Worldwide Women in ICT Day is the best time to shine a highlight on the expertise business and encourage and encourage women and girls of all ages to discover a variety of profession alternatives—these they could not have beforehand thought of—in Info and Communication Know-how (ICT).
This international initiative, led by the Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU), might be held on April 24, 2025. It’s one thing I’m personally extremely enthusiastic about—let me inform you why!
Women in ICT for inclusive digital transformation
Regardless of some progress, the gender hole in tech stays important. Girls signify solely 25 % of the tech workforce. In the meantime, a good smaller proportion—simply 11 %—are in government roles.*
The pattern continues on a broader scale. Throughout the worldwide STEM workforce, girls comprise solely 29.2 %.** It is a missed alternative for us all.
At Cisco, we all know the worth that totally different views convey to enterprise, and we’re dedicated to having extra girls’s voices assist to form the way forward for expertise. This has by no means been extra vital as we glance towards the basic shifts that the widespread adoption of AI will create.
Have a good time Worldwide Women in ICT Day with Cisco
This Worldwide Women in ICT Day, we’re embracing the facility of standing out to make a distinction.
In an upcoming broadcast, my colleague Natalie Jones-Owen, Director of Service Supplier Gross sales, and I’ll share our private tales and insights from our journeys as girls within the tech business.
We’ll talk about the significance of mentorship, the thrill of embracing change, and the essential function of inclusivity to make sure AI represents and speaks for the entire of society. There’s nonetheless a widespread notion that STEM careers are higher suited to males, and that’s why initiatives like Women in ICT Day are so vital–to dispel these myths.
Inspiring a brand new technology of tech leaders
Certainly, my very own path has been one among defying expectations and following my ardour. My household inspired me to pursue engineering, regardless of that call that means that I might be a part of a tiny minority in my cohort. It’s a narrative of perseverance and willpower that I hope will encourage others to forge their very own paths in expertise.
All Voices, One Digital Future: Empowering Women of Each Background
The printed on April 24 is greater than a dialog; it’s an invite. We wish to encourage you to see the probabilities that come up when girls are empowered to guide and innovate. Whether or not you’re a younger girl contemplating a profession in ICT, a mentor supporting the following technology, or an advocate for variety, this dialog is for you.
Be part of us as we come collectively to have a good time Worldwide Women in ICT Day to encourage and empower the longer term leaders of expertise, making certain everybody has the chance to be a part of this transformative journey.
Let’s break boundaries and construct an inclusive digital future—collectively.
Have a good time Worldwide Women in ICT Day with Cisco Networking Academy
The IMPACT Act, a low-emissions cement invoice, handed with a big majority within the Republican-held Home.
The invoice permits states to determine whether or not they wish to benefit from a $15 billion to implement low-emission cement, concrete and asphalt R&D and initiatives.
The invoice was profitable on this anti-climate period as a result of funding was already designated and lobbying was strategic.
Regardless of the divisive state of U.S. politics in the present day, a invoice to advertise the business utility of low-emission cement, asphalt and concrete handed by means of the Home on March 25 with a stunning vote depend of 350-73.
The IMPACT Act — quick for the Progressive Mitigation Partnerships for Asphalt and Concrete Applied sciences Act and co-sponsored by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) — is a bipartisan invoice that instructs the Division of Vitality to ascertain a program devoted to advancing the manufacturing of low-emissions cement, concrete and asphalt.
“That is such a practical invoice,” stated Rob Niven, CEO of sustainable concrete firm CarbonCure. “It creates sturdy demand alerts to essentially pull [sustainable concrete] options into the market.”
Nonetheless, in a time of frequent and infrequently random cuts to any federal packages associated to mitigating local weather change, a invoice targeted on low-emission concrete and handed by an amazing majority of the Home is purpose sufficient to look at what makes it so particular.
It’s notable that this invoice doesn’t require any further funding from Congress. As a substitute, it takes benefit of the accessible $14.6 billion State Transportation Block Grants (STBG). The cash was already allotted by Congress within the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation, offering states the annual choice to benefit from the funds to protect or enhance highways, bridges and tunnel initiatives.
Plus, Niven famous, nearly all of cement, concrete and asphalt firm clients and stakeholders need their product to be low-emissions. And one of many solely commonalities between all Congress members, no matter social gathering, is the necessity for roads and parking heaps.
Language for profitable lobbying
IMPACT now must make its method by means of the Senate, one thing Niven and his staff have been getting ready for.
