Ming - stock.adobe.com Opinion UK Fraud Bill targets benefit claimants for mass surveillance The UK government’s proposed Fraud Bill will disproportionately place millions of benefit claimants under constant surveillance, creating a two-tier system where people are automatically suspected of wrongdoing for seeking welfare By Anna Dent Published: 21 May 2025 Earlier this month the House of Lords had its first debate on the Public AuthoritiesBill.  The Bill aims to reduce government losses to benefit fraud and error, and would give the Department for Work and Pensionsunprecedented powers of investigation to routinely and covertly check benefit claimants' bank accounts, the right to enter private homes, and to seize drivers' licenses or money from bank accounts. Expert organisations including Justice, the Public Law Project and Big Brother Watch warn that although the aim of the Bill is hugely important, the proposed powers are disproportionate and represent a breach of human rights. As Baroness Finn remarked in the Lords, "support for the goal must not mean silence about the means." The Bill promises an expanded regime of digital surveillance for people in receipt of Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, and State Pension Credit. This includes the introduction of an 'Eligibility Verification Measure'which would enable DWP to direct banks to check millions of bank accounts for as yet unspecified indicators of benefit fraud and error.  DWP already has similar powers but crucially can only use them where it has 'reasonable grounds' to suspect fraud is taking place, which is the standard threshold for many comparable state powers. This Bill would completely remove that threshold, and enable intrusive surveillance without any justification. Details on exactly how the EVM will be used are sparse, but it could theoretically result in every single claimant’s bank account being checked, with no suspicion or indication of any fraud, error or over-payment needed.  Accounts flagged through these checks would then be passed to a member of DWP staff for further investigation, but what this will involve is still unclear. A code of practice to accompany the Bill is still unpublished, so we don't actually know what sequence of events would play out. Will individuals be informed when they are being investigated? Will their benefits be suspended during an investigation? Will their claim be assessed by other fraud algorithms? In some circumstances, the Department could automatically take money from the bank accounts of people no longer on benefits if they are deemed to have committed fraud or been accidentally overpaid. Banks will be prevented from informing their customers that this recovery process is happening, so the first that a customer might know is when money disappears from their account.  The finance industry has expressed concern about tensions between the obligations the Bill would create and financial institutions' consumer obligations, the risks of financial harm to vulnerable customers, and the lack of robust safeguards for the transfer of banking data. Others are concerned about the potential for miscarriages of justice which many will be unable to effectively challenge: the benefits covered by the Bill are only available to people on a low income, who are unlikely to have the means to engage in legal action. These powers would apply to both fraud and error, including over-payments caused by the Department's own mistakes. Overpayments can be caused by myriad mistakes on the part of DWP or claimant, or both, and the complexity of making claims is well known. But under the Bill, fraud and error will be treated the same, with the same digital surveillance deployed and the same powers to seize money and other assets. Universal Credit already appears to be particularly prone to mistakes and over-payments. Rather than punishing people after the fact, it would be better for DWP to work out why it is particularly vulnerable, do more to help people avoid mistakes, and reduce the rate at which their own mistakes cause over-payments. Treating all claimants like intentional fraudsters stigmatises people on benefits, and risks people who need financial support disengaging from the benefit system. Rather than focus on professional criminals who are actively defrauding the Department, the bill scoops everyone up and places them all under suspicion. It creates a two-tier system in which benefit claimants would be subject to an invasion of privacy not applied to the rest of the population: millions of people who have done nothing wrong will be laid open to mass surveillance. DWP officers would be given police-like powers of entry to private premises and seizure of private property. This is an extraordinary expansion of very serious powers targeted at one section of society. It fundamentally undermines basic rights to privacy and to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.  Whether the ends justify these heavy-handed means is doubtful. The Department's own impact assessment estimates that just 2% of social security fraud and error over-payments will be clawed back through the use of these powers over 10 years: a disproportionate invasion of privacy for little benefit. The finance industry also warns that the organised gangs who carry out large-scale benefit fraud using sophisticated methods to avoid detection will easily find ways to work around the new powers.  Also on its way through the legislative process is the Data Use and Access Bill, which proposes to reduce the requirement for human oversight of automated decisions within government. If both Bills pass into law as currently drafted, there is a potential future in which the human-in-the-loop safeguards relating to digital bank surveillance are no longer legally required. This leaves the door open to hugely consequential decisions being made entirely by automated systems. We know that existing DWP fraud algorithms generate bias; the introduction of more automation and digital surveillance and the potential for less human oversight should trouble us all.  Increasing the number of people that are flagged for investigation via these new powers could put thousands more through the difficult process of fraud investigation. DWP’s own figures show that three-quarters of people whose benefit claims are flagged as suspicious actually have no fraud or error related to their claim at all. Ten million people receive the benefits that will be covered by the new powers: if even 1% of claimants are wrongly investigated many thousands of people will be affected.  