Latest news with #digitization
Japan Times
4 days ago
- General
- Japan Times
80 years on, NPO working to digitize materials on A-bombings
A Japanese nonprofit organization is accelerating efforts to digitize valuable materials related to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in cooperation with last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo. The organization, No More Hibakusha Project — Inheriting Memories of the A- and H-Bomb Sufferers, has launched a crowdfunding project to seek cooperation in the efforts. The group, established in 2011, has exhibited atomic bombing-related materials in lectures and online museums. It preserves over 20,000 items, including memoirs and testimonies of bomb victims and records of antinuclear movements, in three separate warehouses. Stored materials include the original copies of responses to a survey by Nihon Hidankyo, formally called the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, asking 3,690 victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings from 1983 to 1984 about their biggest hardships. The responses contain vivid accounts of their experiences. One survivor talked about the person's own mother being trapped under a collapsed house, and another recounted fleeing and having to kick away people pleading for help. The nonprofit group aims to digitize the materials and publish them online in light of concerns about their deterioration, but it struggles with staffing and funding. All five staff members of the organization are unpaid. Only one member, 78-year-old Yoshie Kurihara, is in charge of creating an inventory of items and redacting personal information on them for digitization. Kurihara relies on cooperation from university student volunteers to organize materials. "In the 80th year since the end of World War II, the number of people who experienced the bombings has decreased," Kurihara said. "We must preserve the valuable materials." In addition to digitizing materials, the nonprofit hopes to establish a facility for preserving and displaying the materials. It kicked off a crowdfunding drive June 23 to partially secure stable funding with donations. The project runs until Aug. 15. "We hope people will learn from the materials and consider them as something that personally affects them, in order to create a future without any more war," Kurihara said. "We hope to pass on the memories."
Gulf Business
5 days ago
- Health
- Gulf Business
Important information: UAE's health ministry cuts services by half
Image credit: WAM/Website The Ministry of Health and Prevention ( Read- The initiative, launched to eliminate unnecessary complexity across federal services, seeks to create a more agile and responsive government through streamlined, digitised procedures. MoHAP's efforts have so far focused on licensing and accreditation services for healthcare professionals and facilities, reducing the total number of these services from 32 to just 16, The redesign has significantly cut processing times, improved operational workflows, and brought the ministry's work closer in alignment with the programme's overarching goals. Human-centric overhaul and digital integration Under the second phase of the initiative, MoHAP adopted a customer-centric roadmap focused on service simplicity and digital integration. Key features of the redesign included reducing documentation, eliminating redundant requirements, and consolidating digital platforms to decrease the number of smart applications used. The ministry also aimed to reduce the time, cost, and effort required by users while enhancing data interoperability with partner government entities. This has enabled smoother data exchange and quicker access to services for both citizens and professionals. To measure the effectiveness of the improvements, MoHAP conducted surveys and user experience studies. These assessments also recognised internal teams and proactive service users whose input contributed significantly to the improvements. These efforts support the programme's goal of achieving 100 per cent digital bureaucracy elimination, providing modern, efficient services and fully digitised systems. MoHAP reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the UAE's vision of a streamlined, responsive, and innovation-driven government that delivers tangible results. Leadership commends progress Dr. Mohammed Salim Al Olama, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and Prevention, emphasised that the successful implementation of Phase II reflects the UAE leadership's dedication to providing efficient, high-quality public services. 'Our approach aligns with the government's flexible and forward-looking service model,' said Dr. Al Olama. 'It reinforces sustainable development, enhances the UAE's global competitiveness, and is grounded in innovation, digital tools, AI integration, and the empowerment of high-performing teams.' He added that the Ministry achieved significant progress across both phases of the programme by engaging stakeholders, internal teams, and wider society. 'We adopted a proactive strategy to redesign services, simplify procedures, and boost efficiency, making services more accessible and customer-friendly.' Dr Al Olama noted that the ministry's operational model now prioritises continuous improvement through regular measurement of user satisfaction and service effectiveness. Co-designing the future of government services Abdullah Ahli, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for the Support Services Sector and head of the Zero Government Bureaucracy Team at MoHAP, highlighted the collaborative nature of the initiative. 'Our redesign efforts follow a co-design methodology, involving stakeholders from the healthcare sector and service users directly through workshops,' Ahli explained. 'By deeply analysing user experiences, we ensured the updated services are simpler, more cost-effective, and results-driven.' He emphasized the removal of unnecessary procedures to maximize user satisfaction and improve the overall service experience. Ahli also revealed that additional service packages are in development across other sectors, following successful testing and user feedback. These upcoming packages will focus on high-priority services and are expected to further accelerate progress toward national strategic goals, including sustainable development and enhanced quality of life. Phase II of the 'Zero Government Bureaucracy' programme aims for complete elimination of digital redundancy by removing outdated processes, consolidating smart applications, and modernising government digital infrastructure. The initiative also includes the integration of artificial intelligence and promotes a shift toward a results-oriented culture in public service delivery, further strengthening the UAE's international competitiveness.
