Check here regularly for InformationWeek’s updates on the coronavirus pandemic and related issues like business continuity, remote working, IT operational challenges and other technology considerations.
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June 2020
Tech Giants Back Off Selling Facial Recognition AI to Police
Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft have all taken steps to stop making their facial recognition AI software available to the police. Now it’s time for lawmakers to set some rules.
Should IT Professionals Retrain for a New Normal?
Tech workers coping with changing roles or a job loss due to the pandemic may have to realign their skillset to get back in the running.
Will Remote IT and Gig-based Teams Lead the Future of Work?
An assessment of projects managed by Gigster show increased interest among enterprises to use for-hire expertise.
IT Careers: Planning Your Future When the Future Is Uncertain
Increasing levels of economic uncertainty and fast-paced technology change mean IT professionals should look at their career paths differently.
Revisiting Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Best-of-class DR/BC plans cover both IT and the business. Unfortunately, in many companies, the emphasis for recovery is on the IT, and not on business operations.
10 Tips for Managing a Remote DevOps Team
The pandemic has many DevOps teams working from home. Here’s how to help your team succeed under what may be very different circumstances.
Exploring Edge Computing as a Complement to the Cloud
5G networks and the substantial shift to remote operations are making edge computing a new frontier for digital transformation in the enterprise.
How Cloud Is Enabling Autonomous Systems
The soft economy just gave cloud adoption a shove. Get ready for more autonomous IT resources.
Survey on Agile Hints at Further Acceleration Under COVID-19
Responses show increased adoption of the methodology across more tiers of their organizations and closer ties between business and IT.
How Atlassian IT Strategy Eased Crisis Management
Can strategy and IT budget planning help an organization weather a crisis like COVID-19? Here’s how it helped at Atlassian.
Data and Analytics Pros Navigate Job Market Changes
Data scientists, machine learning specialists and other data and analytics pros are seeing a changes to the job market in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. What will the lasting impacts be?
May 2020
IT Trade Shows Go Virtual: Your 2020 List of Events
Virtual IT events and trade shows are popping up everywhere this summer and fall. Even if your travel budget has been cut, you can still make it to these.
Why AI Ethics Is Even More Important Now
Contact-tracing apps are fueling more AI ethics discussions, particularly around privacy. The longer term challenge is approaching AI ethics holistically.
IT Careers: 10 Industries with Job Openings Right Now
As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy, many IT workers have experienced layoffs and unpaid furloughs. But not all the news is grim if you know where to look.
Back to the Office: Planning a Successful IT Transition
So many tech decisions were made on the fly to enable a remote workforce. Which will stick and which will be thrown out as enterprise offices start to reopen?
Cloud Strategies Aren’t Just About Digital Transformation Anymore
Cloud migrations are accelerating in the wake of the pandemic. The new normal is even more virtual.
How to Optimize Productivity in Fragmented Workplaces
With fast-changing markets, fragmented teams, and unprecedented business disruption, how can new work management approaches help leaders maintain productivity on the right work?
Will Contact-Tracing Apps Win the Battle?
There are weaknesses and obstacles in the way, but in lieu of a vaccine and widespread testing for COVID-19, contact-tracing apps might be at least a useful interim tactic.
Smoothing Out the Edges for Remote Digital Worker Experience
IT teams are facing a new normal with the shift to remote work. Here are some key steps they may not be considering (but should) to improve the digital experience.
10 Ways to Prepare Your IT Organization for the Next Crisis
Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic can help IT leaders and managers get ready for the next emergency.
IT Leadership in Education: Getting Online School Right
Even before so many schools across the country pivoted to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, some schools had already pioneered how to do it.
Are You Firing the Wrong People?
Organizations are reducing their workforces to reduce costs, but they may be sacrificing long-term stability for short-term savings.