As well as the immediate impact of these disproportionate powers, politicians need to be aware of the precedents they are setting, and how the legislation could be used by other administrations in future. Eliminating the need for the government to justify wholesale digital surveillance removes a basic protection against state over-reach. Only the state pension is explicitly excluded from the powers in the Bill: a government with an even more single-minded obsession with efficiency and fraud could roll out the bank surveillance to many, many other people. What will affect a minority now could become the norm for the majority. Anna Dent is an independent researcher and policy consultant, working on the digital welfare state and human-centred technology about digital surveillance UK government outlines plan to surveil migrants with eVisa data: Electronic visa data and biometric technologies will be used by the UK’s immigration enforcement authorities to surveil migrants living in the country and to ‘tighten control of the border’, attracting strong criticism from migrant support groups. AI surveillance towers place migrants in ‘even greater jeopardy’: The use of autonomous surveillance towers throughout the English coast forces migrants into increasingly dangerous routes and contributes to their criminalisation. Invasive tracking ‘endemic’ on sensitive support websites: Websites set up by police, charities and universities to help people get support for sensitive issues like addiction and sexual harassment are deploying tracking technologies that harvest information without proper consent. In The Current Issue: UK critical systems at risk from ‘digital divide’ created by AI threats UK at risk of Russian cyber and physical attacks as Ukraine seeks peace deal Standard Chartered grounds AI ambitions in data governance Download Current Issue Microsoft entices developers to build more Windows AI apps – Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog Red Hat launches llm-d community & project – Open Source Insider View All Blogs #fraud #bill #targets #benefit #claimants

It is perhaps an understatement to say that Donald Trump is obsessed with popularity. Throughout his time in the limelight, he has repeatedly made it clear just how much he cares about polls — so much so that he’s made some up out of whole cloth and even called to “investigate” ones that showed he had low approval ratings, which he called “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.” He often exaggerates his political mandate and refers to his November victory as a historic landslide despite the fact that he didn’t even win a popular-vote majority.But since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has been doing very unpopular things, and it shows: According to a recent New York Times poll, two-thirds of respondents described Trump’s second term as “chaotic,” 59 percent said it’s “scary,” and 54 percent disapproved of his overall job as president. And though his approval rating has been improving in recent weeks, the overall number is still negative.More specifically, Trump’s most high-profile moves have been opposed by the majority of Americans. An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll showed that two-thirds of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of tariffs. A CNN poll found that a majority of Americans opposed deporting immigrants to a Salvadoran prison. And only 17 percent of Americans support deporting legal immigrants who participated in protests against Israel, according to the New York Times.Given the way Trump is governing, it can sometimes seem like how the majority of people feel doesn’t matter to the president, leading to more despair among those who disapprove. But is it actually true that polls and public opinion no longer influence Trump’s decisions? The takeaway, told through examples from the past four months, is more hopeful.Trump doubles down on birthright citizenship, deportationsOne of the most obvious examples of public opinion failing to sway the president comes from Trump’s handling of immigration, especially when it comes to the most controversial aspects of his policy. For years, Trump has railed against birthright citizenship, saying that the United States shouldn’t automatically give citizenship to people born on American soil. In his second term, one of Trump’s first executive orders was an attempt to end birthright citizenship, even though it’s enshrined in the US Constitution. The order, which has since been blocked by the courts, has little public support. An NPR/Ipsos poll in February, for example, found that only 31 percent of Americans support ending birthright citizenship. In May, the same poll found that only 28 percent of Americans favored Trump’s executive order. But that hasn’t made Trump stop his crusade against birthright citizenship, and his administration has taken the case up all the way to the Supreme Court.Another area where Trump has shown little, if any, movement despite public outcry is deportations. His administration deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian immigrant and Maryland resident, sending him to the notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador along with other deportees the administration has alleged are gang members. The Trump administration admitted that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was the result of an “administrative error.”A New York Times/Siena College poll found that only 31 percent of Americans approved Trump’s handling of this case, and another poll showed that only 26 percent of Americans believed that Abrego Garcia should remain in El Salvador. Despite that, and the fact that the courts have ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, the president has been unwilling to do so. On X, the White House said that he would be “never coming back.”The same New York Times/Siena poll also found that only 17 percent of Americans support moves to deport legal immigrants for expressing their views about Israel. But the Trump administration has continued its effort to deport green card holders and revoke student visas for those