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LOCAL 2-15
June 2019
TECHNOLOGY
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Cyber Less than 4% of our friends are made online criminals face new EU sanctions
Cyber attackers around the world could now face EU sanctions, thanks to a new regime pushed for by the UK and its partners. The new sanctions regime, which has been signed off recently in Brussels, sends a clear message to hostile actors everywhere that the UK, and the EU, and will impose tough consequences for criminals implementing cyberattacks. Over the last two years, we have seen a significant increase in the scale and severity of malicious cyber activity globally. The UK has been clear that it will not tolerate malicious cyber activity of this nature, especially due to the amount of damage they cause for home security and UK-based businesses. The UK, alongside a coalition of Member States, has been at the forefront of driving the new approach forward. The sanctions regime will involve travel bans and asset freezes against those we know have been responsible for these actions. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “This is decisive action to deter future cyber-attacks. For too long now, hostile actors have been threatening the EU’s security through disrupting critical infrastructure, attempts to undermine democracy and stealing commercial secrets and money running to billions of Euros. We must now look to impose travel bans and asset freezes against those we know have been responsible for this. “The UK and its allies have been unafraid to call out those who have conducted cyber-attacks with the intent to damage and destroy our institutions and societies. But we have been clear that more must be done to deter future attacks by hostile state and non-state actors. “Our message to governments, regimes and criminal gangs prepared to carry out cyber-attacks is clear: together, the international community will take all necessary steps to uphold the rule of law and the rules based international system which keeps our societies safe.”
Social media has transformed the way we access, understand and quantify friendships. Racking up friends and followers across multiple social networks has become a tangible way of managing and measuring how socially successful we are. Social media influencers and young people search for followers and friends as a way of validating their popularity and authority, even using dubious means in order to accrue more followers and friends. However, influencers speak out about their loneliness, depression and lack of true friendships, Yazzoo’s survey asks the question, where do we meet our friends? Yazzoo’s online survey asked over 1,500 participants “Where did you meet the majority of your friends?” Participants were offered several different categories, including “at school”, “at university”, “at work”, “through hobbies” and “online”, and, given today’s culture of meeting new people online, the results were surprising: • Just 4% of people make friends online • School friends make up 25% of a person’s social group • Friends from work and formed through hobbies cumulatively account for 25% of a person’s social circle With online friendships accounting for such a small total, the questions remain — how important are online social networks and how do we value true friendships? Social Networks Versus Social Media Networks We live in a digital age where our friendships, networks and connections are far-reaching and easy for the world to see. Our friends orbit around our digital space — sometimes reaching into the thousands, so why did the survey record such a low number of
friends being made online? The answer may lie in the Robert Dunbar findings that most people can only forge authentic connections when they have a social circle comprising between 100 and 200 people. Furthermore, he argued that most people will only have around five close friends at any one time. As a result, we make the majority of our close friends in the early stages of our development and at landmark points of our lives — during our childhood, university years and through shared experiences, such as jobs and work. “Friends” made online, on the other hand, form part of a “landscape” network. School Friendships Last Longer The highest percentage of friends have proven to be made in school,
with 25% of people claiming that they met their friends on the playground. Robert Joyce, the Founder of Yazzoo Personalised Clothing and who commissioned the survey, has noticed a similar trend in his business. He explains, “We’ve witnessed a 200% increase in interest in leavers’ hoodies and custom clothing over the past three years. The trend is growing as more students and young people seek wearable mementos of the special friendships and connections they’ve made during their unique school years.” Why We Value Friendship Many studies have explored the role of friendship in our overall happiness and enjoyment of life. Today, we value friendships not only for
emotional support, adventures and experiences but also for the benefits they can have on our health. A recent study of over 300,000 participants found that the strength of people’s social relationships, the number of friends within a circle and their involvement in the community were linked to longer life spans. The results suggested that the effect of friendships on lifespan is twice of that of exercising and equivalent to quitting smoking. Further studies also show that friendships can help to reduce body mass index, decrease blood pressure and keep the mind sharp, helping individuals avoid neurological diseases such as dementia.
