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Over 2850 people supported by eye health education and vision screening delivered by Villa Vision
“Aston University and Aston Villa Foundation have a strong social purpose and the successful delivery of Villa Vision in our local schools demonstrates this perfectly. Eyesight problems shouldn’t hold any child back.” Jack Dromey, MP for Birmingham, Erdington The Villa Vision initiative is raising awareness of the importance of eye health to children in schools and individuals in local community setting It is a joint project between the Aston Villa Foundation, Aston University’s Optometry School and optical lens supplier Essilor Vision for Life Jack Dromey, MP for Birmingham Erdington, visited Aston University campus to learn more about it Jack Dromey, MP for Birmingham Erdington, visited Aston University campus on Friday July 23 to learn about a unique initiative to deliver good eye health to communities in Birmingham. Villa Vision, a joint project between the Aston Villa Foundation, Aston University’s Optometry School and optical lens supplier Essilor Vision for Life, aims to benefit the local community through the provision of free eye care and to raise awareness of the importance of eye care for all. Pupils from the poorest backgrounds are more likely to suffer from uncorrected vision problems. Left untreated, vision problems may result in the need for more learning support at school and can lead to health and vision consequences in later life. Aston University worked alongside the Aston Villa Foundation and Citizens UK to listen to the local community, which identified that children and adults in the local area face a number of challenges when it comes to accessing eye care, including a lack of parental support, awareness, accessibility, language barriers and a misconception about cost. In addition, it has been shown that children from less affluent areas are nearly 30% less likely to have an eye test than children from more affluent areas, with this number significantly increasing among adults. Funded by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the project is designed to fill a crucial lack of knowledge surrounding the importance of having an eye test and how preventative measures can ensure, among a host of benefits, a lifetime of good vision. The Villa Vision team is delivering a programme of eye-health awareness lessons in the classroom, as well as free vision and colour vision screening, followed by a more comprehensive eye test and free glasses to those children who require them, using a fully operational custom-designed mobile eye care unit. So far, the initiative has engaged with over 1750 local children and adults through classroom workshops and have vision and colour vision screened around 1100 local primary aged children. Jack Dromey, MP for Birmingham, Erdington, said: “Aston University and Aston Villa Foundation have a strong social purpose and the successful delivery of Villa Vision in our local schools demonstrates this perfectly. Eyesight problems shouldn’t hold any child back.” “Poor vision can often go unnoticed, particularly amongst children so Villa Vision will provide the opportunity for children to have a free vision screening check at school. In addition to this, for those children requiring further investigation the initiative will also provide a full eye examination and glasses if required for free using a fully equipped mobile eyecare unit.” Nikhil Sonpal, Villa Vision project manager and optometrist said: “Children may not always recognise whether there is something wrong with their vision and it is particularly damaging if vision problems go undetected. “We understand that, particularly in more deprived communities, many children and adults may face a number of significant challenges and barriers when it comes to accessing eye care services,” Mr Sonpal added. Dr Angela Jeffery, director of regional strategy at Aston University, said: “Engaging with communities on Villa Vision has provided insights into the challenges local people face and helped to shape Aston University’s Civic Agreement.” “Our approach to public engagement draws on innovative community-facing activities across the University and we are constantly developing new and exciting ways of engaging with the public and look to the diverse communities around us to contribute, collaborate and coproduce initiatives with us.” Professor Leon Davies, professor of optometry and physiological optics and head of the School of Optometry at Aston University said: “We are delighted to be working with Aston Villa and Essilor to share our clinical and research expertise in providing evidence-based eye care. “Designed for our region, Villa Vision will benefit our local community through the provision of free eye care and by raising awareness of the importance of eye health for all.”