who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.Trump has also shown little interest in how people feel about the more minor issues that seem to be his pet projects. Only a quarter of Americans seemed to like the idea of renaming the Gulf of Mexico — but Trump is so fixated on leaving his imprint on that body of water that he has a map labeling it the Gulf of America in the Oval Office. The White House even banned Associated Press reporters from accessing presidential events because their outlet still refers to it as the Gulf of Mexico. Large majorities also oppose Trump’s idea to annex Canada and Greenland, but that hasn’t stopped him from talking about his plans to do so. But Trump is still largely complying with the courts — for nowOn the other hand, there are examples of Trump at least pretending to fall in line with public opinion. Take, for example, Trump’s delicate dance when it comes to how the administration handles court rulings. Defying the judicial branch is a red line for many voters. A Pew poll found that 78 percent of Americans believe that Trump should obey federal courts, and 88 percent believe that Trump should abide by Supreme Court rulings. A New York Times/Siena poll similarly showed that only 6 percent of Americans believe that Trump should ignore Supreme Court rulings. And a Fox News poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe that the president must follow the Supreme Court. Trump has clashed with the courts and even defied some of their orders. But despite all of his complaining about the courts, Trump hasn’t gone so far as to be openly defiant. His administration, for example, still publicly states that it’s complying with the courts even when it’s not, knowing that explicitly rejecting court orders will likely prompt some backlash. And while there have been a few standout cases, as in the case of Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has, for the most part, gone through the court process and abided by the rulings. They paused federal layoffs, for example, restored student visas, and released detained immigrants per court orders. Even as his administration finds ways to slow-walk court orders, Trump has said that he would “never defy” the Supreme Court. “I wouldn’t do that,” he told Time magazine in a recent interview. “I’m a big believer in the Supreme Court, and have a lot of respect for the justices.”Trump sidelines Elon MuskFor months, it seemed like Trump’s championing of Elon Musk was one of the starkest signs that he truly did not care about what his constituents think. The Tesla CEO was tasked with leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has wreaked havoc across agencies in the federal government. DOGE has been responsible for mass layoffs of federal workers and has proposed cuts to all sorts of programs, including Social Security. Musk himself had an outsize presence at the start of the Trump administration — even appearing in TV interviews alongside the president.Musk’s role in the Trump administration was designed to be temporary, with his status as a “special government employee” lasting 130 days. But at the start of Trump’s presidency, White House officials predicted that Musk’s role would be more permanent and that he would last longer than the 130-day limit that his status provides.That, however, doesn’t seem to be the case. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of Musk. And one of Musk’s most public setbacks came after he campaigned heavily in favor of the Republican in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, only for the Democrat to win by 10 points.Soon after that election, Trump signaled to his Cabinet that they will be seeing less of Musk. According to Politico, “Trump is increasingly mindful of next year’s midterms and making sure he doesn’t jeopardize his House majority. He’s kept a careful eye on the town hall outrage over DOGE, even as Republicans have chalked those scenes up to coordinated liberal stagecraft.” Trump, who made a habit of mentioning Musk’s work earlier on in his administration, has even stopped bringing him up nearly as much in public, something that his fellow Republicans in Congress have also done. Trump walks back tariffsPerhaps the ultimate example of Trump heeding public opinion comes from one of his most chaotic policies. When he came into office, Trump promised to impose taxes on imports from allies and foes alike. And since then, his plan can best be described as on again, off again.On the day he was inaugurated, for example, Trump announced he would impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on February 1. A Reuters/Ipsos poll at the time showed that a majority of Americans opposed slapping a tax on imports from the United States’ two largest trading partners, with only 37 percent of Americans supporting tariffs on Canada. Just two days after the tariffs went into effect, Trump announced he would implement a 30-day pause, claiming that he was satisfied with his agreement with the two countries over their border policies.A similar story played out when Trump finally announced his broader tariff policy, which imposed import taxes on the vast majority of countries. In the days and weeks that followed, poll after poll showed Americans were unhappy with the policy, with one poll showing that some two-thirds of Americans opposed Trump’s tariffs. Notably, financial markets were also rattled, and stock prices plunged. Trump then scaled back and paused his tariffs, focusing his trade war with China as opposed to the whole world. And eventually, Trump started walking back how aggressive he was willing to be on China as well.What does this all mean?A lot of Americans who oppose Trump might feel helpless during this second term, seeing little reason to protest or express their discontent. But just because Trump is term-limited and doesn’t have to win another election doesn’t mean that public anger won’t influence his administration. One of the fears of a second Trump term was that Trump would be emboldened and even more reckless than he was in his first. But there still seems to be evidence that despite governing in a deeply polarizing and unpopular way, Trump is probably swayed by the polls. That’s not to say that protests would stop the administration from implementing its agenda, but it is to say that if there’s enough discontent, Trump has shown