Category Archives: Office/ Technology/ E-Commerce

SUNY Adirondack and SaratogaCanCode have joined  forces to offer free computer coding education and training programs to serve unemployed and underemployed New York residents.

Funded through a state Department of Labor grant, the partnership will enable coding instruction in two popular courses—Front End Web Development and Python for Data Analytic —to serve up to 45 people starting Nov. 8.

SUNY Adirondack’s Workforce Readiness Academies Program (WRAP) provides free training opportunities for residents of New York state. Included in the program are customized services based on participant need, such as career coaching, academic advising, job-search skills, and accessing resources such as emergency child care and technology support.

The 12-week computer coding programs are offered virtually through SaratogaCanCode, which is part of CanCode Communities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a trained software workforce throughout upstate New York and beyond.

“We’re seeing such success with the summer cohort of students who are about to finish their IT boot camp training,” said Caelynn Prylo, Assistant Dean for Continuing Education and Workforce Innovation at SUNY Adirondack. “This program is truly transformational for the participants. With the workforce changes we’ve seen over the past year, more people than ever can benefit from this high-impact training program, expanding their skills and securing employment in a high-demand field and strengthen our region’s pool of trained, talented tech professionals.”

BankWise Technology has introduced Happy Banker, a software solution for banks and credit for use with their core processing system and their daily banking operations.

These modules help banks leverage and enhance their core system for certain tasks and can save them time and money, the company said.

BankWise Technology is headquartered in Saratoga Springs.

Happy Banker is a suite of modules that seamlessly integrate with a bank’s core operating system to assist in streamlining certain daily compliance and operational tasks. The modules are “plug n play” and can be combined or used individually.

Currently there are four modules: customer verify, high risk customer monitor, debit card dispute case management and overdraft review. Banks and credit unions must adhere to a strict set of regulations to maintain the safety and integrity of their customers and their bank in a rapidly changing environment. These modules help banks manage certain tasks in operational areas, like deposit operations and compliance, thereby increasing efficiencies and improved customer service.

Happy Banker also offers a variety of hosting options. Banks can host the software on their own server, in the cloud or on BankWise Technology’s secure cloud platform.

To mark National Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, NBT Bank has published a series of cybersecurity webinars addressing the trends and concerns businesses should be aware of.

These on-demand webinars were exclusive to NBT Bank partners and customers until now.

“With the dramatic shift to more people working remotely, this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month is more important to consumers and businesses than ever before,” said Terra Carnrike-Granata, senior vice president, director of information security at NBT Bank.

“While we provide our individual and business customers with robust fraud prevention tools and information, we felt there was an urgent need to get this information out to all members of our community to help them understand how to better protect themselves from cybercrime.”

Higher education institutions are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence as a helping hand in major decisions like admissions and counseling, but AI is still serving as an assistant, not a full-time employee.

The promise of AI in higher education is that it can help administrators make smarter decisions through its ability to quickly scan large amounts of data for relevant markers. While seeking to retain more students in light of the coronavirus pandemic and to find new students in a diminishing pool of prospects, higher education institutions are using AI to save time, freeing humans up to do work that requires critical thinking or face-to-face interaction.

SUNY Empire State College, which was founded on an online, distance-learning model, historically received more than 110,000 calls a year from students seeking answers on topics like financial aid or admissions. The university, where the majority of learners are between 25 and 49, first adopted an online chat feature in 2019.

That online chat system was updated to an AI-powered chatbot this year, named “Blue” after the college’s bird mascot. Since last year, officials said call center volume is down about 30 percent, said Mary Austin, director of the university’s student information center, while the number of inquires through online chat has skyrocketed.

Since students seem to be engaging more with the updated chatbot, that frees up staff to make big-picture decisions about what information the university is offering on other platforms. If there are multiple questions about an aspect of financial aid recorded through the chatbot, for example, that can be addressed through updating the website with some more information or a video, Austin said.