Eliminating The Barriers To Telehealth & Patient Retention
During the ongoing national pandemic, healthcare is in a period of rapid evolution, bringing telehealth to the forefront of patient care. Telehealth is a proven strategy to improve health outcomes, but it’s gated behind socioeconomic privilege and leaves behind many of our community’s most vulnerable patients. One such disparity is the inability of many Americans to access digital health care. This silent epidemic affects lives daily. Many patients, especially those in rural communities, face obstacles when trying to get the care they need. From access to reliable transportation and affordable child care to financial instability and lack of culturally competent providers, there is no shortage of hurdles standing in the way of disadvantaged populations accessing quality care. Well-implemented telehealth services can offer a clear path through these common barriers to care while improving health outcomes and boosting patient retention. “We know that mobile health intervention is an effective tool for retaining patients in care, but it’s only as effective as it is accessible,” said Richard Walsh, our CEO. “It would be negligent to assume that every individual has access to the devices, internet, or knowledge necessary to engage in telemedicine.” Like other leaders in the industry, we know telehealth is a privilege, but at Continuud, we believe it should be a right.” As Nathan Walsh, our CXO, said, “During a public health crisis such as this, we have to be proactive in ensuring that underserved communities have access to the care that they need in every way possible.” Through our research and conversations with community health leaders, we have identified 4 common barriers to telehealth success: access to video-ready phones or tablets, access to a reliable & affordable internet connection, an understanding of how to use the device to access services, and trust in technology being used for health services. Our solution is to create a platform that not only solves these problems but also enhances the patient experience and drives the best possible outcome of telehealth intervention. Our platform, Access, provides 8-inch tablets with an unlimited data connection to patients. Each device ships with a secured environment and limited functionality customized by the health care provider to include the tools that patients need to access care. We have created a simple deployment and warehousing solution to make it easy for organizations to get started quickly. Our end-to-end deployment and recall services handle every aspect of the platform so organizations can remain focused on serving their patients. The platform supports patient-by-patient interface customizations, so each patient’s experience is tailored to their unique treatment plan. We have device insurance and same-day replacement built into the program to account for loss, theft, and damaged devices, so organizations will always have access to the inventory they need to serve their clients. At Continuud, we offer an integrated ecosystem designed from the ground up to enable health care providers to work more efficiently toward a common goal of driving positive health outcomes in their communities. Continuud is known throughout Indiana for our innovative approach to connecting high-risk populations to care and implementing strategic technology to help retain and learn from patients so providers can evolve with the needs of their patients. To learn more about our platform, click here to visit our homepage. If you would like to schedule a demo with our team to talk about the platform in greater detail, click here.
On January 06, America watched with shock as a mob of protesters stormed the gates in Washington, D.C. and invaded the Capitol buildings. For hours, the rioters looted and occupied America’s halls of power and though some were apprehended, many found a way to get out and get back home avoiding arrest. However, media coverage was substantial and some of the protesters were even bold enough to be caught posing for social media. Slowly, authorities are tracking them down, and Dr. Derek Riley, an expert at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in the areas of computer science and deep learning, has been explaining how artificial intelligence (AI) technology that’s taught at MSOE is capable of enabling law enforcement's efforts to identify individuals from pictures. "With these AI systems, we’ll show it example photos and we’ll say, 'OK, this is a nose, this is an ear, this is Billy, this is Susie,'" Riley said. "And over lots and lots of examples and a kind of understanding if they guess right or wrong, the algorithm actually tunes itself to get better and better at recognizing certain things." Dr. Riley says this takes huge amounts of data and often needs a supercomputer—like MSOE's "Rosie"— to process it. To get a computer or software to recognize a specific person takes more fine-tuning, Riley says. He says your smartphone may already do this. "If you have a fingerprint scan or facial recognition to open up your phone, that’s exactly