9 out of 10 PR professionals struggle to gain valuable meaning and insights from data
Ever since entering the digital era of communication, PR professionals and marketers have been drowning in data; and yet competencies in data literacy remain low. When assessing individual skills, only one out of ten PR professionals consider themselves as having a high level of data literacy, meaning that they can extract meaning and insights from data, while the rest struggle. The Data-Driven Mindset is a survey examining how 1,050 marketers, PR professionals, and business leaders globally use data in both strategic and operational tasks. Previous findings from the survey show that only one in five can explain Artificial Intelligence. “We often talk about data as something revolutionary, but working with data is not a goal in itself. Data is only powerful when one can draw insights and business intelligence from it. Unfortunately, though, the number of PR professionals that can do just that is low,” warns Christopher Van Mossevelde, Global
Content Manager at Mynewsdesk. In marketing, one out of five professionals say they have a high level of data literacy. Although the competence level is higher among marketers compared to PR professionals, education across the whole industry is much needed. Ac-
cording to the survey, business leaders appear to be the most literate, with 25% claiming that they are good at interpreting and working with data. One out of five collaborate with Data Scientists Another interesting finding from the
survey is that organisations still rely on their marketing department for collecting, measuring and analyzing data (according to 60% of the respondents). Also, 49% of respondents state they collaborate with sales, while 25% work with Data Scientists. “Throughout the survey, we noticed that access to data is not the problem. The critical issue is rather that the industry needs more education in how to process and question data to gain actionable insights,” concludes Christopher. More interesting results: • 42% of the respondents state they have invested in technology that supports data-driven decision-making. • What is preventing data-driven decisions? 54% say they don’t have enough time, and 41% say they lack the budget to be data-driven. • 49% of PR professionals monitor performance but do not frequently change the approach based on the findings.
GLOBAL 16-21
BUSINESS 22-26
GLAM 27-35
WEDDINGS 36-41
HEALTH 42-43
TRAVEL 44-45
TECH 46-47
FOOD 48-49
MOTORING 50-53
SPORTS 54-56
June 2019
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InLinkUK and BT launch new technology to block anti-social calls
New call restriction technology automatically recognises anti-social calls and blocks them from InLink digital street units InLinkUk and BT have introduced a new automatic call blocking feature on all InLink digital street units, in a drive to prevent misuse of the free calls service provided to the public. It is the first development of its kind to be introduced on a UK public street phone. In direct response, and as part of the InLink management strategy, both InLinkUK and BT have worked closely with the police and a number of local councils to design and implement the new call blocking technology which prevents the misuse of the units’ free calls service, while allowing communities to continue to benefit from the wide ranging benefits of the InLinks. The new service - which has been activated across all InLinks deployed across the UK - uses an algorithm to identify suspicious call patterns and phone numbers. Any identified numbers are then blocked so that outgoing calls from any InLink in the UK cannot be made to those numbers. Using anonymised data, the algorithm examines a range of factors including the
frequency of attempted and connected calls, the length and distribution of such calls, as well as insights provided by the authorities. Initial results have shown that less than half a percent of total numbers called across the InLink network are associated with anti-social behaviour. These numbers have now been successfully blocked. InLinkUK and BT have been able to rapidly roll out the new technology across the entire InLink network thanks to the units’ modular design and advanced digital capabilities. The existing technical solution to prevent outgoing calls from selected InLinks to all mobile numbers will also remain in place where agreed with councils or the police. InLinkUK and BT are both committed to making a positive contribution to the communities in which the InLinks operate. Both parties have collaborated with the police and local councils, in delivering this new investment in InLink technology aimed at helping the authorities to address anti-social behaviour issues.
Manchester is one example of a city council with whom BT and InLinkUK have been working closely to address such issues. Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council, said: “It’s great to see the InLinks continue to adapt based on feedback from the council, police and wider community. Reducing opportunities for misuse while still providing useful services is just one aspect of tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in Manchester, but it is important we address it at the earliest opportunity. Together with local police and other partners, we will continue to work hard to tackle the underlying issues of substance abuse, drug dealing and related crime and anti-social behaviour here in Manchester.”
Matt Bird, General Manager at InLinkUK, said: “We are pleased that our ongoing collaboration with local authorities has resulted in the development of this brand new technology. We are committed to ensuring the InLinks are a welcomed and valued part of the communities they serve, and our investmentinto the development of this call restriction feature means we are able to readily identify misuse and quickly put a stop to it, whilst still providing a positive free service to local communities across the UK.”
The Anticipated Launch of Google’s Augmented Reality Maps “The next major step in navigation tech” After speculation on Google’s next launch, the company has announced the release of Google Maps AR for their Pixel devices. These devices allow owners to see directions on their maps in AR, therefore presenting arrows that point the user to the right direction in a
real-time environment. How does it work? Once the maps app is activated, the AR feature uses the camera, which shows the user a list of their surroundings with the actual map shown at the bottom of the screen. After the user has entered their desired destination, Google Maps begins to
display arrows guiding the user in a real-time environment. It also shows helpful information for the user, such as street names and a distance countdown. To ensure that users don’t look down on their phone too long when walking down the street, Maps gives the user a warning and even begins to dim the screen so that users are reminded to
pay attention to what is ahead of them, rather than on their screens. Not only is this a safety feature, but it also saves mobile data and battery. AR Maps are only currently available on Pixel phones; Google has not yet revealed when this feature will be available on other devices.
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