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Scott Steinberg

Business strategist and award-winning speaker Scott Steinberg is also trend expert, futurist and author of 20 books, including Make Change Work for You.

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green tech improving business

Six ways green tech can benefit your business

  • Tech for good
  • min read
    • Two-thirds of customers place importance on a brand's sustainable or eco-friendly image. Buoyed by this growing consumer awareness, business investment in becoming more sustainable is at record highs. Staff are concerned too – 97 percent of executives say their company has been negatively affected by climate change. IT and enterprise leaders must get involved in this new age of corporate social responsibility (CSR.) But these new environmentally conscious ways of doing business can benefit your company in other ways. Here are six ways green tech is improving business while reducing its environmental footprint. 1.   Saving on energy bills Oxford Economics says data-driven tools like smart meters, smart plugs and self-regulating energy systems can cut energy costs by up to 5 percent. It may not sound like much, but will add up to billions by 2030, with the biggest savings likely in small-to-medium businesses. These smart solutions are an easy way for businesses to predict better, optimize and conserve energy, meaning cost savings while reducing climate impacts of energy production, which across the world, is still mostly done by burning fossil fuels. 2.   Gaining more organizational insight These smart devices don't just help save energy and resources. They give businesses improved insight into process efficiencies. There's been huge uptake of 'internet of things' (IoT) devices in industry and manufacturing, largely driven by their ability to predict maintenance needs, maximize productivity and reduce factory downtime. Over 55 billion devices will be connected and talking to one another by 2025, according to market researcher IDC. One example is modular house-building factories –robots are better than humans at arranging patterns to get the most cuts from a piece of wood. 3.   Improving employees' working lives According to international consulting firm McKinsey, remote, digital, and hybrid technologies will define the future of work. Many employers are using online tools to book on-demand flexible office space, vehicles and virtual desktops, cutting resource consumption and travel-related greenhouse gas emissions. Employees relish more opportunity to work flexibly, widespread since the pandemic – whether working from home or across hours that better suit family life. Commuting is no small contributor to climate change. In the US, 75 percent use driving as their main means of getting to work. 4.   Saving on carbon costs With many countries operating internal carbon markets, reducing carbon emissions can, on its own, reduce operating expenses. These schemes require companies to buy carbon credits for emissions they produce, while those that create carbon sinks, like forestry, can make money by selling credits. Renewable energy microgrids are one way to cut carbon emissions. Other companies are replacing fossil fuel-powered vehicle fleets with electric and hybrid vehicles. These can also have health benefits for staff through reduced air pollution, vibration and noise. 5.   Reducing eWaste Our growing mountains of electronic waste are not easy or cheap to recycle, but practice is improving. Green tech can also help here, like using cloud-based file storage and backups, where multiple businesses share the same IT infrastructure. (This, in turn, makes strong, automated cloud security indispensable.) Virtual desktops also mean you needn't constantly equip and re-equip staff with dedicated laptops and PCs, meaning less waste to landfill. Choose your data center wisely for minimum environmental impact – they can use much electricity and water, and create a lot of heat. Doing your research will reveal the most low-impact options, like using data centers in countries where most electricity is generated renewably. 6.   Increasing productivity One UCLA study found employees at companies that voluntarily adopt high environmental standards were 16 percent more productive than peers at less eco-friendly organizations. Reasons might include distance learning, telecommuting and real-time collaboration tech. Artificially-intelligent software personalities and automated helpers may also help employees work without needing to travel while taking over repetitive tasks that reduce focus. Green tech for business will mean many operational benefits alongside all-important protection for our resources, climate and atmosphere. Companies should aim to stay ahead of customers' expectations and move more quickly than regulation requires. The coming years will only bring more environmental scrutiny and awareness, so it will pay to invest in greener tech today.
cross cloud world

With complex data storage now the norm, how can business stay secure?

