UMass research powers Massachusetts' innovation economy, generating millions in intellectual property licensing revenue and creating hundreds of start-up companies. Expanding our applied science frontiers will keep this engine running strong for years.
The Digital Editorial Office was designed to save Chief Editors time by quickly finding submissions within their specialty and monitoring review processes smoothly. New features will continue to be added.
Work Evolution: Massachusetts' Digital Frontier
An individual's work environment can vary significantly based on various factors such as race, socio-economic status and rank; one crucial element to employee satisfaction at UMass has been an inclusive and welcoming culture fostered by its chancellor who has placed students as his top priority during his administration. UMass has made significant strides to foster this at its campus locations throughout Massachusetts.
Though his vision for UMass is ambitious, its attainment remains realistic. He recognizes that some goals cannot be reached without making sacrifices and has sought to restore relationships that had been broken during his predecessor's term as chancellor. This approach has proven immensely helpful to employees of UMass who now feel more assured that their institution cares for them as individuals and as people.
This trend can only be viewed as positive for those working in global development, an area undergoing massive disruption due to digital technologies. The digital frontier is where globalization, social justice and democracy intersect - it is where new technologies we use everyday shape culture and norms while shaping our everyday lives.
At DAI, we implement USAID's $90 million Digital Frontiers project which works closely with local partners to identify and scale successful digital development approaches globally. This involves working closely with the development community to accelerate solutions in areas like digital finance, inclusion and security, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, digital agriculture and ICT policy.
Embracing Digital Era: Work in Massachusetts
Technology has become an integral part of daily life, prompting customers to demand exceptional digital experiences across every aspect of life from grocery shopping and restaurant reservations to health care visits and personal finance management. Customers' expectations continue to evolve with companies using data to drive better outcomes and offer tailored customer care services.
Employee experience is being transformed by companies as they adopt innovative technologies and tools that increase productivity. From augmented reality to self-service software, automation and machine learning innovations such as this help streamline processes for improved efficiency and provide workers with an unblemished work experience.
Newport News Shipbuilding uses augmented reality to add digital instructions directly onto their workplace for electricians working on electrical projects, making it easier for electricians to quickly find the equipment needed without needing paper instructions or asking other workers where it's located in the factory. As a result, workers not only work harder but smarter too!
Businesses need to understand and invest in emerging technologies in order to provide their employees with an optimal experience. In doing so, they must identify features and functions which add value for both their customers and employees while staying compliant with industry regulations.
The Digital Frontier examines how the web's conventions, protocols, standards, and algorithmic regulations represent a novel form of global power. Author Sangeet Kumar shows how its infrastructures of control operate at sites where universalizing imperatives clash with local values, norms, and cultures.
Digital Frontiers is a USAID-funded initiative to identify and scale successful and sustainable digital development approaches across the world. For more information, visit their website.
Adapting to Digital Frontier: Massachusetts' Shift
As with the American frontier, which was defined by a physical edge of society, the digital frontier is an expanding space where new technologies and ideas collide with established norms to bring forth significant progress and profits. While Robert Fulton's steamboat and Samuel F.B. Morse's telegraphy propelled forward progress on 19th century frontiers, 21st century frontiers such as Facebook or Apple iPhone are driving change on modern frontiers.
So many modern work arrangements are non-traditional and may make balancing work and home life difficult for workers. Indeed, almost three quarters of Boston area workers report working non-standard schedules: 33% reported "variable" shifts while 19% were regularly working evening/night shifts; when asked their preferences 68% answered that they would prefer a stable and predictable work arrangement.
Work flexibility can provide employees with a solution for meeting changing demands in a rapidly-evolving workforce. Some employers allow employees to select whether their pay should be biweekly or monthly; others permit remote working arrangements; still others are flexible about when employees should arrive for work each day; furthermore, most pay hourly and may offer vacation/sick leave depending on their contract terms.
As businesses enter the digital frontier, workplace rules have also evolved accordingly, with some states adopting new rules and regulations to address issues like privacy and security. Massachusetts law mandates that most employers offer employees at least a 30-minute meal break - although exceptions exist such as iron and glass works, paper mills and print shops unless determined to not compromise worker safety by the state attorney general.
Internet has created a global digital ecosystem in which conventions, protocols and standards dictate who gets to speak for whom, knowledge is defined according to Eurocentric ideals and identities are negotiated online. The Digital Frontier challenges these new infrastructures of control to reveal how they represent a novel form of global power.
Pioneering Work's Future: Massachusetts' Journey
Massachusetts stands out among other regions for being uniquely qualified to take advantage of new developments in work. Here we have access to world-renowned research universities and institutions, an expansive life sciences network, and entrepreneurial talent - not to mention an iconoclastic that mindset that challenges technological orthodoxy while inspiring social innovation, evident through Massachusetts leadership on issues from universal health care coverage to fundamental human rights.
And our society boasts a diverse population - women and people of color alike - who will be key agents of economic and social inclusion in this new era. A research study identified Latina, African American, and Middle Eastern multi-influential women as key decision-makers for consumer purchases, controlling 65-70% of purchase decisions in the new consumer economy.
As our region undergoes rapid change, its future success rests upon an inclusive vision for an economy that better aligns people and organizations to face new challenges - something which requires new kinds of collaboration based on inclusive relationships and engaging all voices equally.
MassVision2050 has begun an initiative to further this vision by conducting an extensive analysis of emerging technologies and their societal effects, with Massachusetts at the forefront of this global dialogue. Our aim is to put Massachusetts on the map.
Digital transformation offers untold opportunities, yet also poses many threats and risks. These range from creating policies and practices that address digital equity and inclusion to making sure workers have all of the skills and opportunities needed for thriving in this brave new workplace.
This year, USAID is embarking on several initiatives to address these challenges. One is our Digital Frontiers program which serves as a buy-in mechanism for USAID Bureaus and Missions looking to increase the impact of their digital development work. Through this effort, we have conducted digital agriculture assessments in Burkina Faso and Niger as well as developed an online training platform designed to equip migrant farmers on how to identify and treat fall armyworm infestations.
The program's ultimate objective is to empower communities, entrepreneurs, and individuals alike to capitalize on the digital era by equipping them with the tools and resources necessary for innovation, adaptation, learning, and growth in this new era of work.
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