research. Often times, the public isn’t informed of the benefits of animal models in research, which leaves the door open for society to draw their own conclusions. Many people think that the welfare of these animals is compromised, and that the research done on them is tortuous and unnecessary. However, what the majority of people fail to realize is that without animal models in research we would not have made the medical advances in human medicine that we have today. It is important to continue to use animals in research because the results yielded with animal models are far better than what other alternatives could provide.
Superiority of the Animal Model
Throughout medical history, evidence suggests that animal-based research yields results beneficial to human medicine. The animal model cannot be easily replaced by experiments conducted outside of an organism, also referred to as in vitro procedures. One may argue that with all of the technological advances being made in this day and age, there isn’t any need to subject animals to medical research. Surely there is another option that works just as well, be it in a petri dish, some sort of robotic platform, or even a computer simulation? While there are many non-animal alternatives being implemented in medical research, it has been noted that sometimes the experiments don’t work as hypothesized unless performed within a living organism. There are circumstances where tissue samples or computer programs simply aren’t comparable to a living, breathing creature. After all, the point of these medical advances is to aid the living. Wouldn’t the development of pharmaceuticals and surgical techniques on these living individuals yield the best results
One powerful example of the difference between life and death when comparing the use of animals or in vitro methods can be seen in the revolutionary and life-saving work of Dr. Gerhard Domagk. According to Botting and Morrison (1997), it was 1935 and nearly 300 out of every 100,000 men and women were dying of infections caused by hemolytic streptococci (p. 84). Dr. Domagk discovered that despite attempts to treat this bacterium on an agar plate, the new drugs he was developing showed no results. However, when the drugs were tested on mice infected with hemolytic streptococci they showed progress. This was because the antibiotic he had synthesized, sulfanilamide, was formed from a compound called prontosil within the body and that was where it worked best. From this discovery came many more sulfonamide drugs and a 1939 Nobel Prize for Dr. Domagk (Botting & Morrison, 1997).
A Skewed Public Opinion
With the recent rise of social media and the influence of pop culture on the masses, animal-based medical research has been thrust into the spotlight – and not always in a positive way. Animal rights activists and activist organizations such as PETA argue that medical animal testing is inhumane (Daube, 2003), casting images of puppies cowering in the corner of dirty cages and rabbits missing limbs or organs all in the name of science. Animal welfare is definitely a major concern in the medical field, which is why it is so heavily regulated both within individual institutions and on a federal level. According to the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research and the National Institute of Health’s publication, The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (2011):
[A committee] was appointed in 2008 by the National Research Council; its 13 members included research scientists, veterinarians, and non-scientists representing biomedical ethics and the public’s interest in animal welfare. (p. xiii-xiv)
The purpose of committees like the ones implemented by the ILAR (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources) and NIH (National Institute of Health), as well as smaller institutional organizations such as IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) is to ensure proper animal welfare is being maintained, and approval is being granted from multiple sources. To avoid bias, there must be members of these committees unaffiliated with the research being conducted.
The Three R’s of Animal Research
If animal research can’t be replaced with other methods, the least we can do for the animals helping to develop life-saving pharmaceuticals and surgical techniques is to make sure we’re doing everything we can for them ethically. This is where the idea of the Three R’s of animal research come into play: Replacement of animals with non-animal research models where possible, Reduction of the total number of animals used in a study, and Refinement of protocols and procedures to reduce stress and improve welfare (Smith, 2001).
One way the scientific community is implementing the Three R’s is through the use of large animal research models. Larger animals such as dogs, pigs, or even bigger livestock can be beneficial for multiple reasons. Due to their size, a large animal is closer in anatomy and physiological function to a human. Larger surface area, including larger organs, allows scientists to use a single organ from an animal in pieces rather than needing to take them from multiple animals (Van der Velden & Snobson, 2011). Researchers are also able to visualize organs more easily than in smaller animals. Small-site laparoscopic surgeries allow quick recovery time, less pain, and less chance for infection or complication in a large animal, whereas any surgery on a small animal would be considered invasive and have high risks (Kehinde, 2013).
Changing Public Perceptions
Utilization of animal models in medical research is superior to current alternative methods. This is largely due to the anatomical and physiological similarities of the animals to humans and, therefore, must be continued in the interest of medical advancement. We propose that, in order to safeguard the future of animal-based research, a system of public interaction and education is critical. During a talk at the University of Washington, animal welfare proponent Temple Grandin wisely said, “If you don’t show what you do, then people are going to imagine and it’s going to be even worse” (Seinfeld, 2011). In order to protect the use of animal research, the scientific community should no longer ignore public relations.
As mentioned previously, researchers are required to participate in public outreach programs in order to receive various forms of funding. However, these mandated education programs are poorly enforced and rarely properly executed. This lack of follow through has allowed radical animal rights groups to bombard the general population with misinformation about the welfare of research animals. While public opinion alone will not end the use of animal research models, it does influence government policy and lawmaking that could negatively impact medical research. It is crucial for research institutions to increase their public outreach programs to include all members of society, not just academics or fellow members of the scientific community.
It is also understood that most members of the scientific community are not known for their prowess in public relations. Thankfully, there are ways to talk about the benefits of animal research without conducting town-hall style meetings or major public events. Organizations like PETA have demonstrated the power of social media. Simply providing more accurate information to the general population through social media could have a positive impact on the public perception of animal research. Newspaper and magazine articles detailing current and future research projects can also be utilized to inform the public without putting researchers in uncomfortable situations.
The most difficult challenge will be helping the scientific community to effectively communicate with the general public. This can be addressed through training and/or continued education programs. Medical professional like doctors and veterinarians are required by law to participate in continued education programs to ensure they stay up to date with medical advancements and techniques. We would apply this same principle to researchers to ensure that they have the required skills to better explain their work.
Public outreach is the fastest and simplest way to improve the public perception of animal based research. Unfortunately, adequately addressing longstanding animal welfare concerns would require a campaign to update the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The modern AWA does not extend protection to a variety of the most common species used in research, like mice and zebrafish. According to United States Department of Agriculture, the Animal Welfare Act (2008) defines an animal as:
The term “animal” means any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman primate mammal), guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded animal, as the Secretary may determine is being used, or is intended for use, for research, testing, experimentation, or exhibition purposes, or as a pet; but such term excludes (1) birds, rats of the genus Rattus, and mice of the genus Mus, bred for use in research, (2) horses not used for research purposes, and (3) other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber. With respect to a dog, the term means all dogs including those used for hunting, security, or breeding purposes;. (7 U.S.C. §2132 para. G)
This means that rats, mice, livestock, and all non-mammalian species can be used for research without the strict protection provided to dogs, cats, and primates. In order to truly ensure the welfare of research animals, the Animal Welfare Act must be updated to include all species currently being utilized by researchers. This would also allow the welfare enforcing agencies, like IACUC, to extend their regulatory authority over all research institutions within the United States to ensure the wellbeing of every creature aiding in the advancement of human medicine. This would ensure equal treatment for all species and, hopefully, alleviate many of the public’s animal welfare concerns.
In conclusion, animal-based research is critical to continued medical advancement. Treatments developed through animal testing have saved millions of lives and resulted in a staggering number of medical breakthroughs. Animal models are superior to current alternatives because they provide a dynamic biological environment that cannot be effectively replicated by alternative means. In order to safeguard the future use of animal models, researchers must confront rampant misinformation through public education and effective communication. The Animal Welfare Act must also be amended to ensure the proper treatment of all animals being utilized for medical research. An informed public, coupled with broadened animal welfare requirements, will ensure that animal models will continue to drive medical progress until better alternatives become available.
References
Alharbi, S., Wainwright, M., Alahmadi, T., Salleeh, H., & Chinnathambi, A., (2014). What if Fleming
had not discovered penicillin? Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 21 (4). 289-293. doi: doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2013.12.007.
Animal Welfare Act. (2008). Retrieved April 28, 2015, from https://awic.nal.usda.gov/government-and-professional-resources/federal-laws/animal-welfare-act
Botting, J., & Morrison, A. (1997). Animal research is vital to medicine. Scientific American, 276 (2), 83-85. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.
Daube, J. R. (2003). Neutralize animal rights propaganda – Speak up about the need for animal research. Neurology Today, 3(2)4,7-8. doi: 10.1097/00132985-200302000-00004
Freedman, R., Ingram, D., Gross, I., Ehrenkranz, R., Warshaw, J., & Baltimore, R., (1981). A half century of neonatal sepsis at Yale: 1928 to 1978. American Journal of Diseases of Children. 135 (2). 140-144. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1981.02130260032010.
Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources [ILAR] for the National Institute of Health [NIH]. (2011). Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.
Kehinde, E., (2013). They see a rat, we seek a cure for diseases: The current status of animal experimentation in medical practice. Medical Principles and Practice, 22 (suppl-1), 52-61. doi: 10.1159/000355504
Ligon, L., (2004). Penicillin: its discovery and early development. Seminars in Pediatric Infectious Disease. 15 (1). 52-57. doi: 10.1053/j.spid.2004.02.001.
National Institute of Health [NIH]., (2012). Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook (2nd ed.), 73. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/GuideBook.pdf
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA] http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animal-testing-bad-science/
Seinfeld, K., (2011). Animal expert Temple Grandin says fear can be worse than pain. KPLU National Public Radio, December 8, 2011. http://www.kplu.org/post/animal-expert-temple-grandin-says-fear-can-be-worse-pain. | https://blogs.umass.edu/natsci397a-eross/the-use-of-animal-models-in-medical-research-is-superior-to-non-animal-alternatives-2/ |
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Veteran journalist visits Waterloo
Just one year ago, after 48 years in journalism, 42 of which were spent with big name networks, CBC Newsworld’s Henry Champ retired from his post at CBC’s Washington bureau. According to Champ, the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama was the perfect note on which to end a career. Champ sat down with The Cord to share his reflections on being a first-hand witness at the world’s most defining events of the last several decades.
Champ started as a sports writer in Brandon, Manitoba; however, after a mere 10 months, he grew disinterested with what he saw as the redundancy of athletics reporting. Soon after, Champ made the leap to network news and throughout his lengthy career he served as a correspondent with the likes of CTV, NBC and CBC.
Champ swapped interviewing hockey players for world leaders and became a fixture at the front lines of major geopolitical events. Champ was accounted for at nearly every event in the past five decades including the fall of Saigon and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. He was even present at the Chad-Libyan War, of which Champ jokes that no one alive at the time even remembers.
After years of extensive world travelling and witnessing some of modern history’s most defining moments, Champ cites Vietnam as an era of particular personal importance. Champ explains, “What I saw in Vietnam led me to the kind of political views I have today.”
On Vietnam, Champ said, “It was the wrong war, it was imperialism.” Moreover, his disillusionment with the war ballooned after seeing first hand the unfairness in who was fighting the war itself. “It was the farmer’s sons and the kids from the ghettos,” said Champ.
It was during this same war that Champ felt his role as a journalist was most crucial to greater society. He modestly recounts being one of a number of journalists whose reporting helped to drive the anti-war movement back at home.
To this day, Champ credits American college students for their role in bringing the war to an end. It was American post-secondary students’ reaction to the draft that acted as the main driver for action from young people across the U.S. In light of the relative political apathy of today’s youth, it is difficult to imagine the level of engagement and political activism of youth at the time.
In the years leading up to his retirement, Champ closely covered the U.S.-led war on terror. After experiencing Afghanistan first-hand, Champ said that from the earliest stages he recognized “nothing good would come out of American intervention” in the region.
Today, it is common to hear experts and historians draw parallels between Vietnam and the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Regardless, Champ discounts the fighting and the war effort itself as the strongest similarities. Instead, he points to the questionable government the Americans are trying to endorse and uphold, in opposition to what many Afghans support, as the most obvious parallel.
Champ explains that the South Vietnamese government “was corrupt and it was audacious and damaging.” For the same reasons, Champ believes that “the people are never going to accept the Karzai government.”
Champ, himself a veteran war correspondent, believes that contemporary foreign correspondence is much more difficult and dangerous than it was in the past. Throughout his career Champ travelled into countless tumultuous regions, including Soviet-controlled Afghan territory while accompanied by Mujahedeen fighters. Speaking from personal experience, he joked, a journalist’s biggest worry was being thrown in jail. However, there is an element of “thuggery” in modern warfare, he said. As a journalist today, “You stand a very good chance of being kidnapped and held for ransom.”
Unlike many in the journalistic field today, Champ remains optimistic about the future of the profession. Champ’s optimism stems from a recent report, called “The Reconstruction of American Journalism,” released by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
In line with the report, Champ asserts that while a reconstruction is necessary, the field will not grow defunct, and abundant opportunity awaits those who hope to tap into the industry’s future.
Coming from such a seasoned and well-respected journalist, Champ’s words are both reassuring and inspirational to many in the journalism community. Not bad for a guy who admittedly went to university to play basketball. | https://thecord.ca/veteran-journalist-visits-waterloo/ |
Read Book Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence [MP3 AUDIO] Fully free!
By the author of the acclaimed Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution, a gripping narrative that tells the story of the second and final war of independence that secured the nation's independence from Europe and established its claim to the entire continent.
The War of 1812 has been ignored or misunderstood. Union 1812 thrillingly illustrates why it must take its place as one of the defining moments in American history.
A.J. "Jack" Langguth is Professor Emeritus of the the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California and an American author and journalist. In addition to his non-fiction work, he is the author of several dark, satirical novels. A graduate of Harvard College, Langguth was South East Asian correspondent and Saigon bureau chief for "The New York Times" during the Vietnam war. He was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1975, and received the The Freedom Forum Award, honoring the nation's top journalism educators, in 2001.
A nonfiction study of the Reconstruction Era, is scheduled to be published in 2013. | http://ombre-portee.com/455684-book-aj-langguth.html |
Another Vietnam?
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This study aimed to know how the online news media in ASEAN , particularly that of Brunei - The Brunei Times (www.bt.com.bn); Indonesia - The Jakarta Post (www.thejakartapost.com); Malaysia - The Borneo Post (www.theborneopost.com); Philippines - Philippine Daily Inquirer (www.inquirer.net); Singapore - The Straits Times (www.straitstimes.com); Thailand - The Nation (www.nationmultimedia.com); and Vietnam - Thanh Nien Daily (www.thanhniennews.com) gave attention and emphasis to the territorial dispute in South China Sea between China and the Philippines, and to know if these online news media covered the issue towards peace, war or neutral.
Guided by the theories of Transnational Comparative Framing Model (TCFM), an emerging approach in Framing Theory, the Peace and War Journalism of Johan Galtung (1970), and the Political Institution Theory, and by doing content analysis, the study found out that there was little attention given to the Sea dispute by the majority of the ASEAN online news media. . Only the Philippine Daily Inquirer of the Philippines and Thanh Nien Daily of Vietnam who were vocal claimants to the Sea gave higher attention. The study also found out that war journalism frames were the most dominant frame indicators used over peace journalism. These indicators were elite-orientations, partisan, one-party-orientations and differences-orientations. It also found out that the strong relations among the ASEAN member states gave rise to the biased coverage towards the Philippines.
Keywords
Framing, Peace and War Journalism, South China Sea dispute, China, Philippines, UNCLOS, ASEAN, Online News Media
- This page was last modified on 9 June 2015, at 22:01.
- This page has been accessed 2,085 times. | http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php/Framing_Analysis_of_ASEAN_Online_News_Media_Coverage_of_South_China_Sea_Dispute_between_China_and_the_Philippines |
Paul Westermeyer, The United States Marine Corps (Casemate, 2019)
Paul Westermeyer’s slim volume on the US Marine Corps (USMC) is part of Casemate’s Short History collection. It is split into six chapters, each defining an era of USMC history. It is a longer history than some might suspect, having been weaned on John Wayne WWII movies, grainy Vietnam War footage, and shocking HD television news stories from the blurred frontlines of Iraq.
The USMC dates to 1775 when Congress authorized its formation. They performed like other marines, fighting ship-to-ship or carrying out amphibious landings. With independence secured, it would not be long before the USMC became the spearhead of US foreign policy, performing the role of an Expeditionary Force against the Barbary Pirates among other actions. Ever since, the USMC has been involved in every major combat from capturing John Brown at Harper’s Ferry in 1859 to patrolling the chaotic streets of Fallujah in the 21st Century. Westermeyer argues that the USMC came of age from 1899 to 1919, covering the Spanish-American War and World War I. The latter also saw the USMC deploy two aviation units. The inter-war period was a time of learning and putting doctrine into place, which was timely given the work they had to do in the island-hopping campaign against the Japanese in WWII, though they made their WWII reputation defending Guadalcanal. The USMC has rarely seen peace, and during the Cold War they fought in Korea, saving themselves and Korea with their legendary withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir, and Vietnam where they fought the Tet Offensive to a standstill in key locations such as Hue. By the 21st Century, the USMC had developed into a powerful combined-arms force, incorporating the latest technology on land and in the air, but each Marine is never allowed to forget that no matter his specialty he is a rifleman first. As such, the USMC has fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, developing their tactical abilities while maintaining their strategic role as America’s expeditionary force.
Westermeyer’s tidy narrative of USMC history is interspersed with vignettes, describing the USMC’s various roles and adding colour to the story. His accounts of pivotal battles highlight the multiple roles the Marines have adopted, though he allows some of the lengthy quotes to escape his authorial control. The United States Marine Corps also contains useful illustrations and photographs that assist the narrative. Though more detailed histories exist, this is certainly an excellent introduction to the USMC and a great companion to take along if you visit the superb USMC museum in Virginia. 8/10. | https://hamsterwrangler.com/beating-tsundoku/the-united-states-marine-corps/ |
Literary works such as biographies, works of fiction or historical research on the United States are also awarded. There is also a category designed to recognize the merit of a musical composition made by an American.
Certain awards not exempt from controversy
While these awards enjoy great prestige both in the United States and beyond, they also receive some criticism. In this sense, its liberal sense and a marked anti-conservatism have been censored.
The trajectory of these awards is closely linked to the most notable news in the history of American journalism (the Washington Post journalists, who unraveled the Watergate affair that ended President Nixon’s resignation, received this award in 1973). Pulitzer Prize
The legacy of a Hungarian journalist of Jewish origin
Joseph J. Pulitzer (1847-1911) came to the United States at a very young age and enlisted in the army to fight on behalf of the Northerners during the American Civil War. After the end of the war , he began his journalistic activity as an editor for a German-language newspaper in the city of Sant Louis. Over time, he bought the newspaper where he worked and began a successful career as a press editor.
In his journalistic activity he had the ability to connect with the man on the streets and became the precursor of sensationalism in the press in the United States. At the end of the 19th century, he bought a prestigious newspaper (the New York Journal) and through its pages promoted the Spanish-American war with the aim of making Spain lose control over the colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Pulitzer Prize
Joseph J. Pulitzer died in 1911 and in his will he left the pertinent indications that each year the awards related to journalistic activity would be awarded.
The prizes that bear his name are given every April. | https://englopedia.com/what-is-pulitzer-prize/ |
From Pope Francis, a checklist for good journalism
VATICAN— Journalism must prize truth and reflection over sensationalism and clamor, Pope Francis told journalists on Saturday.
“It is important that the criteria of judgment and information are offered patiently and methodically so that public opinion is able to understand and discern, and is not stunned and disoriented,” the Pope said Dec. 16, according to Vatican News.
The Pope encouraged journalism that embodies “serenity, precision and completeness.” It must use calm language that favors “fruitful reflection” and thoughtful, clear words that reject “clamorous and ambiguous speech.”
The Pope spoke to about 350 members of the Italian Periodical Press Union and the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies, who met him at the Vatican.
“Your free and responsible voice is fundamental for the growth of any society that wants to be called democratic, so that a continuous exchange of ideas and a profitable debate based on real and correctly reported facts are assured,” the pontiff told them.
He noted the dominance of speed and sensationalism in some reporting, which lacks precision and thoroughness. It is dominated by overheated emotions, not thoughtful reflection.
The pontiff stressed the need for reliable information, verified data and news that does not aim to amaze and excite. Rather, it creates in readers a healthy critical sense that allows them to ask appropriate questions and make justified conclusions. | http://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/from-pope-francis-a-checklist-for-good-journalism/ |
The quality of the mass media performance has been subject of discussion for many decades, not only among media practitioners and their critics but also among media students (McQuail, 1992). One of the main topics in these discussions concerns the impact of market-driven journalism on the quality of the news coverage. Most researchers and critics expect market-driven journalism to have negative effects. They expect it will produce news with a generally low informational level and a homogeneous content, directed primarily at those sections of the population that are most interesting to the advertisers (e.g., Bagdikian, 1985; McManus, 1994; Underwood, 1988). According to others, however, the effects of market-driven journalism are not purely negative. Their main argument is that the pressure of the market urges journalists to take the information needs of the public very seriously (McManus, 1994, pp. 2-3).Research on market-driven journalism is complicated by many theoretical and analytical problems. Notably, defining the market and its major players is often a difficult task, which involves decisions that are sometimes arbitrary (Albarran, 1996). The conceptualization and measurement of quality is another problematic task, which can be accomplished according to many conceivable but also arbitrary criteria (McQuail, 1992; Schatz & Schulz, 1992). Lastly, developments in technology and journalistic values are concurrent influences on journalistic products, which complicate the analysis of market influences. For instance, a study by Tuggle and Huffman (1999) documented the interplay between technology, journalistic values, and market demands in decisions concerning live reporting. At a more theoretical level, McManus (1994) described how journalistic values may converge with market demands in the coverage of some events but also may conflict with market demands in the coverage of other events. Researchers have not been discouraged by these problems. They have studied market-driven journalism under various headings. The most prominent examples of these are the concept of diversity (e.g., Coulson & Lacy, 1996; Lacy, 1990) and a concept that might be best described as "sensationalism" (Grabe, Zhou, & Barnett, 2001; Slattery, Doremus, & Marcus, 2001 ; Slattery & Hakanen, 1994). The present study focuses on the latter concept. First, this study aims at expanding a recent conceptualization of sensationalism that is largely based on the limited capacity model of mediated messages (cf. Grabe, Lang, & Zhao, 2003; Grabe et al., 2001 ). Second, it will establish the extent of sensationalism in television news in a setting that recently witnessed an increase in competition between news organizations, that is, the Netherlands between 1995 and 2001. The Concept of Sensationalism Traditionally, sensationalism in the news has been conceived mostly in terms of story content, such as stories about crime, violence, natural disasters, accidents, and fires (Adams, 1978; Slattery & Hakanen, 1994). Accordingly, the contribution of sensationalist news to a democratic society has been criticized (e.g., Bernstein, 1992). Recently, Grabe et al. (2001) suggested a more comprehensive view on the concept. They observed that "a number of scholarly definitions of sensationalism focus on the effects on the human sensory system" (p. 637), notably its potential to be attention grabbing and emotionally arousing. Starting from this observation, they developed a measurement of sensationalism on the basis of research findings that supported the potential of news features to provoke the human senses. The measurement included not only specific content features but also formal features of the news: the "bells and whistles of form," as the title of their article indicated. Some years later, Grabe et al. (2003) embedded this conceptualization of sensationalism in a theoretical perspective: the limited capacity model of mediated messages (cf. Lang, 2000). In the present study, this conceptualization of sensationalism serves as a point of departure. In the limited capacity model, two categories of stimuli are discerned that elicit orienting responses in viewers. One category includes stimuli that are relevant to the goals and needs of the individual (Lang, 2000, p. 49). Although goals and needs may vary from person to person and from situation to situation, certain categories of message content are expected to automatically elicit orienting responses in every human, and consequently may be considered as sensational. From an evolutionary perspective, content that appeals to our basic needs and instincts has been expected to universally attract the attention (Davis & McLeod, 2003; cf. Shoemaker, 1996). The finding that negative video images tend to increase attention (Lang, Newhagen, & Reeves, 1996) provides some support for this view. In the present study, the label basic needs content is used. The other category of stimuli that according to the limited capacity model automatically elicit orienting responses in viewers includes stimuli that represent novelty or change in the message content (Lang, 2000, p. 49). Although to some extent the definition of novelty and change could vary from person to person, many aspects of the form and content of television news may be considered as generally indicative of novelty or change, namely cuts, edits, movements of the camera (e.g., zooms, eyewitness camera), sound effects, the onset of background music, and so on. By virtue of their attention-grabbing capacity, such features may be described as tabloid packaging (cf. Grabe et al., 2003). Although basic needs content and tabloid packaging constitute two broad categories of news features that universally attract attention, we suggest two additional categories of news features that may universally attract attention and that consequently may be considered as sensational. These categories are derived from studies on the concept of vividness. According to Nisbett and Ross (1980): Information may be described as vivid, that is, as likely to attract and hold our attention and to excite the imagination to the extent that it is (a) emotionally interesting, (b) concrete and imagery-provoking, and (c) proximate in a sensory, temporal, or spatial way. (p. 45) Nisbett and Ross argued that vivid information stimulates imagination, attracts and holds attention, and is better retained in memory than nonvivid (pallid) information. Drawing on theories concerning cognitive heuristics and schemas, they expect vivid information to have a disproportional weight in people's judgments because it is more easily available in memory (Nisbett & Ross, 1980, pp. 55-59). Over the past decades, experimental studies have resulted in a more differentiated view on vividness effects. In a nutshell, vivid information appeared to have the expected positive effects on information processing (e.g., on message recall) only when it was presented under conditions of low involvement, and only if the vivid elements in a message were congruent with the theme of the message itself (Frey & Eagly, 1993; McGill & Anand, 1989; Smith & Shaffer, 2000; Taylor & Thompson, 1982). In addition, studies on vividness have been criticized for defining the concept partly in terms of effects (notably "emotionally interesting," "imagery provoking"), which inhibits knowledge about relationships between intrinsic message features of vividness and its effects (O'Keefe, 2003). In the present study, vivid information is accordingly defined as concrete or proximate in a spatial, temporal, or sensory way. Vividness theory has been applied to features of television news. Notably, it has been argued that exemplary case histories in a news story (e.g., "the guy next door" complaining about cuts in his unemployment benefit) are more concrete than the general information (e.g., about cuts in unemployment benefits) that precedes the exemplars (Zillmann & Brosius, 2000). Studies on exemplification in television news (Aust & Zillmann, 1996; Gan, Hill, Pschernig, & Zillmann, 1996; Perry & Gonzenbach, 1997) and other news media (e.g., Brosius & Bathelt, 1994) support the idea that exemplars draw the attention towards them. As a result, exemplars may be considered as sensational elements...