what’s happening," Riley said. "So, they’ve already trained a really large model to do all the basic recognition, and then you provide a device with a fingerprint scanning or pictures of your face at the end to be able to fine-tune that model to recognize exactly who you are." Riley says this technology isn't foolproof—he says human intelligence is needed at every step. He added we might be contributing to the data sources some of the technology needs by posting our pictures to social media. "Folks are uploading their own images constantly and that often is the source of the data that is used to train these really, really large systems," Riley said. January 14 – WTMJ, Ch. 4, NBC News The concept of facial recognition and the use of this technology in law enforcement (and several other applications) is an emerging topic – and if you are a reporter looking to cover this topic or speak with an expert, then let us help. Dr. Derek Riley is an expert in big data, artificial intelligence, computer modeling and simulation, and mobile computing/programming. He’s available to speak with media about facial recognition technology and its many uses. Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
As Flexible Voting Options Scrutinized, Expert Says Online Voting Not a Safe Alternative
The popularity of — and controversies surrounding — early voting and mail-in ballots demonstrates a demand for more flexible voting options. But online voting shouldn’t be up for consideration, according to James Hendler, the head of the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Hendler also chairs the U.S. Technology Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest and oldest society of individuals involved in all aspects of computing. In public statements expressing his own opinion and on behalf of the ACM, Hendler has discussed the vulnerabilities of online voting and the organization’s effort to press against its adoption. Hendler argues that online voting is not, and cannot be made to be, secure against malware and denial of service attacks — and that no app or underlying technology, including blockchain, holds potential to overcome those challenges. "The current state of mobile voting is that we are not ready to deploy it at scale, that it has significant technical and socio-technical aspects, particularly cybersecurity, that we need to worry about, and that there are alternatives,” Hendler said. “The ACM has worked hard as an organization to explain our evidence-based reasoning, and to express the hope that online-voting won’t be used now and in the foreseeable future.” In explaining why online voting is more complicated than online banking, shopping and other common internet activities, Hendler said, “The main reason that online voting is more complex is that it must maintain anonymity, no one is allowed to know how you voted. Securing online voting without providing access to identity is extremely difficult. There are other reasons as well including the staggering cost and the lack of a centralized US authority, but identity management remains the number one.” Under his leadership, the ACM’s U.S. Technology Policy Committee, along with leading organizations and experts in cybersecurity and computing, sent a letter to all governors, secretaries of state and other state election directors urging them not to allow the use of internet or voting app systems. Hendler has extensive experience in policy and advisory positions that consider aspects of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and internet and web technologies as they impact issues such as online voting and the regulation of social media and powerful technologies including facial recognition and artificial intelligence. In light of ongoing political unrest, Hendler is available to speak to diverse aspects of information technology as related to the election, AI in applications like policing, and the politics related to social media.
Criminals are opportunists, and the COVID-19 global onslaught has brought with it not just health threats but cybersecurity risks, too. Within weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, hackers have already commandeered the virus to unleash cyberattacks, sending emails purporting to provide coronavirus guidance laced with cyberattack software. In one more alarming case, they appear to have attacked a hospital and forced it to cancel operations and take key systems offline. As the outbreak continues to intensify, the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned that the volume of these attacks will likely increase, pointing to the increased registration of coronavirus-related webpages. Criminals are opportunists, and the COVID-19 global onslaught has brought with it not just health threats but cybersecurity risks, too. As companies move to protect the health of their workforce, it’s also important to protect the systems they’re using to run their businesses. It’s especially important for hospitals to shore-up their cyber defenses. If they don’t, just as they are racing to respond to COVID-19, they could face situations like University Hospital