IT Spending Forecast: Unfortunately, It’s Going to Hurt
Gartner is forecasting an IT spending decline of 8% in 2020 with devices as the hardest hit category. Public cloud spending, however, will rise.
Suddenly Remote: What the Open Source Community Can Teach Us
Many individuals prefer to collaborate in person. But as a community that has operated remotely since its inception, the open source world can teach us a thing or two to ease the transition.
Adapting Cloud Security and Data Management Under Quarantine
With remote operations in place, organizations face mixed IT environments that could raise new concerns as they maintain operations.
Security Mistakes Your Work from Home Employees are Making
The new WFH environment, schedule freedoms and distractions are causing many to slip up and put sensitive company data at risk.
COVID-19 IT Layoffs and the Future of Work
Layoffs hit technology jobs in April, too, as the COVID-19 shock wave whacked employment, and organizations may be accelerating their automation plans to protect workers and cut costs.
Evolving IT into a Remote Workforce
Is it possible to transition most IT staff members into a remote workforce? How would this impact IT organizations, and what would be the challenges?
Has AI Failed the Pandemic Test?
In the first real test of AI in a crisis, the results are mixed. While many individual applications are helping, the tech remains immature and unable to address complex public policy issues.
How CIOs Can Harness AI to Fight the Coronavirus
Government and healthcare CIOs are on the front lines of deploying technology to fight COVID-19. Here are five places where artificial intelligence can help.
IBM Think Digital Explores How Cloud Can Accelerate Agility
Opening sessions from the online conference offered insights on technologies that businesses might focus on to grow beyond the pandemic.
Enterprises Plan for Return to Workplace
Businesses are considering what the new normal workplace will look like, including social distancing, plexiglass, PPE and, in some cases, contact tracing tools.
Why Everyone’s Data and Analytics Strategy Just Blew Up
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting data and analytics strategies in profound ways. Experts explain what your company should be doing right now.
Managing FOMO While Working Remotely
Remote work and communication styles that arise with it will not disappear after the current pandemic concerns ease. Here’s how IT teams can play a vital role in managing this.
Don’t Forget the Human Side of Remote Working
One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is blindly following a prescriptive list of one-size-fits-all tips and solutions for remote work.
April 2020
Next Steps for Cloud Infrastructure Beyond the Pandemic
Organizations have long-term decisions, shaped by their responses to COVID-19, to make on cloud and digital transformation.
Welcome to the Era of Extreme Agile
Extreme circumstances necessitate extreme agility. Here’s how to weather the storm amid widespread, systemic change.
Putting Cloud Resources to Work On COVID-19 Research
A fund to support projects studying the virus offers to make cloud technology more accessible to the research teams that aim to turn the tide on the pandemic.
Apps That May Help Enterprises Get Through the Pandemic
With many organizations altering their operations in response to COVID-19, there are applications available that could aid in adapting to the current circumstances.
CFOs: COVID-19 Work-from-Home Plans May Be Permanent
When the crisis began, there was a scramble to move workers home. Now CFOs are considering making those positions permanently remote to help with cutting efforts.
Enterprise Risk Teams Tackle Coronavirus Troubles
Enterprise risk management teams are on the job evaluating supply chains, cybersecurity risks, remote work issues, and other challenges as business confronts the impacts and opportunities brought by COVID-19.
COBOL, COVID-19, and Coping with Legacy Tech Debt
Pressures from the pandemic expose risks of waiting too long to transform, get agile, and establish a path for scaling up.
Businesses Rewrite 2020 Budgets and Plans Amid COVID-19
A few new surveys of executives and business leaders provide some insight into shifting plans as industry weathers the coronavirus pandemic.
We Will Need All the Automation We Can Get
Once the pandemic is behind us, even greater employment demands lie ahead.
Analytics Pros Called to Duty in COVID-19 Crisis
Professionals who work in the field of analytics are being called on to apply their expertise as executives make decisions on how to respond to wildly different business conditions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
March 2020
Cloud Scalability Shows Its Worth in the Wake of COVID-19
Gartner discusses how organizations rely on the cloud infrastructure to keep up with their needs during the pandemic.
