Digital twins, future of work and happy international Women's day
Kia ora koutou IT Professionals members and supporters and happy international women’s day! This week - wow what a week. That TV3 bombshell to digest and now the TVNZ news one, people have said to me they don’t watch TV news so what does it matter but the reality is we consume this news via so many other sources, it’s local, and for the most part investigative in nature.
Earlier in the week I held a Fireside Chat webinar with the wonderful Emily Blythe, we discussed her success as an entrepreneur, lessons learned starting your first company while at high school, winning that Kiwibank Entrepreneur of the year award, what makes a great mentor and many other topics. Emily was really open and generous with her time and advice so I hope you can all spare 30 minutes to watch / listen and learn from her experiences and advice. A wonderful wāhine our industry should be so very proud of.
Today I am in sunny Auckland meeting with partners to discuss how we - as an industry - can reduce our fragmentation and coordinate our efforts, find alignment and create more cohesive action for our fabulous industry.
On that note I’ve continued on my STEM / STEAM theme this week and took some time out to read the BIMs (briefing for incoming Ministers) of MBIE, DIA / GCDO, TEC and MoE to see what government officials briefed Ministers with regarding the skills and talent we will need for the future of work. It was slim pickings with MBIE saying the most and MoE saying nothing. Please read my latest blog on this and start thinking about my call to action question - Is it time for a national conversation? As I mentioned above we as an industry need to come together to help solve these challenges, are you up for it?
Finally from me, I also met with the team from ENGclusion this week, an awesome research project on experiences during your first 5 years in the workforce through a gender lens. “We are on a mission to bring knowledge to the engineering industry that can improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Despite the recent push to increase diversity, engineering jobs remain dominated by White men. Our goal is to investigate how we can retain historically excluded groups in engineering.” I am sooooo looking forward to their research findings so we can all learn from these experiences.
Are we using AI yet?
During February we ran a survey asking you whether we are using AI yet? Here is what we learned in brief:
- A massive 89% of us have used ChatGPT 3.0, 60% ChatGPT 4
- 51% have used BING AI / BING Chat
- 41% Microsoft CoPilot
- And 37.5% Google Bard (this survey was out days before Gemini was released)
It is also worth noting you also used a long list of other products I will cover in a future post.
For those who aren’t using AI tools for work yet 70% said they intend to start in 2024. Meanwhile:
- 50% of us are still using free versions
- 76% are using these tools for productivity gains in their current role and 67% have found these tools increased productivity
- 60% of us are using AI tools to improve their writing / copy
- 55% to improve quality
- 47% to improve communications
- 64% of our workplaces have an AI use policy
Blogs this week
Peter’s editorial this week - Bright spots amidst the gloom of layoffs and budget cuts - talks about the global geopolitical situation influencing our economy, and those of our trading partners, especially the impact of China’s slow down. He balances this with highlighting the good stuff happening and the opportunities ahead of us. Great post.
Salesforce opens Auckland office, needs 10,000 additional people certified in it’s tech stack - is a good news story from Peter. Some staggering growth numbers from Salesforce in there “1,200 customers in New Zealand, including 140 non profits, and 57 partners. Salesforce seen a 24% growth in its New Zealand partner ecosystem over the past two years. NZ partners have grown their Salesforce Certified Individuals by 49% and Credentials by 50% over the past two years.”
Google’s Gemini showcases more powerful technology, but we’re still not close to superhuman AI - is our guest blog this week. This post explains artificial general intelligence, talks about the risks of AGI and what the introduction of Gemini means for those of us who use Google’s products.
Brendan was inspired by the launch of the Methane-hunting satellite MethaneSAT. Isn’t it fantastic what technology can be developed to achieve in such a targeted way. Cartoon, MethaneSAT Blast Off.
Tech news in brief
Tech Talk - Digital Twins
Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical entities, like a machine, building, or even an entire city. Imagine a complex engine in a factory. Its digital twin would be a computer program that mirrors the engine in real-time, capturing data on performance, temperature, and vibrations. This data can then be analyzed to predict potential issues before they occur, optimize maintenance schedules, and even simulate different scenarios to improve efficiency.
There are loads of benefits - they allow for proactive maintenance, preventing costly downtime and extending the lifespan of physical assets. They can also be used to optimize processes, identify bottlenecks, and test new configurations in a safe virtual environment. Additionally, digital twins can be incredibly valuable for training purposes, allowing users to practice complex procedures on a virtual replica before interacting with the real system.
But there are also challenges with them - Creating and maintaining an accurate digital model requires a significant investment of time, resources, and expertise. Success hinges on the quality and real-time nature of the data it receives from sensors attached to the physical object. There are also security concerns, as these digital replicas can be vulnerable to cyberattacks that could disrupt operations or even manipulate data.
Finally
A reminder I have two more fabulous wāhine joining me for Fireside Chats in the coming weeks - I do hope you can join me:
Checkout our many other events coming up here.
New podcasts coming over the next few weeks and I should be able to talk about our national conference later in the year next week and more strategic partnerships to bring you additional professional development opportunities too. Lots happening in the world of digital technology in little old Aotearoa NZ.
Must say Tāmaki Makaurau is buzzing. Noho ora mai, look after yourself, Vic