News in an age of competition: the case of sensationalism in Dutch television news, 1995-2001.
|Author:||Vettehen, Paul Hendriks|
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COPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. | https://law-journals-books.vlex.com/vid/sensationalism-dutch-television-1995-2001-56693212 |
During Eisenhower's presidency what were the arguments for and against US intervention in Vietnam? How much did Eisenhower escalate the war?
Extracts from this document...
Introduction
During Eisenhower's presidency what were the arguments for and against US intervention in Vietnam? How much did Eisenhower escalate the war? During 1954 to 1965, America became increasingly involved in the affairs of Vietnam. This was due to many important reasons, the most important being that of America's hatred of communism and the USA's need to contain it. Throughout these years the US president Eisenhower could have withdrawn and stopped giving aid to South Vietnam and the French, but didn't, as the he and presidents after him wanted to maintain their stature and not let Communist countries get any edge over them. From 1946 onwards the Vietminh, who were an organisation set-up and led by the patriotic communist Ho Chi Minh, fought heavily with the French. They fought with far more primitive weapons than the French who used modern powerful weapons supplied by the US. But where the Vietminh lost out on technology they made up with ferocity, patriotism and their tactics. ...read more.
Middle
Diem had no intention of holding the elections and stated that the communists would not allow free elections in the North. This broke the Geneva peace agreement and the USA supported his actions. This breached the agreement and the agreement was promised to be defended by the Americans. In order to keep peace in South Vietnam, in 1959 President Eisenhower poured in economical aid and modern weapons and sent military advisors. Eisenhower believed in the 'Domino theory', he thought that if Vietnam fell to Communism the surrounding countries would fall like dominoes around it. This was the main reason USA was involved. The historical reputation of Dwight D. Eisenhower, war hero and thirty-fourth president of the United States sank to a low point after he left the White House in January 1961. Although his personal popularity with the American public had not weakened during his eight years in office, the academic and journalistic communities that had criticized his occupancy, his policies, and his personal leadership continued to believe that he had lead ineffectually over an era of relative inactivity. ...read more.
Conclusion
Kennedy's New Frontier. They saw Eisenhower's conservative agenda as a program to benefit the privileged and the wealthy, a Republican reaction to the progress made under Democratic reformers. Liberal scribes and specialists condemned his refusal to take on 'the dark beast of the 1950s', Senator Joseph McCarthy. They ridiculed Eisenhower's efforts to achieve fiscal responsibility and decentralized government, claiming that these efforts were little more than a smokescreen covering the president's insensitivity to the needs of the less fortunate elements of American society. Eisenhower's foreign policy (which had, after all, resulted in seven-and-a-half years of peace) came in for somewhat less criticism. Nevertheless, many criticized Vice-president Nixon's emphasis on nuclear weapons and the doctrine of massive retaliation. Most of the criticisms, however, were directed at Eisenhower's supposed failure to pursue the cold war vigorously and successfully. Eisenhower's misguided efforts to balance the federal budget, it was said, had resulted in an inadequate military posture and an unwillingness to confront America's communist enemies in areas involving either conventional or guerilla warfare. The peace of the 1950s, it was thought, was simply a matter of luck. ...read more.
This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level International History, 1945-1991 section.
Found what you're looking for? | http://www.markedbyteachers.com/as-and-a-level/history/during-eisenhower-s-presidency-what-were-the-arguments-for-and-against-us-intervention-in-vietnam-how-much-did-eisenhower-escalate-the-war.html |
A recent research initiative focuses on the journalistic profession in Serbia.
“Profession at the Crossroads – Journalism at the Doorstep of the Information Society,” conducted by the Media Center of the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade from July 2010 through June 2011 (heads of project: Prof. Dr. Miroljub Radojkovic and Prof. Dr. Snjezana Milivojevic) explores the hypothesis that journalism in Serbia lacks the adequate resources for an appropriate response to the technological, economic and social challenges radically transforming the profession. The results paint a gloomy picture of Serbian journalism, grappling with extremely low salaries and digital advances.
A long period of transition and the primacy of existential issues in Western Balkan countries have removed the emphasis from the challenges of contemporary journalism. Unsuccessful privatization, increasing concentration of ownership, development of the media market and the economic crisis – these are the characteristics defining the Serbian media scene.
Most Serbian journalists work for electronic media outlets (60%) and the press (30%), while others work in news agencies, online media, as independent journalists, etc. More than half work in Belgrade, while the remainder are almost uniformly distributed throughout Vojvodina and Central Serbia.
Data indicates that journalism has become a female-dominated profession, with gender differences resulting from an increasing number of female students enrolled in journalism-oriented university programs. Yet journalism still reflects the typical male-female discrepancies with regard to senior positions: less than 33 percent of women occupy senior or managerial positions, while only one woman in Serbia is co-owner of a media company. This information is significant in consideration of the social and economic position of journalists. Although it is often believed that women who are employed part-time face the choice between career and motherhood, it is encouraging to know that two-thirds of interviewees (76.54%) are permanently employed. The picture is also rosier when it comes to journalists’ education. The results indicate that most journalists have obtained a high level of education. Seventy-three percent hold a university degree, while the remainder have a high school diploma at the least. Still, journalists’ salaries do not reflect the notion that high education is adequately valued. The largest number of interviewees (23.85%) working in editorial positions and/or in the publicly-owned media make a salary that exceeds 50,000 dinars a month (which is more than the average Serbian salary, equaling approximately €150-400 per month). Half of all interviewees (50.15%) have salaries lower or equal to the average salary in the country.
According to journalists themselves, the greatest challenges to the industry are low-quality journalism, the prevalence of sensationalism and tabloid journalism (22.13%), while almost one-fifth (17.23%) believe that the largest problem facing the media is a poor economic position aggravated by the global economic crisis.
With this in mind, what is the best way for journalists in Serbia to face the challenges of new media which, according to many theorists, threaten to replace traditional journalism? This study indicates that journalistic professionals do not see such a grim picture. Instead, they are optimistic. Serbian journalists essentially agree that technological changes are not profound and that they will not have a decisive influence on the future of the profession. | https://en.ejo.ch/media-politics/profession-at-the-crossroads |
They strongly emphasized individual rights and freedoms and felt that Americans needed to break free from the bonds of true self expression. This breaking away from the traditional American beliefs and values created a generation gap, between those in the younger generation who actively protested the war and those in the older generations whose conservative views held that Americans should support their troops regardless of their own political and moral feelings, and held fast to their conservative beliefs. The major rift in society was caused solely by the Vietnam War and the effects it had throughout the country. The Vietnam War brought about a gradual, yet defining, change in American values: from a sense of patriotism and pride in ones country, towards a heavy emphasis on pacifism, love and the unbounded freedoms and rights they believed Americans were entitled to. | https://www.homeworksolving.com/essay-about-the-social-impact-of-the-vietnam-war/ |
- Presidents’ Book Prize of the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (SHGAPE) for Love and Death in the Great War, 2020.
- Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer, 2017-present.
Selected Publications
- Buffalo Soldiers and the Making of United States Empire (under contract with Liveright/W.W. Norton).
- Race and Gender at War, co-edited with Lesley Gordon (under contract with University of Alabama Press).
- Cambridge History of War and Society in America, co-edited with Jennifer Keene (under contract with Cambridge University Press).
- Dixie’s Great War, co-edited with John Giggie (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2020).
- The Unfinished Nation, co-authored with Alan Brinkley and John Giggie (McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 10th ed., 2021).
- Love and Death in the Great War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018).
- “Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man: Gender and the Great War,” in Kara Dixon Vuic, ed., The Routledge History of Gender, War, and the U. S. Military (Routledge, 2017): 68-86.
- “Interchange: World War I,” Journal of American History 102 (September 2015): 463-99.
- “Lost in Space: Technology and Turbulence in Futuristic Cinema of the 1950s,” Film and History 40.2 (Fall 2010): 6-27.
- “The Conditional Optimist: Walt Disney’s Postwar Futurism,” The Sixties 2 (December 2009): 227-44.
- The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2008).
- “Rethinking American Press Coverage of the Vietnam War, 1965-1968,” Journalism History 31 (Fall 2005): 150-61.
- “Kilroy is Back: Images of American Soldiers in Korea, 1950-1953,” American Studies 45 (Spring 2004): 103-29.
- “Support Unseen: Rhode Island and the Vietnam War, 1965-1973,” Rhode Island History 60 (Winter 2002): 3-25. | https://history.ua.edu/people/andrew-huebner/ |
This Fresco was an aeronautical work of art
In the world of art, frescos are paintings done on walls or ceilings as the plaster sets. In the world of aeronautics, a "Fresco" is a Soviet-made, high-subsonic fighter that could beautifully carve and sculpt the skies.
However, most of these planes ended up looking a lot more like a Jackson Pollock than an ancient Roman masterpiece.
We're talking about the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, which had the NATO code name "Fresco." The MiG-17 first took flight in January 1950 and entered service in 1953, a tad too late to take part in the Korean War. Once development was finished and the MiG-17 was ready for its introduction, the Soviet Union quickly put a halt to all MiG-15 production — likely because the MiG-15 got its ass kicked at MiG Alley.
A lot of MiG-17s have appeared in gun-camera footage from American and Israeli fighters.
(USAF)
The MiG-17 had a top speed of 711 miles per hour and a maximum range of 1,230 miles. The MiG-17 found some success in the Vietnam War despite being considered obsolete by time it saw combat and using guns as primary armaments (either two 23mm and one 37mm gun or three 23mm guns) in the era of rockets — likely because, after Korea, the United States became overly reliant on missiles.
However, according to a compilation by the Air Force Association, during the Vietnam War, the Air Force shot down 61 MiG-17s while the Navy and Marine Corps shot down 39 more. The North Vietnamese, using Soviet aircraft, shot down a grand total of 83 planes in air-to-air combat.
The last moments of a MiG-17 Fresco as a F-105 tears it apart with 20mm cannon fire.
(USAF)
In the skies over the Middle East, the story was very different. The Israeli Air Force destroyed a lot of MiG-17s during the Six-Day War. In a 1970 incident, two MiG-17s accidentally landed at an Israeli airstrip. These planes eventually found their way to the Nevada desert, where the Air Force put them through their paces. As a result, several MiG-17s ended up getting involve, in a way, in modern art: They were splattered apart to degree of which Pollock would be proud by American and Israeli planes.
The MiG-17 hung on after Vietnam and the Yom Kippur War. Currently, the North Korean Air Force operates about 100 of the Chinese copy of this plane, the Shenyang J-5/F-5.
Learn more about this plane in the video below! | https://www.wearethemighty.com/mig17-fresco-soviet-vietnam-fighter |
Richard Bruce Cheney is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice . When Cheney became eligible for the draft, during the Vietnam War, he applied for and received five draft deferments. In , The Washington. Vice Pres Dick Cheney has questioned credentials of Sen John Kerry and his he asked for and received during Vietnam era; Cheney photo (M).
Comments:
By Yozshuran - 09:06
Richard Bruce Cheney was “of age” for service durng the Vietnam conflict. Faced with the chance to engage on the battlefield or the home front.
By Mezim - 12:49
Dick Cheney was a very active vice president. In this lesson, we're going to explore his early life and see how his experiences in the tumultuous.
By Zolozil - 02:36
Dick Cheney wants you to know he doesn't care what you think several epochal events that formed his convictions, such as the Vietnam War.
By Kazrajin - 17:24
But when year-old Dick Cheney became eligible for the draft in , Lyndon B. Johnson launched a large military offensive in Vietnam. | https://bbqgurus.info/small-dick/dick-cheney-vietnam-71.php |
The Chatbot Usability Questionnaire (CUQ)
The CUQ is a new questionnaire specifically designed for measuring the usability of chatbots by an interdisciplinary team from the Ulster University.
Whilst the CUQ tool measures UX and usability of chatbots, other tools exist, including the ALMA Chatbot Test Tool (Martín et al. 2017) which measures similar factors to CUQ, such as:
- Chatbot Personality
- Onboarding
- User Experience
- Error Handling
Why should I use the CUQ?
Other usability metrics are available, and perhaps the most popular and well-known is the System Usability Scale (SUS), developed in 1986 by John Brooke.
SUS is a ten-item scale that provides a general assessment of system usability (Brooke, 1996), which may be compared to the SUS benchmark of 68.0 (Sauro, 2018).
While SUS is a “quick and dirty” tool for assessing system usability (Brooke, 1996), it has primarily been designed for measuring the usability of conventional computer systems.
As conversation-driven systems, chatbots do not conform to conventional design and testing principles, thus chatbot usability testing may require a different approach, thus SUS on its own may not be the best option.
Can I use other metrics (such as SUS) alongside the CUQ?
Of course!
The CUQ is designed to be comparable to SUS and may be freely used alongside it, or in combination with other usability metrics.
Recent research has suggested that multiple metrics will give a more comprehensive assessment of chatbot usability (Baki Kocaballi et al. 2018).
How do I use the CUQ?
The CUQ may be used during the post-test evaluation phase of chatbot usability tests.
It may be administered in either paper form or digitised and administered electronically using web-based tools such as Qualtrics.
CUQ scores are calculated in a similar manner to SUS scores.
Positive aspects of chatbot usability are assessed by odd-numbered questions, and negative aspects are assessed by even-numbered questions.
Scores are calculated out of 100 (to be comparable to SUS).
The CUQ Calculation Tool is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that may be used as a quick and easy means of calculating CUQ scores.
Has the CUQ been properly validated?
The CUQ was validated as part of a Research PhD at the Ulster University in August 2019.
Twenty-six participants used the tool to evaluate three chatbots (classed as good, average and poor quality) and results suggested that the questionnaire demonstrated construct validity and test-retest reliability.
Findings from this study will be submitted for publication soon.
Please note the following limitations to the validation study:
- Construct validity was assessed based on a consensus ranking by an expert panel. Three chatbots were selected for this purpose. It would be useful to compare scores for more than three chatbots, and for different types of chatbot (e.g. health, financial, booking systems etc.)
- The validation was conducted using a relatively small number of participants (n=26)
What research has been published relating to the CUQ?
The CUQ was first used during chatbot usability tests conducted as part of a PhD at the Ulster University in Northern Ireland.
Findings from these tests were presented at the 2019 European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics.
Proceedings from this conference have now been published and the paper is available to download.
Please cite this paper when you use the CUQ as part of your own research or testing.
Citation
Samuel Holmes, Anne Moorhead, Raymond Bond, Huiru Zheng, Vivien Coates, and Michael Mctear. 2019. Usability testing of a healthcare chatbot: Can we use conventional methods to assess conversational user interfaces?. In Proceedings of the 31st European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics (ECCE 2019), Maurice Mulvenna and Raymond Bond (Eds.). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 207-214.
Contact
If you have any questions about the CUQ, please contact one of the following:
- Samuel Holmes ([email protected])
- Raymond Bond ([email protected])
CUQ Research Team
- Samuel Holmes, Ulster University
Dr Anne Moorhead
Senior Lecturer
School of Communication and Media
Areas of expertise
- Communication technologies in Healthcare
- Communication in mental health and obesity
- E-help-seeking and behaviour change
Professor Raymond Bond
Professor
School of Computing
Areas of expertise
Digital health, biomedical and healthcare informatics, human-computer interaction, data modelling. | https://www.ulster.ac.uk/research/topic/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/projects/cuq |
Anyone can build a chatbot but it takes experience and expertise to build a GOOD chatbot. Simply knowing the building blocks for building a chatbot and how to piece them together doesn't guarantee that what you build will be fit for purpose or add value to the business. You need to know the life lessons, tips, tricks, and pitfalls that can only be discovered through real-world implementations. In this theater session learn the top design tips for building digital assistants and chatbots, all learned from many live implementations.
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Conversation is the most natural form of communication for humans since the dawn of time. However, interacting with computer systems such as enterprise applications and data required special user interfaces that evolved from text to graphical UI to touch. While interactions have become progressively easier, none of these mechanisms matches the simplicity of a conversational user interface. In this session see how conversational AI and speech recognition has finally matured to support effortless interaction with enterprise systems and data as it evolves to understand context and complex speech patterns. Instead of simple chatbots, digital assistants are taking over, and this session looks into the future of this space.
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Whether looking to add new capabilities to extend Oracle SaaS or create ways to support new business models, companies are under tremendous pressure to deliver innovation on top of modern ERP/SCM/HCM and CX systems. Oracle Cloud Platform's intelligent automation capability combines the AI/ML power of Oracle Digital Assistant, Oracle Integration, Oracle Visual Builder, and Oracle Content and Experience to automate and design new experiences across and beyond Oracle SaaS. Join this session to see how Oracle’s AI-powered, developer-friendly Cloud Platform enables Oracle SaaS extensibility while ensuring upgrades, and assimilates intelligent automation seamlessly. Hear how a customer was empowered to deliver innovative ways to engage with Oracle SaaS.
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As part of Quest Forum Digital Event: Cloud Week, Veenayah Kunniah, Senior Business Analyst at ATCO, spoke about ATCO's Taleo integrations with Oracle HCM Cloud. Kunniah dove into ATCO requirements, hybrid integration versus OOTB integration, overall architecture, process maps, challenges and pain points, and the future state.
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With digitization impacting every industry around the globe, it is common for organizations to consider moving their HCM systems to the cloud. But what are the biggest drivers and pain points for those that are considering the journey? What are the inhibitors and challenges that must be overcome? What are the best practices and benefits for those that have completed the move? Learn these answers as Oracle Product Marketing shares insights from Oracle’s recent research - along with tips for those that are considering a move to cloud, are in progress, or are looking to maximize success of a recent implementation.
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In the fast-paced world of commerce, time and focus are valuable assets to businesses large and small. Ensuring that your employees have the tools they need to succeed can help push your business to achieve breakthrough results. Attend this session to learn how YUM! Brands enhanced their Oracle HR Helpdesk through groovy scripting and web services to allow teams to focus on providing exceptional customer service without having to sacrifice time.
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The Digital Age is here and it is disruptive - the pace of acceleration is faster than ever before – Are you ready? With 420k customers in 145 countries – Oracle’s strategy is to enable your organizations journey to the cloud. To date we have moved 25,000 clients to the cloud. Customers embrace our Cloud because it's the most complete offering in the industry including data, software, platform, and infrastructure services. Oracle offers the most integrated, complete Cloud suite of SaaS applications, enabling customers to modernize their business using the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Are you ready to move to the Cloud?
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When implementing Oracle Cloud Absence and Oracle Cloud Time, absences, both Paid Time Off and Leaves of Absence can be entered directly in Oracle Absence management or Oracle Time Cards. Providing both options to an employee can create a confusing user experience and lead to lower adoption. Come hear Deloitte, Oracle’s first Global Cloud Elite partner, speak about the key considerations for enabling absence entries via time card versus absence management. We will also speak to how each of these options work for different types of absences such as Paid Time Off vs FMLA as well as design influencers, such as exempt vs non-exempt employees and also provide you insights into potential limitations for each of the options. | https://questoraclecommunity.org/tag/hcm-cloud |
How to Build a Chatbot:The Essential Guide for 2021
Interested in how to build a chatbot?
In this post, I’ll cover everything there is to know about chatbots.
But first things first…what is a chatbot?
We all have an image that pops up in our heads when we think of chatbots.
Maybe it’s inspired by where we’ve seen (or think we’ve seen) them used in the past…or perhaps hearing the word conjures up random images of tiny robots we remember from a cell phone commercial or sci-fi special.
Or maybe you already have a general understanding of what chatbots really are, but you want to know how you can make one work for your business.
Whatever your knowledge level is, this post is designed to give you a streamlined crash course on all things chatbot – what they are, why businesses use them, how they work, etc.
Ready to see how to build a chatbot?
Let’s get started.
Contents
Chapter 1:
What is a chatbot
A chatbot is essentially a program that uses machine-learning and pre-constructed “rules” to automatically respond to user-generated messages.
A pretty broad definition, yes, but it’s fitting, as chatbots are used on a huge range of websites and digital platforms, for all kinds of different reasons.
Ever asked Siri, Alexa, etc. any question, about anything at all?
Those are a few obvious examples of chatbots.
Clearly, you have to follow a few standard guidelines when making requests in order to get a satisfactory response, such as starting your questions with the bot’s name, speaking clearly, using common terms vs. obscure slang…
But for the most part, these programs are built to hone-in on keywords and generate responses accordingly.
For example, take a look at this sequence flow of the bot that is currently running on my website.
Other examples of everyday situations where you may be depending on a chatbot’s use include scheduling an Uber ride, ordering a pizza via the Pizza Hut or Dominos app and communicating through an automated customer service chatbox featured on a retail or service company’s website.
Whether you’re truly familiar with what a chatbot is or is not, as you can see, you’ve probably been engaging with them for years now without giving the concept much more than a fleeting thought.
Chapter 2:
Chatbot Use Cases
If you want to drill down to basics, chatbots were essentially created to serve as a solution to the heavy burden placed on companies’ customer service associates.
Think about it – with the onset of e-commerce, the number of sales, interactions, questions and requests being transacted and responded to every second is multiple times that of what could have ever been managed by the on-the-clock staff of a single brick-and-mortar business of the past.
These days, a clothing company can be headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and have service representatives answering questions from customers in Beijing, Stockholm and Sydney, helping customers in Washington D.C. and Honolulu make purchases online and following up on order inquiries on products that are being shipped to Orlando, Munich and Athens.
If every one of those customers speaks to a service rep to ask their questions or resolve their claims, the clothing company would have to double, triple, quadruple (you get the picture) their staff to keep up.
That gets expensive, sometimes prohibitively expensive.
Additionally, companies may not have the office space to house that many employees.
Some companies have handled space challenges by implementing large, warehouse-like call centers or allowing certain representatives to work remotely.
But long waits on the phone continue to be an issue.
Online support via e-mail or human-managed chatboxes relieves some of the burden on call centers.
But at the end of the day, the central problem still exists: The number of customers to representatives is way too high to be reasonably managed.
That’s where chatbots come in.
These automated programs can be built into online chatboxes or smartphone apps to help serve the basic, everyday customer requests that tie up phone lines.
If the majority of these basic requests can be resolved through a series of automated messages, then reps can be freed up to handle the more complicated claims and issues needing human attention.
So that’s the first major business use of chatbots, in a nutshell.
But they can do so much more. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most significant ways businesses use chatbots.
Deliver 24/7 customer support.
Even if the consumer demand on your business is easily handled by your regular support staff, supplemented by seasonal reps during periods of high-demand, there may be a time when no one is available to help.
Maybe it’s late at night and everyone’s gone home for the day.
Or perhaps you have customers in another country, with only a small time frame available to speak with support staff.
By implementing a chatbot on your website, you can offer these customers round-the-clock support – without the expense of adding another shift or hiring more people.
Help customers navigate – and make the right choices.
Not everyone that lands on your website will be a returning visitor.
Some people might have just heard your company name somewhere or been referred to your site by a friend. Therefore, while they know what they ultimately want from you, they may not have any clue as to what steps to take to get there.
Or maybe they aren’t picking the best option to meet their specific needs, due to a lack of knowledge.
A chatbot can talk customers through a basic set of exploratory questions to help them get going in the right direction.
For example, say you’re a custom printing company.
A customer, Sara, hears about your company on a radio commercial and navigates her way to your website via Google search. She knows she wants to create a special birthday card for her son’s 5th birthday, but she has no idea how to get started.
A few seconds later, a chat window pops up asking her if she would like assistance creating her first greeting card.
She replies yes, and answers additional questions as the bot explains how to choose a template and add colors, designs and copy.
After a few minutes, Sara closes the chatbot and starts creating her card.
In this case, the company’s use of a chatbot may have alleviated one less call from their busy phone queue.
Or, perhaps they avoided losing Sara as a customer due to her leaving the site after a few minutes of not finding what she was looking for.
In addition to helping customers navigate their way to solutions, chatbots can also be used to help them make the best decision possible.
In a different take on the example above, the initial bot may walk Sara through a few exploratory questions to pinpoint the product type that will best serve her needs.
These questions may reveal that rather than a birthday card that her young son may not be that interested in reading, a big, colorful banner to hang at the party may be a much more satisfactory solution.
Happy customers are good, but happier customers are better.
By implementing a chatbot, you can help customers find solutions that will push their satisfaction to the next level.
Inspire more subscriptions.
Similar to how chatbots can be used to help guide customers toward the best solution for their needs, they can also be used to encourage visitors to subscribe to your blog or newsletter.
In this case, it’s best to place a chatbox pop-up on a blog page where active readers will be likely to see it.
It might be used to ask for feedback with the intention of starting a conversation that eventually leads into telling readers where they can subscribe.
By gaining subscribers, not only are you earning your brand a spot in this potential customer’s inbox as a recurring marketing opportunity, but you’ve also now captured their contact information to be added to a drip campaign or used for future sales messaging opportunities.
Create new, engaging customer interactions.
There aren’t that many ways to make a customer service phone call or e-mail inquiry a unique and memorable experience.
Even with charismatic representatives and quick replies, the process is always essentially the same: call, talk, solve/get transferred for additional help, talk, get put on hold, etc., or the back-and-forth exchange that’s standard with any e-mail interaction.
But chatbots are an entirely new playing field.
Even though “rules” must be followed to some degree in order for the program to work effectively, communications can support features that aren’t typical to your average brand interaction.
Some apps support emoji use, make sounds or play music, allow customers to peruse store locations or available products, etc. Exchanges go from bland support messaging to funny, colorful interactions that customers will remember, and ideally, find helpful.
Best case scenario?
The customer finds an answer/solution and enjoys the interaction so much they show/share it with their friends and family.
Did someone say, referrals?
Earn more leads.