Brno in the Czech Republic, which earlier this month was forced to divert patients and cancel planned operations while it worked to address an attack. The most likely cyber threats are email “phishing” campaigns that use the coronavirus as a lure to get the recipient to open an attachment that contains malware. According to the NCSC, such “phishing” attempts are happening on a global scale in multiple countries, which has led to both a theft of money and sensitive data. Similarly, known hacker groups have been launching websites purporting to sell masks or other safety-related measures for coronavirus, possibly to use them as another vector for cyberattacks. The NCSC has also cautioned that these attacks are “versatile and can be conducted through various media, adapted to different sectors and monetized via multiple means, including ransomware, credential theft, bitcoin or fraud.” The cybersecurity firm ProofPoint has seen a rise in these cyberattack emails with COVID-19 themes since January. Both ProofPoint and IBM’s X-Force cybersecurity unit identified a campaign that targeted users in Japan with an email masquerading as a coronavirus information email that carries with it a potent type of cybercrime software. In the US, the Secret Service recently warned of scams from online criminals posing as sellers of high-demand medical supplies to prevent coronavirus. They’ll require payment upfront and not send the products. Cyber criminals have also been posing as the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sending fraudulent emails from the former and “creating domain names similar to the CDC’s web address to request passwords and even bitcoin donations to fund a vaccine” for the latter. In addition to the use of the coronavirus as a cyberattack vector, the growing need for working remotely to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 has increased companies’ exposure to cyber threats. The increase in remote work creates more opportunities for hackers to make inroads from less secure locations. Companies should also ensure they can provide adequate security when their whole workforce is remote. They should quickly work through the security implications of workers choosing to switch to insecure personal devices. With national-level pressures on home broadband, staff will also resort to mobile hotspots, which are often less secure. And enabling remote connectivity at scale, with the right security configurations, can be a challenge even with months of preparation time. A recent US Department of Homeland Security COVID-19 cybersecurity notice pointed to the importance of making sure that security measures are up to date for companies’ remote access systems. Additional measures to consider include enabling multifactor authentication—which can require two or more steps to verify a user’s identity before granting access to corporate networks. The NCSC is also working to identify malicious sites responsible for phishing and cyberattack software. A final looming cyberthreat related to Covid-19 is disinformation. The World Health Organization and other agencies have for months been combatting disinformation campaigns spreading false information about the origins of and treatments for COVID-19—reports that seed more confusion and increase risks to society. All of that means that computer virus risks are emerging as the biological virus spreads—and both are a threat to business. Cyber risk mitigation efforts should account for the different ways that a company can be affected, including impacts on the technical, operational, legal and reputational aspects of a business. Often, the reputational effects of a cyberattack are more significant than direct the business or technical impact. To mitigate all of the potential impacts of cyberattacks taking advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak, companies should: Review and update crisis and cybersecurity response plans, and ensure internal and external communications response plans are robust. Confirm that members of the crisis management team understand their roles and responsibilities. Make sure all communications channels have the latest security patches. Review and update access controls, particularly when remote access is used heavily, to make sure that only those who require access to sensitive systems to do their jobs have it. Take extra care when handling medical information. For companies managing employees who have contracted Covid-19, it’s important that personal health information is handled with strong security measures, including encryption. Educate employees about the cyber risks that may attempt to capitalize on fear of the Covid-19 virus—whether it be phishing email or disinformation. Covid-19 poses a number of short- and long-term challenges to business resilience, and the virus’s trajectory is quick and unpredictable. But it’s possible to anticipate and mitigate a number of the cyber threats that will try to ride the virus’s coattails. The companies that do will be more resilient and better positioned to withstand the direct health and operational effects of the virus.