that he might adjust his priorities. And with enough public outcry, Trump, like other presidents, sometimes scales back some of his more controversial policies to make them more palatable. It’s hard to predict just how much hold public opinion has over Trump, or when bad poll numbers might prompt him to reverse course, but he clearly cares about his legacy, what the overall public thinks about his performance as president, and, maybe most importantly, how his party will fare in the midterms next year. Trump would love nothing more than to still have a majority in Congress for the last two years of his presidency. So when it comes to which areas he might be willing to move on in order to cater to the broader electorate, it’s likely going to be issues that have staying power and could haunt the GOP in 2026. That’s likely why he panicked about tariffs and blinked: Not only are they deeply unpopular, but the potential negative consequences on prices and the overall economy might make Republicans less electable, just as historic inflation hurt Democrats’ chances last cycle. Expressing discontent over Trump’s policies also has a ripple effect that goes beyond how Trump might respond to one poll or protest here or there. When Trump first launched his retribution campaign against law firms and his assault on universities, some institutions cowered and bent to his will. But over time, as Trump grew more emboldened while the public grew more wary, some institutions started to fight back. At the end of the day, Trump’s power is derived from the people, and he is not immune to pushing his luck. See More: #trump #still #afraid #voters

A threat actor known as Hazy Hawk has been observed hijacking abandoned cloud resources of high-profile organizations, including Amazon S3 buckets and Microsoft Azure endpoints, by leveraging misconfigurations in the Domain Name Systemrecords. The hijacked domains are then used to host URLs that direct users to scams and malware via traffic distribution systems, according to Infoblox. Some of the other resources usurped by the threat actor include those hosted on Akamai, Bunny CDN, Cloudflare CDN, GitHub, and Netlify. The DNS threat intelligence firm said it first discovered the threat actor after it gained control of several sub-domains associated with the U.S. Center for Disease Controlin February 2025. It has since been determined that other government agencies across the globe, prominent universities, and international corporations such as Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Ernst & Young have been victimized by the same threat actor since at least December 2023. "Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Hazy Hawk is that these hard-to-discover, vulnerable domains with ties to esteemed organizations are not being used for espionage or 'highbrow' cybercrime," Infoblox's Jacques Portal and Renée Burton said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Instead, they feed into the seedy underworld of adtech, whisking victims to a wide range of scams and fake applications, and using browser notifications to trigger processes that will have a lingering impact." What makes Hazy Hawk's operations noteworthy is the hijacking of trusted and reputable domains belonging to legitimate organizations, thus boosting their credibility in search results when they are being used to serve malicious and spammy content. But even more concerningly, the approach enables the threat actors to bypass detection. Underpinning the operation is the ability of the attackers to seize control of abandoned domains with dangling DNS CNAME records, a technique previously exposed by Guardio in early 2024 as being exploited by bad actors for spam proliferation and click monetization. All a threat actor needs to do is register the missing resource to hijack the domain. Hazy Hawk goes a step further by finding abandoned cloud resources and then commandeering them for malicious purposes. In some cases, the threat actor employs URL redirection techniques to conceal which cloud resource was hijacked. "We use the name Hazy Hawk for this actor because of how they find and hijack cloud resources that have dangling DNS CNAME records and then use them in malicious URL distribution," Infoblox said. "It's possible that the domain hijacking component is provided as a service and is used by a group of actors." The attack chains often involve cloning the content of legitimate sites for their initial site hosted on the hijacked domains, while luring victims into visiting them with pornographic or pirated content. The site visitors are then funneled via a TDS to determine where they land next. "Hazy Hawk is one of the dozens of threat actors we track within the advertising affiliate world," the company said. "Threat actors who belong to affiliate advertising programs drive users into tailored malicious content and are incentivized to include requests to allow push notifications from 'websites' along the redirection path." In doing so, the idea is to flood a victim's device with push notifications and deliver an endless torrent of malicious content, with each notification leading to different scams, scareware, and fake surveys, and accompanied by requests to allow more push notifications. To prevent and protect against Hazy Hawk activities, domain owners are recommended to remove a DNS CNAME record as soon as a resource is shut down. End users, on the other hand, are advised to deny notification requests from websites they don't know. "While operators like Hazy Hawk are responsible for the initial lure, the user who clicks is led into a labyrinth of sketchy and outright malicious adtech. The fact that Hazy Hawk puts considerable effort into locating vulnerable domains and then using them for scam operations shows that these advertising affiliate programs are successful enough to pay well," Infoblox said. Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. #hazy #hawk #exploits #dns #records