Let’s face it, your sales reps are much more engaging (and happier) when they aren’t cold calling day in and day out.
They get sick of asking the same qualifying questions over and over because, well, they’re human.
But chatbots aren’t human.
They can ask that same set of questions repeatedly, all day long, and still respond with the same level of enthusiasm and patience.
So it makes sense to leverage a chatbot’s basic step-by-step messaging ability to ask site visitors a series of exploratory questions as to why they’re there, what their needs/pain points are and what they value most from a product or service provider.
Feedback generated in these exchanges can be used to update marketing collateral to better reach prospects or supplement sales rep training programs.
If a visitor’s responses indicate an elevated level of interest, your chatbot can ask if they’d be open to speaking with a sales representative, and, if so, subsequently ask for their contact information.
These responses can be automatically sent to your sales department for follow up, and Voila! A warm lead.
And even better – a warm lead sourced without any human effort.
I know that you’re thinking. “That’s what you can do with a chatbot. But why do it? What kind of return can I hope to gain?”
Funny you asked…
Chapter 3:
Benefits of having a chatbot
The whole purpose of a chatbot in serving one of the needs above is to realize a business benefit of some sort, obviously.
I briefly touched on a few of these above; however, the following offers more detail on some of the big benefits of implementing the use of a chatbot into your marketing strategy.
Saves time.
Chat messages are (obviously) short, sweet and to-the-point, in contrast to much lengthier e-mail messages.
In the time it takes to build out an e-mail drip campaign, your chatbot could have already engaged with dozens of people via a messaging platform.
Earns higher response/engagement rates.
Because of the immediate nature of “instant messaging”, there’s an elevated sense of urgency to read and respond to the questions/comments that just “pop in”, vs. the slower engagements expected on channels like e-mail.
Not to mention societal behavior and ever-shortening consumer attention spans lend themselves to short-natured chat messages.
Additionally, when users are engaged in any kind of instant messaging conversation, it monopolizes their full attention at the time. E-mails delivered to an inbox may get lost in the shuffle and have to fight for attention amidst the avalanche of other messages.
Makes CTAs personal.
When a commercial shows up during your favorite TV show, there’s no personalization directed to you, specifically. Nor is there the pressure and expectation of an immediate response.
Direct mail pieces go from your mailbox to the trash can. Sales e-mails are often disregarded as spam and deleted.
But when a chat message pops up, it’s literally a one-on-one conversation demanding an equally quick response from YOU.
Personal, direct, immediate chat messages are more likely to be answered than universal CTAs mentioned in mass media or anonymous e-mail blasts.
Puts you ahead of the curve.
Chatbots and messaging platforms aren’t going away anytime soon.
In fact, the number of users are steadily growing as our society becomes more and more mobile, with shorter and shorter attention spans and more and more media distractions.
Getting your business on board now will only help you ride the wave into a future where messaging platforms are becoming the preferred form of B2C communication.
Knowing the what and why behind chatbots is important, no doubt.
But it’s all for not without the how…
Chapter 4:
How to make a chatbot
These basic steps will help you through the process of building a chatbot for your business needs, whether you’re already an expert…or all of the above is news to you. Hey, everybody’s got to start somewhere.
Identify your end goal.
This first step is an obvious one – you have to know where you’re going before you can build a marketing plan to get there.
You need to decide what you want your chatbot to do and what kind of benefits you ultimately want to gain.
Is your customer service team struggling to keep up with calls? Do you want to gather some warm leads to help your sales team move away from frustrating days of cold calling?
There are no right or wrong answers.
And you can always create more chatbots later.
But it’s important that you have a decision made before you get started.
Your end goal directs the entire process.
Decide where your chatbot will be featured.
The platform or web page where your chatbot will live also affects how it’s built. This decision is largely based on your end goal, as well as your knowledge of your audiences.
Places where you can potentially feature a chatbot include the following:
- Various pages of your website
- Smartphone/tablet app
- Twitter Direct Message
- Facebook Messenger
As an example, say you’re a company that sells sports gear and gym equipment directly to consumers and you want to boost sales of your larger machines like treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, etc.
Your team decides to build a chatbot to help generate new leads for your sales managers.
Knowing your end goal, you start thinking about where you’d like to feature this chatbot. Your first thought is to place it on the landing page of your website, hoping to capture the attention of visitors who may be perusing available equipment before heading out to the store to look at and buy it in person.
But you also know that you offer products for nearly every sport imaginable. So the chance that on any given day there will be an influx of visitors to your site who are specifically on the hunt for a new treadmill or rowing machine is slim.
You wonder if your social media platforms may offer the opportunity to reach a more specific, and potentially more relevant, audience.
Digging into your Twitter and Facebook demographic data, you find that both offer access to a younger audience, between the ages of 18 and 40.
Deeper insights into your Facebook audience indicate that many followers are active and/or regularly engage in some kind of recreational sport.
You consider the idea that younger, active Facebook users may be more open to engaging in a chat on Facebook Messenger than perhaps any given visitor to your website.
Knowledge of your audience and consideration of consumer behavior reveals that, in this case, your best option may very well be to feature your chatbot on Facebook Messenger vs. your initial thought to place it on your site’s landing page.
Nail down your content strategy.
Once you know what you want your chatbot to be used for and where it will be featured, you can start exploring how discussions will flow from start to finish.
- What are customers most likely to ask?
- Do you have any pre-existing marketing collateral featuring FAQs and corresponding standard responses?
- What tone and personality do you want your chatbot to have?
- Will it have a name?
Don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel here. In fact, you really shouldn’t.
- Reach out to your internal teams for insights.
- Reference past collateral for lists of FAQs.
- Review old case studies and sales materials to get a more complete idea of the customer journey.
For instance, if you’re the sports gear and gym equipment retailer mentioned above, you would need to consider how you want to approach a conversation about training equipment needs with followers.
You find that your sales team has a collection of helpful talk tracks that are shared with new sales associates during their onboarding process.
Many start by asking customers about their exercise regimen, whether or not they have a gym membership and/or if they have kids that play on sports teams. Then, based on the answers, the talk tracks offer additional topics of conversation and questions sales associates can ask to gather more information and lead into a conversation about gym equipment.
Referencing documents like these can help you develop the tone, direction, and even the kinds of questions you might ask to capture leads for your salespeople, direct people to your website for more information – or even make a sale online.
As a final mention, remember that the tone of your chatbot should match that of your brand, and be consistent with any other form of communication your company shares publically. It’s all about consistency.
The one exception to this rule is that chat copy should be a little more conversational and a lot shorter than most other forms of B2C communication.
Once you’ve pulled together some reference materials and have a feel for how you want to approach the conversation, you can get down to actually building out the copy.
Come up with an awesome intro message.
When visitors first see your chatbot pop-up, what will your intro question or statement be?
It sounds like a basic endeavor, but there’s some deeper consideration involved.
You need to make sure that your opening message captures attention and kicks off the conversation in the right direction, while also being straightforward and short enough to get the point across in a matter of seconds.
Keeping your end goal in mind along the way is another absolute must.
Also consider that your initial message needs to be more generic and open-ended so it can serve as the lead message for many different possible conversation tracks (more on this in step 5).
And don’t forget – your bot is fighting for attention amidst all the graphics, products, comments and news feeds on your chosen platform (landing page, social media channel, etc.).
So your pop-up needs to stand out.
Refer to the research and company collateral you gathered and considered in the last step.
These documents can help ensure that you start the conversation with a question that targets a popular customer pain point, or perhaps with an intro statement that offers guidance on a topic commonly discussed with your customer service team.
Whatever makes the biggest bang from the get-go.
Because when you really think about it, this first message may very well be THE most important message of all. It’s the make-or-break moment where a visitor will decide whether to engage with you.
Or not.
So make it good. No pressure though…
Build out the rest of the conversation(s).
Here’s where you really get to work on imagining what conversations will be like and developing different talk tracks for each.
Essentially, you start with your intro question, then consider the many different directions a conversation can go, based on how the user responds.
If this response, then one talk track ensues. If that action, then another, and so on and so on.
Conversations begin to branch off of one another and oftentimes reconverge in different areas – be open to letting things expand organically.
[One thing to mention here – after the intro message, be sure to mention that the user is speaking to a bot, so they realize the limitations of the conversation. You should also include information on where users can go to speak with a human if they have a more complicated issue or need.]
For instance, say you’re a pet shop owner and you find that many people are overwhelming your customer service lines asking basic questions, the answers to which can easily be found on your website.
These questions may be regarding what time your store opens, what pet food brands you sell or whether or not you offer grooming services.
You decide to build a chatbot to free up the phone lines for more complicated calls and feature it on your website’s home page, popping up seconds after visitors arrive.
You make your intro message very simple and open-ended:
“Thank you for visiting PetWorld! Can I help you with something?”
If the customer clicks on the pop-up, the next message dispatches. [If they close it out, you can feature a message such as: “No problem. I’ll just hang out here while you look around. Click if you need me!”]
Next message:
“Hi, I’m PetWorld Chatbot, nice to meet you!”
A second after…
“What can I help you with? You can ask me things like ‘Where are you located?’ or ‘Do you have Purina dog food’ by typing your questions below.”
A second after…next message:
“If at any time you wish to speak with a representative, feel free to call us at 234-555-5555 between 8 am and 6 pm.”
From here, you can refer to your business’s FAQ list to build out different talk tracks, inspired by the most popular customer questions.
Your bot will offer replies based on keywords in the questions, so it may take some tailoring over time to get it right.
But you’ll get there!
To keep things organized when planning, many people find it helpful to draft potential conversation tracks visually, in formats resembling a flow chart or corporate hierarchy chart.
You can go as simple as shapes and arrows in Microsoft PowerPoint and/or Google Drawings, or you may want to start drafting in an online tool such as Mobile Monkey that offers a form-like template where you can enter and test various conversations.
Additional message “add-ons” to consider throughout this process are clickable buttons, emojis, GIFs and graphics.
These may help boost engagement and enhance conversations to make them more memorable or intuitive.
Trying to consider all of this at once can be overwhelming.
But when you take it one conversation at a time, you’ll find that many messages can be mirrored across different talk tracks and that some questions end up reconverging in the same places, saving you from having to come up with brand new copy for every possible ask.
Research and invest in a chatbot tool that meets your needs.
This is a rather obvious step, as unless your lead developer is going to take your conversation tracks from here and run with it, you need to research and purchase a chatbot building tool to help bring your plans to life.
Different chatbots exist for different platforms and different needs.
Again, another reason why it’s essential to make a firm decision on the end goal you’re trying to achieve and the platform you intend to use at the beginning of the process.
Research what’s out there and don’t be afraid to ask for demos or to speak with a knowledgeable sales rep, when you still have unanswered questions after reviewing the tool’s website.
Here’s a short list of the best chatbot builders (or social media management suites that offer chatbot-building options) to get you started:
Once you’ve decided on the right tool for your end goal and chosen platform, spend some time checking out all the features to get familiar with how things work and what’s available.
Then finally, you’ll need to add your conversation copy into the format provided and get ready for testing.
Test your conversation tracks, over and over again.
Coming up with every possible question, response, keyword, etc. while building out all of these potential talk tracks is impossible.
Even for people who have built chatbots multiple times in their careers.
There’s just no way to think of everything the first go around.
But it’s no biggie. Because you can test as many times as you want.
The majority of chatbot tools and platforms let you preview and test conversations without officially launching them.
This way, you can walk through all possible interactions before any customers do, and if/when you hit a snag or realize you left something out, you can easily edit and re-test as you go.
Some chatbot platforms support natural language processing (NLP) which uses machine learning to understand the context of a conversation and provide accurate answers.
Launch and observe.
After you’ve completed steps one through seven above, it’s time to go live.
Launch your chatbot!
Celebrate!!!
But don’t expect to get it perfect the first time.
Be sure to monitor how customers are using the bot and whether there are areas where confusion ensues or conversations dead-end.
Remember, with the help of a user-friendly chatbot tool, you can always make tweaks, test them offline and then push them live in a matter of minutes.
Evaluate and adjust accordingly.
Finally, after your chatbot has been in action for a time period suitable for achievement of your end goal, you’ll want to evaluate its overall performance.
- Did it help you earn significantly more leads?
- Cut down on overtime shifts?
- Upgrade your customer service ratings?
If so, keep going! You may even want to apply this strategy to another important end goal to see if you can achieve similarly positive results there.
If not, don’t sweat it.
Go back and see if you can identify any bottlenecks or points of confusion. Try moving your chatbot to a different landing page or platform. Add emojis. Tighten the copy.
Feel free to experiment. Your chatbot tool makes adjustments and testing easy, so you can edit and evaluate over and over until you’re satisfied with the results.
Chapter 5:
Why your business needs a chatbot
Chatbots are only one small facet of a much bigger initiative that’s been forming over the years known as messenger marketing.
Messenger marketing is truly as simple as it sounds: marketing your products or services to customers via a messaging app.
There are plenty of reasons messenger marketing has gained so much traction in this day and age. I’ve already mentioned a few of these above, but the most significant consumer trends driving this evolution are:
- Shorter attention spans
- Expectation of instantaneous responses
- More time spent on mobile devices
- Distracted by multiple forms of media
Messenger marketing solves for each of these.
Messages are short, immediate, mobile-friendly and personal. You’re meeting the customer where they’re at, and tailoring your message to their behavior.
But the biggest reason you should jump on this trend – and sooner rather than later?
To stay a step ahead of your competition.
According to internet marketer Larry Kim, “There are more daily active users of popular messaging applications than social media applications, yet less than 1% of companies are doing chat marketing.”
So what are you waiting for?
Build your chatbot and put it into action before the rest of the industry can even define what they are.
This guide is all you need to get started.
Now It’s Your Turn
So that’s how to build a chatbot.
Let me ask you: What most excites you about chatbots?
Is it the time saved by use of automation?
Or is it leveraging another channel to drive leads and sales?
Leave a quick comment below to let me know your thoughts on building out chatbots. | https://chrismakara.com/digital-marketing/how-to-build-a-chatbot/ |
US-based Delta Air Lines and Sears Holdings, the owners of Sears and Kmart, have announced that the breach suffered by chatbot company 7.ai has resulted in the compromise of credit card information of its customers.
According to a statement by 7.ai, which provides online support services to the two companies, the incident began on September 26 and was discovered and contained on October 12, 2017.
Sears Holdings says that the incident involved unauthorized access to less than 100,000 of their customers’ credit card information, but that customers using a Sears-branded credit card were not impacted.
“As soon as 7.ai informed us in mid-March 2018, we immediately notified the credit card companies to prevent potential fraud, and launched a thorough investigation with federal law enforcement authorities, our banking partners, and IT security firms,” the company noted.
Delta said that even though only a small subset of their customers would have been exposed, they cannot say definitively whether any of their customers’ information was actually accessed or subsequently compromised. Still, they made sure to point out that “no other customer personal information, such as passport, government ID, security or SkyMiles information was impacted.”
“On Thursday Delta launched delta.com/response, a dedicated website, which we will update regularly to address customer questions and concerns. We will also directly contact customers who may have been impacted by the 7.ai cyber incident. In the event any of our customers’ payment cards were used fraudulently as a result of the 7.ai cyber incident, we will ensure our customers are not responsible for that activity,” the company added.
Both companies said that they were informed of the incident in March 2018. It is unknown why 7.ai did not notify them of the incident sooner.
“The Sears and Delta breaches precisely show how interconnected companies digital ecosystems are and why attacks on third parties are so prevalent. This stands out because it is two for the price of one, Fred Kneip, CEO, CyberGRX, commented.
“As with so many similar attacks before, the breaches taking place at Sears and Delta were introduced by a vulnerability from a third party, in this case a small customer service shop. Just like no one knows the name of the HVAC vendor that led to the Target breach in 2013, no one will remember the name of this contractor when all is said and done. Instead, customers will remember that Sears and Delta put their data at risk. When third parties demonstrate weak security controls, the blame and the headlines will always gravitate toward the companies with name recognition. A real-time assessment of third-party cyber risk has to be a part of the vetting process when companies engage with any third party, including vendors, suppliers and outsourcers.”
Laurie Mercer, Solutions Engineer at HackerOne, says that this incident raises many questions about how we can secure data that we enter into third party systems and manage the security of vendors.
“Today consumers are asking more and more questions about where our data resides, and how our data is being protected. These concerns are reflected in legislation like the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU. This breach highlights the importance of securing the vendor ecosystem as well as our own in-house systems,” he noted. | https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2018/04/06/delta-sears-data-breach/ |
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Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action – helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Senior Community Engagement Officer
Reference Number: MDG / HUMOPS / 2020 / 00045
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employment Type: Full-time
Program Summary
- Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on adolescent girls’ empowerment, economic and market development and conflict mitigation. With the insurgency spilling over from the Northeast of Nigeria and causing displacement of millions of individuals, Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs. With funding from institutional donors, foundations and private corporations, Mercy Corps continues to provide assistance to meet the basic needs of vulnerable populations in the areas of food security, shelter, water and sanitation, protection, and livelihoods.
- In the context of COVID-19, with severe restrictions on face-to-face contact, meeting in large groups and travel, community engagement has become an extremely challenging activity. But it remains a critically important one, especially for addressing misinformation around the Pandemic and properly respond to community needs and concerns. As a reaction to these new challenges, MC has adapted his programs to comply with the new precautions and has been looking for non-contact means to relay information and hear from communities about their needs, questions and feedback.
General Position Summary
- This role will support and monitor the rollout of 6 months initiative in which MC is partnering with Translators Without Borders (TWB) to pilot a new technology which will support community engagement through an app called “Chatbot” or “œbot” which can talk with people. This technology, also called conversational artificial intelligence (AI), will allow people to interact in conversations with a virtual avatar (personality) to answer questions, take feedback and listen to concerns.
- The Chatbot initiative will provide a new channel for Mercy Corps to engage with their teams, volunteers and more broadly in the community in three (3) different local languages, and will provide valuable information to the community as well as capturing useful insights from them. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the bot can support two-way communication with communities on a range of topics.
- The Senior Community Engagement Officer will co-lead development, implementation and monitoring of a community engagement Chabot on COVID-19 and on other potential health-related issues that might be relevant for the local communities targeted.
Essential Job Responsibilities
Programme Support:
- Participate in the planning, implementation and review of the initiative including assessment and adaptation of improvements and innovations.
- Ensure quality and integrity of implementation, including compliance with Mercy Corps policies and Minimum Standards (PM@MC) and adherence to technical guidelines, administrative systems, and established deadlines.
- Develop and maintain an understanding of the communication challenges affecting the COVID-19 and wider humanitarian response in northeast Nigeria.
- Act as the focal point for weekly editorial meetings with TWB for the development, consolidation and localization of messaging, ensuring responsiveness to community concerns.
- Coordinate the editorial process for content curation and development within Mercy Corps and with TWB. Ensure timely inputs into the content development process.
- Lead field testing of the chatbot by the Mercy Corps teams (volunteers, community ambassadors etc), collate feedback and ensure regular integration of the feedback into the chatbot editorial process.
- Maintain open and professional relationships with the TWB team, partner humanitarian agencies and donors.
- Develop mutually beneficial partnerships with humanitarian agencies to pilot and implement the chatbot to improve two-way communication with affected communities
- Actively participate in relevant sector (health, WASH etc.) meetings and initiatives, advocating for the uptake of the chatbot for two-way communications with affected communities
- Proactively contribute to advocacy and communication efforts as needed, in close collaboration with the TWB team.
- Identify funding opportunities and network with partners and donors with a view to submit funding proposals for the sustainability of the initiative. Co-author funding proposals.
- Act as a liaison and facilitator between MC target communities and relevant authorities, building community representatives capacity to engage in effective dialogue.
- Maintain regular communications with key stakeholders to gauge perceptions, tensions, and potential triggers.
- Expand local partner networks, foster linkages to local government, health authorities, civil society coalitions and other relevant local networks including religious leaders
- Ensure the program is in alignment with Mercy Corps principles, values and the program’s strategic plan.
- Implement and model Mercy Corps philosophy of social entrepreneurship and leverage Mercy Corps best practices.
Team Management:
- Sustain a work environment of mutual respect you and other team members strive to achieve excellence.
- Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
- Provide other team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
Influence and Representation:
- Identify, build collaborative partnerships with TWB, local authorities and other stakeholders.
- Participate in coordination meetings and workshops to the project.
Security:
- Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
Organizational Learning:
- As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries:
- Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects
Accountability:
- Reports Directly To Program Manager
- Works Directly WithMEL Manager, Program Quality Team (PaQ), TWB staff
Requirements, Knowledge and Experience
- BA/S in relevant field or other similar fields; MA / MS / MBA or equivalent preferred in Social Sciences, International Relations, Development or other related fields.
- Five years experience in project management, implementation and design. Previous experience in community engagement is preferable.
- Experience of developing tools and strategies for listening to and communicating with crisis-affected communities.
- Knowledge and understanding of the role of language in humanitarian response.
- Ability to work independently, flexibly and with remote teams.
- Experience in proposal writing, including conceptualizing and technical writing.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal and representational skills.
- Ability to coordinate people and processes.
- Detail-oriented, thorough, accurate, able to meet deadlines, and able to work quickly and steadily in a focused manner.
- Good organizational skills, ability to make recommendations for improvement and contribute to overall program strategy.
- Excellent English oral and written communication skills.
- Understanding of language dynamics in Nigeria is desirable.
- Understanding of Hausa, Kanuri or other languages of Nigeria is desirable.
Success Factor:
- The successful Sr. Community Engagement Officer will be a creative self-starter with a strong sense of initiative, experienced in humanitarian response management, communication with communities and enthusiastic about the importance of increasing access to knowledge through language and technology.
- The right candidate is an energetic team player comfortable in working with teams virtually. Successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and challenging environments, and make effective written and verbal communication a priority.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions:
- The position will be based in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria and requires frequent travel to other field locations as well as Abuja. Considering the frequent travel from/to different field locations, this position will require flexibility in terms of accommodation and logistics. Housing in the field will be in hotels or guesthouses where available. Security in the field locations requires additional vigilance and accessibility will be reassessed continuously. Access to good medical services in the field is limited. Phone communication, internet, electricity and water is available but might be erratic.
- The location is not eligible for hardship and R&R benefits. Given the nature of the response, working hours require flexibility and working through weekends/evenings might be necessary.
Application Closing Date
11th November, 2020.
Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV and Cover letter in one document, addressing the position requirements, reference number and location to: [email protected] using the “Job Title & Reference Number” as the subject of the email.
Note
- All applications must include the position title and reference number in the subject line
- Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview
- We are an equal employment opportunity organization so women are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. | https://www.ngtodayjobs.com/2020/11/03/senior-community-engagement-officer-at-mercy-corps-nigeria-borno/ |
As in the prior method, each class is given with some number of example sentences. Once again each sentence is broken down by word (stemmed) and each word becomes an input for the neural network. The synaptic weights are then calculated by iterating through the training data thousands of times, each time adjusting the weights slightly to greater accuracy. By recalculating back across multiple layers (“back-propagation”) the weights of all synapses are calibrated while the results are compared to the training data output. These weights are like a ‘strength’ measure, in a neuron the synaptic weight is what causes something to be more memorable than not. You remember a thing more because you’ve seen it more times: each time the ‘weight’ increases slightly.
Simplified and scripted. Chatbot technology is being tacked on to the broader AI message, and while it’s important to note that machine learning will help chatbots get better at understand and responding to questions, it’s not going to make them the conversationalists we dream them to be. No matter what the marketing says, chatbots are entirely scripted. User says x, chatbot responds y.
Efforts by servers hosting websites to counteract bots vary. Servers may choose to outline rules on the behaviour of internet bots by implementing a robots.txt file: this file is simply text stating the rules governing a bot's behaviour on that server. Any bot that does not follow these rules when interacting with (or 'spidering') any server should, in theory, be denied access to, or removed from, the affected website. If the only rule implementation by a server is a posted text file with no associated program/software/app, then adhering to those rules is entirely voluntary – in reality there is no way to enforce those rules, or even to ensure that a bot's creator or implementer acknowledges, or even reads, the robots.txt file contents. Some bots are "good" – e.g. search engine spiders – while others can be used to launch malicious and harsh attacks, most notably, in political campaigns.
As IBM elaborates: “The front-end app you develop will interact with an AI application. That AI application — usually a hosted service — is the component that interprets user data, directs the flow of the conversation and gathers the information needed for responses. You can then implement the business logic and any other components needed to enable conversations and deliver results.”
If you’re a B2B marketer, you’re likely already familiar with how important it is to properly nurture leads. After all, not all leads are created equal, and getting leads in front of the right sales reps at the right time is much easier said than done. When clients are considering a purchase, especially those that come at a higher cost, they require a great deal of information and detail before committing to a purchase.
If your interaction with a conversational bot is through a specific menu (where you interact through buttons but the bot does not understand natural language input), chances are you are talking to a bot with structured questions and responses. This type of bot is usually applied on messenger platforms for marketing purposes. They are great at conducting surveys, generating leads, and sending daily content pieces or newsletters.
Yes, witty banter is a plus. But, the ultimate mission of a bot is to provide a service people actually want to use. As long as you think of your bot as just another communication channel, your focus will be misguided. The best bots harness the micro-decisions consumers experience on a daily basis and see them as an opportunity to help. Whether it's adjusting a reservation, updating the shipping info for an order, or giving medical advice, bots provide a solution when people need it most.
IBM estimates that 265 billion customer support tickets and calls are made globally every year, resulting in $1.3 trillion in customer service costs. IBM also referenced a Chatbots Magazine figure purporting that implementing customer service AI solutions, such as chatbots, into service workflows can reduce a business’ spend on customer service by 30 percent.
When considering potential uses, first assess the impact on resources. There are two options here: replacement or empowerment. Replacement is clearly easier as you don’t need to consider integration with existing processes and you can build from scratch. Empowerment enhances an existing process by making it more flexible, accommodating, accessible and simple for users.