Best-selling author Peter Singer talks with the Brunswick Review about winning the increasingly crowded and contentious war for attention What do Isis and Taylor Swift have in common? According to author and digital-security strategist Peter Singer, both the terrorist organization and pop star are fighting for your attention online and employing similar tactics to try and win it. ISIS kicked off its 2014 invasion of Mosul with the hashtag, “#AllEyesonISIS.” More recently, the terror group posted photos of its members holding cute cats in an effort to make them more relatable – tactics familiar to most celebrities and online marketers around the world. These online battles, the rules governing them, and their real-world impact are the focus of Mr. Singer’s latest book, LikeWar, which he coauthored with Emerson T. Brooking, at the time a research fellow with the Council of Foreign Relations. “A generation ago people talked about the emergence of cyber war, the hacking of networks. A ‘LikeWar’ is the flip side: the hacking of people and ideas on those networks. Power in this conflict is the command of attention,” says Mr. Singer, who in addition to his writing is also a strategist and Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. Pretty much everyone who posts online – from governments to marketers to reality TV stars – is a combatant in this fight for virality, according to Mr. Singer. Triumph in a “LikeWar” and you command attention to your product or propaganda or personality. Lose and you cede control of the spotlight and the agenda. Mr. Singer recently spoke with Brunswick’s Siobhan Gorman about the trends he’s seeing in LikeWars around the world, and what companies can do to avoid being on the losing end. What were you most surprised by in researching LikeWar? One of the more interesting characters in the book was at one time voted TV’s greatest villain: Spencer Pratt, a reality TV star on MTV’s “The Hills.” He’s basically one of these people who became famous almost for nothing. But what Pratt figured out really early was the power of narrative, which allowed him to become famous through, as he put it, “manipulating the media.” In the same week, I interviewed both Pratt and the person at the US State Department who’s in charge of the US government’s efforts to battle ISIS online. And Pratt, this California bro who’s talking about how to manipulate the media to get attention, understood more of what was playing out online than the person at the State Department. Spencer Pratt, a reality TV star… understood more of what was playing out online than the person at the State Department.” How much have online conflicts changed the rules in the last few years? First, the internet has left adolescence. It’s only just now starting to flex its muscles and deal with some of its responsibilities. The structure of the network changes how these battles play out. So, it’s this contest of both psychological but also algorithmic manipulation. What you see go across your screen on social media is not always decided by you. The rule makers of this global fight are a handful of Silicon Valley engineers. Another aspect of it is that social media has effectively rendered secrets of any consequence almost impossible to keep. As one CIA person put it to us, “secrets now come with a half-life.” Virality matters more than veracity; the truth doesn’t always win out. In fact, the truth can be buried underneath a sea of lies and likes. And the last part is that we’re all part of it. All of our decisions as individuals shape which side gets attention, and therefore which side wins out. But you highlight that this is playing out differently in China. Exactly. There are two different models shaping the internet, and shaping people’s behavior through the internet, playing out in the West and in China. Essentially, internet activity in China is all combined. Look at WeChat, which is used for everything from social media to mobile payment; it’s Amazon meets Facebook meets Pizza Hut delivery. And you combine that with an authoritarian government that’s had a multi-decade plan for building out surveillance, and you get the social credit system, which is like Orwellian surveillance crossed with marketing. The social credit system allows both companies and the government to mine and combine all the different points of information that an online citizen in China reveals of themselves, and then use that to create a single score – think of it as your financial credit score of your “trustworthiness.” For example, if you buy diapers your score goes up, because that indicates you’re a parent and a good parent. If you play video games for longer than an hour your score goes down because you’re wasting time online. And it’s all networked. Your friends and family know your score. It creates a soft form of collective censorship; if your brother posts something that’s critical of the government, you’re the one who goes to him and says, “Knock it off ’cause you’re hurting my score.” And you do that because the score has real consequences. Already it’s being used for everything from seating on trains and job applications to online dating. Your score literally shapes your romantic prospects. So, you have this massive global competition between Chinese tech companies and other global tech companies not only for access to markets, but also for whose vision of the internet is going to win out. How can companies win a “LikeWar”? Everyone’s