Category Archives: Office/ Technology/ E-Commerce

Colin Ahern has been appointed as the state’s first-ever chief cyber officer. 

A leading expert in cybersecurity, cyber resilience, and intelligence, Ahern will lead cross-agency efforts to protect New York state from increasingly prevalent and sophisticated cyber threats—working to ensure the security and cyber resilience of the State’s information assets and critical infrastructure and integrity of the state’s information assets.

“New York State is taking an aggressive, nation-leading approach to transforming our cybersecurity infrastructure to combat emerging threats and fortify our information assets,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “I am thrilled to appoint Colin Ahern as New York state’s first ever chief cyber officer. In an era of increasingly advanced cyber threats, Colin’s proven expertise and experience in the military, the private sector, and government will be critical to identifying cyber risks, enhancing our defense systems, preventing attacks, and ensuring that New Yorkers and our institutions remain protected.” 

Ahern will oversee all cyber threat assessment, mitigation, and response efforts—working with executive management at every state agency to manage cyber risks and prevent attacks. Ahern will also lead the recently-announced Joint Security Operations Center—a nation-leading, first-of-its-kind hub for cyber threat detection and incident response. Formed by Governor Hochul in February, JSOC will be critical to cyber threat information sharing—effectively linking New York state, New York City, local and regional governments, critical infrastructure stakeholders, and federal partners.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve New Yorkers and work with Gov. Hochul and her team to continue to build and enhance our statewide cybersecurity infrastructure,” Ahern said. “This administration is committed to leading the nation on cybersecurity, and I am so excited to join the front lines of that effort.” 

U.S. employees have high expectations for green office spaces and expect more eco-friendly practices from their employers, according to new research released by hygiene and health company, Essity, which has nearly 350 workers  at its paper mill in South Glens Falls, its converting facility in Greenwich and its distribution center in Saratoga. 

The company recently conducted a survey of employees who have returned to the office at least part-time since COVID-19 and found that the majority of employees (75 percent) say they want a more environmentally-friendly office.  

The research also found that those surveyed have become markedly “greener” than before the pandemic began. Just over half of employees working from an office (51 percent) say they became more eco-conscious while working from home during lockdown periods. 

Another 46 percent say they feel more aware of how ‘green’ their workplace is then when they worked in the pre-pandemic office.  In fact, more than half (58 percent) feel their office is ‘shamefully eco-unfriendly’, with one-third (34 percent) believing the introduction of eco-friendly practices within their workplace is usually an afterthought.  

“Working from home and in their personal spaces during the pandemic increased employees’ attention on what it takes to create environmentally friendly workplaces and employers should take note – especially those looking to retain and attract talent in this market,” said Don Lewis, president of Essity’s professional hygiene business. “Our research shows that as many as four in ten employees prioritize companies based on their sustainability reputation and actions when looking for a new job. Increasing eco-friendly priorities in the workplace and empowering employees can create a greener office while helping drive employee engagement.”  

The Essity survey found that a majority of employees working in the office (71 percent) feel it is essentially the employees themselves who are leading the charge to make sustainable changes in the workplace rather than management. Over half of employees (51 percent) believe their employers need to better communicate the ways they intend to address sustainability in the workplace. 

The state Public Service Commission released a first-of-its-kind, interactive broadband map to provide the most detailed depiction of broadband infrastructure in New York to date. 

The map, along with an accompanying report, is the result of months of field assessments conducted by the commission in the state’s most remote areas, covering more than 80,000 miles. In order to collect accurate data, the commission collaborated with 60 internet service providers and surveyed tens of thousands of New York consumers.

“High-speed internet is more essential than ever to access the basic services and information that we use in our daily lives,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “With this mapping in hand, we can see where to direct state and federal broadband funding to connect unserved and underserved areas. This address-specific tool is one we can wield to provide a more accurate depiction of connectivity needs in areas that have been disconnected for far too long.”

Prior to the map’s creation, New York, like most states, relied in part on federal data that only required broadband providers to deliver service to one address in a census block to designate the entire area as served. Officials said by collecting address-level data, New York is now able to depict what locations are served, underserved, and unserved in a more granular way, which will aid in allocating state and federal funding.

To support local efforts to expand affordable and reliable broadband, ConnectALL, housed within Empire State Development, will establish and administer grant programs at the state and federal level to provide funding to plan, engineer, and construct accessible broadband infrastructure. ESD will be the statewide lead for connectivity and coordinating with other state agencies, municipalities and a diverse array of stakeholders in every corner of New York. 

Officials said these efforts will ensure that funding is directed where it is most needed and that every community has the support and resources it needs to connect.

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.