“We’ve had repeated conversations on the Senate facet with the sponsors of that parallel laws,” stated Niven. “We’ve had a number of conversations about innovation within the concrete business and the chance with such laws.” The Senate facet sponsors are Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
Essential to swaying Republican legislators was the language utilized in advocacy and the invoice itself.
“IMPACT creates sturdy demand alerts by empowering the Federal Highways and state DOT’s to have the ability to use their procurement energy to essentially pull these options into the market,” stated Niven.
Translation: The ability to create these particular markets lies utterly with the states.
“Every state has to wish to innovate development supplies within the first place, which is likely one of the causes that it is a crowd pleaser,” stated Joe Hicken, vp of enterprise improvement and coverage at Chic Programs, a clear cement startup, “The IMPACT Act actually delegates the locus and the possession to every state that’s really doing the constructing of the infrastructure initiatives.”
How companies can get entangled
Niven famous that IMPACT “equips corporations with an R&D program,” which means that if corporations haven’t but built-in low-emissions ways into their operations, the laws would offer funds to take action. In any case, any events focused on ensuring these funds grow to be accessible ought to:
Contact your senator to encourage them to vote for the IMPACT Act; and
If the invoice turns into legislation, inform your governor that you really want your state to take part in IMPACT-related packages.
[Connect with more than 3,500 professionals decarbonizing and future-proofing their organizations and supply chains through climate technologies at VERGE, Oct. 28-30, San Jose.]
As international electrical energy demand grows, conventional vitality sources are beneath pressure. Oceans, which cowl greater than 70% of Earth’s floor, provide huge potential for clear vitality from renewable sources comparable to ocean currents and waves.
Nevertheless, marine renewable vitality improvement remains to be in its early levels in comparison with wind and solar energy. One problem is figuring out probably the most possible and economically viable areas for ocean present vitality tasks. Whereas many research have centered on regional ocean present vitality useful resource evaluation, a world analysis primarily based on precise information has been missing – till now.
Utilizing greater than 30 years of measured information from NOAA’s International Drifter Program (GDP), a singular examine from the School of Engineering and Pc Science at Florida Atlantic College gives probably the most complete international evaluation of ocean present vitality thus far. And there’s nice information for Southeast Florida.
Researchers explored the potential of capturing kinetic vitality from ocean currents, specializing in energy density estimation and its variation over time and placement. The GDP consists of about 1,250 satellite-tracked buoys that measure ocean currents and their positions. For this examine, researchers used greater than 43 million information factors from March 1988 to September 2021.
Outcomes, printed within the journal Renewable Vitality, reveal that the waters off Florida’s East coast and South Africa persistently exhibited excessive energy densities, making them perfect for producing electrical energy from ocean currents. Particularly, these areas confirmed energy densities above 2,500 watts per sq. meter, a worth 2.5 occasions extra vitality dense than an “wonderful” wind vitality useful resource. The comparatively shallow waters – about 300 meters deep – additional improve their suitability for extracting vitality utilizing ocean present generators. In distinction, areas like Japan and components of South America didn’t present comparable energy densities at these depths.
“Our examine revealed that about 75% of the whole high-power density areas, overlaying round 490,000 sq. kilometers of the ocean, have vitality ranges between 500 and 1,000 watts per sq. meter. This implies there’s plenty of potential for harvesting vitality from ocean currents, particularly in areas the place energy densities are average but vital for sustainable vitality manufacturing,” stated Mahsan Sadoughipourdiv, Ph.D., first creator and graduate analysis assistant within the School of Engineering and Pc Science. “Our examine additionally gives insights into the components that may affect the accuracy of vitality era estimates comparable to environmental situations and measurement strategies.”
Excessive energy densities, greater than 2,000 watts per sq. meter, are discovered off the Southeast coast of the U.S. from Florida to North Carolina and alongside the Japanese and Southeastern coasts of Africa (Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Madagascar). Decrease energy densities are seen within the Japanese Pacific (Japan, Vietnam and Philippines), Northern South America (Brazil and French Guiana), and the Japanese coast of Australia.
One other key discovering from the examine was the accuracy of energy density estimates. In North America and Japan, the calculations have been extremely dependable, offering confidence in vitality potential predictions. Moreover, comparisons with current research have confirmed the reliability of the findings in these areas, as the ability density estimates intently matched measurements obtained via different measurement strategies. Nevertheless, areas like South Africa and components of South America, significantly off northern Brazil and French Guiana, have been more durable to evaluate on account of restricted information or extremely variable water situations.