  • Safer business
  • min read
    • While firms in every line of business are planning increased cloud use, defending against the increased range of digital dangers needn't be time-consuming or expensive, even in a multicloud world. Almost nine in ten companies use multicloud – multiple cloud storage and processing providers – to power IT and store business-critical information. A whopping 80 percent use both public and private cloud. While these complex storage setups bring advantages, they make life harder for IT professionals. Recent Kaspersky research found IT complexity is becoming a top challenge for businesses, particularly securing these networked environments. How can leaders make sure it's all secure and manageable? Defending growing data worlds The number of employee and customer digital touchpoints that must be secured in the average enterprise is ballooning. Networks are getting more complex and the amount of data gathered skyrocketing. That data can be enormously valuable – if it doesn't get lost completely in the crowd of, well, more data. Meanwhile, high-severity cybersecurity incidents grew by half in just a year. Hackers keep finding new ways to breach defenses. "Cloud and online IT complexity expand each year as the magnitude of cyberthreats grow," Tim Rosato, head of trend forecasting firm Silver Lion Group, told me in a phone interview. "User accounts, information and logins are also traveling across more cloud networks, apps and virtual desktop environments." New solutions for multicloud enterprise This growing complexity has sent many companies the way of investing in automated endpoint detection and response (EDR) platforms. These proactively scan for and eliminate threats. They're also implementing more specialist security products for hybrid cloud with controls that let you centralize security. It's all about greater network visibility and faster threat response across online workloads, software development and third-party apps. "We live in a multicloud environment. Our research shows malicious actors can take advantage of any unprotected cloud, gaining unauthorized access to the whole infrastructure. New solutions can help protect assets and remediate different kinds of attacks", says Marc Rivero, senior security researcher at Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT.) New digital identity management tools also help identify and authenticate users as they travel across apps, networks and cloud providers. You'll also want to routinely scan code and applications, networked systems and connected devices for potential points of compromise, closing loopholes before they get used. Simple actions can also lower odds of compromise further, like adopting zero-trust security and multi-factor authentication. And you can't go past promoting security awareness regularly among staff, with training every three to six months. Back up data offline every 24 hours and test security teams' reaction times using exercises based on real-world cyber incidents. Data-mapping tools that track how information flows across your business, and which users have or control access to this data, can also strengthen your cloud defenses. They help you classify and cordon off data by sensitivity level, which may also be useful in regulatory compliance. Many clouds certainly don't make light work, but the growth of multicloud and hybrid cloud is here to stay. For enterprises, the challenge is making sure their security is up to scratch for this complex environment. The increasing adoption of solutions that use automation and AI, and those designed for convoluted cloud settings, show many are taking heed. But no matter how many clouds or endpoints, remember your people must be the heart of your cybersecurity strategy.
Designing professional development for Millennials and Gen Zers