Zawya
5 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Gulf Bank transitions entire recruitment process to a fully paperless digital experience
Gulf Bank Transitions Entire Recruitment Process to a Fully Paperless Digital ExperienceAs part of its continued commitment to sustainability, Gulf Bank has fully digitized its recruitment process – transforming every stage, from application to contract signing, into a completely paperless experience. This comprehensive shift streamlines and enhances the recruitment journey, making it more efficient and user-friendly. This milestone highlights Gulf Bank's commitment to innovation and sustainability, while placing job applicants' experiences at the heart of its priorities. The initiative also reinforces Gulf Bank's position as a leading financial institution in the region, constantly striving to offer the most advanced digital solutions. The Bank highlighted that this achievement reflects its vision of offering a fully digital recruitment experience that meets the aspirations of national talents looking to become part of the Gulf Bank family. Beyond improving efficiency and reducing reliance on paper, the initiative offers a competitive advantage in attracting professionals who share the Bank's vision for a more innovative and sustainable future. The new digital recruitment platform offers a smoother and more engaging experience for applicants, speeds up the hiring process, and enhances application tracking and management. It also allows the Bank to respond more efficiently to operational demands, further boosting its ability to attract top talent in the market. This achievement reaffirms Gulf Bank's pioneering role in leading innovation across the Kuwaiti job market, contributing to the development of a sustainable, digital business environment that meets the ambitions of the next generation of professionals. It also sets a benchmark that encourages other public and private sector entities to adopt effective digital practices. Gulf Bank continues to play a key role in embedding sustainability within the community by supporting initiatives that minimize environmental impact and highlight the importance of digital transformation across its operations and services. The full shift to digital recruitment stands as a clear example of this commitment, significantly reducing paper usage and emissions tied to traditional methods – contributing to Kuwait's national environmental sustainability goals.
CBC
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
These government-sponsored films are from the 1920s — and it shows
A collection of 1920s government-sponsored films currently being digitized by a Toronto historian are all about the repercussions of being a bad worker. Spoiler: one fictional worker "gets what is coming to her."
Forbes
31-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
AI Amplifies Data Centers' Impact—Let's Make Sure It's For Good
Phillip Marangella, Chief Marketing and Product Officer, EdgeConneX. Like hospitals where life-saving procedures are performed, schools where innovators are educated and farms where sustenance is grown, data centers' impact can be measured by the work that goes on inside them. Just a few examples: When you make a financial transaction, it is processed in a data center. When you join the work meeting online, it's hosted in a data center. When you turn to ChatGPT for therapy or companionship, you're interacting with an AI model in a data center. Steffen Ball, the mayor of Heusenstamm, Germany—a suburb of Frankfurt that is a new hot spot for data center development—was exactly right when he said, 'Without data centers, there is no digitization.' Without data centers, there is no internet, no cloud and no AI. Artificial intelligence makes up an increasingly large share of the work being done inside data centers (27% by 2027, up from 14% today). The Positive Impacts Of AI AI model training and inference, which happens on GPU clusters inside data centers, has demonstrated dramatically positive impacts across industries. For example: • In healthcare, the World Economic Forum predicts AI could get us back on track to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of universal health coverage by 2030. AI is accelerating the rate of protein discovery (45,000-fold), predicting disease diagnoses years in advance and scaling tuberculosis and breast cancer screenings by millions in India alone. • In education, AI enables learning experiences tailored to each individual, even in places with significant teacher shortages, significantly improving educational outcomes (tutored students consistently outperform 98% of their peers). • In agriculture, AI might be the key to sustainably feeding a population of 9.3 billion in 2050 (which will require 60% more food than today). AI is helping farmers make better-informed decisions to improve yields and resource consumption; one application has led to a 57% reduction in water usage, a 15% reduction in fertilizer usage and up to 70% yield increase. The Economic, Environmental And Community Impact Of AI Data Centers Like hospitals, schools and farms, the impact of the data centers running AI models extends beyond the work that goes on inside them. They are also impactful for their effects on the economies, the environments and the communities in which they operate. Data centers are engines of economic growth. A 2025 impact analysis conducted by PwC for The Data Center Coalition found the U.S. data center industry positively impacted the economy in terms of jobs, labor income, GDP and fiscal contributions. Data centers directly and indirectly supported 4.7 million jobs and contributed $727 billion to GDP in 2023. The industry's total contribution to government finances (federal, state and local) increased by 146% between 2017 and 2023. Data centers also impact the environment, and that is often a focal point for critics of the industry. It's true that because AI workloads are much more power-intensive than traditional workloads, AI is driving large increases in data center power consumption. As a result, data centers are consuming more water (indirectly in power generation and, in many data centers, for cooling). Without proportionate offsetting, higher power consumption also means higher carbon emissions. Leading data center operators are leveraging AI to mitigate these environmental impacts and even enable net positive impacts. As far back as 2016, Google was using DeepMind to reduce the energy used for data center cooling by 40%. Meta's open-source AI model is generating concrete mixtures with up to a 40% lower carbon footprint than the regional industry standard. AI applications that ease the burden of hourly time matching are enabling data centers to run on 24/7 carbon-free energy. In addition to economic and environmental impacts, data centers also impact the communities in which they're located. It is incumbent on data center operators to be good neighbors. That means mitigating impacts like noise pollution and habitat destruction. Leading developers are modifying their designs to reduce noise and proactively support biodiversity through efforts like preserving habitats for bees and planting new trees. Being a good neighbor also means taking steps to generate positive impacts for the community. In Europe, for example, leading data center developers design their facilities to recover waste heat and channel it to local district heating systems. Many data center operators support local community initiatives with investments of time as well as monetary donations. Supporting education and career development is another way data center operators are positively impacting their communities. AI Data Centers' Impacts Should—And Can—Be Positive The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is dramatically amplifying the impact of data centers—by the AI work they do and their effects on economies, environments and communities. AI presents tremendous opportunities for positive impact in healthcare, education, agriculture and many other industries. It can also help us ensure data centers' economic, environmental and community impacts are positive. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