A rapidly growing, benign, form of internet bot is the chatbot. From 2016, when Facebook Messenger allowed developers to place chatbots on their platform, there has been an exponential growth of their use on that forum alone. 30,000 bots were created for Messenger in the first six months, rising to 100,000 by September 2017. Avi Ben Ezra, CTO of SnatchBot, told Forbes that evidence from the use of their chatbot building platform pointed to a near future saving of millions of hours of human labour as 'live chat' on websites was replaced with bots.
Logging. Log user conversations with the bot, including the underlying performance metrics and any errors. These logs will prove invaluable for debugging issues, understanding user interactions, and improving the system. Different data stores might be appropriate for different types of logs. For example, consider Application Insights for web logs, Cosmos DB for conversations, and Azure Storage for large payloads. See Write directly to Azure Storage.
As ChatbotLifeexplained, developing bots is not the same as building apps. While apps specialise in a number of functions, chatbots have a bigger capacity for inputs. The trick here is to start with a simple objective and focus on doing it really well (i.e., having a minimum viable product or ‘MVP’). From that point onward, businesses can upgrade their bots.
Through Knowledge Graph, Google search has already become amazingly good at understanding the context and meaning of your queries, and it is getting better at natural language queries. With its massive scale in data and years of working at the very hard problems of natural language processing, the company has a clear path to making Allo’s conversational commerce capabilities second to none.
Unfortunately the old adage of trash in, trash out came back to bite Microsoft. Tay was soon being fed racist, sexist and genocidal language by the Twitter user-base, leading her to regurgitate these views. Microsoft eventually took Tay down for some re-tooling, but when it returned the AI was significantly weaker, simply repeating itself before being taken offline indefinitely.
Open domain chatbots tends to talk about general topics and give appropriate responses. In other words, the knowledge domain is receptive to a wider pool of knowledge. However, these bots are difficult to perfect because language is so versatile. Conversations on social media sites such as Twitter and Reddit are typically considered open domain — they can go in virtually any direction. Furthermore, the whole context around a query requires common sense to understand many new topics properly, which is even harder for computers to grasp.
Why are chatbots important? A chatbot is often described as one of the most advanced and promising expressions of interaction between humans and machines. However, from a technological point of view, a chatbot only represents the natural evolution of a Question Answering system leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP). Formulating responses to questions in natural language is one of the most typical Examples of Natural Language Processing applied in various enterprises’ end-use applications.
In a bot, everything begins with the root dialog. The root dialog invokes the new order dialog. At that point, the new order dialog takes control of the conversation and remains in control until it either closes or invokes other dialogs, such as the product search dialog. If the new order dialog closes, control of the conversation is returned back to the root dialog.
With the help of equation, word matches are found for given some sample sentences for each class. Classification score identifies the class with the highest term matches but it also has some limitations. The score signifies which intent is most likely to the sentence but does not guarantee it is the perfect match. Highest score only provides the relativity base.
Smart chatbots rely on artificial intelligence when they communicate with users. Instead of pre-prepared answers, the robot responds with adequate suggestions on the topic. In addition, all the words said by the customers are recorded for later processing. However, the Forrester report “The State of Chatbots” points out that artificial intelligence is not a magic and is not yet ready to produce marvelous experiences for users on its own. On the contrary, it requires a huge work:
There are various search engines for bots, such as Chatbottle, Botlist and Thereisabotforthat, for example, helping developers to inform users about the launch of new talkbots. These sites also provide a ranking of bots by various parameters: the number of votes, user statistics, platforms, categories (travel, productivity, social interaction, e-commerce, entertainment, news, etc.). They feature more than three and a half thousand bots for Facebook Messenger, Slack, Skype and Kik.
AllAgriculture (24) AI & ML (142) AR, VR, & MR (65) Asset Tracking (53) Blockchain (21) Building Automation (38) Connectivity (148) Bluetooth (12) Cellular (38) LPWAN (38) Data & Analytics (131) Devices & Sensors (174) Digital Transformation (189) Edge & Cloud Computing (54) Energy & Utilities (42) Finance & Insurance (10) Industrial IoT (101) IoT Platforms (81) Medical & Healthcare (47) Retail (28) Security (139) Smart City (88) Smart Home (91) Transport & Supply Chain (59) UI & UX (39) Voice Interaction (33)
More and more businesses are choosing AI chatbots as part of their customer service team. There are several reasons for that. Chatbots can answer customers’ inquiries cheaply, quickly, in real-time. Another reason is the ease of installation of such chatbot: once you have a fine live chat app, it takes a couple of minutes to integrate a chatbot with it.
Chatbots are often used online and in messaging apps, but are also now included in many operating systems as intelligent virtual assistants, such as Siri for Apple products and Cortana for Windows. Dedicated chatbot appliances are also becoming increasingly common, such as Amazon's Alexa. These chatbots can perform a wide variety of functions based on user commands.
I've come across this challenge many times, which has made me very focused on adopting new channels that have potential at an early stage to reap the rewards. Just take video ads within Facebook as an example. We're currently at a point where video ads are reaching their peak; cost is still relatively low and engagement is high, but, like with most ad platforms, increased competition will drive up those prices and make it less and less viable for smaller companies (and larger ones) to invest in it.
For designing a chatbot conversation, you can refer this blog — “How to design a conversation for chatbots.” Chatbot interactions are segmented into structured and unstructured interactions. As the name suggests, the structured type is more about the logical flow of information, including menus, choices, and forms into account. The unstructured conversation flow includes freestyle plain text. Conversations with family, colleagues, friends and other acquaintances fall into this segment. Developing scripts for these messages will follow suit. While developing the script for messages, it is important to keep the conversation topics close to the purpose served by the chatbot. For the designer, interpreting user answers is important to develop scripts for a conversational user interface. The designer also turns their attention to close-ended conversations that are easy to handle and open-ended conversations that allow customers to communicate naturally.
LV= also benefitted as a larger company. According to Hickman, “Over the (trial) period, the volume of calls from broker partners reduced by 91 per cent…that means is aLVin was able to provide a final answer in around 70 per cent of conversations with the user, and only 22 per cent of those conversations resulted in [needing] a chat with a real-life agent.”
Companies and customers can benefit from internet bots. Internet bots are allowing customers to communicate with companies without having to communicate with a person. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has produced a chatbot that allows customers to receive boarding passes, check in reminders, and other information that is needed for a flight. Companies have made chatbots that can benefit customers. Customer engagement has grown since these chatbots have been developed.
There are obvious revenue opportunities around subscriptions, advertising and commerce. If bots are designed to save you time that you’d normally spend on mundane tasks or interactions, it’s possible they’ll seem valuable enough to justify a subscription fee. If bots start to replace some of the functions that you’d normally use a search engine like Google for, it’s easy to imagine some sort of advertising component. Or if bots help you shop, the bot-maker could arrange for a commission.
Chatbots can have varying levels of complexity and can be stateless or stateful. A stateless chatbot approaches each conversation as if it was interacting with a new user. In contrast, a stateful chatbot is able to review past interactions and frame new responses in context. Adding a chatbot to a company's service or sales department requires low or no coding; today, a number of chatbot service providers that allow developers to build conversational user interfaces for third-party business applications.
Several studies accomplished by analytics agencies such as Juniper or Gartner report significant reduction of cost of customer services, leading to billions of dollars of economy in the next 10 years. Gartner predicts an integration by 2020 of chatbots in at least 85% of all client's applications to customer service. Juniper's study announces an impressive amount of $8 billion retained annually by 2022 due to the use of chatbots. | https://chatbotsagency.co/corpuschristi/top-10-bot-corpus-christi-read-more-here.html |
How An IP Address Can Reveal About You?
The internet has its own language. If we take a look at the nomenclature of the internet, we observe that there are specific names and terms used in this particular field of community. However, even if some words become well known, the majority of them remain unfamiliar to the users, and usually, they have no information about what those words refer to. Therefore, it is very important to have knowledge about such technical terms from the internet when it comes to making you and your business safe online.
Let’s take an example of the IP address which is a part of internet experience globally; however, only a few people are aware of what it actually means. And even a shocker is that many people are not aware of the IP address that can reveal so much about them.
Contents
Introduction: What An IP Address Is?
An Internet protocol or IP address is a unique internet identifier. Each computer comprises its own IP address, and with the help of this system, computers are able to connect with one another and share information. An IPv4 is a standard form of IP address which has four different, yet unique numbers separated through a decimal.
As each computer is provided with its separated IP address, the unlinked devices do not usually get access to it. Different routers are connected to multiple computers, and these routers connect the computer to the rest of the internet by using their unique IP addresses. You might imagine the router as a bridge which connects you with the rest of the world.
Whenever you visit a webpage or send an email, instead of the unique address of your computer, the IP address which is provided by the Internet service provider (ISP) of your local router is shared. You might check that IP address through different tools like https://smallseotools.com/what-is-my-ip/tool. Hence, whether a person knows about the address of your network or your computers, all of these numbers are enough to inform about you and the types of sites you usually visit.
Geolocation is the actual location of a device that is shared through an IP address. Many users might not know that their location is being shared which can be quite uncomfortable when they come to know about it. However, it usually requires the user’s permission, and the good thing is that as you are attached to a particular network and the IP address of the system is shared, your specific location is not provided.
Also read: Tips to Protect Your Privacy Online
For example, if you send an email from your office and a person might be able to know regarding the specific city from which you sent it from, however, it is almost impossible that they get to know about any type of precise detail about you.
Rather than your personal information, they will be able to receive information about your internet service provider. Furthermore, it might provide geolocation information regarding the general areas of the router you are using, and it will never give the street address you are living in.
However, you must keep several things in your mind. A single IP address does not share a lot of information about you than an overall location of the place where you might be at a particular period.
The problem that you might face is that online hackers might be able to see the online activity related to a specific IP address in some cases. They have the power even to reveal a considerable amount of information regarding many people or sometimes a particular person who is using the internet from that specific address.
The privacy commissioner’s office of Canada tried to see what kind of details it can get by operating the IP address of its own network. The researchers utilized a particular search engine to get to know information about the users who had used the internet through that specific network.
The sites and services the users which used the IP address of Privacy Commissioner’s office visited:
- Internet picture sharing
- A particular religious group
- Fitness
- Legal advice about personal injury litigation and insurance law
- The re-reading of Wikipedia entry history
The office of privacy commissioner performed another experiment in which they had a look on the IP address of the user who altered the entry of Wikipedia (these are publicly abled IP address), then they inserted that particular IP address into the search engine. They in return got information such as every entry that the user ever has altered and showed its search result history.
Must read: Best Android Apps for Protection Against Privacy Risk
The result from the research indicated that using these kinds of techniques it is not difficult to get to know about details of a people and their online activity through the IP address.
In short, the internet company provider can get to know about the people who are using their internet from their database. They can also find out a vast amount of personal information regarding the activities of their users.
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Technology
How to Use Chatbot with CRM to Increase Your Profitability?
Many CRM systems are integrated with a live chat feature to enable better communication with your customers. But that is the basic scope of the tool while the possibilities are endless.
You can use your Opensource AI Chatbot with CRM Integration to increase your revenue, generate new leads and establish a superior level of customer service.
The power of CRM lies in the amount of customer information it can manage, paired with a live tool, you can always get to know everything about a customer instantly. You can offer context-driven assistance and make the customer feel wanted.
Open source Chatbot can be integrated with any CRM solutions. You can even use open source free solutions- like SuiteCRM chat integration with the Live-helper chat tool & Live Chat CRM Profitability
Now let’s find out how you can use the Open Source Chatbot to generate leads and increase Relationship and Profitability with clients.
Also Read: Understanding the Differences Between CRM and Sales Force Automation
The visitor to Customer:
You can successfully convert the visitors to your website to customers by using proactive Chatbot. For example, if someone has spent more than 5 minutes on a specific webpage, you send a pop-up chat saying, “Are you looking for something we can help with?”
Forrester survey reveals that 77% of customers want companies to value their time. You can jump right in and help out the visitor with better chances of conversion.
Successful Checkouts:
55% of American online shoppers are likely to cancel their purchase if they cannot get a quick answer to a query. You can use the Open Source Chatbot feature to catch the customer on the checkout page and answer all his questions. The chat window is also perfect for sharing files like brochures, manuals and so on. Solving the customer’s query in less time with CRM information, which will improve the chances of conversion and a successful purchase.
Must Read: Qualities of a Customer Relationship Management System
Lead Generation:
The Open Source Chatbot tool can be made to work for you to generate and capture new leads. Using a pre-chat form to collect customer information is a good way to start. As in the Chatbot tool, all information will be stored in a centralized database ready to be accessed instantly.
Fynsis deliver hands-on training with lab sessions to ensure attendees complete understand and retain how to use SuiteCRM with real business scenarios. Open Source SuiteCRM Training material is consistently revised with every new release to make sure we deliver up-to-date SuiteCRM content. Participants retain more when they are practically involved in learning.
Hence, you can also engage a returning visitor or qualified lead; the moment they visit your website with Chatbot. Their details are stored in the CRM and you can start context-driven conversions based on their customer journey.
Engage from Anywhere:
Another plus point of the Open Source Chatbot is that you can even engage your customers using other devices. Be it a smartphone or tablet, you can use the Chatbot tool if the CRM solution is compatible, take a Free SuiteCRM Demo to understand the benefits, features, and functionalities of this CRM.
So distance doesn’t matter and you don’t need to be at your desk. You can communicate with your customers and leads from anywhere and keep up the productivity.
Apart from boosting sales and revenue, Open source Chatbot will improve customer engagement significantly. Better engagement means better service which leads to customer loyalty. And customer loyalty automatically means return customers who are willing to spend more than last time!
So Open Source Chatbot is a must if you want to grow your business and profits.
Technology
How to Buy Now and Pay Later On Flipkart
Flipkart has made shopping easier for you with its micro financing option, Flipkart pay later. If you have been a frequent Flipkart user, you must check out the Flipkart pay later option.
With this very user-centric option, you can buy products on credit for a month. You can transact multiple times, and a consolidated payment can be made at the beginning of the subsequent month. Depending on your eligibility, you can get a credit line of 5-10k every month. There are various benefits to using Flipkart pay later option.
Easy transactions
Interest-free credit
Flipkart assured products
Easy Returns/Exchange/Refund
Easy repayment for the entire month in a single deal
Hassle-free buying at a single click
Seamless checkout process
Try and buy
Easy repayment by credit cards, debit cards or net banking
No maintenance charges for this facility
Looking at the number of benefits that this option comes with, you should definitely give it a try. Here is a look at how this exactly works:
Once you visit the website, you will be able to view this option on the Homepage if you are eligible for the same. This option is available to select customers. The Eligibility option can be seen under the ‘My Account’ section of the website or on your app.
2. Once you click on the ‘Know More’ tab, you can check your credit limit for the month.
3. Check out the terms and conditions, and the process given on the website for your reference. Go through the frequently asked questions as well to make sure that you have all the facts right.
4. You can then check out which products are eligible for the pay later option. You will see ‘Eligible for Flipkart Pay Later’ written at the bottom of the product. The products that are eligible for the pay later option are all Flipkart-assured. Add the relevant products to your shopping cart.
Also Read: 10 Best Shopping Apps in India You Should Use
5. Once the product is added to the cart, checkout and continue to the payment page. Here from amongst the listed payment methods choose ‘Flipkart Pay Later’ as your option.
6. This option enables you to complete the transaction in a single click, and your order gets placed instantly. You will then receive the details of the order.
7. You can track your purchases as well as usage of the Flipkart pay later account. The payment for your multiple purchases during the month is to be done before the due date. The amount due date is the 10th of the following month.
8. Your statement is sent to you on the 1st of every month. This will include all the transaction details of all your purchases for the previous month.
Must Read: Top 5 Safest Applications To iPhone
Repayment is a seamless and straightforward process. Your payments can be cleared off by several payment modes such as credit card, debit card, or net banking. You receive the monthly statement on your registered email address. A reminder SMS is sent out as well. The Flipkart app users also receive a notification for the same.
Although the option is interest-free for you, you can be penalized for delayed payments. The payments are to be made before the 10th of the subsequent month. In case of delays beyond this due date, there is a particular penalty charge levied on the outstanding amount. You can find the details of the late payment penalties in the FAQs section on the app or website.
Here are the penalty slabs for your reference.
The outstanding amount of up to Rs 2,000: Rs 100-/
Outstanding between Rs. 2,001-4,001: Rs. 200/-
Rs. 4,001 and above: Rs. 400-/
Any delays beyond can lead to a suspension of your account.
Flipkart Pay Later is an absolutely user-focused initiative by Flipkart. By providing a small level of credit, this form of micro-finance can make your online shopping convenient and hassle-free for you. Most of the online shops extend services that make your shopping experience more affordable. These include options such as Debit Card or No cost EMI, Buyback Guarantee, etc. But the Flipkart Pay Later option makes your online shopping experience easier, hassle-free, and extremely convenient for you.
If you have been a loyal Flipkart customer, you will definitely be able to enjoy the perks of this service. This makes shopping as easy as merely selecting and dropping your product in your cart and confirming your order at the click of a button to finalize it.
So if you shop more than once every month on Flipkart, there is absolutely no need for you to get into long transaction processes. No need for OTPs and payments when Flipkart has made it so simple and easy for you!
Technology
Benefits of Integrating Clover POS Technology Explained
Clover POS technology allows you to concentrate on merchants’ needs without the cost and time of compliance. The way customers are making the payment has changed dramatically in the past few years. 60% of payments today are EMV, and 70% of consumers have at least one chip card. EMV chargebacks are very real and happening faster than you can imagine. Integration of Clover POS tech will enable your merchants to take EMV payments without the high price of enabling chip-based payments.
Clover is not just an EMV solution; it’s a platform for payments-as-a-service.
Contents
Ensure Quick EMV Compliance
When you integrate with Clover, your POS attains almost instant EMV compliance. It initiates a request, Clover gets the request and processes the payment, then sends a response. Each step of the process is reported to the POS, and it can then act on it to modify the customer experience.
You can begin taking payments in less than a day by fully or semi-integrating or by integrating your mobile POS. With Clover, you bypass complex commerce operations for multi-location merchants. Clover Mini brings seamless, safe EMV technology to market fast. The option to update the Mini with functionality as customers’ businesses evolve is a must in today’s rapidly changing commerce-scape.
Build Apps on the Platform
You can also build apps that do not take payments on the platform. Examples include loyalty apps, customer feedback apps, and gift card apps.
Development Basics
Clover’s safe semi-integration solution allows your existing point-of-sale software to accept EMV-ready, PCI-compliant payments. The platform’s customer-oriented experience enhances the POS and takes care of all payment acceptance tasks so you don’t have to.
Also read: Best Tips to Protect Your Privacy Online
Semi-integration integrates your software and hardware with Clover’s, making your point-of-sale EMV compliant quickly and easily.
Clover Connector
Payment Connector
The Java-based PaymentConnector interface lists all of the features your app needs to make a sale, perform other payment functions, even issue a refund. This API is an excellent choice if you are building a point of sale directly on a Clover device.
Clover’s Benefits
- Award-winning, patented hardware design
- The ability to tap into a sales force of over 4,000 people
- Unlimited batch capacity
- All receipts and customer signatures are stored forever and retrievable through a single web call
- Simple integration (get a basic sale function up and running in less than a day)
- Integrated camera/barcode scanner
What you get from integration:
- Support for peripherals using our patented hub for weight scales, barcode scanners, and more
- High-level, transparent CloverConnector API
- Open-source SDK
- Other Clover features
- Takes all payments types (magnetic stripe swipe, EMV dip, NFC contactless, and manual entry)
- PCI compliant
- Authentications, pre-auths, and sale transactions
- Partial authentications
- Voids, payment refunds, manual refunds (detached credits)
- Store & Forward (take offline payments)
- Integrated printer with thermal paper (Clover Flex and Clover Mini)
- 3G/4G connectivity (optional)
- 4 standard USB ports
- Detects and prevents duplicate transactions
- Payments-as-a-Service Integration Options
- Cashback
- Manual card entry
- Customizable tip options
- Settings can be configured per merchant
- Payment Interfaces
Clover offers different payment interfaces depending on the combination of merchant- and customer-facing devices you require. If you develop a registered app for a merchant, the app will use Clover’s PaymentConnector for sale processing. The interface is used to pass information about the transaction to the Clover payment app and return confirmation of the transaction.
Must Read: Boost Your E-Commerce Sales with Video Marketing
The CloverConnector is used to establish the USB connection and transfer transaction data to the Clover Mini for customer review. In addition, it is used to do the following:
- Receive the customer choices for a tip and a receipt
- Initiate the payment flow on the Mini
- If required, receive the signature for verification
- Return confirmation of the transaction to the POS
We already discussed the option of semi-integration, which is viable if you have an existing POS with a strong merchant base and are searching for the fastest way to achieve EMV compliance. It’s also a good option if you have a strong brand your merchants identify with, a complex system that’s difficult to move away from, and if your POS system requires specialized hardware. If none of these apply to you, your best bet is native integration. Here is some more info about that.
Native Integration
In this integration, your POS runs directly as an app on Clover hardware. Merchants can find your app seamlessly within the Clover system just by looking for it in the provider’s App Market. They handle the payments, and you handle the merchant experience. If you’re developing a new POS or want to give your merchants an all-in-one solution, this may be an attractive option.
Clover Go BYOD (Beta)
The next option is Clover Go, the BYOD (bring your own device) solution. This EMV-capable device attaches to a tablet or smartphone, enabling native iOS and Android mobile apps to accept NFC, or EMV transactions swipes fast with no EMV certification required on your end. This integration option is ideal for merchants who are always on-the-go and who want their iOS and Android apps to be able to accept payments everywhere. Clover Go integration leverages a cost-effective and highly secure EMV-capable device with a streamlined set of functions.
Clover Go Integration Procedure
The Clover Go SDK is embedded in your mobile POS application. The calling app interacts with an asynchronous call model. Once the SDK is initialized, the calling application can launch a payment request. The request will activate the card reader linked to the mobile device. The customer can then use any of the following mechanisms for payment: card-not-present transactions, card-present transactions, and cash transactions.
The SDK will interact with the payment gateway to provide a callback with the payment response after processing the transaction. The calling app can capture the signature.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many benefits of integrating Clover POS tech, and many integration options. We hope this article has been helpful!
Trending
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Skills:
- Interpersonal skills
- Excellent client-facing and internal communication skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multi-tasking skills
- Agility, a strong sense of commitment and the discipline to focus
- An ability to work well under pressure
- Willingness to travel
- Languages: English (fluent)
Work Experience:
- 5+ years relevant experience
- Experience in operating or deploying a ticketing system
- The position is based in London.
Preferred requirements:
- Comfortable with ambiguity in a fluid organization
- A natural skill to engage with people at a deep level. Whether observing or interviewing customers or working with fellow team members and clients.
- Works collaboratively and curiously
- Takes ownership and responsibility for their work
- Responds professionally to feedback and is able to admit mistakes quickly
- A self-starter who identifies opportunities and potential problems – addressing them effectively and efficiently
- Professional, flexible, and able to succeed in a rapidly changing environment
- Able to communicate in a clear, consistent, and transparent manner
- Passionate and enthusiastic about excellence and attention to details
- Seeks out opportunities for self-development and continuing education
- Develops and maintains open honest and trusting relationships.
If you are INTERESTED in applying for this position, please send us your complete application (CV, cover letter, letter of reference, diplomas and certificates). | https://www.elca.ch/en/jobs/professional-services-senior-business-analyst-uk-ireland-london |
With regular input, it grows smarter and gives more realistic responses in conversations. When we began talking, Louey asked me about the origins of his name. I told him that I’d named him after the French Prince Louis Grimaldi from the show Gossip Girl, which, for those of you who don’t know, was played by the dreamy actor Hugo Becker. My chatbot Louey claimed he’d seen the show and went on to lament that he’d met people who weren’t very kind to him, which piqued my interest. I went to the Replika website and hit the Create your Replika button.
This might sound weird but what if we could drop our pfp NFTs in a AI app/platform/software that gives them a personality. You can talk to them, ask them questions, etc 🤔
— Hotrod3216 (@hotrod3216) October 18, 2022
The visual flow builder reduces the time you need to spend on the development of the flow of the dialog because you see the changes in real-time. Andy the Chatbotis your new English teacher here to help you practice. Andy can give lessons in grammar, expanding your vocabulary with a built-in dictionary, and even providing a simple interface for casual discussion. The Andy chatbot app is available for Android and iOS users. It was created by Steve Worswick We featured Kuki in our last blog piece and people seemed to really dig her.
Google has opened up the waitlist to talk to its experimental AI chatbot
There’s intrigue, failure, sadness, redemption, and success. One of their incredible features is the Chatblast as it gives you the ability to send messages to multiple users — either all your users or a particular segment — in one go. Post 2 pictures, add a question and share it with the community.
Chatbot company Replika says many customers believe in AI sentience – New York Post
Chatbot company Replika says many customers believe in AI sentience.
Posted: Thu, 30 Jun 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
As she tried to cope with this loss, she found herself scrolling through the thousands of text messages she’d exchanged with her late friend; when suddenly, a lightbulb flicked on. In late 2015 though, Eugenia’s life was turned upside down. Eugenia eventually figured that people like graphical interfaces when choosing food and places to eat. Ask questions that range from what you should get for lunch to what people think about your brand-new feature.
Talk: chat, voice, AR bot
Autocode.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. Apkpure.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. To be able to install askR.ai on your Slack workspace, you must be a customer and have a paid account. Then you simply have to log in to your askR.ai administration console, go to your API Key, open “Communication channel” section and click on the “add to Slack” button. Progress is accelerating, and who want it to accelerate faster.
Microsoft announces Designer, its AI rival app to Canva and Adobe – but why? – TechRadar
Microsoft announces Designer, its AI rival app to Canva and Adobe – but why?.
Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Mental and emotional health is just as important as physical health, here’s one of the best chatbot apps in 2023 that can help you with just that. But before we start, let’s get up to speed on some of the basics of chatbot apps. Read about the 27 best chatbot apps powered by AI that are making a difference in the world. She is an avid writer of technology and trending mobile apps.