For Millennials and Gen Z, today’s professional development needs work

  • Leadership
  • min read
    • The generations we call Millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012) now make up most of the global workforce. But despite their numbers, today's workplace may not meet their needs, because they're quitting jobs and hopping between positions in growing numbers. Those businesses that examine how they're retaining, developing and supporting these employees will have a chance to get ahead of their competition. There are signs information overload and mental fatigue are making us all gravitate to short-form content, but Millennials and Gen Z express this preference more strongly – they seem to learn, think and communicate differently from their predecessors. If companies want to boost their performance, organizational resilience and enterprise capabilities, they should redesign their professional development programs to engage these audiences better. Where professional learning is going wrong As a futurist keynote speaker and workshop presenter, I train thousands of professionals on how to adapt to industry change and emerging technologies. I need to bring audiences up to speed and inspire enthusiasm within minutes. But I find IT learning and professional development methods are still tied up in rigorous training programs and demanding certifications that take weeks or months to unpack. In the age of Zoom fatigue, things are going in the wrong direction. I've seen a steady increase in the average length of training I'm asked to give, from under an hour to 90−180 minutes. "Today's IT and security pros need to get up to speed on a rising array of breaking trends, technologies and topics in less time than ever," David Thomas, executive director of online programming at University of Denver, told me. "At the same time, they're pulled in more directions and their concentration is becoming more divided." Microlearning as an addition to traditional learning Experts suggest offering a broader range of learning approaches and educational solutions can help fill the gaps around extensive teaching and training programs. Microlearning especially is gaining ground. This rapid-fire approach to learning means breaking content into shorter, more approachable chunks. It helps promote interest in new topics and gets learners up to speed faster. In a 2018 paper, researchers Ján Skalka and Martin Drlík reported that microlearning, in tandem with more comprehensive training methods like coursework and certification programs, helps offset the impact of decreasing attention. It gives a speedy onramp for tech-related topics, reducing the learning curve, driving interest and boosting learning. Tatyana Shumaylova, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Kaspersky says get-to-the-point, bite-sized learning is central to their cyber education program Automated Security Awareness Platform (ASAP). "We understand that maximum engagement is key to learning, so we put that at the heart of our educational approach. For Millennials and Gen Z in particular, the 'old ways' are ineffective, so we trimmed the fat, banished waffle and keep our modules sharp, interactive and impactful." Greater loyalty to businesses that value learning Researchers at Florida International University found leaders and employees admit there's an issue with maintaining attention spans. They also found young audiences can maintain intense focus but are easily distracted. The research found these younger professionals are "most engaged when working on projects that are rewarding and impactful" and when they're doing "meaningful work and being challenged." These generations also actively look for jobs with more development opportunities and are more loyal if they receive continuing education. Companies must adapt development and training programs to short attention spans to engage and retain them. A Millennial herself, Taylor Tresatti, head of industry research for BIZDEV: The International Association for Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, told me she'd found learning and experiential opportunities promised but not delivered many times in her career. So she changed job roles and positions to get them: "As an employee, you have to gain working knowledge of new tools, technologies and trends quickly, without active training or certification from your employer. It would be super helpful to have access to faster and easier ways to master new skills." Investing in tech-rich learning experiences In their 2020 paper Educational experiences with Generation Z, three researchers said younger generations motivate companies to "accelerate and improve the teaching and learning process." This means investing in more technology-powered resources for new ways of teaching and learning, and finding more effective ways to capture and hold audiences' attention. Chris Zimmerman, senior analyst with trend forecasters FutureProof Strategies, told me, "There's a time and place for traditional learning methods and deeper dives. But your first goal in an increasingly frenetic business world should be to pique audience interest. That means looking for ways to present learning material that breaks through daily clutter better. It also means finding better ways to package and present material that bestows working knowledge faster." How to make learning more engaging I recently developed a new training method called POP FUTURE – you can download the instruction manual and guide for free. It's a faster, friendlier way to present learning content, putting future trends, new technologies and emerging business topics in a more intuitive and welcoming context that audiences of more backgrounds and skill levels can understand. My methods include reducing training manuals, workplace guides and reports to quick-hit videos, animated explainers or brief charts, illustrations and infographics. Effective teaching can also include games, exercises and simulations based on real-world challenges, like role-playing strategies for addressing network hacks or data breaches. I also recommend using animated GIFs, eye-catching explainers and graphs, and other social media-friendly content to make simple, understandable visual representations of complex subjects. Developing tomorrow's leaders Millennials and Gen Zers are quick learners, hungry for insight. In a world of shrinking employment tenures, they weigh learning and development opportunities highly when considering jobs. When unforeseen challenges emerge, these audiences won't have the time for traditional learning programs or in-depth curriculums. Supplementing your learning and development regimen with more short-form and microlearning-based content will give your workforce access to more approachable, on-demand learning and speak to more knowledge-hungry employees.
by Innovating leaders.
Innovative tech.
About Secure Futures

Secure Futures magazine is your go-to business guide for opinions, trends and insight into the world of technology and cybersecurity. We help your business to bring on the future. Brought to you by Kaspersky, the global cybersecurity experts.

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