“Areas like Brazil and South Africa have restricted information accessible, which have an effect on the accuracy of vitality predictions, making it more durable to completely assess their potential for vitality extraction,” stated Yufei Tang, Ph.D., co-author and an affiliate professor, FAU Division of Electrical Engineering and Pc Science, director of the FPL Middle for Clever Vitality Applied sciences (InETech) (fau.edu/engineering/analysis/fpl-center-intelligent-energy-technologies/), and a fellow of the FAU Institute for Sensing and Embedded Community Methods Engineering (I-SENSE). “Increasing information assortment will refine our understanding and unlock the total vitality potential. For instance, region-specific research utilizing acoustic Doppler present profilers may higher estimate vitality manufacturing for submerged generators.”
Findings additionally present areas like South Africa and Japan, whereas having excessive energy densities, current extra challenges on account of deeper waters and sophisticated movement patterns. Deep-water areas (1,000 meters or extra) make vitality extraction tougher.
“The connection between depth and energy density is essential for turbine placement and design. Robust ocean currents are situated close to the ocean floor the place the whole water depth usually ranges from 250 meters to greater than 3,000 meters,” stated James H. VanZwieten Jr., Ph.D., co-author and an assistant professor within the FAU Division of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. “This presents vital challenges, as generators would require superior mooring programs to maintain them steady and operational. The elevated depth additionally raises considerations about the fee and complexity of set up and upkeep, making it important to develop specialised applied sciences for these difficult environments.”
Seasonal differences additionally play a major function in vitality availability. In hotter months for the Northern hemisphere (June to August), increased energy densities are noticed in areas like Florida, Japan and Northern Brazil, aligning with elevated vitality demand throughout these months. Equally, highest energy densities in South Africa happens throughout their hotter months (December to February). These seasonal patterns point out that ocean present vitality may align properly with durations of upper electrical energy demand related to elevated air-con utilization, making it a doubtlessly dependable supply of renewable vitality.
“Correct estimates of ocean present vitality depend on vital components comparable to information density, information sort and movement variability,” stated Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering and Pc Science. “Findings from this examine spotlight the necessity to fastidiously take into account these variables, and the supplied vitality traits will assist making certain that ocean present vitality might be effectively built-in into the broader renewable vitality panorama.”
This work was supported partly by the Nationwide Science Basis, the U.S. Division of Vitality and the FPL InETech at FAU.
“This groundbreaking analysis additional solidifies Southeast Florida as one of many premier areas for harnessing the ability of ocean currents,” stated Gabriel Alsenas, director of FAU’s Southeast Nationwide Marine Renewable Vitality Middle. “At SNMREC, we’re proud to be on the forefront of home vitality innovation, driving progress towards a extra resilient future. With our distinctive entry to an plentiful ocean present, we’re main the best way in incubating cutting-edge applied sciences that may improve our regional vitality safety and nationwide vitality dominance.”
This map of kinetic vitality flux exhibits the worldwide common energy density calculated utilizing drifter information in watts per sq. meter.This map exhibits how the variety of information factors in every block are distributed.
My finish objective is to have the ability to have constant search expertise throughout each iPhone and iPad.
The expertise I’m after is to set off the UISearchResultsController on a bar button faucet slightly than exhibiting the search bar within the UINavigationBar
One thing like this:
What I’ve completed to realize this:
#1 – I name the next code from my View Controller so as to initialize a UISearchResultsController however conceal the search bar initially and set off it utilizing a bar button merchandise
// Known as from viewDidLoad
personal func configureSearchExperience() {
let picture = UIImage(named: "searchIconName")
searchController = createSearchController()
searchController?.searchBar.placeholder = searchPlaceHolder
searchController?.searchBar.setImage(picture, for: .search, state: .regular)
searchController?.searchBar.autocapitalizationType = .none
searchController?.searchBar.isHidden = true
navigationItem.searchController = nil
navigationItem.hidesSearchBarWhenScrolling = false
}
personal func createSearchController() -> UISearchController {
let viewController = UIHostingController(rootView: SearchResultsSwiftUIView())
let search = CustomSearchController(searchResultsController: viewController)
search.delegate = self
search.showsSearchResultsController = true
search.obscuresBackgroundDuringPresentation = true
search.searchBar.delegate = self
return search
}
// Known as from viewDidLoad
personal func addBarButtons() {
let settingsButton = createButton(imageName: settingsIconName,
motion: #selector(showSettings),
accessibilityLabel: viewModel.settingsAccessibilityIdentifier)
let searchButton = createButton(imageName: searchOutlineIconName,
motion: #selector(launchSearchExperience),
accessibilityLabel: viewModel.searchAccessibilityIdentifier)
let stackView = UIStackView(arrangedSubviews: [searchButton, settingsButton])
stackView.axis = .horizontal
stackView.spacing = viewModel.barButtonInterItemSpacing
navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(customView: stackView)
}
personal func createButton(imageName: String, motion: Selector, accessibilityLabel: String) -> UIButton {
let button = UIButton(sort: .system)
if let picture = UIImage(named: imageName)?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal) {
button.setImage(picture, for: .regular)
}
button.addTarget(self, motion: motion, for: .touchUpInside)
button.accessibilityLabel = accessibilityLabel
return button
}
@objc func launchSearchExperience() {
navigationItem.searchController = searchController
// A brief delay prevents occasional UI glitches when activating the search controller instantly after including it
// to the navigation merchandise. The 0.1s delay is an empirically chosen worth that balances responsiveness and stability.