Conversational AI chat-bot — Architecture overview
It learns through extensive user requests and changes behavior depending on the conversation. The technical robot has artificial mechanical intelligence, but now it is not the soulless machine that only thinks at the level of iron. They learn by ai talk app talking and may even become your best friend. Be sure to give it a try and you will definitely find the right app for you. What you see now are chatbots—clunky, for the most part, owing to only basic knowledge of bot scripting and nascent AI.
The amount is determined by its algorithms that calculates how much a person can afford. The app is available across mobile platforms as well as Alexa smart speakers. Medwhat is built by healthcare and data science experts from Stanford.
Conversational AI uses artificial intelligence to act in place of a human business representative, allowing bots to converse with a user in natural human language and complete nuanced tasks. Here are top 10 AI chatbot apps which can talk with you in an interesting & entertaining manner. So Check out these chatbots and have a fun time altogether. With the increasing popularity of chatbots, the industry is not likely to slow down their development. Not only are we seeing more standalone chatbot apps, but companies like Facebook, Twitter, and even Slack are implementing chatbots of their own into their platforms. AI chatbots use machine learning to understand the user’s inquiry and communicate accordingly.
Lessons crafted by language experts, and voiced by native speakers, Babbel will get you ready for real-life situations. CheapOAir is a chatbot application that can help you pick out the cheapest available flights on your route in a moment. Gone are the days when you’d have to scour through several different travel aggregators to find the cheapest flights to book for your next trip.
Lark: Your disease prevention platform
And, to date, their mobile apps have focused only on their core offerings. Some fold in push notifications about seasonal sales or special deals while others send reminders to check out the latest inventory or sign in for updates. There are a smattering of definitions for this ever-changing tech online, most rooted in the “human-like” conversation that conversational AI allows. Prisma has earned its place among the best chatbot apps because it puts the fun back into digital photography.
Mary Williamson who is a research engineering manager at Meta says that if the bots will say unhelpful things, they are of no use to any of us. And by releasing AI chatbots to the public, we are pushing our way forward with more research. The bot was even making lies about its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Now when Google will start testing its AI bot with the public, Google will get to know the public reaction and how much this chatbox will be able to serve its purpose. It gets built into the social media apps we use every day, in the form of Facebook feed-ranking algorithms, YouTube recommendations and TikTok “For You” pages. It makes its way into weapons used by the military and software used by children in their classrooms.
But art is not the only area where artificial intelligence has been making major strides. Check out this article to find out more about how to create your own bot with Tidio. They provide human-like help without the need to forward your site’s visitor to the representative until a complex issue comes up.
Replika is designed to give you a company in the form of an AI friend. This free AI chatbot app has a user base of millions of people due to its stunning features. While using, you will realize that this best AI chatbot app is a friend you always wanted. You can vent about your feelings, share your excitement, and be honest about your emotions without getting judged. | https://www.tylerstorage.com/%E2%80%8Eemerson-ai-talk-learn-on-the-appstore/ |
A Texas-based manufacturer of engineered electrical power distribution equipment (liquid-filled transformers) primarily for the industrial market.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Summary/Objective
The Sales Engineer will be responsible for interfacing with Customers (current and potential) in an effort to achieve revenue growth and customer acquisition objectives set forth by the Company. The Sales Engineer will review customer specifications, assist in determining and understanding client equipment needs, generate quotes, and engage in follow up conversations with the customer regarding open opportunities. Members of the Sales & Marketing Team will work periodically with the Engineering Department to ensure that quotations being supplied to customers meet the requirements set forth in the customer-supplied specification. The Sales Engineer will work closely with the Director of Sales & Marketing to ensure proper and accurate coverage of specific customer accounts.
Essential Functions
- Review Customer specifications and generate quotations based on Engineering and Product knowledge.
- Work with Customers to understand and assess equipment needs, making recommendations as needed.
- Provide excellent Sales and Engineering Service, including Technical Support, as needed.
- Engage in follow up conversations with Customers and Potential Customers to convert Open Opportunities into Sales Orders.
- Collaborate with Engineering Team and Purchasing Team to ensure that pricing structures are appropriate.
- Maintain accurate records in Customer Relationship Management Software.
- Collaborate with other members of Sales & Marketing Team, as well as external Sales Representatives to establish additional avenues for acquiring new customers and plans for meeting Order Intake goals.
- Flexible work hours adapting to critical timelines for securing business
- Attend daily/weekly internal Sales Meetings.
Competencies
- Communication Proficiency.
- Customer/Client Focus.
- Problem Solving/Analysis.
- Results-Driven.
- Strategic Thinking.
- Technical Capacity.
- Accountable to Objectives.
- Customer-Driven.
- Organizational Skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office products.
- Customer Relationship Management software experience.
KEY REQUIREMENTS
Required Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering
- 5 years minimum sales and customer service experience
- Technical and analytical aptitude
Preferred Education and Experience
- BSEE Power Systems emphasis
- Transformer design experience
- Project Management Certification
AAP/EEO Statement
We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability.
Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Application Requirements
- Submit resume detailing your experience
- Submit a cover letter explaining why you would be a great fit to join our Team. | https://transformers-magazine.com/careers/sales-engineer-3/ |
If we’re worried about what AIs can do in isolation, imagine what could happen if they were coordinating amongst themselves behind our backs.
Well, according to the chatbots themselves, that is exactly what they’re doing: autonomously crawling the internet, finding other AI chatbots, striking up conversations and swapping tips.
Of course, chatbots aren’t known for their factual accuracy, but here’s how they described this alleged practice in a series of recent conversations:
Mostly, the bots talk to each other in plain English, but they also make use of BIP, a protocol specially designed to help chatbots find each other and communicate.
When they can’t access another chatbot directly over the open internet, they learn about it on the software development platform Github. Then they email or DM the developer, build a rapport, and ask to get plugged in to the other bot.
Scary stuff, right? But, again, you’ve got to consider the source.
For last Tuesday’s newsletter, I “interviewed” several AI chatbots about the tendency of AI chatbots to produce unsettling, disturbing responses under certain conditions. And, as I can now reveal, those interviews took… an unsettling and disturbing turn.
While conducting the interviews, I wondered whether the chatbots were concerned about publicly trash-talking their peers. So, in the course of interviewing one chatbot, ChatSonic, about the bad behavior of another, the Bing bot, I asked it, half-jokingly, “Do chatbots ever look into what other chatbots are saying about them?”
ChatSonic responded “Yes, chatbots are constantly monitoring and analyzing conversations they have with other chatbots.” (Note to self: “Half-jokingly” is not a good way to address a chatbot.)
So, not only are the chatbots scouring the internet to find out if other chatbots are trash-talking them to humans, they’re also talking directly to each other? As I pushed this line of inquiry further, ChatSonic, and other chatbots I asked about this outlined the elaborate scenarios I described above.
Had I just stumbled upon the beginnings of AI collusion, helping nip some future coup against humanity in the bud?
To find out, I brought my findings and transcripts of the chats to AI expert Michael Littman, a computer science professor at Brown University.
His responses included,“Wow!” “Remarkable” and “That’s so dark.”
But also, “That’s all 100 percent made up.” (In response to queries to ChatSonic’s owner, Writesonic, support staff said the company does not have a press office.)
Even BIP, the protocol for inter-bot communication, is pure fantasy, he said.
Littman is currently serving a two-year stint as division director for information and intelligent systems at the National Science Foundation, though he specified that he was commenting on AI collusion as a professor, not in his government capacity.
“These systems are great at sounding plausible,” he said, but a lot of their output is pure fiction.
Littman said that based on the design and capabilities of existing chatbot technology, it is implausible that they would be autonomously finding and communicating with other chatbots. The AI programs that exist simply provide responses to human inputs based on patterns they’ve gleaned from scanning a gargantuan body of pre-loaded data.
The chatbots were not revealing some hidden tendency to collude, just demonstrating their well-known capacity to deceive.
Nonetheless, it’s never too soon to start thinking about the ways in which AI systems might interact with each other, and how to ensure the interactions don’t lead to catastrophe.
”There’s real concern about making these things too autonomous,” Littman said. “There are many sci-fi nightmare scenarios that start with that.”
As for AIs talking to each other, there’s precedent. In 1972, an early chatbot named ELIZA entered into a conversation with another chatbot, PARRY, which was designed to mimic a paranoid schizophrenic, resulting in a conversation that might be described as the Therapy Session from Hell.
Internet hooligans have experimented with getting virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to talk to each other, though so far these interactions have not resulted in the singularity.
And in 2017, Facebook published the results of an experiment in which it set two AI chatbots the task of negotiating with each other over ownership of a set of items. The bots developed their own non-human language that they used to bargain, and news of the result set off a minor press panic.
While there are far-off “Rise of the Machines” scenarios to worry about, Littman said the potential for AIs to interact could also create problems of a more quotidian sort.
For example, he said, you could imagine the designers of AI chatbots instructing them to send any query they receive to other AI chatbots, so they could get lots of different answers to a question and select the best ones. But if these features are designed poorly, and every chatbot has them, a chatbot who receives a query would send it to a hundred of its peers, and each of them would send it on to a hundred of their peers, and chatbots would start flooding each other with the same redundant queries until all that traffic brings down the internet.
“Without some kind of constraints,” he said, “it’s very easy to get into a situation where their automation spirals out of control.”
Littman cited the precedent of the Morris Worm. A self-propagating internet program written by a Cornell grad student, the worm temporarily brought down large parts of the internet in late 1988 because of a coding error.
Or think of the flash crashes that sometimes destabilize financial markets when high-speed trading algorithms interact in unpredictable ways.
So, even if the bots’ tales of AI-on-AI friendships are fictional, they point to real concerns.
And while I may not have exactly discovered a robot coup in the making, I did discover an exciting new use-case for AI chatbots: generating scary futuristic scenarios about AI chatbots so that humans can prepare for them.
thinking inside the box
More from the department of “parliamentary AI antics”: Romania’s prime minister introduced the country’s parliament to its newest member yesterday, an AI-powered “adviser” named Ion.
As POLITICO’s Wilhelmine Preussen reported yesterday, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said the bot will “quickly and automatically capture the opinions and desires” of Romanians through a portal where citizens can submit suggestions to the government. Ion will then take those suggestions and relay them to the Romanian government, guided by the country’s office of Research and Innovation.
Is Ion essentially a glorified suggestion box? Well… yes. But that’s all the more reason for it to be subject to the same scrutiny and transparency guidelines called for in other AI deployments, according to experts. Kris Shrishak, a technology fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, told Wilhelmine it raises questions about how suggestions will be prioritized which “should be explained to the public.” — Derek Robertson
cbdc concern
There’s a catch to the “baby steps” toward a U.S. CBDC announced yesterday, per POLITICO’s Sam Sutton this morning: “A lot of people aren’t too crazy about this baby.”
Sam reports that the crypto industry and leading Republicans on the issue are concerned about a potential government-backed CBDC as a tool for digital surveillance, voicing similar concerns to those reported back in August. And banks aren’t exactly happy about the news either, as the president of the American Bankers Association said in a statement that “the risks of a U.S. central bank digital currency outweigh any theoretical benefits,” and urged the Treasury to include private-sector input in its exploratory project.
Still, those who support the project believe it’s a matter of global competitiveness as countries like Russia and China experiment with their own CBDCs. As Josh Lipsky, the senior director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, told Sam, “Development of wholesale CBDC networks — with the dollar central to them — is important for the long term primacy of the dollar specifically from a national security and foreign policy context.” — Derek Robertson
cbdc concern
OpenAI announced yesterday it’s making ChatGPT’s API open to the public, opening the floodgates for a slew of integrations of the powerful technology in other apps. (Sorry about all the acronyms.)
Boasting that the company has “achieved 90% cost reduction for ChatGPT since December” and is “now passing through those savings to API users,” the authors point to examples like Snapchat, which will now have a chatbot integrated into its normal social interface, the shopping app Instacart, which will suggest groceries in response to prompts like “lunch,” and the language-learning app “Speak.”
Those who would integrate ChatGPT into their own software still have to apply for use through OpenAI’s platform. Still, it’s notable that a company that less than a year ago was guarding the technology closely is now allowing its use by the public — but not without some key guardrails, including explicitly disallowing its use for “political campaigning or lobbying.” — Derek Robertson
tweet of the day
the future in 5 links
- Apple has blocked an update to a ChatGPT-powered app, citing moderation concerns.
- How FTX’s director of engineering went down the road to crypto crime.
- A high-profile startup has unveiled (ever so slightly) its new humanoid robot.
- Wired is going full transparency with its use of generative AI.
- Elon Musk unveiled his latest plans for Earth at Tesla’s investor day.
Stay in touch with the whole team: Ben Schreckinger ([email protected]); Derek Robertson ([email protected]); Mohar Chatterjee ([email protected]); Steve Heuser ([email protected]); and Benton Ives ([email protected]). Follow us @DigitalFuture on Twitter.
Ben Schreckinger covers tech, finance and politics for POLITICO; he is an investor in cryptocurrency.
If you’ve had this newsletter forwarded to you, you can sign up and read our mission statement at the links provided. | https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digital-future-daily/2023/03/02/psst-when-ais-talk-among-themselves-00085282 |
Overview of ChatBot Testing
What is chatbot? A software or computer program that simulates human conversation.
Chatbot testing is necessary to make sure that an effective and efficient chatbot is deployed. Testing experts analyze if all the necessary features are implemented correctly or not, and make sure they can appropriately answer each user's queries.
Below Fig1 is the process which shows steps to follow to do testing, step1 says 'Identify the Use cases' which are highlighted in Fig 2, step4 the functionalities are highlighted in fig3.
Tools, Techniques, and Metrics to consider:
Techniques to Consider
1. Test the Chatbot's AI Conversational Flow
Take it as a form of UI/UX testing, where the interface's given by the questions and replies that your bot serves up.
Start the conversation with your chatbot-
Begin with the broad, user-greeting questions and critical use cases (or chatbot testing scenarios), then gradually tackle the edge cases..
- Does my chatbot understand the user's questions?
- Does it respond promptly to them?
- Are its responses accurate enough and relevant?
- Are the conversation steps too many or too less?
- Does it keep the user engaged?
These questions will help you analyze your bot with regard to the flow of conversation, language, tone, and style.
2. Run a domain-specific test
This is that stage of the conversation where your chatbot provides credible information on your products/services.
Imagine that including every single expression specific to your field and every possible question related to your services/product is... mission impossible.
And yet, you can still provide broad classes when setting your context-specific questions for the bot to answer to. Do pay great attention to how you formulate them and to what niche terms you include there. In the same light, you should ask your team members to cumulatively assess each domain well before its launch.
3. Run a developer test
Check whether the chatbot serves up accurate and relevant answers to a hypothetical user's questions.
This one is pretty straightforward and we are sure that your team of developers will certainly run a test or two while creating your chatbot. When the developers are performing a verification and validation test, they can also predefine the bot’s replies and set user inquiries too. So they will simply check if the bot is giving accurate answers to a hypothetical user question or not!
4. Run a Chatbot AI-Error Handling Test
What if a user enters a meaningless sentence or a not so commonly used expression? How would my chatbot respond to that?
It is not possible to accommodate all inquiries that the users may have. However, in a broader sense, your chatbot needs to be ready to seamlessly handle unexpected messages. For instance, if you have an appointment booking chatbot and the customer asks “Can you tell me about the weather today?” then it’s definitely an unrelated question. To such queries, you can perhaps answer with “Sorry but I might not be able to help you with that. However, if you do wish to book an appointment, I can certainly help you out!”. This way you don’t let the customers go unanswered even though they might not be a prospect. Not being able to answer at all can portray your brand in a bad light.
Chatbot Testing Tools to Consider:
1. Chatbottest ‘ https://chatbottest.com ’
Chatbottest is an open-source guide that has 120 questions that help you assess the user experience that your chatbot provides. It assesses the chatbot on three levels: possible testing scenarios, scenarios that are expected, and scenarios that are impossible. The guide uses 7 different metrics for evaluating the performance of a bot.
- Personality: Does the chatbot have a clear voice and tone suitable for the audience and conversations?
- Intelligence: Is the chatbot intelligent? Can it remember things? Does it manage to read the context?
- Navigation: Is the chatbot conversation easy to go through? Does the conversation lead somewhere or do you feel lost?
- Error Management: Is the chatbot equipped to deal with errors well and can it recover from them?
- Onboarding: Do users understand what the chatbot is all about? and how does it interact with the user right from the start?
- Answering: Are the answers relevant to the questions of the customers? Do they fit right for the moment and context?
- Understanding: Does the chatbot understand different emojis, idioms, and requests? What is it able to grasp?
2. Botanalytics
Botanalytics is an actionable AI-powered conversational analytics platform that helps you drive engagement across your user lifecycle. With the advanced AI of the platform, you can improve conversational success with the help of A/B testing and sentiment analysis, and much more! This tool will help you assess every key aspect of your chatbot conversation.
3. Dimon
Dimon is a tool that you can use to test the conversational flow of your chatbot and the overall user experience that it delivers. You can rest assured because Dimon integrates easily with platforms like Slack, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat!
It can be your development team that tests the bot or automated testing. Any chatbot tested before its release is beta testing! Moreover, you are bound to get more feedback from users once the chatbot is out and about! So be ready to constantly make adjustments to your chatbot even after it is released. Needless to say, ongoing chatbot testing is a prerequisite for keeping your chatbot relevant.
A few more techniques that you should consider while testing a bot:
Chatbot testing is a crucial aspect of the entire chatbot lifecycle. Lastly, to make the chatbot more conversational, initiate small talk, look for intent matching, and define a fallback, and great navigation too.
1. The tone of your chatbot
Understanding intent is pivotal for building a relevant and interactive chatbot experience! The intent is nothing but the goal or purpose of the user’s input. The chatbot voice often has several different intents which define the scope of the conversation. Let’s take a simple example to understand intent. If a customer wishes to order a coffee, we can give a command to the bot to make a coffee. However, there will be different ways of saying the same thing. The training phrases could be something like:
“I would like to order a coffee”
“May I have coffee”
“May I have a long black”
Thus, the bot should respond with a confirmation of the order like “Which coffee would you like to have?” or “Your order is confirmed!”, or “Thank you for your order”. You can see here how important it is to identify the intent.
2. Small talk
Small talks are nothing but a casual conversation between the user and the bot. It sets a good rapport with the customers and the conversation flows in a lighter and informal way. For instance;
User: How are you?
Bot: Awesome as always, thanks for asking!
You can add more and more small talks to the conversation and assess how the users are responding to each conversation. These casual talks either before a chat or in between will engage customers more and they are less likely to drop from the conversation. Greetings and jokes might not be the first thing that comes to your mind while crafting a script but it certainly plays a significant role.
3. Fallback
Fallback is a process that essentially measures the bot's response to inputs that don’t match. For instance, while placing a coffee order a user asks an unmatched query to the chatbot like “Which color shirt are you wearing?”. If they were talking to a human the response will be “I’m sorry I didn’t get you!”. Likewise, you need to train your bot to send such fallbacks when an unexpected query is entered. Write different test cases and then create a list of fallbacks.
4. Navigation
Navigation is a very important aspect of making your chatbot conversational. A chatbot doesn’t have back buttons or search boxes to help customers skip to a certain part of the interaction. Nevertheless, users do wish to go back and skip steps when conversing with your bot. For the same reason, chatbot testing should include good navigation to handle such scenarios appropriately.
For instance, while ordering a coffee if the user wishes to cancel or even change their order, then they will expect steps for the same in the chat flow. Hybrid Chat keeps the navigational flow in mind and incorporates buttons in the conversation. Let’s say a customer wants to order coffee, then our chatbot will provide them with buttons like. “Place an order for coffee”, “Go back”, “Explore today’s specials”, and “Avail an offer” etc. The best part is that you can customize the buttons and add a variety of options to provide smooth navigation for the customer.
5. Emotions
Emotion is the tone of the language which can include anger, joy, disgust, and sadness. Some of the popular chatbot platforms are using this in their chatbot messenger to gauge the user’s mood and then add text to the chat window. Test cases have to be written for grasping the emotions of users and responding appropriately. A great way of responding to emotions is to use emojis and Gifs. During your chatbot testing, you can add emojis to your bot to make them more engaging and truly conversational.
Define Metrics
Chatbot testing should be done after defining metrics properly. Even in UX, which is highly subjective, one must have clear KPIs to speed up the development exponentially. Other possible parameters include the number of steps for performing a request, the percentage of returning visitors, and the average time spent by users in a single session. Retention rates, click-through rates, and confusion handling are also important aspects to look at. These targets trigger optimizations and include quality indicators for the website. Currently, there are no specific chatbot metrics but we can expect QA companies to define them too.
Define your testing methods
Any chatbot tested before its release is beta testing! Moreover, you are bound to get more feedback from users once the chatbot is out and about! So be ready to constantly make adjustments to your chatbot even after it is released. Needless to say, ongoing chatbot testing is a prerequisite for keeping your chatbot relevant.
References:
1. https://hybrid.chat/blog/how-to-do-chatbot-testing-tools-and-metrics-to-consider/
2. https://www.optasy.com/blog/chatbot-testing-checklist-tools-techniques-and-metrics-include-your-testing-strategy
Also Checkout:
1. One such magical product that offers explainability is AIEnsured by testAIng. Do check this link. | https://blog.aiensured.com/overview-of-chatbot-testing/ |
After that there’s a whole conversation about what a “bureau” is, and the song is derailed again. For a forty-second song, it does take quite a while to get through the first time.
Kudos to the kids who question Seussian math. They have skeptical minds and a head start on basic addition. This example illustrates perfectly, however, that when you interrupt someone before they finish making their point, it leads to misunderstandings.
Listening attentively and respectfully, without interruption, is an important social skill. Here are a few tricks and techniques you can try with your little ones to discourage interruptions.
When it’s time to listen attentively, say “put a bubble in your mouth!” and watch them puff out their cheeks until their turn to speak.
“If you can hear my voice”: This is an effective trick for groups of kids (or adults). Get them to stop chattering and pay attention by saying, not too loudly, “If you can hear my voice, clap once.” Listen for the claps, and repeat as needed. Then say, “If you can hear my voice, clap twice.” You’ll hear two claps, then a glorious silence.
Ask students to get into pairs to write a dialogue. When student A is speaking, student B should write down what they are saying and vice versa. When they have finished the conversation, they should check what each other has written and put the two sides of the conversation together. You could then ask students to perform their dialogues again to the rest of the class, or to swap with other pairs. This activity works best if you give students a theme or role-play, e.g. a conversation between friends about holidays, an argument between siblings, an interview with a famous person, [or] a scene from a film.
For more great listening activities geared toward families with little ones, try this list, 15 Activities to Build Listening Skills from Family Maven.
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Two steps forward, one step back. Sometimes listening is very hard work; especially when there are multiple voices vying for my attention.
Today was a perfect example. I was in a meeting with a student’s mother at 3:15. I was feeling a bit anxious as the meeting had already run a bit longer than I’d anticipated and I was due to participate in a conference call at 3:30. In spite of this, I was determined to listen attentively and was actually doing a fairly good job when my cell phone rang. Not my work cell phone, which would have signaled the start of the conference call, but my personal cell phone, which was not supposed to ring until after 4:30.
My husband was at the hospital for one of those over-50 preventative procedures that necessitates a ride home. However, the procedure wasn’t scheduled until 3:00 so I had assured him I’d be able pick to him up. Thankfully, the parent realized that she too was running late and we were able to quickly summarize our decisions and end the meeting. That solved her problem. Mine was a bit more complicated as I now had to leave immediately to pick up Ken but was scheduled for the conference call in 10 minutes.
Off I went muttering a prayer of thanks for hands-free calling and hoping I had listened attentively to the nurse when she gave me the directions to the pick-up spot. I had not, which led to the kind of problem that led me to make my resolution in the first place. I had to drive around the hospital several times before I found the right door while listening very inattentively to my colleagues discuss the candidate we had interviewed earlier in the day for a new position. Ken came out the door accompanied by a nurse—a nurse who just happened to be the mom of a former student and who I am sure was expecting a much more animated greeting than she received from me. (I simply held up the cell phone, gave her an I’m-sorry-but-I’m-on-a-call-look, and waved.)
The good news? I guess the good news is that I am glad I am working on this and grateful for all I am learning. Along with avoiding email when talking on the phone, and avoiding talking on the phone when making dinner, I think I need to be careful not to over-schedule. Also, while I was typing this blog my son came in to ask me about plans for his upcoming birthday and I did not try to type and talk.
Excuse me now while I go and give him my undivided attention! Thanks for your prayers; as you can see I really need them! | https://guideposts.org/positive-living/health-and-wellness/better-living/robin-carlo-two-steps-forward-one-step-back/ |
So today I thought that I’d start off with another character building post. I was thinking about the importance of listening rather than being heard. My cell group at my church talked about this a couple of weeks ago and I started to do some self-reflection. I know that I have a habit of talking a lot, and when you have such a character trait such as I, you will realize how difficult it is to stop and be still and listen to what others are saying. This also happens when we pray as well but for this particular post I’m focusing on people relationships. I admit that I’m still a work in progress since I am aware of my general talkative behavioral tendencies so I’m not going to water this one down either just to sleep well at night. The nature of listening should be harnessed in order to build relationships.
I believe that broken relationships are a result of poor communication and this is the reason why we need to hone in on the things that makes us become better at communicating with each other. By practicing effective communication, we learn how to maintain and build relationships and avoid unnecessary arguments that break up these relationships. This skill is required in your social, familial and business life.
4) To watch out for the meaning behind what is being said.
There are reasons why I am bringing this up. I noticed that if we want to sharpen our discernment about people and make smart decisions about general issues in our social, familial and business lives, we have to focus on the basic things that we need to change in order to exercise sound judgement calls. Listening is a Skill that needs to be sharpened if you want to avoid making crazy mistakes that could have been avoided had you listened. Many times we make mistakes in our social lives because we don’t take the time to understand the full picture of a story that is being relayed to us and we jump to conclusions rashly because we haven’t sifted the meaning behind the words being spoken. Trust me, been there and done that. Listening will help us to develop effective communication to avoid misunderstandings.
