Ottawa — August 13, 2018
Given the plethora of available news, ICTC is starting a weekly news publication entitled “Digital Pulse” with the aim of providing our community with a weekly synopsis of carefully curated news items of interest on Tech Innovation, Competition, Digital Transformation, Talent & Capacity building, and Digital Policy.
ICTC will also be providing in the next couple of weeks expert commentary on the specific news as further insights on research, programs, and policy developments nationally and internationally.
Here is the first edition of ICTC Digital Pulse:
FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE TO BE USED DURING 2020 OLYMPICS
On Tuesday, August 7, CBC reported that the 2020 Olympic in Japan will use facial recognition (FR) technology for security. This kind of technology is still fairly controversial in term of privacy and efficiency, the latest example is Canadian owned Cadillac Fairview got caught using FR tracking software in its mall kiosks without shoppers knowledge. The technology that will be used for Japan Olympic, NeoFace, will be customized for monitoring athletes, officials, staff and media, etc. The organizer hopes that using FR will help increase security for the Games and relief some stress about safety for the attendees.
A NEW WAY TO TACKLE TECH BRAIN-DRAIN?
An article on Financial Post pointed out about two-thirds of software engineering students from Canada universities leave for opportunities aboard, mainly the United States. The graduates largely benefit from an education heavily subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, for about $20,000 for each student, per year. The idea is that having an incentive of forgiving student debts, fully or partially, in exchange for remaining in Canada. Or another way would be having U.S. based tech companies who recruit from Canadian Universities to pay a buy-out fee. This would make recruiting from Canadian talent pool less economically attractive for the U.S. companies, which leads to students more likely to stay North, or it will encourage the businesses to establish Canadian presence to capitalize on Canadian talent pool.
ADVOCATES WANT THE TECH INDUSTRY TO STOP USING ADDICTIVE PRACTICES TOWARDS CHILDREN
On Wednesday, CTV News released an article about a campaign asking American Psychological Association to criticize tech company’s psychological techniques of keeping kids hooked to their mobile devices. The group of 60 U.S. psychologists, researchers, and children advocates cited a research that links the unbalanced use of social media and video games with depression and academic underperformance. This news was reported around the same time as mobile device makers started to introduce measures for users to control their own using habits. Google latest Android 9 update includes the “Digital Wellbeing” feature that you can use to time your usage on an app or a device.
HEAVY LIFTING DRONE GOT APPROVAL FROM TRANSPORT CANADA
IT World Canada reported a drone that can lift up to 25 lbs for a 60-km distance will begin to be tested in Canada. Drone Delivery Canada DDC) announced that they have got the licence to test their new Robin X1400 heavy lifting drone. DDC is the first company to test beyond the visible line of sight flight in Canada. It is a welcomed news for delivering businesses such as Amazon who are looking to expand their methods of delivery.