Marcelino "Mashico" Abad celebrating his 124th birthday, as local authorities claim he might be the world's oldest ever person. Huanuco, Peru in 2024. Pension 65/via REUTERS 2025-05-20T13:30:01Z d Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? AI is reshaping tech hiring, reducing demand for entry-level roles in favor of experienced talent. SignalFire data shows a 50% drop in entry-level Big Tech hiring since pre-pandemic times. Tech firms now prioritize mid-senior hires, valuing experience over youthful potential. For decades, Silicon Valley thrived on a mythology of youth. Tech giants and startups hired young, hungry employees who were relatively inexperienced but could work every waking hour to write code and ship product.This era of youthful dominance in tech hiring may be fading, and it's partly due to the rise of AI. That's according to a new report from SignalFire, a venture capital firm that uses data and technology to guide its investment decisions.Youth no longer at the centerIn the past, young graduates were seen as hungry, moldable, and cost-effective hires. But today, new grads face the steepest employment challenges the tech industry has seen in years. SignalFire's latest State of Talent report reveals that entry-level hiring in Big Tech is down more than 50% from pre-pandemic levels, and startups aren't far behind."Tech startups have long been synonymous with youth," said Heather Doshay, a partner and head of talent at SignalFire. "But today, our data shows that many of those same early career professionals are struggling to find a way in."Startups are mostly focused on survival, cutting burn rates, and extending runway. That means fewer hands, more output, and a demand for autonomous doers. In short, they want experienced individual contributors who can hit the ground running, not entry-level hires who require more management time and training."With reduced headcount, every hire must be high ROI," Doshay added. "Right now, that points squarely to mid-senior level individual contributors — autonomous doers who deliver against immediate company needs."AI: The catalyst for a hiring resetAI isn't the sole cause of this generational hiring shift, but it's a major catalyst. Asher Bantock, head of research at SignalFire, noted that AI tools are increasingly automating the types of narrowly scoped tasks that were once assigned to junior developers. "What's increasingly scarce is not keystrokes but discernment," he told me. Crafting effective AI prompts, debugging machine-generated code, and integrating tools at scale requires architectural thinking, skills honed through years of experience, not a college diploma.Data from SignalFire's new report reveals this trend:At Big Tech companies, new grads now account for just 7% of hires, with new hires down 25% from 2023 and over 50% from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.At startups, new grads make up under 6% of hires, with new hires down 11% from 2023 and over 30% from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.The average age of technical hires has increased by three years since 2021.Big Tech companies are now focusing their resources on mid- and senior-level engineers, particularly in roles related to machine learning and data science. Meanwhile, functions like recruiting, design, and product marketing are shrinking across the board, the data also shows.The "experience paradox"This AI-driven shift has created what SignalFire calls the "experience paradox." Companies want junior hires to come pre-trained.But young candidates often struggle to gain experience without being given a chance. It's a classic Catch-22, especially in a job market where 37% of managers say they'd rather use AI than hire a Gen Z employee, according to SignalFire's data.Even top computer science grads from elite universities are struggling. The share of these graduates landing roles at the "Magnificent Seven"has plummeted by more than half since 2022, according to SignalFire's report. A chart from SignalFire's State of Talent 2025 report SignalFire A cultural shiftThis isn't just an economic or technical evolution, it's a cultural one. Where Silicon Valley once idolized youth, today's market prizes proven execution. Risk tolerance has dropped across the startup ecosystem, and with venture capital funding tightening, founders are hesitant to invest in long-term potential over short-term impact.Interestingly, this has opened the door for more seasoned professionals. While C-suite hiring has also slowed, companies are increasingly turning to "fractional" roles — part-time CTOs, CMOs, and advisors — to access senior talent without inflating their burn rate, according to SignalFire.More hustle than everFor younger professionals, the path into tech now requires more creativity and hustle than ever. Bootcamps, freelancing, open-source contributions, and AI fluency are becoming critical entry points. Simply having a degree, even from a top school, is no longer enough.For companies, the long-term risk of this shift is clear. Without reinvesting in early-career talent, the tech industry risks breaking its talent pipeline. While AI may temporarily reduce the need for junior hires, the future may still depend on building and training the next generation of technologists.The mythology of youth in tech isn't dead, but in 2025, it's being rewritten. Recommended video #silicon #valley #used #idolize #youth

Dutch universities have found themselves in the grip of American tech giants and are now urging their governing boards to chart a different course.   In an open letter, which has been signed by thousands of staff members, they call for significantly reduced dependence on Microsoft, Google and Amazon within three years.  “As universities, we should manage our own digital infrastructure,” said José van Dijck, a professor of media and digital society at Utrecht University and co-initiator of the campaign together with her colleague and public innovation academic Albert Meijer. “We are the heart of innovation and expertise in the Netherlands. If we don’t maintain control over our digital systems, then who will?”  The call may sound radical, but Van Dijck qualified it: “This isn’t an action against Big Tech, but for digital autonomy. Given recent developments, universities must strive to keep their infrastructure in their own hands. “When you become dependent on a commercial company, you lose the freedom to act autonomously in your research.”  The current situation didn’t develop overnight. “Ten years ago, we were still quite autonomous,” said Van Dijck. “Universities had their own facilities. Each university, for example, had its own computing centre. Fourteen universities, fourteen computing centres. At present, we have only one left.” That single remaining facility is the Snellius supercomputer in Watergraafsmeer, Amsterdam, which, according to Van Dijck, is already “completely full”.  