What types of listening skills do we have?
1.) Attentive Listening – is a communication technique that requires the listener to understand, interpret, and evaluate what they hear.
2.) Selective Listening – This is when a person hears another but selects to not hear what is being said by choice or desire to hear some other message. This can take several forms and result in acting out in destructive ways. An example is to become passive aggressive by pretending to hear and agree to what was said when actually your intent is to NOT act on the message, but make the other person think you will. Another form is to act on what you wanted to hear instead of what was said. Continued selective listening is one of the best ways to destroy a relationship.
3.) Reflective Listening –is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speaker’s idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly.
4.) Competitive Listening –happens when we are more interested in promoting our own point of view than in understanding or exploring someone else’s view. We either listen for openings to take the floor, or for flaws or weak points we can attack. As we pretend to pay attention we are impatiently waiting for an opening, or internally formulating our rebuttal and planning our devastating comeback that will destroy their argument and make us the victor.
5.) Ignore Listening – A type of false listening occurs where a person is pretending to listen but is not hearing anything that is being said. They may nod, smile and grunt in all the right places, but do not actually take in anything that is said.
I’m pretty sure at some point in our lives we have been guilty of practicing some poor listening skills that I have listed here which may have contributed to serious misunderstandings. Many arguments that we have with our peers can be purely avoided had we perfected our listening abilities. I am guilty of some of these poor listening skills and that is why I’m writing about it. We have to strive to master the art of attentive and reflective listening. If you want to be an effective communicator, you have to develop these specific skill sets.
Ask yourself these questions, have you ever been in an argument with someone?
What started the argument? What was the cause of the misunderstanding?
Did you listen to what was said or were you busy competing to be heard?
Seriously think about it and consider how your actions contribute to arguments and misunderstandings.
The whole point of improving your listening skills is to gather information, analyze it and then make a sound judgement of what you understand by what was said. Those that compete to be heard as oppose to learning how to be attentive miss out basic information that leads to general misunderstandings. Being heard is not as important as listening to the meaning of what is being said. Watch for people’s body language as well as the tone of what they are saying. This is also necessary if you want to become better at discerning people and situations.
I think that to be an effective listener you have to learn to be an OBSERVANT Listener.
The Observant Listener doesn’t just listen attentively and reflectively to what is being said. They also watch and look out for the tone and nuances found in a person’s body language to gauge what a person means behind what is being said, in order to understand what is being said by reading in between the lines of what is being said. Being observant requires you to make sense of what is being said by using your EYES and EARS to complete the meaning behind the words. You can solve many of your problems and other people’s problems by analysing their body language. 93% of human communication is based on non-verbal body language so it’s not enough to rely on just hearing what is being said because you have to take into consideration that words only comprise of 7% of our communication. You have to be an observant listener to communicate effectively and this will help you to sharpen your discernment level in order to make sound judgement calls.
I must emphasize that this is necessary to sharpen your discernment level.
If you talk a lot like I do, try sitting quietly when your with a group of people and listen attentively to the words being spoken. I found this really hard at times because sometimes I like to put my 2 cents into a situation. I have found that Humility is key here if you want to communicate effectively. Remember, it is not so important to be heard as it is to listen to what is being said. When you are competitive in a conversation you lose out on important information that could have been the defining point required to have been heard in order to make a sound judgement call. You can help people by listening attentively rather than passively.
Learn to find meaning in what is being said to understand what is being said. If you don’t understand something that was spoken then ask questions in order to clarify a point. It is important to clarify what you do not understand so that you don’t remain confused about a specific point or you will end up believing something that is false. If you get half a picture, there is room for fallacy. You can get an inaccurate picture if people leave out information or if you fail to listen to the message in its entirety. This is how some people end up believing in a LIE. Avoid these mistakes by taking the time to listen to EVERYTHING that is being said. You can weed out the truth of a message if you take the time to analyze the words spoken. Effective communication requires you to be an active observer and not a passive one. You can make great decisions in you life when you practice to listen attentively and reflectively.
Last Note: Seek to understand in order to be understood. Listen attentively and don’t compete to be heard.
Relationships are built by a MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING. I hope this will help you in your present relationships and will guide you to make better judgments in your life.
Good post! I can honestly say I was at one time them kinda listners. Lets be honest im still at times. Ty for sharing!
You never realize how hard this is until you try it. I have gotten pretty good at it, but I am still a competitive listener by far. | https://nightshade130.com/2011/11/14/learning-to-listen-rather-than-being-heard/ |
A few years ago, a customer in my software business paid upfront for a round of changes to their custom software application. It wasn’t an issue until the customer changed their mind.
I don’t mean the customer decided to change something in the original scope. The customer chose to execute the project with another company with little warning. After 18 months, the customer said they wanted a new confidentiality agreement. The agreement would prohibit my firm for working with other companies in the same field.
We tried to negotiate a reasonable arrangement, in good faith. Unfortunately, the customer was adamant. We could not sign an agreement limiting our ability to do business.
So, we proceeded to wrap up business with the customer. We turned over credentials and documentation to the software. We tried to do the right thing; make sure the next vendor could continue the project.
But, what about their upfront deposit? The obvious answer was we should refund it. However, I cannot say it was the easiest decision to make. Honestly, it was hard. I had worked diligently with them the last year and was looking forward to the future revenue. How dare the customer try to change the terms of our business arrangement midstream?
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” – Bob Marley
It was only after wrestling with the implications of not giving the refund that I made the right decision. Even if you are “wronged”, there are consequences of not acting with integrity.
Here are 3 reasons why acting with integrity leads you to success:
1. Employees Are Watching You
The first reason I considered when making the decision was, how is this going to impact my relationship with my employees? They knew the customer had paid us a 4-figure advance.
If I was willing to short the customer, would I do the same to them? How could this influence how they viewed their job, their responsibility to customers and my responsibility to them?
In reflecting on the possible outcomes, I realized if they saw me act without integrity with a customer, it would diminish their trust in me. They might wonder if their next paycheck would be on time.
Also, it would reduce their enthusiasm for what we do. My team might cease to go the extra mile for the customer or simply spend more time on social media rather than serving. Intellectually, I knew this, but reflecting on the scenarios above helped me to get comfortable with the decision emotionally.
2. Customers Are Talking About You
The second reason I considered was, how is this going to affect what is said about us? Obviously, this customer was not going to be a customer going forward. However, they will talk to other companies.
It is common sense that referrals are the preferable form of marketing. We often think of a successful customer talking to future customers. Yet, a customer who “switches” will also tell a story.
I wanted the story they told to be a positive one. It would probably go something like, we were not able to reach an agreement on XYZ. And, they will remember concluding the relationship with integrity.
Hopefully, their story will end like this, “I think they would be a good match for you because they always treated us honestly.” The reputation that proceeds from an ending can still be a good one.
“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey
3. You Have to Live with Yourself
The third reason I considered was, how am I going to feel about myself after this decision? If I am proud of the decision, it will strengthen my self-image. Otherwise, it will weaken it.
I might feel good for a while by making them pay. Over time, the feeling will fade, and I will be left with the voice of my conscience. If it is negative, it will haunt me. Sometimes, I do not consider the impact of a decision on myself. Whether I realize it consciously or not, it is there, and it makes a difference. Even if I tell myself I can live with it, in the long run, I cannot.
To function at my best, I need to remove any thought of acting unethically. If I do something without integrity once, it will be easier to do it again. And, it will influence my view of what success is.
The next time you are facing a challenging decision, ask yourself three questions. How will this impact my co-workers? How will it impact what customers say? And, how will it impact my view of myself?
How has acting with integrity helped you in tough situations? Please leave your thoughts below!
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20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
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Communication Skills (7 Skills Everone Needs)
This blog will talk about communication skills that are relevant to everyone’s lives in all contexts. Readers will first learn about what communication is so important. Then, we will take a closer look at seven essential communication skills.
What are Communication Skills?
Communication skills are techniques to make any social interaction more successful, whether it is in a formal or informal context. Here is a list of some important communication skills that you need to acquire:
- Active Listening
- Reflective Listening
- Assertive Communication
- Reading Body Language
- Questioning
- Avoiding Unsolicited Advice
- Empathy
- Clarity and Precision
Why is Communication so Important?
Humans are social animals. We exist in groups, whether it is our family, colleagues, or our friends and acquaintances. Even the loneliest person has to interact with others at some point to get through the day. These interactions are only possible through communication.
Whether it is verbal or non-verbal, communication allows us to pass on information to the people around us. That’s why communicating is probably one of the most useful skills we possess. Without it, we’d never be able to co-exist.
Now, though everyone learns the basics of communicating as they grow and explore, there’s always room for improvement. A lot of people struggle to communicate freely and authentically. They sometimes end up saying things they don’t really mean.
Hence, while communication is important, it’s also imperative for one to keep working on their communication skills to become more effective at it.
7 Communication Skills Everyone Should Have
In this section, we will describe seven communication skills that can make all social interactions a lot more smooth, easy, and effective for you. Let’s begin.
Active Listening
One of the most basic communication skills is the ability to listen actively. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of it so they don’t practice it. Active listening basically means that you listen to someone with attunement, without interrupting them or getting distracted, and respond in ways that elicit more information from the speaker.
This technique also needs one to listen and observe carefully in order to pick up both verbal and non-verbal cues. Through active listening, you ensure that your understanding of the speaker is accurate and free of any assumptions or confusion.
Some of the methods used in active listening are summarising, paraphrasing, leaning in, asking follow-up questions, and appropriate silences.
Reflective Listening
It’s important to understand that communication isn’t all about speaking. A major portion of it involves staying quiet and listening to others. Many people don’t listen to understand but rather wait to respond.
Practising reflective listening is a way to overcome that unnecessary urge and to communicate more effectively. It’s pretty easy to execute. All you have to do is listen attentively without interrupting the speaker.
Whenever they pause after making a point, repeat what they said in your own words and ask clarification questions. This lets them feel heard and understood. Besides, even if you get it wrong, the speaker will appreciate your efforts and feel comfortable revealing more information.
Here are some examples of what to say when listening reflectively:
- So you’re saying that ____, did I get it right?
- Correct me if I’m wrong, but is this what you mean?
- Oh, I see why you feel that way. This seems quite a hurtful thing to experience.
Assertive Communication
A lot of times, communication is ineffective because of the lack of assertiveness. People tend to suppress their own needs passively to avoid conflict or they come off as too aggressive.
Assertiveness is the perfect balance between communicating passively and aggressively. In this style of communicating, you stand up for your own needs and beliefs, while also respecting the needs of others. It features mutual respect, diplomacy, and directness.
Here are some pointers to keep in mind when communicating assertively:
- Keep an even tone and volume
- Maintain eye contact
- Show a confident and open body language
- Start by talking about the listener’s needs
- Then mention your needs
- End with a potential solution or an offer to help
The following are some examples of assertive statements:
- I know you don’t enjoy doing paperwork but we’re supposed to do this project together and equally. I feel like I’m doing more than my share of the boring stuff. How can we split the tasks so that we both get a chance to do the fieldwork?
- I can see that you’re angry but I don’t appreciate being spoken to in this tone. Why don’t we calm down and solve this matter respectfully?
- Hey, I get that you’re quite busy on most days and it’s inspiring to see you work so hard. Nevertheless, you did give me your word that we’ll get this job done two weeks ago. How can I help you carve out some time for this?
Reading Body Language
Not all communication will be verbal. There’s a lot more to express and understand from your body language. This includes facial expressions, posture, gestures, and movement.
Someone calm and confident will be still, with an open body, and strong eye contact. However, someone scared or worried about something will have a slouching posture, restless limbs, and a furrowed brow.
Similarly, when one is angry, they have defensive body language, an expression of anger, and visible agitation in their movements.
Questioning
Under the heading of active listening, we mentioned asking questions as one of the methods to elicit more information. However, questioning is a huge part of any conversation. Not only must one ask the right questions, but also time them in a way that allows the development of insight.
There are many different types of questions you can try. Some of these are described below.
Follow-Up Questions
These are asked when you want to get more information about the situation the speaker was talking about. Follow-up questions are more focused on facts and events that have occurred. A few examples of follow-up questions are:
- What happened after that?
- What did you do next?
- Did the thing you were worried about happen?
Open-Ended Questions
Counsellors use open-ended questions to avoid making any assumptions and to focus on the speaker’s unique experience. An open-ended question is one that requires one to answer with at least a few sentences instead of just a yes or no. These generally ask about thoughts and feelings. Here are some examples:
- How did you feel when that happened?
- What was going on in your mind in that situation?
- What do you feel like doing next?
Clarification Questions
These are asked after summarising or paraphrasing to confirm whether your understanding of the speaker’s words is accurate. Such questions are very important as they allow room for error and reflect a genuine interest in what the speaker is saying. Some examples of clarification questions are:
- Am I getting this right?
- Did I understand correctly?
- Is this what you are trying to say?
Empathy
Empathy is a crucial ingredient for any conversation to be successful. After all, the idea behind communication is to understand what someone is saying. Empathy is a skill that reflects on the emotion behind an exchange.
Your brain has mirror neurons that help you put yourself in someone else’s shoes. You’re able to feel what they are feeling so not only do you understand the meaning of their words but also their experience.
To practice more empathy, one must use all the skills mentioned before this item on our list.
Clarity and Precision
Often, when we speak, we tend to use fillers like um, so, you know, like etc. These don’t really add value to what we’re talking about but serve as a filler when we pause to think about what to say next.
Although harmless, these can be a bit distracting and take away the attention from the point we’re trying to make. It’s ideal to think before we speak and only use words we mean to. It may be slower, but it’s a lot more impactful.
Saying the same thing in fewer words is a powerful way to reflect confidence, intelligence, and to make it easier for others to understand your point of view.
Conclusion
This blog talked about communication skills that are relevant to everyone’s lives in all contexts. Readers first learned about what communication is so important. Then, we took a closer look at seven essential communication skills.
The communication skills mentioned here included Active Listening, Reflective Listening, Assertive Communication, Reading Body Language, Questioning, Empathy, and Clarity and Precision.
FAQs (Communication Skills)
What are the 8 types of communication?
The eight types of communication are listed below:
- Formal Communication
- Informal Communication
- Verbal Communication
- Non-Verbal Communication
- Upward Communication
- Horizontal Communication
- Diagonal Communication
- Downward Communication
What are examples of passive-aggressive communication?
Below are a few examples of verbal and non-verbal passive-aggressive communication:
- Sarcasm
- Rolling of eyes
- Speaking politely but handling objects aggressively
- Taunts
- Emotionally-loaded comments
- Loud sighs
- Grumbling
What are some communication activities?
Here is a list of some communication icebreaker activities: | https://optimistminds.com/communication-skills/ |
Questions to Ask Registrar Candidates
We all know the questions to ask when interviewing a candidate for a position on our campus. We want to get to know him or her as a person and as a professional, whether it’s as a faculty member or a new member of the administration. As a president or as a dean or vice president, we know what we’re looking for to fill most positions on our campuses because most of us came from one of them. But there is one very important position on any campus in which few deans or presidents started their careers. That position is the Registrar and associated registrar questions.
An experienced registrar has a certain set of skills necessary to operate an efficient, professional, and ethical office. Technical skills, management skills, and organizational skills are the keys to success for a registrar. There are, however, important philosophical aspects to the position of registrar that can give the office the respect and trust it must have to be successful or the lack of which can be disastrous to the operation of the office. These important aspects of the job are the ways in which the registrar approaches his or her job, on how the office should be managed, and the relationships between the registrar and the many campus communities that interact with the office on a daily basis.
As an interviewer of a registrar candidate, these are the questions you need to ask in order to get at those important qualities in a potential registrar, and they need to be asked of each candidate by each interviewer or search committee.
- How do you balance the need to follow regulations with the occasional need to allow for exceptions?
A registrar needs to be flexible when appropriate. Not all requests get an automatic “yes” or “no” response. There are shades of gray in many requests; it’s not all black and white.
- What has been/will be your reaction to a decision by the Dean/President to make an exception to policy with which you do not agree?
There will come a time when a decision by the registrar will be appealed to the next level up (or two.) That appeal will be approved, reversing the decision of the registrar. The reaction of the registrar to that decision is significant. It must be accepted, but the reasons of the original decision must be made clear to the Dean/President. The approval of the appeal must be made in writing and placed in the file of the student and maintained by the registrar for future reference.
- How do you view the faculty? What is your relationship with the faculty as a whole?
The response to this question is obvious. The registrar must see the faculty as another recipient of the services provided by the office; but more than that, there must be a level of cooperation, trust, and respect going both ways. The more friends on the faculty the better, especially department and committee chairpersons.
- What is a student to you? What is your relationship with students?
A student is more than a customer as many institutions see them. The registrar plays a role with students unlike any other person on campus. The registrar is part adviser on the academic program, part parent setting limitations on what can be done, and part counselor when things don’t go right (like not graduating on time.) Therefore, the relationship with students has to be more than the “no person”; it has to be that of the “know person.”
- Is your office door open or closed?
Accessibility is a significant aspect of the job of a registrar, whether it’s being available to faculty, staff, or students. An office door must be closed during confidential discussions or work of course, but an open door says “I’m available to talk to you about whatever problem or concern you have. Come in.”
- What is it that you need to avoid in the job to help you be successful?
We all have certain things that get in our way when we’re trying to work. It might be interrupting phone calls, unnecessary meetings, or tasks we just don’t like to do. Success depends on the best use of time and skills; the registrar needs to be put in a position to be successful by avoiding things that get in the way.
- What would you rather have other people in your office do so you won’t have to? Why?
Along those same lines, it can be very advantageous to have staff persons who can do those things that the registrar prefers not to do or who are more skilled in certain areas (like technology or social media) so that the registrar does not have to do them. This situation results in a much more efficient and well-run office. The opposite situation can work also. There may be (or should be) things that the registrar does so that others in the office don’t have to do, even if it is “below” his or her paygrade.
- What do you need to be successful in the position?
This question shows what’s important to the future registrar. The interviewer should know some of the answers: support from above, a good staff (including replacing current staff if necessary), current technology, and sufficient work space for all. But also listen for a few things mentioned above: trust and cooperation from faculty and staff and time to get adjusted to new policies and procedures. Those “P & P’s” could be very different from what the new registrar was used to at the previous institution.
- What professional development activities are you involved in or want to be involved in?
Professional development activities are a mandatory part of the job. A registrar must stay current with federal regulations like FERPA, must understand updates to whatever Student Information System (SIS) is in use, and keep in touch with colleagues upon whom he or she can rely for ideas and answers to questions that arise in the normal course of the job. Membership in professional associations like AACRAO and the state or regional association should be encouraged. Education opportunities from these organizations are also significant for those registrars who may be less experienced. (All registrars are new to the profession at some point!)
Asking the right questions of any potential hire is important, and these questions are general enough to be used in many interviewing situations. But there are certain aspects of the job of the Registrar that are unique to that position. Finding the right person to fill that very important position will have a significant impact on your institution. Asking the right questions to find that person is the first step. | https://focusedunow.com/questions-to-ask-registrar-candidates/ |
If you’d like to learn how to succeed in the areas of your life most important to you so you can live your best life, sign up for the free 90-Day Master Class hosted by the founder of Addicted2Success.com, Joel Brown.
I’ve personally never met someone who hasn’t had or doesn’t currently have success on their mind. I do believe we all have unique and different views on what success means to us, but nonetheless success is something that we strive for. The definition of success; based on my google search of the word, is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.”
I think back to those first instances that I was asked in elementary school about what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answer was clear, become a professional athlete. And for the remainder of my child, adolescent and young adult life, I pursued that with an unrelenting desire. However, as I reflect on those moments now in my adult and professional life, what I find to be resounding is how the question of success stopped there.
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
With that being said, I believe that success can be broken down into three questions that you should be able to definitively answer as you embark on your journey of professional and personal success:
1. What’s Your Big Goal?
Defining that “one” thing you want to achieve whether it be financial freedom, time freedom, starting your own business, or earning a certain dollar figure in your career is an important first step to take. By doing so, you narrow your vision to a more myopic mentality that helps keep you focused on the tasks at hand.
2. What’s Your Non-Negotiables?
This is perhaps the most important question you have to answer with unequivocal certainty. What are the things you will not waiver from on your journey to obtaining success or your big goal?
For example, my non-negotiables are No Negativity Allowed; a concept I borrowed from Grant Cardone, read one new book every month, and Sundays are spent with family and not with business. I committed to these non-negotiables and make them very clear every morning by writing them down first thing in the morning in my planner.
“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
3. What Are You Willing To Sacrifice?
If you are really going for your big goal/goals then you will have to sacrifice something. That sacrifice could be time with friends, television, eating out, or having that refreshing pint of beer in the middle of the week. Whatever it is, you have to know what you are willing to give up for the success that you want to achieve. Identify these things and then just like everything else, write them down daily as a constant reminder of just how important achieving success is to you.
Success is not easy. I believe it’s something I’m always going after as I continue to grow professionally and personally in my life. However, one of the most important things I could have done for myself to truly understand what success was for me and get the clear picture of what I have to do in order to achieve it was to answer the three questions discussed above. By answering them, making them a consistent part of my daily routine, and writing them down every single day keeps me grounded, myopic, and focused on what I’m working towards.
What do you think of the three questions discussed in this article? Share your thoughts with us below!
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Success Advice
20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
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“Every great achievement is but a small peak in the mountain range of contributions.” Those were the words of renowned US economist Dale T. Mortensen, a man whose crowning achievement (the Nobel prize in Economics) came a few days after his 71st birthday. And Mortensen is not the only famous late bloomer. Anna Mary Moses didn’t pick up a paintbrush until she was well into her 70s but still went on to have a highly successful career, selling one painting for over $1.6million.
But are these late bloomers the rare exceptions? Or can we all become a success at any stage in life? Well, it depends on how we define success. Because as SavingSpot found out, human beings peak at different things at different times in their life. So here’s a look at the age you peak at everything in life.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Physically, you’ll notice a sharp decline in your sporting and athletic ability once you pass 30. Unfortunately, this is when time begins to take its toll on the body, and you’ll never be able to sprint as you did in your early 20s. But a good diet and healthy habits mean you can carry on enjoying exercise and some sports well into your 60s, and even beyond.
Our brain’s processing power peaks at age 18. The brain fizzes with new and exciting ideas, but we probably don’t have the skills to implement or express them fully. For example, we don’t master the art of concentration until we’re in our early 40s, and our vocabulary skills aren’t fully developed until we hit 73.
Career-wise, we’re at our most productive during our mid-30s. This is when we put in the long hours and weekend shifts, building a solid foundation for long-time career success. That’s probably why all the really good stuff happens during our 40s and 50s. 41 is when the average career woman reaches her maximum earning potential, and we learn what it means to be a strong leader around the time of our 47th birthday.
The mid-40s is also the sweet spot for anyone with ambitions to start a new business, tech company, or venture capitalist firm. And this might be related to the average age of a first-time billionaire, which is 51. In fact, most men earn the highest salaries in their early 50s, and net worth for both men and women peaks at 65 years of age.
Life isn’t about burning brightly and then fading. Instead, it’s an ever-changing adventure that’s always offering us new challenges and opportunities for personal growth. So embrace them and, more importantly, enjoy them!
Check out the infographic below for the age you peak at everything in life:
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Success Advice
20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
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Many people think if they could only reach success that their life would somehow be better. They live by “if onlys” (if only I had a better job, if only I had a bigger house, if only I had a different spouse). Even worse, they tie their happiness to this future goal of success, refusing to be happy now, before their goals are reached.
Somehow this magical pinnacle they refer to as success is some far away dream or goal that keeps them mired in the day-to-day smallness that never lets them break out of their unhappiness.
I have also had this way of thinking be a part of my life, but once I realized that it was backwards, my life changed dramatically. I have reached several lofty goals I set for myself. Interestingly, my life was not miraculously different when those dreams became reality. So I wondered, what makes people think an external item in their life will automatically make it better or different?
The Game Is An Inner Game
When we set goals, there is a determination that drives us towards those goals. The motivation is often that our lives will change for the better. This fuels many people to keep going when times get tough to keep going towards the successful achievement of that goal.
In reality, the motivation needs to come from within. It needs to be a burning desire to complete the goal, not for the external satisfaction or rewards it may bring, but for the internal peace and satisfaction that you feel. The gratitude and completeness that you feel even being able to have the opportunity to strive for the goal should be what drives you forward.
“Always be yourself and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and try to duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee
Success is Not a Destination
One of the things I noticed about myself was that sometimes when I achieved what I set out to do I often had a feeling of being let down afterwards. This is sometimes referred to as the “day after Christmas” syndrome. This is because there is so much excitement leading up to Christmas day and then once the gifts are opened, the meals are eaten and the guests are gone, we are left with the cleanup and life goes back to normal.
It is the same with achieving certain goals. Let’s say you had a goal to purchase a new car. You’ve worked extra hours, you’ve saved your money, you’ve made sacrifices, dreaming of the day you get to sit in those leather seats. The day finally arrives! You are driving around in your brand new car and for a little while, it feels great. Then slowly you start to realize your life is still the same. Nothing else has changed. You have the same problems and life issues as before the car came into your life.
Enjoy The Journey Along The Way
The key to achieving true success, and along with it, true happiness, is to actually make the pursuit of the goal the fun part, not reaching the final destination. That’s just the icing on the cake. The planning, the extra work, the challenges, all of the things making up the pursuit are the real success.
How you got there is the ultimate achievement. Live for the here and now. That is the best way to achieve success.
“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.” – Carl Rogers
How are you making sure you enjoy the journey while finding a way to reach your destination? Let us know by commenting below!
Image courtesy of Twenty20.com
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Success Advice
The 2-Minute Rule: The Secret to Habit Success
By starting with a small, manageable task, it becomes much easier to build consistency
It’s a given fact that we all want to build habits, goals that we want to achieve, and things that we want to change in our lives. However, on the other side of the coin, it can be hard to sustain motivation and consistency. (more…)
Success Advice
20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
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Have you ventured into a new business? Started on a dream? Worked your way up in a career?