6 Areas of Focus to Rewire Your Company for Digital Transformation Success
The focus on technology to deliver business change means that IT departments today must be able to translate an enterprise’s transformation objectives into a roadmap for achieving those goals. (Network Computing)
Infrastructure Visibility Critical in the Cloud and On-Premises
Network infrastructure visibility can be elusive when you have apps and infrastructure spread across multiple cloud and data center properties. (Network Computing)
5 Things Companies Can Do (Right Now) to Secure Their Backups
Having policies and procedures in place that outline how your organization handles backups is crucially important, especially during a time of near-universal remote work. (Network Computing)
CompTIA Grants Extensions, Options for Certification Exams
At a time when many organizations have turned to remote operations, technology association CompTIA is finding ways to continue its training and certification programs.
Kaggle Competition Aims AI at COVID-19
A challenge on the data science community site Kaggle is asking great minds to apply machine learning to battle the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Supercomputers Recruited to Work on COVID-19 Research
A consortium forms to crunch data that might help researchers get a better understanding of the virus faster.
COVID-19: Using Data to Map Infections, Hospital Beds, and More
The spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and the resources to fight it, are being tracked and mapped by governments and other organizations in the US and the world. Here’s how they are doing it.
CIOs: Here’s How to Boost Your Business Model Resilience
This five-phase approach will help chief information officers and IT leaders maintain continuity of operations during the coronavirus outbreak — and other critical times.
How Startup Innovation Can Help Enterprises Face COVID-19
Disruptive ideas can give organizations ways to maintain operations in a time of quarantines and social distancing.
Pitfalls to Avoid in the COVID-19 Rush to Work from Home
As everybody rushes to set up workstations at home amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, there are some obstacles to avoid.
Cloud Security Planning in the Time of Social Distancing
With organizations compelled to push work out to remote, cloud security becomes a very tangible matter.
C-Suite Taps IT Leaders Amid Coronavirus Crisis
Businesses are confident overall in their ability to weather the storm caused by coronavirus COVID-19 disruptions, and technology is playing a strong role in the C-suite.
Developing a Continuity Plan for the Post-Coronavirus World
These baseline business continuity strategies will help ensure your organization is positioned to keep operations going even as the business environment is upended.
The Role of AI in the Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine
AI can spot patterns in data and make predictions, and the hope is these tools could identify drug prospects to test on humans within months.
Coronavirus: 8 Tech Tips for Working From Home
Here’s a collection of tools, technologies, and tips to help you out in case you need to telecommute during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Coronavirus Plan: How IT Can Enable Remote Work
Is your organization prepared to implement widespread remote work to protect employees against coronavirus? Here’s what you need to do.
February 2020
The 5G rollout is underway. How will this next-generation wireless technology impact you and your organization? (Network Computing)
Fighting the Coronavirus with Analytics and GIS
The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus a global emergency. Here’s how governments and the general public are using analytics to track the outbreak.
January 2020
How To Keep Your Privacy and Data Secure While Working With a Remote Team
Implementing basic strategies can ensure your remote team’s work will be secure, data will be protected, and you’ll be far less exposed to security risks. (Network Computing)
Other Informa Coverage
COVID-19: Latest Security News & Commentary
Check out Dark Reading’s updated, exclusive news and commentary surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
ITPro Today COVID-19 Outbreak and IT Coverage
Get enterprise news related to the COVID-19 outbreak and insights into how to maintain business continuity and address the many IT and productivity challenges brought on by a surge in remote working.
Cathleen Gagne is managing editor for InformationWeek. She’s an online content developer/editor for B2B technology websites and their specific audiences with experience spanning more than 20 years. She’s covered it all and enjoys learning about ever-emerging new … View Full Bio
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