// It was additionally urged in: https://stackoverflow.com/q/27951965/1619193
let searchActivationDelay = 0.1
DispatchQueue.foremost.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + searchActivationDelay) { [weak self] in
self?.searchController?.isActive = true
self?.searchController?.becomeFirstResponder()
}
}
#2 – That is the customized SearchResultsController accountable to point out the search bar ONLY when the UISearchResultsController is activated:
Collectively this offers me the expertise I need for probably the most half on iPhones, nevertheless, on iPad, it will get damaged within the state of affairs once I go to the element view from one of many search outcomes after which swipe to return again, right here is an illustration of this:
#1 – We begin the icon within the nav bar
#2 – Search outcomes controller is activated
#3 – Getting back from particulars display screen display screen messes this up
#4 – Slowing the swipe again animation reveals it’s advantageous until the final second after which breaks
iPhone doesn’t have this situation and if I faucet again and return, we do not need this situation.
Solely once I swipe to return again, we have now this situation.
Final week, following Trump’s “liberation day” announcement of a brand new schedule of worldwide tariffs, J.P. Morgan revised its prediction on the percentages of a recession earlier than the tip of the 12 months in the US from 40% to 60%. And on Monday, Goldman Sachs raised its recession probability prediction to 45% from 35%, having revised down its forecast for year-over-year progress in This autumn to 0.5% from 1%. These are worrying forecasts that increase trigger for grave concern.
Concerning tariffs usually: my very own mental place is that they’re an anachronistic relic of Nineteenth-century mercantilism that presents no compelling use case within the fashionable, entangled international economic system. This piece capably explains why tariffs are literally extra damaging than popularly understood. If a recession arises because of the tariffs introduced on April 2nd, then my perception is that it’ll have been an pointless and wholly avoidable one which doesn’t re-order international commerce a lot as suppress it, rendering many individuals much less rich within the course of.
However given the built-in nature of the worldwide economic system, it’s fascinating to think about the results of a tariff-related recession on digital promoting. To my thoughts, there are three principal first- and second-order results to quantify:
International (non-US) firms face friction in promoting their merchandise to home clients as a result of their merchandise incur tariff-associated worth burdens;
Home (US) firms that supply their merchandise from international suppliers face friction in promoting their merchandise to home and international clients as a result of they incur tariff-associated manufacturing price burdens;
Home firms which can be focused by retaliatory international tariffs face friction in promoting their merchandise to international clients as a result of their merchandise incur tariff-associated worth burdens.
In all of those instances, tariffs symbolize a man-made price that should both be absorbed by the agency, which erodes its margin, or handed alongside to the patron. eCommerce companies set promoting bids as a perform of buyer LTV. So in both case, for retail items bought by eCommerce, a agency should scale back its promoting bids:
If the agency absorbs the tariff (both the elevated manufacturing prices or the tariff quantity added to the value, or each), then its unit economics deteriorate: whereas the ultimate worth paid by the patron stays the identical (and thus conversion metrics don’t change), the agency’s ROAS decreases as a result of it makes much less cash per sale;
If the agency passes alongside the tariff, then its unit economics equally deteriorate: the ultimate worth paid by the patron will increase, so the agency’s conversion metrics probably diminish (which means: fewer clients buy after partaking with an advert). Consequently, the agency’s ROAS decreases as a result of it makes fewer gross sales per advert.