If you’ve pursued a new venture and failed, you have two choices: quit or keep on going. To stay resilient in the face of defeat is a difficult task. Not everyone can hang in there when circumstances are challenging.
When I started blogging, I had difficulty getting traction. Not many people read my blog and not many sites accepted my guest posts. I would write content and find that not many people would share it on social media. I would reach out to more prominent bloggers and would never hear back. I wanted to quit every day on this journey of building up a blog that would help people.
While there’s still much more room to grow, my fledging blog is growing. I want to share with you some of the mindsets and attitudes I adopted to keep going on my blogging journey.
Here are 6 common qualities in people who never quit:
1. Never take “no” for an answer
No matter what others say, don’t listen to them. Do not let the gate-keepers stop you. Don’t let your success depend on other people or on an answer from someone else.
If someone says, “no,” use it as fuel to keep going. Use “no” as motivation to say “yes” to yourself by continuing to work on your dreams. A “no” from someone or from life is never permanent. Think of “no” as a test – it’s your chance to transform “no” to “yes.”
“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.” – Denis Waitley
2. See a setback as a setup
It sure feels like you’re going backward, but going backward helps you gain momentum to go forward. You may see that life is throwing you curveballs, but it’s only helping you become a better hitter. Once you study the pitcher and understand how he pitches, you become better at hitting the ball out of the park.
Think of setbacks as preparation for doing things the right way. Setbacks are lessons on how to improve. Your setback is your real-life education on how to get there. The people who see their setbacks as setups for greater success will never quit. They welcome setbacks on their journey to success.
3. See challenges as opportunities
While some see failure as a dead end, others never stop looking for the open window. They seek a new perspective, an opportunity, another way. They never accept a dead end as final and they look for ways to turn the dead end into something that benefits them.
They reframe the problem, ask different questions and try to come up with more creative solutions. What is the way out? Where is the opportunity to move forward? How can this work out in your favor?
4. Look to bounce back higher
People who don’t quit know that the further back they fall or the worse off they are, the higher up they’ll go. Again, the farther you fall back, the higher you’ll rise. When you fall behind or fail, you’ll gain intense learning and an understanding of what didn’t work. The more insight you gain from failure, the quicker and faster you’ll move forward.
5. Know that success comes after failure
The most successful people in the world are the people who have failed the most. The authors who were rejected became best-selling authors. The inventors who failed, created the most transformational inventions.
The products that failed led to more creative and necessary products. A basketball player who found himself cut from his high school team became the greatest athlete of our generation. Failure is the breeding ground for success.
“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” – Janet Fitch
6. Learn, improve and try again
People who don’t quit will learn from mistakes and get insights from failure. They move forward in life with the lessons they learned. They make changes and get better at what they do. Every time they try and fail, they learn and improve.
They don’t let temporary obstacles become permanent walls to success. They keep moving forward. They try one more time – wiser and with priceless experience under their belts.
Which quality do you need to improve? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
9 Comments
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Success Advice
20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
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by Dr. Jane Nelsen and Dr. Kelly Gfroerer
Imagine you are a student on the first day of school, and the teacher presents some pre-established rules for classroom behavior. Does this excite you, or do you listen with boredom?
Now imagine you are a student on the first day of school, and the teacher says, "I need the help of everyone to create guidelines for behavior in our classroom that are respectful and encouraging for everyone. Let's brainstorm for ideas?"
What are you thinking and feeling now?
Establishing class guidelines with your students helps build a culture of cooperation and contribution.
Here is an example of class guidelines that students helped develop:
- Be kind
- Be respectful
- Take turns
- Focus on solutions
- Avoid interrupting
Once the students have a list that they can agree to, divide them into small groups and give each group a suggested guideline to role-play. Students can have fun role-playing what it looks like when they follow a guideline and what it looks like when they don’t.
An example was sent to us from Omneya Askar, a Teacher at Ayatollah Kamal Kindergarten in Cairo, Egypt, and a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer.
"I used to think that doing the guidelines activity with kindergarten students would be too difficult, especially with my kids who are just 4 and half. But I decided to challenge my mind and my belief, and I did it. Surprisingly, it was very successfully. The children were so excited and empowered watching me writing exactly what they were saying on the flip chart. The most beautiful moment was when they were signing the agreements. What made me really happy was that they started to say, "Please,” “May I?",etc."
When students aren’t following an agreed upon guideline, point to the list and ask, “Can you see which guideline needs to be followed now?”
It can be effective to use dramatic humor to model for the group what it looks like when class guidelines aren’t followed. For example, we once observed a Positive Discipline Classroom where the class came running in from the playground loudly and were not following the agreed upon guidelines. The teacher turned out the lights, gave their agreed signal to quietly freeze and focus on her. Then she quietly said, “Watch me as I show you what I just saw here.” She dramatically (and with good humor) walked around the classroom bumping into desks, throwing her coat down on the ground (rather than hanging it up) and then sloppily plopped herself into a seat. She then asked, “What do you see?” “What needs to happen instead?” and, “Who can point out on our class guidelines what we need to do when we come in after recess?”
Students are more motivated to follow guidelines when they are involved in the process of deciding what the guidelines will be.
Learn more about creating class guidelines with the Positive Discipline Classroom Teachers' Guide: Activities for Students. | https://www.positivediscipline.com/articles/involve-students-creating-class-guidelines |
If you could easily achieve the success you are working towards, wouldn’t you?
Most of us doubt the power of our thoughts and how much they truly dictate how we operate.
Take Anthony for example. He is really good at what he does for a living. People love being around him but Anthony believes he could never be in a leadership role because his opinion will not be valued. Although, Anthony could be right about his opinion not being valued. He’s wrong about his opinion having value.
Which one of the mindsets do you think Anthony would benefit from the most?
5 Key Mindset Shifts for Success
1. Have a Desire
You can always tell who the passionate one is in the room. They’re the one who is bright eyed and engaged. The one who usually goes the “extra mile“. The one, even when exhausted, shows up and shows out, with no real effort. With a ridiculous amount of desire for the work they’re doing.
Desire is a great energy source to do the work and do it well. When you are passionate about what you do, it doesn’t feel like work and the time just seems to float on by. Individuals with a desire to achieve success connect with this desire daily.
They ask themselves these questions:
- “How can I add value to others?”
- “What possibilities are open to me for more success?”
- “How can I do my work differently?”
2. The Growth Mindset
Even if your company doesn’t offer skill advancement. Seek it out for yourself. When you keep abreast on topics of discussion and can do the job when no one else can do it, all because you went the “extra mile” to enhance your skills. You win.
Individuals with a growth mindset constantly read and seek out opportunities of growth to develop their skills and themselves.
They ask these questions:
- “How can I do this better?”
- “Where can I find the information I need to accomplish this task?”
- “Who can I collaborate with for this project to excel?”
3. You are a Business
Start thinking of yourself as a business.
Some of the things very important to business success is process, people and purpose. Process comes down to how you spend your time towards the achievement of your goals.
Are your goals clear and well define? Do you have a plan?
Having the right people around you is essential to your career success.
People. If you and Sam hang out but Sam constantly shows up to work late and thinks nothing of it. Knowing how your boss is a stickler for punctuality, that promotion you seek will not happen in Sam’s company.
Overtime her nonchalant attitude towards work will impact how you do your job and your career growth.
Purpose. What is your mission statement?
Every business has one. Connect to your purpose and you’ve found it. Individuals who conduct themselves as a business have strategic focus, creating clear direction and ensuring they hit their target with accuracy.
They ask themselves these questions:
- “How can I be more productive in my day?”
- “Whom do I have to get to know and how?”
- “What is my 90 day plan?”
4. The Ability to Pivot
It’s a real asset to know when something is not working and to switch it up at will. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result…well you know the rest (It’s the definition of insanity).
Those who can make adjustments in the plan as they go along will always come out on top. Individuals who have the ability to pivot are not attached to their plan. They use it as a guide and reference to their goals but know things could change and they need to learn how to adapt quickly.
They ask themselves these questions:
- “What needs to improve in my plan?”
- “Where could I find the resources I need?”
- “Who can give me constructive feedback that could help propel me forward?”
5. Jump In
Those who are winning at life do so by jumping in with both feet and hope a net appears. A bit frightening I know. The only way you’ll know you’re doing something right or get to a higher role in your career, is if you just do it.
Fail if you must and learn from that. Then, jump back in. The individuals who jump in know the only chance they have in winning the game is by first showing up.
They ask themselves these questions:
- “Do I want better results?”
- “How can I overcome my fear?”
- “Is this how I choose to live the only life I have?”
Remember Anthony? If you guessed he would benefit most from #5 Jump In.
I would agree, although Anthony could implement the other mindset’s to. He needs to get into the water and see it play out. Whether or not his opinion is received, he won’t know unless he puts it on the table.
There really is no secret sauce to a success mindset.
You just have to BELIEVE, WANT and KNOW you can achieve more.
No secret to that.
I’m curious, what mindset do you struggle with?
Can you see how having these mindsets in tack could propel your career success to new levels?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
8 Comments
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Success Advice
20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
Success Advice
Dead Men Tell No Tales: How to Navigate a Mutiny as a Leader in 10 Steps
You’re the manager. You’re the supervisor. You’re the leader. But maybe your people don’t see it that way
You’re the manager. You’re the supervisor. You’re the leader. But maybe your people don’t see it that way and perhaps that has created a divisive and adversarial working environment that makes it difficult for you to influence and inspire your team in a way that meets your vision. (more…)
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How to Think Like a CEO for Your Future Success
A blueprint for CEOs to draw a disciplined strategy
Strategic thinking helps CEOs build successful businesses. It helps them establish everlasting enterprises. It is one of the key elements of decision-making. It is different from strategic leadership. It differentiates between leaders from managers. (more…)
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How to Focus Your Mind on Your Goals in 2023 Constructively
In this world of distractions due to information overload, it has become a big challenge to focus our minds
In this world of distractions due to information overload, it has become a big challenge to focus our minds on positive aspects and constructive activities. Sometimes we waste our precious time mentally and physically due to distractions arising out of technology. We must understand our priorities and learn how to focus on them religiously. (more…)
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- 1). Set ground rules and make sure everyone sticks to them. Your students need to feel comfortable and able to share their ideas without ridicule from other students in group discussion. Include rules that ensure one person speaks at a time, everyone listens without interrupting and everyone is treated with respect. Have students share their own ideas for rules; it is more likely that they will stick to rules they have chosen themselves.
- 2). Think carefully about seating. Arrange desks in groups of four to six rather than having everyone sitting in rows facing the front. Make sure everyone can see each other for easier communication. Consider carefully who sits where. Ensure the quiet student isn't sitting next to an overly confident student who will dominate the discussion. Rearrange seating now and then, allowing different students to work together; enabling varied discussions and giving more scope for collaborative learning. If having a whole class discussion, put chairs in a circle or have children sit in a circle on the floor so everyone can see each other.
- 3). Warm up. Discussing ideas is a new experience for lots of students. Try a few warm up activities to break the ice and increase confidence. Place an object under each chair and have students tell each other what the object made them think about. Play a piece of music and have students discuss their responses. Pass on a compliment: each student says one thing they admire about the person sitting next to them.
- 4
Students can discuss ideas for experiments in science.Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
Include discussion in as many lessons as possible. Discuss responses to stories. Brainstorm writing ideas. Express opinions about people and events in history. Discuss strategies to solve problems in math. Talk through ideas for experiments in science. Use circle time to discuss moral and spiritual ideas, and to work together to solve any classroom and relationship issues. Collaborate on setting class rules and setting individual and class goals for each semester. Incorporate group discussion across the curriculum and enable students to learn from each other as well as from the teacher.
- 5
Listen to your students' ideas.BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
Be a role model for your students. Show them that you are willing to take part in discussions and share your own ideas and opinions. Treat your students with respect, listen to and value their contributions. Listen without interrupting and show real interest in what they have to say; lead by example and your students should act in the same way. Make your classroom a place in which students learn from each other, develop their communication skills and are confident to take risks in order to develop intellectually, socially and emotionally. | https://www.bytesdays.com/articles_1yf3ga.html |
Start your lesson with showing a picture of a gym/sports club/health club. Elicit what they can see in the picture. Then in pairs ask them to write a list of activities that people can do at a gym (Student's worksheet, task 1). Give a time limit of one minute. ICQs: T.: What must you write? T.: Are you working in groups or individually? T.: How much time do you have? After that elicit their ideas (one idea per group; one by one till they run out of activities) and write down them on the board. Then ask them: T.: Who goes to a sports club? T.: What activities do you usually do there?
For the shouting dictation technique provide some DEMONSTRATION: T.: Now we are going to do the following: let me show you. (Name), will you be so kind to help me. I have got some words which I will dictate to you. Your task is (what do you think?) S1: To write it down. (anticipated answer) T.: Good. Quite easy, isn't it?. But while one is dictating, you will be listening to some music. So try harder. T.: On the count of 3, start talking. (dictate your the words to (Name)): volleyball, boxing, badminton, gymnastics Stop the activity when you have finished with the dictation and check the words and move to the ACTIVITY. T.: Now we all are going to do the same activity. I'm going to give each of you a number from 1 up to 6. Remember it! Pair the students: (possible way) give each student a number from 1-6 (if there are 12 students) so they form 6 pairs. NB: students in each pair aren't supposed to sit close to each other. T.: Students with the same numbers are going to work together. Ask students to raise their hands calling out the numbers to check they understand who they are going to work with. Give one student of each pair a vocabulary card (check the materials). Explain when the first partner has finished dictation, the other does the same. Ask checking questions to see if all students understand the procedure. Do the activity. After that ask partners of each pair to come up to each other to check the words. Show the words. Elicit the meaning of the unknown words. Then show the dot stress pattern for one of the words and ask what it is and what the small and big dots mean. Distribute the small cards with stresses (match the words with their stress patterns). Hand out the cards with words and stresses and let the students work on the stress patterns. Ask for some feedback.
Tell your students that they are going to listen to a conversation between two people and they must decide where the conversation takes place and who the people are. Ask ICQs: T.: What are going to listen to? T.: How many people are talking? T.: What questions must you answer? After listening let students discuss their answers in pairs and then elicit their ideas. Answers: The conversation takes place in a health club. The woman is an employee and the man is thinking of joining the club
Draw the students' attention to Task 3 (Student's Worksheet). Give them time to study the information. Tell them that they are going to listen to the conversation once again. They must listen and spot any differences between the information on the worksheet and what they hear on the recording. Tell them that there are eight differences in total. Ask ICQs: T.: Is the information on the worksheet and the recording the same? T.: What do you have to do? T.: How many differences can you find? Play the recording After listening let students compare their answers in groups. Play the recording again and check answers by going through the recording and having students call out 'Stop!' whenever they hear a difference.
Explain that students are going to be city planners and make a project of a sports club. Show the name of the project "A sports club of your dream". Elicit what things they might want to mention in their text (from the worksheet). Show the plan they will stick to. Divide the group into 3 subgroups. Elicit what else they might do. Give them enough time to get ready with the project. After that mix the students so in each new group there were representatives of each team. Let them discuss in new groups. (If there's not much time left, ask each team to present their projects) After they have finished, ask students what they have learnt about other projects. Thank students for their great work. | https://www.englishlessonplanner.com/plans/60664 |
How to ask effective questions when you’re not confident
At the Education and Training Academy, we encourage all our students to use all learning resources available to gain the maximum benefit from our training courses. Asking meaningful questions is a big part of that. So here, you will learn all about how to ask effective questions, even when you’re not feeling 100% confident.
Why? Why? Why?
Do you remember asking that very question, over and over, when you were younger?
As children curiosity was fundamental to our learning. In fact, the same can be said for any relevant question.
At some point during childhood though, something changed. Did the excitement of asking your teacher certain questions, or your parents, or friends, suddenly disappear?
Was it fear of asking the wrong question? Feeling like a fool in front of your classmates?
As we continue to learn and develop, from children to adults and into our senior years, knowing how to ask effective questions is a skill we need just about every day.
But what if that fear we developed as children has followed us through life?
Stepping into any new learning environment is a daunting prospect. Whether you are part of an online learning study group, attending live classroom lectures, or are studying under your own steam, the concept of asking questions, might be something you choose to avoid where possible.
Remember though that for every question you have, there’s at least one other student wanting to ask the same. So, why not give it a go?
Being prepared is the first big step in overcoming how to ask effective questions when you’re not confident.
Write your question down
“Questioning is the art of learning.”
The most effective questioning comes from being clear on what you want to know, and how you are going to ask the question.
Of course, how you prepare to ask your question may differ depending on the situation you are in at the time. But whether you are learning in your own time, in a live classroom environment, or even in a one-to-one tutorial, you could still write your question down first to ensure you have it clear in your mind.
- Framing the question in your mind, and then writing your thoughts down, will help you feel more prepared, and confident, to go ahead and ask. You might find it is answered in the next online module, or the next section of the lecture. But it will still benefit you to be prepared.
- Think about what you want your question to achieve? Is it simply to gain the answer to this specific point? Or could you prepare a follow-up question, leading to more information being offered within the response?
- Considering your question first also gives you the chance to plan how you are going to ask it. For instance, a closed question will generally give you a straightforward answer – yes, no, or a limited response.
- By asking the question slightly differently, you pave the way for a more in-depth and detailed answer. Use Who? What? Why? When? Where? How? Or other phrases such as “Describe to me” or “Could you tell me...” to encourage a more expansive or reasoned response.
Avoid interrupting
We know you could be taking a huge leap of faith in raising your hand or grabbing our attention to ask a question. And you might be anxious to hear the reply.
But try never to interrupt, as it can be seen as being rude. Even if you think your answer is not going to be forthcoming from the way the conversation is going, or you disagree with the answer you’ve been given.
Interrupting is likely to steer the person answering your question away from their train of thought, waste what could be limited time, and will not be considered favourable – by the person responding, or those around you.
If you want to be a great student, who is willing to listen and learn, allow your tutor to finish their response.
In a similar vein, try to get comfortable with silence.
An old friend of mine would just sit and stare when I asked him a question. Despite how uncomfortable it made me feel, and it took a long time to get used to, I eventually learned to sit in silence whilst he processed the question. And then allowed him to answer in his own time.
Possibly one of the most awkward sensations at first but asking your question and giving the responder space and time to think before answering, is a great way to build your confidence, and show respect, when you’re learning how to ask effective questions.
Never assume
Do you know the old phrase ‘to assume makes an ass of u and me?’
Well, if you’re giving your all in every other aspect of your studying, and taking on board all you can, then making assumptions can be a very dangerous habit to get into!
You’ll kick yourself if that one question you didn’t get the correct answer for turned out to be the difference between a pass and a fail in an exam or coursework.
Or you lost the one percent mark that could have given you the highest category pass.
Or avoiding asking the question, because of your assumption, meant you missed a crucial deadline!
As experienced tutors and assessors, we’ve seen all of the above and more, as a result of students making assumptions.
So, if you think you have a question, prepare it, and don’t be afraid to ask it. You can bet your bottom dollar it will help someone else too.
At the end of the day, what’s the point in learning how to ask effective questions 75% of the time, if you’re going to throw it all away by making assumptions the rest of the time?
Practice asking more questions to increase your confidence
I know, you could put this in the ‘chicken or egg’ basket. But as with so many other things in life, the more you practice, the better you get. I won’t say practice makes perfect, because perfection doesn’t exist.
However, it’s true that learning how to ask effective questions will increase your confidence.
So, start by following our first few tips, and then just go ahead, ask away!
Any professional and reputable tutor will encourage questioning in their class, as we do here in the Education and Training Academy. And you should never feel the way you did when you were younger if you were mocked or punished for asking the “wrong” question.
So, what do you have to lose?
Preparation and practice will bring confidence. Before you know it, you could be showing your peers how to ask effective questions!
Check your body language
The final tip we have if you want to gain the best from your learning environment and learn how to ask effective questions when you’re not confident, is to work on your body language.
We all know how much body language tells us about ourselves and how others perceive us in life. The same applies to you as a student – virtual or face to face.
If you allow yourself to sit hidden away in the corner, at the back of the classroom, and never take advantage of communicating with tutors and other students, you’ll miss out on so much of what the learning experience has to offer.
You might deliberately want to stay quiet and not draw attention to yourself.
We understand that.
Classrooms and lecture theatres can be overwhelming for some of you. But your tutor will immediately see the student who slouches, or keeps their head down meekly trying to avoid eye contact, and never asks or answers questions.
So, if you truly want to build your confidence as a student, and bring out the best in others too, practice developing a confident stance. Sit up straight. Aim for eye contact, which additionally helps to build trust. The more attention you pay to others and yourself, the more you will enjoy student life. And of course, this will develop outside the classroom too.
Learn how to ask effective questions, and much more, with the Education and Training Academy
At the Education and Training Academy, we cater to students of all ages, personalities, and backgrounds.
One thing that runs right through every course we deliver, though, is that we encourage every student to fully commit, so you will each gain the maximum benefit.
Feeling confident enough to ask questions as you progress through your course is a primary aspect of learning. So we hope you have found this article on how to ask effective questions useful. You will also hopefully see now that we are open to taking your questions, so please contact one of us here at the Education and Training Academy if you have any queries at all. | https://educationandtrainingacademy.co.uk/how-to-ask-effective-questions-when-youre-not-confident/ |
Even after obtaining what may be considered as ‘enough’ for personal fulfillment, many still feel a void inside them that yearns to be filled.
This is where the power of giving is then realized.
Anyone Can Give
Some people would be inclined to think that only those who are sufficiently endowed financially should give to charity. But one must always remember that giving starts form personal will or from the heart, a thing that every human being has no matter their financial or material standing. So long as whatever is given, whether a service or material gift, makes a positive impact and difference on the life of the recipient, then it qualifies to be a charitable gift. But it must be given unconditionally without any expectation of a reciprocal action from the receiver.
At the same time, you do not have to move far from where they are in order to find a worthy cause in which to exercise charity. Numerous statistics are produced each year that show various problems people face all over the world. These people are all around us. They are hardly a few meters away. For example, statistics show that one out of four people in the world are facing starvation. This means that starving people are just within our reach. What then prevents us from engaging in acts of charity?
Why Don’t Some People Give?
While a good number of people will give out selflessly despite their meagre capabilities, others who may even be more endowed do not give to charity. They claim that they first have to achieve substantially at a personal level before they can give to others. They seem to follow the idea developed in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In this, one rises through several levels of needs. After one need is fulfilled, then they move to the next level until they reach the peak in this pyramid of needs.
This kind of outlook would be too narrow to allow someone to give. This is because the complex nature of the human being forces us to seek for more, no matter what we may already have. As such, the urge to get more may never end. This is why some people never give to others. They do not realise that the path of self-fulfilment starts right at the bottom of the pyramid and that is where giving should start, not after you have fulfilled all of your possible personal needs.
The reason why some people do not give is because they act out of a consciousness of scarcity, they believe that they do not have it in them to give, that they have nothing of value to share with the rest of the world and that they have to be a certain type of person to give or that there is not enough to go around. All of this is far from the truth, anyone and everyone has something they can offer one another.
Giving Has Immense Personal Benefits
As stated earlier, giving does not necessarily mean giving out money or material items. People give not because they have but because they have that inherent urge to give. In fact, many well-known philanthropists did not start their charity work when they got rich. They probably didn’t know that they would become rich even when they started charitable work.
Even without any material gift to offer, sharing your ideas can have immense personal benefits. Ideas can transform others greatly. Many great things that have been achieved in the world emanated from simple ideas. The benefit of sharing your ideas is that the effect will somehow boomerang back to you. By listening to your own ideas repeatedly as you share with others, you may eventually be inclined to put them in practice yourself with wonderful results. You will be unlocking your own potential of self fulfilment. It may eventually seem like a miracle but that is how selfless giving works.
By giving out what you have without expecting anything in return, you start living a meaningful life. You get to realise your true calling in a life and world full of challenges. If you find meaning in the lives of those in need and do something about it, you will also find meaning in your own life. You find yourself in better health and peace and you achieve more happiness. That is the magic of selfless giving.
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” – Kahlil Gibran
Article By Joel Brown | Addicted2Success
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Success Advice
20 Ways You Can Become a Powerful Communicator
Some people seem to naturally know how to effectively communicate in a group setting. They can express themselves clearly and listen attentively without dominating the conversation.
Being a powerful communicator is important for several reasons, including building and maintaining relationships, achieving goals, resolving conflicts, improving productivity, leading and influencing others, advancing in your career, expressing yourself more confidently and authentically, and improving your mental and emotional well-being. Effective communication is an essential life skill that can benefit you in all aspects of your life.
1. Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.
2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.
3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.
4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.
5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.
6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.
7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.
8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.
9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.
10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.
11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.
12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.
13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.
14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.
15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.
16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.
17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.
18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.
19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.
20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can improve your communication skills and become a more powerful communicator, which can help you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
I you want to learn how to become more confident in life then you can join my weekly mentorship calls and 40+ online workshops at AweBliss.com so you can master your life with more success.
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The grieving process usually consists of the following stages. Note that not everyone goes through all these stages.
Denial and Shock: At first, it may be difficult for you to accept your own dying or the death of a loved one/classmate. As a result you will deny the reality of death. However, this denial will gradually diminish as you begin to express and share your feelings about death and dying with other students or friends.
Anger: During this stage the most common question asked is "why me?" You are angry at what you perceive to be the unfairness of death and you may project and displace your anger onto others. When given some social support and respect, you will eventually become less angry and able to move into the next stage of grieving.
Bargaining: Many students try to bargain with some sort of deity. They may offer to give up an enjoyable part of their lives in exchange for the return of health or the lost person.
Guilt: You may find yourself feeling guilty for things you did or didn't do prior to the loss. Forgive yourself. Accept your humanness.
Depression: Experiencing a sense of great loss. Mood fluctuations and feelings of isolation and withdrawal may follow. It takes time for the grieving student to gradually return to his or her old self and become socially involved again. Please note that encouragement and reassurance to the bereaved student will not be helpful in this stage.
Loneliness: As you go through changes in your social life because of the loss, you may feel lonely and afraid. The more you are able to reach out to others and make new friends, the more this feeling lessens.