wondering: What are the best ways to drive your message out there and have it triumph over others? The best companies I’ve seen create a narrative, have a story and have emotion – in particular, they have emotion that provokes a reaction of some kind. It’s all about planned authenticity. That sounds like a contradiction, but it’s about acting in ways that are genuine, but are also tailored because you’re aware that the world is watching you. A good comparison here is Wendy’s versus Hillary Clinton. Wendy’s is a hamburger chain – not a real person – but it acts and comes across as “authentic” online and has developed a massive following. They’re funny, irreverent. Yet Hillary Clinton – a very real person – never felt very authentic in her online messaging. And that’s because it involved a large number of people – by one account, 11 different people – all weighing in on what should be tweeted out. Inundation and experimentation are also key. Throwing not just one message out there, but massive amounts of them. Treating each message as both a kind of weapon, but also an experiment that allows you to then learn, refine, do it again, do it again, do it again. How do you measure and gauge battles online now? Is it just volume? It all depends on what your battle is, what your end goal is. Is it driving sales? Is it getting people to vote for you, to show up to your conference? This is what the US gets wrong about Russian propaganda and its disinformation campaigns. We think they’re designed to make people love or trust a government. From its very start back in the 1920s, the goal of propaganda coming from the Soviet Union, and today Russia, has been instead to make you distrust – distrust everything, disbelieve everything. And we can see it’s been incredibly effective for them. First, we need to recognize that we’re a part of the battle. In fact, we’re a target of most of the battles. How effective have disinformation campaigns actually been in the US? What can be done? One of the scariest and maybe saddest things we discovered is that the US is now the story that other nations point to as the example of what you don’t want to have happen. There’s no silver bullet, of course. But one example was something called the Active Measures Working Group, a Cold War organization that brought together the intelligence community, diplomats and communicators to identify incoming KGB disinformation campaigns and then develop responses to them. We’re dealing with the modern, way more effective online version of something similar, and we haven’t got anything like that. There are also digital literacy programs. I find it stunning that the US supports education programs to help citizens and kids in Ukraine learn about what to do and how to think about online disinformation, but we don’t do that for our own students. What can people like you or me do? First, we need to recognize that we’re a part of the battle. In fact, we’re a target of most of the battles. And we need to better understand how the platforms work that we use all the time. A majority of people actually still don’t understand how social media companies make money. The other is to seek out the truth. How do we do that? And the best way is to remember the ancient parable of the blind man and the elephant – don’t just rely on one source, pull from multiple different sources. That’s been proven in a series of academic studies as the best way to find the facts online. It’s not exactly new, but it’s effective. Where will the next online war be fought? The cell phone in your pocket, or if we’re being futuristic, the augmented reality glasses that you wear as you walk down the street. It’ll come from the keepsake videos that you play on them. If you want to know what comes next in the internet there have always been two places to go: university research labs and the porn industry. That’s been the case with webcams, chat rooms and so on. What we’re seeing playing out now are called “deep fakes,” which use artificial intelligence to create hyper-realistic videos and images. There’s also “madcoms,” which are hyper-realistic chat bots that make it seem like you’re talking to another person online. Combine the two, and the voices, the images, the information that we’ll increasingly see online might be fake, but hyper-realistic. The tools that militaries and tech companies are using to fight back against the AI-created deep fakes are other AI. So, the future of online conflict looks like it’ll be two AIs battling back and forth. Let me give you a historic parallel, because we’ve been dealing with these issues for a very long time. The first newspaper came when a German printer figured out a way to monetize his press’s downtime by publishing a weekly collection of news and advice. And in publishing the first newspaper, he created an entire industry, a new profession that sold information itself. And it created a market for something that had never before existed – but in creating that market, truth has often fallen by the wayside. One of the very first newspapers in America about a century later was called the New England Courant. It published a series of letters by a woman named Mrs. Silence Do-good. The actual writer of the letters was a 16-year-old apprentice at the newspaper named Benjamin Franklin, making him the founding father of fake news in America. In some sense it’s always been there, using deception and marketing to persuade people to your view.