Reciprocal tariffs render this messier: China has acknowledged that it’ll impose a 34% reciprocal tariff on imports from the US, which Trump countered with an extra 50% tariff on imports from China. So anybody who manufactures items in China is prone to see their manufacturing prices escalate meaningfully, which, in flip, degrades their capacity to promote these items, per the logic above. Word that the EU appears keen to barter with the US on tariff charges, saying a “zero-for-zero” coverage on industrial items earlier this week.
Given the worldwide scope of the tariffs and the probability of some reciprocity, notably with China, the impression on promoting platforms is prone to be materials. The one eCommerce advertisers that aren’t affected by tariffs — and may very well profit from them within the type of decreased competitors for stock and decrease promoting prices — are American firms promoting American-made merchandise to American audiences. It’s unclear what number of companies match this description. All different companies, both as a result of their items are dearer to provide, incur tariffs, or each, will face diminished unit economics that necessitate bid reductions. Meta cites this as a operating danger, with a specific sensitivity to China, in its 10K submitting:
Additionally it is doable that authorities authorities may take motion that impairs our capacity to promote or ship promoting, together with in international locations the place entry to our consumer-facing merchandise could also be blocked or restricted. For instance, we generate significant income from a small variety of resellers serving advertisers based mostly in China, and it’s doable that the Chinese language, United States, or different authorities may take motion that reduces or eliminates our China-based promoting income, whether or not because of the commerce dispute with the US, together with any tariffs carried out by the US or China, in response to content material points or data requests in Hong Kong or elsewhere, or for different causes, or take different motion towards us, reminiscent of imposing taxes or different penalties, which may adversely have an effect on our monetary outcomes.
In 2024, all however considered one of Meta’s reporting areas generated extra income by person geography than by buyer geography. What this implies is that extra money was spent reaching clients in these areas than advertisers in these areas spent (be aware that these numbers symbolize whole income, not simply promoting income, however promoting represents 97% of Meta’s income, and non-advertising income is generally concentrated within the UCAN and Europe areas). The one area that defied that profile was APAC, presumably pushed by Chinese language advertisers concentrating on shoppers outdoors of APAC with adverts, since Meta’s merchandise should not out there in China.
I explored this dynamic in Temu’s impression on social media promoting costs, printed in December 2023. I argued in that piece that Temu’s advert spend, whereas outstanding, was unlikely to be vital sufficient to distort advert costs broadly. I made the purpose that the “commerce deficit” exhibited by APAC couldn’t be comprised totally of Temu’s advert spend and that the “de-meaned” delta in income metrics — whereas rising following Temu’s accelerated promoting program — was not significant sufficient to current an acute danger to the corporate ought to Temu scale back spend. Meta’s CFO later clarified that, “two-thirds of [Meta’s] China advert income got here from advertisers outdoors the highest 10 spenders in China in 2023.”
That’s really extra problematic for the corporate within the face of tariffs than if the advert spend had been extra concentrated. Bigger firms are higher outfitted to climate tariffs — to simply accept briefly decrease ROAS or to search out new markets for his or her items. Some proportion — the quantity directed at US-based audiences — of that two-thirds of income contributed by smaller Chinese language advertisers could also be in danger because of the tariff scheme. And this isn’t true just for Meta however for all advert platforms with vital publicity to Chinese language advertisers.
Nevertheless it’s arduous to know which advert platforms are most impacted by the tariffs. If the tariffs catalyze a recession, then the biggest platforms are prone to profit as advertisers divert spend from extra experimental, much less systemically important channels like retail media networks and CTV to platforms like Google Search, Amazon, and Meta, as I level out in Promoting technique in a recession, which was printed throughout the COVID pandemic.
These competing results make it tough to foretell how tariffs will impression the digital promoting market. Concurrently:
Most advertisers will broadly see advert spend decline as elevated manufacturing prices and tariffs trigger their worth factors to rise, leading to ROAS degradation;
Budgets shift to the biggest show and search platforms — notably Amazon — as advertisers switch budgets from upper-funnel model campaigns to direct response campaigns, and a broader “flight to security” advantages the platforms with essentially the most sturdy concentrating on and measurement instruments.
On internet, it’s arduous to think about that these tariffs — in the event that they persist for any considerable period of time — gained’t have a consequentially damaging impression on digital promoting spending, globally. Whereas I do consider that varied platforms’ share of budgets will change dramatically because of the tariffs, the tip consequence will probably be that some platforms are merely bruised whereas others are doubtlessly devastated.