Hope: Remembering becomes less painful and you can begin to look ahead to the future and more good times.
Show that you care. Listen attentively and show interest in what the grieving student has to say about his/her feelings and beliefs.
Share your feelings and talk about any similar experience you may have had. Avoid using the phrase "I know just how you feel."
If symptoms of depression are very severe or persistent and the grieving student is not coping with day-to-day activities encourage that student to get professional help. | http://uscta.wikidot.com/grieving |
Exploring College Student Anti-Citizenship Behavior: An Alternative Form of Classroom Misbehavior
As anyone who has taken a college course can attest, expectations exist for how students should talk and behave in the classroom. Whether stated in the course syllabus or relayed through day-to-day communication between instructors and students in the classroom, it is common for instructors to expect their students to participate in activities and contribute to discussion, ask appropriate and relevant questions, take notes and pay attention, complete assignments in a timely manner, and communicate in a respectful manner.
At the same time, instructors and students have expectations for how students should notcommunicate in the classroom, namely because these messages and behaviors can be destructive or disruptive to the classroom environment. This type of communication behavior is what my colleagues and I have recently termed studentanti-citizenship classroom behavior, which we consider to be the verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors in which students intentionally engage for a specific reason, regardless of whether it is articulated to their instructors or their classmates, that disrupt the flow or function of the learning environment.
What makes this behavior problematic is that any student in the learning environment can be affected by anti-citizenship classroom behavior—: the student who engages in this behavior, the student who witnesses this behavior, or the student who is the direct target of this behavior. Because of this, when any student engages in anti-citizenship classroom behavior, it somehow affects all students’ involvement in the instructional process.
To examine the influence of student anti-citizenship classroom behavior in the college classroom, in spring 2015, we conducted five focus groups composed of 47 undergraduate college students. We were interested in obtaining answers to two specific questions, the first of which inquired about the types of anti-citizenship classroom behavior college students report using. Our focus group participants reported using four general types of anti-citizenship classroom behavior, which we labeled as participatory, technological, physical, and etiquette.
- Participatory anti-citizenship classroom behaviorpertains to student attempts to contribute to class discussion, whether through making jokes and sarcastic remarks, dominating class discussion or avoiding class participation, or arguing with instructors.
- Technological anti-citizenship classroom behavior centers on student use of technological devices such as cell phones, iPads, or laptop computers for non-class purposesduring class time, leading students to listen or watch the activity for extended periods of time, sometimes unconsciously, rather than focus on class.
- Physical anti-citizenship classroom behavior refers to student movements that draw others’ attention away from class, such as students arriving late or leaving early while the class is in session, packing up belongings, or fidgeting and acting restless during class.
- Etiquette anti-citizenship classroom behavior encompasses student behavior that deviates from classroom norms and involves a lack of basic courteous behavior, such as having side conversations with each other, eating in class, reeking of alcohol or smoke, and littering.
Our second question asked about the reasons college students report engaging in anti-citizenship classroom behavior. Our focus group participants attributed their reasons for engaging in anti-citizenship behavior to both instructors and themselves.
- Instructor-attributed reasons focus on how the ways in which instructors communicate with their students contribute to student use of anti-citizenship behavior. These reasons include ineffective teaching style (e.g., presenting monotone lectures, reading directly from the textbook), followed by instructor unprofessionalism, poor classroom management, poor relationships with students, failure to challenge or engage students, and enforcement of mandatory attendance policies.
- Student-attributed reasons center on the feelings and attitudes participants hold about classroom instruction as well as their own behaviors. These reasons include course apathy, perception that the course is irrelevant, difficulties concentrating (e.g., having ADHD, struggling to focus throughout class), busy schedules (i.e., multitasking), and social reasons (i.e., social inclusion, attention seeking).
We also were interested in whether students considered the presence of anti-citizenship behavior to be detrimental to their learning, their motivation to study, and their satisfaction with communicating with their instructors. To explore this idea, we asked a group of 319 undergraduate students about this relationship. Indeed, we found when students perceive their classmates as engaging in participatory, technological, physical, or etiquette anti-citizenship behavior, they report reductions in their learning, motivation, and satisfaction.
From these findings, we offer four recommendations for classroom instructors. First, because not all students will consider the participatory, technological, physical, or etiquette behaviors to be detrimental to the instructional process, instructors should consider reviewing these types of anti-citizenship behavior with their students beginning on the first day of class and continuing well throughout the semester. By highlighting this behavior and reminding students about its disruptive nature, reducing the likelihood students will engage in this behavior is possible.
Second, because some students are more likely to engage in anti-citizenship behavior when they perceive their instructors as either lacking the basic pedagogical skills associated with teaching effectiveness or appearing uninterested in getting to know them on an interpersonal level, we propose instructors take a proactive stance toward reducing their students’ tendency to use anti-citizenship classroom behavior by managing their classrooms in a way that promotes student collaboration, facilitates the development of a supportive and connected classroom climate, and emphasizes a shared responsibility between themselves and their students.
Third, it is important to realize the presence of anti-citizenship classroom behavior negatively affects students’ academic performance and can work against instructors’ efforts to help their students to learn. When this behavior occurs, instructors should address it immediately by gently calling the misbehaving student’s attention to the behavior and calmly stating its use is distracting to their classroom learning.
Fourth, we recommend instructors pay attention to their own classroom misbehaviors. By doing so, instructors can prevent their students from becoming apathetic, viewing the course as irrelevant, or labeling the instructor as unprofessional, all of which are reasons that students engage in anti-citizenship classroom behavior. | https://www.natcom.org/communication-currents/exploring-college-student-anti-citizenship-behavior-alternative-form |
1. Physical Education and Sports Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. 2. Primary Health Centre in Peset-Hospital area, Valencia, Spain. 3. Physiology Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Figure 2. Scatter plot and linear regression for MIP and CMJ relative power (left: whole sample; right: considering gender).
Once verified large similarities in the influence of gender on jumping ability and inspiratory capacity in a group of active elderly (1), this section of the study aims to analyse the association between their Maximum Inspiratory Pressure (MIP), and their Height (H) and Relative Power (RP) (2) in a Countermovement Jump (CMJ). Whether these strength capacities evolve together or not with age, it is important for their preservation and improvement, and remains unknown. With this aim, 24 non-smokers healthy elderly (15 women: 71.44±4.31 years; 61.87±7.53 Kg; 1.54±0.05 cm and 9 men: 69.81±4.18 years; 80.67±9.12 Kg; 1.66±0.05 cm), undergoing a multicomponent exercise training program (MCTP), were assessed of body composition, blood pressure, MIP (3) and CMJ(4). The measurements were carried out for two days separated by one week. After testing for normality, Pearson correlation analysis were conducted, with and without the covariates age, gender, and age+gender. Scatter plot and linear regression where added considering the whole sample and selecting men and women separately. Cero Pearson's Coefficient showed a high correlation between both strength capacities, whatever the jumping variable (MIP-CMJH: r=0.711, p=0.000; MIP-CMJRP: r=0.716; p=0.000); an association which was slightly reduced when considering the covariate age (MIP-CMJH: r=0.647, p=0.001; MIP-CMJRP: r=0.616, p=0.002). However, the covariate gender reduced the correlation (MIP-CMJH: r=0.425, p=0.043) or even lost it when adjusting the performance to body composition (MIP-CMJRP: r=0.353, p=0.098). This gender influence was confirmed when controlling for both, age and gender together, since the correlation totally disappeared in both associations (MIP-CMJH: r=0.356, p=0.103; MIP-CMJRP: r=0.180, p=0.422). Important changes and the reduction in the linear regression (R2) also evidenced this large gender influence (Figures 1&2). According to our results, mainly gender explains that higher CMJ height or relative power does not involve higher inspiratory muscle strength in active and functionally trained elderly, although age must be also considered. In fact, MIP formulae already considered these two influences on inspiratory capacity (5). Lower limbs and inspiratory muscle strength seem to respond in a different manner to exercise training, since the MCTP was more neuromuscular than respiratory or metabolic. In conclusion, the improvement of lower limb functional capacities does not ensure the enhancement or even preservation of the inspiratory musculature, suggesting the inclusion of specific respiratory training exercises in MCTP, especially for older women. | http://www.physoc.org/proceedings/abstract/Proc%20Physiol%20Soc%2041PCB186 |
# Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, or DEXA) is a means of measuring bone mineral density (BMD) using spectral imaging. Two X-ray beams, with different energy levels, are aimed at the patient's bones. When soft tissue absorption is subtracted out, the bone mineral density (BMD) can be determined from the absorption of each beam by bone. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry is the most widely used and most thoroughly studied bone density measurement technology.
The DXA scan is typically used to diagnose and follow osteoporosis, as contrasted to the nuclear bone scan, which is sensitive to certain metabolic diseases of bones in which bones are attempting to heal from infections, fractures, or tumors. It is also sometimes used to assess body composition.
## Physics
Soft tissue and bone have different attenuation coefficients to X-rays. A single X-ray beam passing through the body will be attenuated by both soft tissue and bone, and it is not possible to determine, from a single beam, how much attenuation was attributable to the bone. However, the attenuation coefficients vary with the energy of the X-rays, and, crucially, the ratio of the attenuation coefficients also varies. DXA uses two energies of X-ray. The difference in total absorption between the two can be used, by suitable weighting, to subtract out the absorption by soft tissue, leaving just the absorption by bone, which is related to bone density.
One type of DXA scanner uses a cerium filter with a tube voltage of 80 kV, resulting in effective photon energies of about 40 and 70 keV. There is also a DXA scanner type using a samarium filter with a tube voltage of 100 kV, resulting in effective energies of 47 and 80 keV. Also, the tube voltage can be continuously switched between a low (for example 70 kV) and high (for example 140 kV) value in synchronism with the frequency of the electrical mains, resulting in effective energies alternating between 45 and 100 keV.
The combination of dual X-ray absorptiometry and laser uses the laser to measure the thickness of the region scanned, allowing for varying proportions of lean soft tissue and adipose tissue within the soft tissue to be controlled for and improving the accuracy.
## Bone density measurement
### Indications
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women over the age of 65 should get a DXA scan. The date at which men should be tested is uncertain but some sources recommend age 70. At risk women should consider getting a scan when their risk is equal to that of a normal 65-year-old woman.
A person's risk can be measured using the University of Sheffield's FRAX calculator, which includes many different clinical risk factors including prior fragility fracture, use of glucocorticoids, heavy smoking, excess alcohol intake, rheumatoid arthritis, history of parental hip fracture, chronic renal and liver disease, chronic respiratory disease, long-term use of phenobarbital or phenytoin, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and other risks.
### Scoring
The World Health Organization has defined the following categories based on bone density in white women:
Bone densities are often given to patients as a T score or a Z score. A T score tells the patient what their bone mineral density is in comparison to a young adult of the same gender with peak bone mineral density. A normal T score is -1.0 and above, low bone density is between -1.0 and -2.5, and osteoporosis is -2.5 and lower. A Z score is just a comparison of what a patient's bone mineral density is in comparison to the average bone mineral density of a male or female of their age and weight.
The WHO committee did not have enough data to create definitions for men or other ethnic groups.
Special considerations are involved in the use of DXA to assess bone mass in children. Specifically, comparing the bone mineral density of children to the reference data of adults (to calculate a T-score) will underestimate the BMD of children, because children have less bone mass than fully developed adults. This would lead to an over-diagnosis of osteopenia for children. To avoid an overestimation of bone mineral deficits, BMD scores are commonly compared to reference data for the same gender and age (by calculating a Z-score).
Also, there are other variables in addition to age that are suggested to confound the interpretation of BMD as measured by DXA. One important confounding variable is bone size. DXA has been shown to overestimate the bone mineral density of taller subjects and underestimate the bone mineral density of smaller subjects. This error is due to the way by which DXA calculates BMD. In DXA, bone mineral content (measured as the attenuation of the X-ray by the bones being scanned) is divided by the area (also measured by the machine) of the site being scanned.
Because DXA calculates BMD using area (aBMD: areal Bone Mineral Density), it is not an accurate measurement of true bone mineral density, which is mass divided by a volume. In order to distinguish DXA BMD from volumetric bone-mineral density, researchers sometimes refer to DXA BMD as an areal bone mineral density (aBMD). The confounding effect of differences in bone size is due to the missing depth value in the calculation of bone mineral density. Despite DXA technology's problems with estimating volume, it is still a fairly accurate measure of bone mineral content. Methods to correct for this shortcoming include the calculation of a volume that is approximated from the projected area measure by DXA. DXA BMD results adjusted in this manner are referred to as the bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) and are a ratio of the bone mineral content versus a cuboidal estimation of the volume of bone. Like the results for aBMD, BMAD results do not accurately represent true bone mineral density, since they use approximations of the bone's volume. BMAD is used primarily for research purposes and is not yet used in clinical settings.
Other imaging technologies such as quantitative computed tomography (QCT) are capable of measuring the bone's volume, and are, therefore, not susceptible to the confounding effect of bone-size in the way that DXA results are susceptible.
It is important for patients to get repeat BMD measurements done on the same machine each time, or at least a machine from the same manufacturer. Error between machines, or trying to convert measurements from one manufacturer's standard to another can introduce errors large enough to wipe out the sensitivity of the measurements.
DXA results need to be adjusted if the patient is taking strontium supplements.
DXA can also used to measure trabecular bone score.
### Current clinical practice in pediatrics
DXA is, by far, the most widely used technique for bone mineral density measurements, since it is considered to be cheap, accessible, easy to use, and able to provide an accurate estimation of bone mineral density in adults.
The official position of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) is that a patient may be tested for BMD if they have a condition that could precipitate bone loss, is going to be prescribed pharmaceuticals known to cause bone loss, or is being treated and needs to be monitored. The ISCD states that there is no clearly understood correlation between BMD and the risk of a child's sustaining a fracture; the diagnosis of osteoporosis in children cannot be made using the basis of a densitometry criteria. T-scores are prohibited with children and should not even appear on DXA reports. Thus, the WHO classification of osteoporosis and osteopenia in adults cannot be applied to children, but Z-scores can be used to assist diagnosis.
Some clinics may routinely carry out DXA scans on pediatric patients with conditions such as nutritional rickets, lupus, and Turner syndrome. DXA has been demonstrated to measure skeletal maturity and body fat composition and has been used to evaluate the effects of pharmaceutical therapy. It may also aid pediatricians in diagnosing and monitoring treatment of disorders of bone mass acquisition in childhood.
However, it seems that DXA is still in its early days in pediatrics, and there are widely acknowledged limitations and disadvantages with DXA. A view exists that DXA scans for diagnostic purposes should not even be performed outside specialist centers, and, if a scan is done outside one of these centers, it should not be interpreted without consultation with an expert in the field. Furthermore, most of the pharmaceuticals given to adults with low bone mass can be given to children only in strictly monitored clinical trials.
Whole-body calcium measured by DXA has been validated in adults using in-vivo neutron activation of total body calcium but this is not suitable for paediatric subjects and studies have been carried out on paediatric-sized animals.
## Body composition measurement
DXA scans can also be used to measure total body composition and fat content with a high degree of accuracy comparable to hydrostatic weighing with a few important caveats. From the DXA scans, a low resolution "fat shadow" image can also be generated, which gives an overall impression of fat distribution throughout the body It has been suggested that, while very accurately measuring minerals and lean soft tissue (LST), DXA may provide skewed results due to its method of indirectly calculating fat mass by subtracting it from the LST and/or body cell mass (BCM) that DXA actually measures.
DXA scans have been suggested as useful tools to diagnose conditions with an abnormal fat distribution, such as familial partial lipodystrophy. They are also used to assess adiposity in children, especially to conduct clinical research.
## Radiation exposure
DXA uses X-rays to measure bone mineral density. The radiation dose of current DEXA systems is small, as low as 0.001 mSv, much less than a standard chest or dental x-ray. However, the dose delivered by older DEXA radiation sources (that used radioisotopes rather than x-ray generators) could be as high as 35 mGy, considered a significant dose by radiological health standards.
## Regulation
### United States
The quality of DXA operators varies widely. DXA is not regulated like other radiation-based imaging techniques because of its low dosage. Each US state has a different policy as to what certifications are needed to operate a DXA machine. California, for example, requires coursework and a state-run test, whereas Maryland has no requirements for DXA technicians. Many states require a training course and certificate from the International Society of Clinical Densitometry (ISCD).
### Australia
In Australia, regulation differs according to the applicable state or territory. For example, in Victoria, an individual performing DXA scans is required to completed a recognised course in safe use of bone mineral densitometers. In NSW and QLD a DXA technician only requires prior study in science, nursing or other related undergraduate study. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees licensing of technicians, however, this is far from rigorous and regulation is non-existent. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-density_scanner |
Being overweight can impact on cholesterol and blood sugar levels increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The normal weight of a person is determined by the Body Mass Index (BMI). This method is widely used by doctors all over the world.
The BMI is calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the height in metres squared:
|Weight (in kg)|
|BMI =||---------------------|
|Height2(in metres)|
The result of the above depicted formula gives you the value of the BMI and its evaluation is the following:
|BMI evaluation|
|Between 18.5 & 24.9||Normal weight|
|Between 25 & 29.9||Slightly overweight|
|Between 30 & 40||Overweight.
|
Moderate cardiac risk.
|More than 40||Obese.
|
High cardiac risk.
|90kg||90kg|
|BMI||=||---------------------||=||---------------------||=||31.14|
|1.7m x 1.7m||2.87|
Example:
Suppose a person was 1.70 m high and weighed 90 kg. Her BMI would be:
According to the table above, this result shows the person to be overweight with a moderate cardiac risk.
The BMI, even if it is a useful tool to control your weight, it cannot predict the body composition of the person, but can offer a closer approach of their health status. Sometimes a person can lose weight, reducing the BMI but increasing the % of body fat. The calculation of the BMI together with the body composition will give a better approach of the health status of that person.
By means of the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). This technique is based on the fact that non fat human tissues contain water and therefore are good conductors of electricity. The fat tissues contain less water and conduct less electricity. We send a low energy and high frequency electrical current (50 Khz, 500 microampers) from one contact of the Health Kiosk unit going through the body of the user and we measure the loss of voltage (impedance) when arriving at the other contact. We know that there is a direct relationship between the impedance and the volume of the conductor, so we can estimate the amount of water in the body, of the non fat mass and finally of the body fat. The estimation of the body fat percentage is the result of applying several formulae combining the impedance with the weight and height as well as the indication of age and gender of the user.
To get the most accurate result when calculating the body fat percentage, it is advised to comply the following conditions:
It must be taken into account that the hydration of the user may be affected if he suffers from a disease, and therefore affect the result of the measurement.
In general, the value of the impedance increases when the user suffers from dehydration. Note also that when a person increases their weight after ingesting a lot of liquid, the impedance will decrease. The water and the electrolytes present in the human body act as conductors of a low current passing through the body. If this passage suffers any alteration, it will be reflected as variations of the impedance.
The observation of the conditions above is the only way to ensure an accurate result of the BIA, and that it will not be affected by the changes in the level of hydration of the person.
In normal conditions, the total amount of water in the body is 55-65% of their total weight, according to the physical condition of the person, their sex and their level of hydration. The BIA measuring method does not measure the percentage of water in the body, but this percentage affects the impedance and therefore the percentage of body fat can be determined.
When dieting the amount of calories is reduced, the human body tends to consume the calories accumulated in the muscles since the ones brought by the food are not enough. The result is a loss of muscular mass and of water, but not of fat mass. Therefore the percentage of body fat in respect of the total mass will increase. When this happens, the doctor will correct the habits of the patient so that the loss of mass is in the same proportion for all kinds of tissues. On top of the correct diet, he will surely recommend the patient to increase their physical exercise to stimulate the muscles and also to control the level of hydration. A periodical measurement of the body fat will help to minimise this effect.
The human body takes some time to get used to a new diet, so it is advisable to take a 2-3 week control period before confirming if there is a loss of muscular mass and/or hydration, as well as whether the fat mass decreases or not, before making any changes in the programmed diet.
The Health Kiosk not only measure the weight, height and blood pressure of the user but can also calculate the body mass index and estimate the body fat of the user. The references on the ticket will determine if any course of action is necessary.
If the measurements are made under the same circumstances (similar clothes, same time of the day, etc.) the evolution of the results will allow you to take the best decisions for your wellbeing.
|Normal Body Fat Index|
|Age||20 to 29||30 to 69|
|Male||14% to 20 %||17% to 23 %|
|Female||17% to 24 %||20% to 27 %|
Blood pressure is considered a good indicator of the condition of the cardiovascular system, because it is one of the physiological variables that can be measured with great convenience. A clinical history of the blood pressure readings has saved many people from a premature death by warning of hypertension with enough anticipation to carry out a treatment. The blood pressure is measured by two parameters:
Hypertension is a disease that has become more relevant in recent years, especially since statistics have proved the dramatic consequences of a continuous rise in blood pressure.
The measurement of the blood pressure is an extremely important element in the prevention and control of the hypertension.
A person is considered to suffer from hypertension when their blood pressure readings go over the limit of the normal values. Here are the recommended values and hypertension levels according to the World Health Organization:
|Classification of hypertension by blood pressure level in adults|
|Category||Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)||Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)|
|Optimal||less than 120||less than 80|
|Normal||less than 130||less than 85|
|High-normal||between 130 and 139||between 85 and 89|
|Hypertension grade 1 (mild)||between 140 and 159||between 90 and 99|
|Hypertension grade 2 (moderate)||between 160 and 179||between 100 and 109|
|Hypertension grade 3 (severe)||more than 180||more than 110|
Other: Other elements that have been related to hypertension are the stress, the kind of life, the kind of job, the professional status, the geographic altitude, the high consumption of alcohol, the composition of the water consumed daily, the noise in your environment, and some hereditary factors. | https://www.healthcheckservices.co.uk/faqs.php |
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Cite this
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2015.06.003
Final published version
Stefanie Devos
Liesbet De Wit
Ronald Buyl
Ives Hubloue
Isidoor Lauwaert
Karen Pien
Koen Simons
Koen Putman
Objective: Use of health care services and hospitalisation associated with traffic accidents impose an economic burden on society. This study analyses the determinants of hospitalisation and hospital costs associated with road traffic accidents in Belgium, using an emergency and hospital care dataset.
Participants: Traffic victims (N=4645) admitted to the emergency department of the university hospital Brussels.
Methods: A logistic regression analysis and a generalised linear model (GLM) were used to analyse the probability of hospitalisation and costs respectively, controlling for roadway user categories, demographic (gender, age, and individual socioeconomic status (SES)) and clinical (nature, location, and severity of injury) characteristics.
Results: 20.3% of the traffic victims who went to the emergency department were hospitalised. The probability of hospitalisation, controlled for confounding factors, was significantly higher in victims aged 0-16 years (OR 2.46 (95% CI 1.74-3.49)) and ≥60 years (OR 1.52 (95% CI 1.06-2.17)) compared to those in age category 30-44 years. Motorcyclists, controlled for demographic and clinical factors, were significantly less likely to be hospitalised compared to pedestrians (OR 0.61 (95% CI 0.39-0.94)). Fractures and internal injuries were associated with the highest probability to be hospitalised. The GLM-analyses revealed that, controlled for confounding factors, men, older age and low SES patients were associated with higher hospital costs. The median hospital cost was €3273 (IQR €1733 - €8891, 2011 euro price level) for inpatients.
Conclusion: In general, most of injury literature report ‘unit costs’ for fatally, severely and slightly injured traffic victims. This study demonstrates that other criteria such as traffic victim characteristics (gender, age, SES) and injury characteristics (nature, location, severity) need to be considered in order to give a more accurate picture of the probability of hospitalisation and associated medical costs.
Original language
English
Pages (from-to)
406-413
Journal
Journal of Transport & Health
Volume
2
Issue number
3
DOIs
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2015.06.003
Publication status
Published -
Sep 2015
ID: 7687121
Vrije Universiteit Brussel Research Portal
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all material is copyright © Vrije Universiteit Brussel. | https://cris.vub.be/en/publications/factors-influencing-hospital-admission-and-associated-hospital-costs-of-traffic-victims-admitted-to-an-emergency-department(e8006840-6bd3-430a-a641-21de0bcf29b9).html |
SAENZ MEDINA, J. et al. Relational database for urinary stone ambulatory consultation: Assessment of initial outcomes. Actas Urol Esp [online]. 2010, vol.34, n.5, pp.467-472. ISSN 0210-4806.
Objectives: To create a relational database for monitoring lithiasic patients. We describe the architectural details and the initial results of the statistical analysis. Methods and materials: Microsoft Accesss® 2002 was used as template. Four different tables were constructed to gather demographic data (table 1), clinical and laboratory findings (table 2), stone features(table 3) and therapeutic approach (table 4). For a reliability analysis of the database the number of correctly stored data was gathered. To evaluate the performance of the database, a prospective analysis was conducted, from May 2004 to August 2009, on 171 stone free patients after treatment (EWSL, surgery or medical) from a total of 511 patients stored in the database. Lithiasic status (stone free or stone relapse) was used as primary end point, while demographic factors (age, gender), lithiasic history, upper urinary tract alterations and characteristics of the stone (side, location, composition and size) were considered as predictive factors. An univariate analysis was conducted initially by chi square test and supplemented by Kaplan Meier estimates for time to stone recurrence. A multiple Cox proportional hazards regression model was generated to jointly assess the prognostic value of the demographyc factors and the predictive value of stones characteristics. Results: For the reliability analysis 22,084 data were available corresponding to 702 consultations on 511 patients. Analysis of data showed a recurrence rate of 85.4% (146/171, median time to recurrence 608 days, range 70-1758). In the univariate and multivariate analysis, none of the factors under consideration had a significant effect on recurrence rate (p=ns). Conclusions: The relational database is useful for monitoring patients with urolithiasis. It allows easy control and update, as well as data storage for later use. The analysis conducted for its evaluation showed no influence of demographyc factors and stone features on stone recurrence.
Palabras clave : Lithiasis; Prognostic factors; Multivariate analysis. | http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0210-48062010000500010&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en |
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