Cheap Energy Can Be a Bridging Fuel Needed to Get to the Endpoint of Renewable Energy Sooner
Far from banning fracking, the Biden/Harris ticket appears to be allowing it if not tacitly supporting it. This is not a contradictory stance to their aggressive renewable energy policy, according to Scott Jackson, a visiting professor of chemical and biological engineering at Villanova University's College of Engineering, who previously directed the microbial enhanced oil recovery program at DuPont Corporation. "Rather, it is recognition that cheap energy—especially natural gas produced as a result of fracking—can be a bridging fuel needed to get to the end point of renewable energy sooner," Jackson says. No one can dispute that the share of our energy coming from less efficient/more polluting coal has dropped dramatically despite the current administration’s attempts at supporting the coal industry. The reason is obvious—cleaner burning energy (less CO2 emissions) from gas fired turbine generators make more economic sense. Gas fired turbine generators are economical at a smaller scale and provides an energy source that can be rapidly turned on or off at any time. This helps to counterbalance the intermittency of renewable energy and, in some sense; this has allowed greater adoption of renewable energy. The cheapest energy source on the planet is land based wind power. The market has responded to this and now renewables make up 19 percent of our electricity. This percentage was thought to be impossible just a few years ago. Wind power energy payback time (time needed to recoup the energy invested) is measured in months and not years, and investors understand this. A much greater share of renewables (wind and solar) is very doable and makes economic sense. Jackson notes that development of cheap energy storage technology will help and must be implemented once economies of scale are achieved, however, a national power grid capable of moving energy from the wind- and sun-rich Midwest to the West Coast and East Coast will improve the reliability of renewables to the point where as much as 70% of our electricity can be sourced renewably—without new storage capacity (2018 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). Improvements in battery technologies and economy of scale are starting to drive down the costs of electric transportation and storage. Eventually, natural gas sourced power generation will not be competitive to renewables," notes Jackson. "Despite the current low price of gasoline, in part as a result of fracking used in oil fields, electric cars are far more economical to operate. Companies like BP, Exxon-Mobile and Shell recognize that they are energy companies and are pivoting to more renewable sources of energy. "Ultimately, our government has a responsibility to invest in the technologies of the future that make economic sense—as renewables do—and not support the more costly and outdated fossil fuel industry," says Jackson.
Canadian's Digital Behavioral Shifts in Relation to the The Coronavirus Pandemic
This article is part of a series of insights that reveal a Canadian perspective on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior and significant audience shifts across digital platforms. Things are moving fast. Following our last update regarding digital media consumption during the Coronavirus pandemic, this article will highlight some of the major category changes reflected as of the week March 16 - 22, 2020. Key Insights from Our Analysis Digital consumption continues to grow: the visits and minutes curve is not flattening Key content categories such as news, social media, and government are being driven by higher engagement: metrics include visits and duration More engagement with news sites: sites categorized as local, business/finance, and general news are main drivers Categories that focus on entertaining, kids, food, financial advice, and children’s education are also seeing growth: growth comes from increases in aggregate unique visitors, visits and minutes Automotive manufacturers, real estate, sports and travel entities have seen decreases: however, they are poised for major increases and a bounce back. Mobile platforms are driving growth: some differences between desktop and mobile engagement Canadian's total digital consumption continues to grow When we analyzed Canadian total digital media consumption to compare the percentage change between the week of March 16, 2020 and the first weeks of January 2020, February 2020, and March 2020, we found that overall digital engagement is not flattening. Even comparing the beginning of March against mid-March, we can see visitation, visits, and engagement continuing to grow. Looking at the total digital consumption trend over time, we can see growth in total minutes spent online while total visits have remained relatively flat. Media Consumption Growth by Category There are several content categories that we are seeing major growth in each of the time periods: These digital categories of news/information, social media, entertainment, government and games are showing continuous growth. The need for ongoing news and information updates, government information, flocking to social media to bring community together and message, and the need to be entertained with visitation and engagement on Entertainment and Games Entities. News and Information Category Insights To look at the news/information category a bit closer – it is amazing to see the category growth over the past few weeks of Canadians going to news entities to get updates. The hockey stick growth from the start of March 2020 is very evident. The news and information growth is being driven by local news, general news, and business/finance news. That being said – technology, politics, and weather are also seeing growth. Through these time periods, we are also seeing some other categories that are showing significant growth. Many of the categories are a result of many Canadians being home bound and isolated, and with families with kids having the kids at home. Platform Variance for Media Consumption One of the areas that we have been asked most about is whether we find any variances between desktop and mobile platforms. When reviewing the data, there is greater engagement with mobile platforms in the week of March 16 compared to other weeks. Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing a significant increase in digital consumption amongst Canadian consumers. The data trends show Canadians are flocking online with significant growth in news entities, instant messaging, social media, government resources, entertainment, music destinations, video, and financial websites. What this means for marketers and advertisers is a significant opportunity to reach Canadians who are highly engaged and are looking for relevant and timely content. It comes down to delivering the right message, at the right time, in front of the right audience, in brand safe environments.