In 2019, the rectors of Dutch universities warned about digital vulnerabilities in the newspaper de Volkskrant, followed by an open letter from cyber security scientists in 2021. But between these two moments, the world changed dramatically due to Covid-19, which Van Dijck identifies as a turning point.  “The pandemic pushed us deep into the Big Tech trap,” Van Dijck said. “There was an acute need to switch to online education en masse. All universities had to arrange this at breakneck speed. This time pressure led us to rely heavily on Big Tech companies because they could provide ready-made solutions immediately.”  While universities – together with SURF, the ICT cooperative for education and research in the Netherlands – were still actively developing their own solutions before the pandemic, such as the Jitsi video conferencing service, the need for speed meant these in-house developments were put on hold. “We simply didn’t have the time and resources to further develop our open source alternatives,” said Van Dijck. Even SURF, which could have served as a buffer, was drawn into this development. The result was that universities became even more deeply entwined with the systems of large tech companies.  The result of this accelerated digitisation is that universities are now often completely dependent on a single supplier. “In Utrecht, we’ve almost become a Microsoft university,” said Van Dijck. “All services are interconnected. Once you’re on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, you’re virtually forced to use their other services as well. This leads to a ‘vendor lock-in’ – we’re increasingly trapped in their ecosystem, with no possibility to switch.”  The situation is becoming ever more urgent due to geopolitical developments. The American Cloud Act gives the US government access to data stored on American clouds, even if physically hosted in Europe. “With the previous administration, I think we still trusted that,” said Van Dijck, “but since Trump took office, it has become crystal clear that he has little respect for existing rules and laws.”  Van Dijck points to developments in the US, where universities are already under pressure. “In recent conversations with American colleagues, it’s become clear that Trump not only wants to influence university funding but also has a direct impact on what can be researched,” she warned. “A climate is emerging where certain research areas are undesirable. Think of climate research, specific health research, and other topics that are now considered forbidden territory.”  The consequences could be directly felt in scientific practice. “Look at climate research,” said Van Dijck. “Scientists worldwide work on this and are strongly interdependent on each other’s data and insights. If American restrictions make certain information inaccessible, it undermines our entire research field. We simply cannot fully carry out our own work.”  The integration of AI technology into everyday software also reinforces dependency. Microsoft’s Co-Pilot and Google’s Gemini are becoming increasingly interwoven with the basic software that universities use. “These AI tools give Big Tech companies even more influence over how we teach and conduct research,” said Van Dijck.  The biggest problem, according to her, is the lack of transparency: “These systems are partly fed with our data, while we gain no insight into how that data is used to train AI models.” This touches on fundamental scientific principles. “There are serious questions about copyright, but also about accuracy, verifiability and replicability – core values in scientific research that are completely lacking in these AI models.”  The academics are not advocating for a radical break with Big Tech, but rather for a pragmatic two-track policy. “We shouldn’t throw everything overboard, but we do need to step out of that vendor lock-in so that we regain real freedom of choice,” added Van Dijck.  In the letter, which was sent to all Dutch university boards, SURF, KNAWand NWO, seven concrete steps are proposed:  Inventory and safeguard existing autonomous services. Map critical vulnerabilities and develop exit strategies. Create secure storage havens for research data. Experiment with and strengthen open source alternatives. Prioritise open source learning environments in future contracts. Explore European collaboration opportunities via networks such as Géant. Develop independent identification methods via SURF Conext. “We first need to identify which services can already be offered autonomously and secure and strengthen those,” said Van Dijck. “In addition, it’s essential to map our vulnerabilities and develop exit strategies and emergency scenarios for cloud services.”  In all these steps, one organisation is indispensable according to the initiators: SURF must play a key role by expanding existing services such as SURF Drive, SURF Conext and SURF File Sender and testing new open source alternatives. “Open source solutions are essential for regaining our autonomy,” said Van Dijck. “They offer us transparency, control and the ability to adapt the software to our specific needs.”  SURF has always been a crucial buffer for Dutch universities against complete dependence on commercial services. “SURF has developed various essential services, such as our own identification system via SURF Conext, tools for securely sharing large files, and access to supercomputing facilities,” said Van Dijck. But even SURF has not proven immune to the Big Tech temptation: “They too have gradually outsourced more and more to Microsoft and Google, at the expense of developing and maintaining their own tools.”  With increasing concern, Van Dijck sees how these in-house services are being phased out: “When I now approach the service desk, I hear that SURF Drive is making way for OneDrive. This is alarming, because these in-house services form the backbone of our digital autonomy.”  The Dutch situation contrasts sharply with other European countries. “France and Germany have already invested much more consciously in digital sovereignty,” said Van Dijck. “While the Netherlands placed most data in American clouds without many questions, French institutions have consistently maintained a more autonomous strategy. German universities have also invested more heavily in open source solutions.” An example of this is Nextcloud, an open source alternative to commercial cloud storage, which has already been implemented by fifty German universities.  