MEDIA RELEASE: Watch for Bikes: Top nine tips for cycling safety success
The summer months are fast approaching and with more cyclists and drivers expected to re-emerge on the roads, CAA South Central Ontario (SCO) is encouraging motorists to keep the safety of cyclists in mind when sharing the road. “Cycling is an excellent way to stay active during the pandemic and many more are picking up the activity, but as the province works towards reopening, we need to stay vigilant for everyone’s safety,” says Teresa Di Felice, AVP of government and community relations at CAA SCO. All drivers and cyclists are advised to follow public health guidelines, be predictable, be patient, communicate their intentions with signals, regularly check blind spots, and turn on their lights during dawn, dark and dusk. “In Ontario, there are tough penalties for those who do not follow the rules of the road, yet many remain unaware of what these rules are. Whether you’re on two wheels or four, get to know the following rules and best practices,”adds Di Felice. CAA is also reminding all motorists of these important rules of the road: Be aware. Do not use headphones or mobile devices while driving and pay attention. Yield to cyclists. Motorists should not be driving in a bike lane unless making a right turn. Watch for the approaching cyclists and never speed up and cut off a cyclist when making a right turn Keep a safe distance. Drivers must keep at least a one metre distance from other cyclists. If it is not possible, safely change lanes to pass. The penalty for not doing so is a $110 fine. Practice the Dutch Reach. Avoid “dooring” cyclists by doing the Dutch Reach. CAA launched a new Dutch Reach video for users to practice as more people out on their bikes. Some cycling-specific safety tips: Ride with traffic. Riding against traffic flow is dangerous, illegal and a leading cause of car-bike collisions. Protect yourself. Drivers, use your seat belts. Cyclists, wear your helmets. Be visible. Use reflectors and lights in dark and overcast conditions. It’s the law. Be predictable. Obey traffic signs and be clear with your intentions with other drivers. Under Ontario’s Highway Traffice Act (HTA), a bicycle is considered a vehicle, just like car or truck and must follow the same rules of the road. Ride close to home. As cyclists start to use their bikes for the first time in awhile, remember to stay close to home as you are starting out. Put your cycling safety knowledge to the test with CAA’s new cycling safety quiz. For all other cycling information, visit caasco.com/cycling. If you run into a problem that cannot be fixed on the spot, CAA Bike Assist will transport you and your bicycle to wherever you need to go. It's available as part of your membership 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
The coronavirus will impact these three things in a major way
The coronavirus has already sent ripple effects through the global economy, according to Michael Ehrlich, professor of finance at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Reports of Wall Street reacting, automakers scrambling to avoid major disruptions and the Mobile World Congress cancellation has demonstrated the effects of COVID-19. According to Ehrlich, some of the biggest indirect impacts of the virus will be felt in tourism and travel, supply chain disruption and the flight to quality. Airlines have begun to cut routes to destinations with high risk, and tourism in major European countries have forecasted a decline, as much as 30-40% in France according to a report in Forbes. "We're already seeing people decide to not go on cruise ships or not to travel on airplanes because of the coronavirus," said Ehrlich. Supply chains are being met with challenges due to China's factory shutdowns. "The real impact of where it's going to affect the economy is supply chain. China is the factory of the world, and those factories are being shut down in order to contain the virus and slow down the transmission of the virus," said Ehrlich. Finally, the third impact is a phenomenon called flight to quality. This is when investors move capital from risky investments to safer ones, a reaction when there is uncertainty in international markets. The move, according to Ehrlich, can see investors take up more U.S. stocks, bonds, and dollars that are viewed as more stable long term investments. The downstream effect could lead to a boost in the U.S. economy as it allows national manufacturing sectors to better compete in a marketplace where they are in higher demand. Michael Ehrlich is an expert on financial markets and institutions, with an emphasis on market failures. Simply click on the button below to arrange an interview.