The loss of autonomy harbours a hidden danger: the disappearance of crucial expertise. “When you give up control of your infrastructure, you also lose the knowledge to manage it,” warned Van Dijck. “Once you’ve outsourced everything, you can’t easily recover that expertise.” This loss of knowledge is particularly problematic for knowledge institutions, according to Van Dijck: “Universities are breeding grounds for innovation. Digital infrastructure is not a peripheral facility but central to our teaching and research.”  The initial reactions from university administrators are hopeful. “Our executive board immediately shared our concerns and recognised the increased urgency,” said Van Dijck. Other universities have also responded positively to the call.  Much is at stake for the Dutch knowledge economy. “We have seen how quickly the geopolitical situation can change,” said Van Dijck. “The question is not whether we should strengthen our digital autonomy, but how quickly we can do it.” Time is pressing for universities to take their digital fate back into their own hands – not against Big Tech, but for academic independence. about Dutch digital independence #dutch #universities #call #reduced #dependence

Submitted by WA Contents Yasmeen Lari is awarded the 2025 Lisbon Triennale Millennium Achievement Award Pakistan Architecture News - May 19, 2025 - 04:22   html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "; Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari has been awarded the 2025 Achievement Award by the Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Her more than 60-year career is a potent example of how design may be used to uplift people's quality of life, combat inequality, prevent ecological collapse, and create a more equitable future."Architecture has to change if it wants to remain relevant. Our work is not something only for the rich; poor communities all over the world need good design, because it is of even greater value to them," said Yasmeen Lari."That’s why I think my job is to rebuild lives: to create ‘poverty escape-ladders’ by losing control of the process through co-building and co-creation. We do this by sharing knowledge and mobilising villages – one village at a time."Image courtesy of Al Jazeera websiteLari, who was born in Pakistan in 1941, attended Oxford to study architecture. She became the first female architect in Pakistan when she went home after graduation and opened her own practice. Yasmeen Lari retired from her architectural practice in 2000 after a prosperous career in Karachi. She then concentrated on the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, which is committed to conserving and advancing regional, sustainable, and vernacular architecture. Lari once again broadened her profession following a disastrous earthquake in 2005, adopting what she calls a bottom-up, "humanistic humanitarian action" and redefining the function of modern architecture, particularly in regions severely impacted by socioeconomic and climate-related issues. Women's Centre in Darya Khan, Pakistan, in 2011Following her "four zeros" philosophy—zero carbon, zero waste, zero donations, and zero poverty—Yasmeen Lari promised to assist in the construction of over a million homes in response to the devastating floods that hit Pakistan in 2022. Lari's subsequent career is genuinely remarkable because it accomplished this goal without the need for outside financial aid, philanthropy, or patrons. Yasmeen Lari and Nayeem Shah look at the roof of the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre. Image courtesy of Heritage Foundation of PakistanAt the Triennale 2025 opening days on October 02–04, Yasmeen Lari will give a public talk and accept the Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Awards trophy, which was created by Álvaro Siza from leftover marble from Estremoz, Portugal.The jury of the Début and Achievement Awards is comprised by architects Inês Lobo, Lígia Nobre, Samia Henni, Sandi Hilal, and Yuma Shinohara. The three Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Awards – Achievement, Début and Universities – aim to promote groundbreaking world architecture by recognising those who make it. From transdisciplinary research developed in an academic setting, to emerging talent and established practices.The top image in the article © Yasmeen Lari © Heritage Foundation of Pakistan. > via Lisbon Triennale  #yasmeen #lari #awarded #lisbon #triennale

Got a project that’s too bold to build? Submit your conceptual works, images and ideas for global recognition and print publication in the 2025 Vision Awards! The Main Entry deadline of June 6th is fast approach — submit your work today. In architecture, a building’s function often plays a pivotal role in shaping its design and aesthetic expression. This approach addresses the functional needs of its users and contributes to a unique architectural identity, reflecting the innovative spirit of the institutions it serves. That said, technological advances in architecture not only enhance efficiency but can also become unique design features that elevate aesthetics as much as functionality. For instance, innovative materials and construction methods, automation, or energy-saving control systems can meet practical demands and be visually appealing design features. This approach includes incorporating passive design principles, planning for long-term adaptability, and enhancing occupant comfort. Research institutes, laboratories, data centers, universities, manufacturing plants, medical centers, and tech incubators are notable architectural expressions of an era’s technological progress. The following examples of technological facilities effectively illustrate these principles, showcasing the dynamic relationship between design, function and innovation. Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex By Behnisch Architekten, Boston, Massachusetts Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex by Behnisch Architekten. Boston, Massachusetts | Photo by Steve Dunwell Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex by Behnisch Architekten. Boston, Massachusetts | Photo by Steve Dunwell The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complexis a notable centerpiece for Harvard’s Allston Campus, reflecting a deep commitment to interdisciplinary research, sustainability, and innovative design. This architectural marvel is not just a facility serving a specific function; it represents the forefront of scientific research and technological advancement. The 544,000-square-foot complex embodies the complexities and adaptabilities of modern scientific facilities through its three interconnected lab block thoughtful configuration. It features modular layouts that promote collaboration and creativity, with inviting lounges on multiple floors encouraging researchers to pause and exchange ideas. Aesthetically, the SEC uses a layered façade that integrates hydroformed stainless-steel screens with expansive floor-to-ceiling ribbon glazing. This design creates a visually striking silhouette against the urban landscape while optimizing natural light, ventilation, and thermal performance, showcasing the technological advancements in sustainable architecture. California Institute of Technology Resnick Sustainability Center By CannonDesign, Pasadena, California California Institute of Technology Resnick Sustainability Center by CannonDesign. Pasadena, California | Photo by Michael Moran California Institute of Technology Resnick Sustainability Center by CannonDesign. Pasadena, California | Photo by Tim Griffith Photography Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Center is a dynamic structure that reflects the institution’s commitment to tackling some of the most pressing environmental challenges, such as clean energy transitions, water scarcity, and environmental degradation. The center fosters interdisciplinary collaboration to advance research in renewable energy technologies, carbon capture, sustainable manufacturing, and ecosystem resilience to create practical, science-based solutions for a more sustainable future. However, the building’s design is not merely functional; its undulating façade, composed of high-performance glass and metal fins, contributes to its striking aesthetics as much as serving environmental purposes. The rhythmic curves of the exterior not only give the building a distinctive identity but also optimize solar performance by managing heat gain and glare throughout the day. Paired with expansive windows that let in generous natural lighting, this striking building skin creates inviting and comfortable interior spaces. Green roofs and vertical gardens serve aesthetic and environmental purposes, enhancing biodiversity and offering a peaceful retreat within the urban fabric. Inside, the center’s shared labs and cutting-edge equipment emphasize transparency and accessibility, encouraging interaction among the building users. One North Quay By Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, London, United Kingdom One North Quay by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. London, United Kingdom | Visualization by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. One North Quay is Europe’s largest commercial health and life sciences building and exemplifies how a research-driven urban campus can integrate into a dense urban setting. Situated in Canary Wharf, one of London’s most space-constrained and strategically connected districts, the building responds to its limited footprint by organizing high-performance laboratories, flexible workstations, and communal zones into a stacked ecosystem that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and long-term growth. The building organizes tenants into blocks that connect labs, lounges, and meeting spaces. This configuration not only fosters interaction but also allows different tenants to scale according to their needs within a shared environment. While the efficient interior layout is impressive, it is its exterior design that stands out. The architecture draws from the site’s industrial heritage, balancing aesthetic appeal and environmental performance. Sections of the facade are clad in graphite aluminum fins and warm-toned terracotta panels, enhancing the building’s vertical expression. These materials are arranged in an elegant gradient, giving the structure a distinctive identity that stands out in the urban skyline. Beyond aesthetics, the facade integrates key sustainable features—including an airtight, high-performance envelope, energy-optimized systems, and extensive photovoltaic arrays—all supporting the building’s goal of achieving a net-zero carbon footprint. These case studies demonstrate that sustainable features are not simply utilitarian elements added to buildings but essential components that shape a building’s architectural identity and aesthetic expression. Harvard’s Science and Engineering Complex’ s high-performance materials and a layered façade system reduce energy use while defining the building’s contemporary, high-tech appearance; Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Center’s undulating building envelope, green roofs, and abundant daylighting elevate the environmental performance and the user experience; One North Quay’s gradient façade of terracotta and aluminum blends industrial heritage with modern environmental technology, proving that sustainable strategies can contribute to a distinctive urban presence. These examples highlight a shift in the way architecture is approached, where environmental awareness can harmonize with design ambition. Through the integration of passive design strategies, innovative technologies, and creative use of materials, sustainable features are becoming expressive design elements in their own right. In doing so, they redefine what technological facilities can look like: functional, forward-thinking, and visually inspiring. Got a project that’s too bold to build? Submit your conceptual works, images and ideas for global recognition and print publication in the 2025 Vision Awards! The Main Entry deadline of June 6th is fast approach — submit your work today. The post In High-Tech Facility Design, Form Follows Function — and Sustainability appeared first on Journal. #hightech #facility #design #form #follows

Quantum computing promises to shorten the path to solving some of the world’s biggest computational challenges, from scaling in-silico drug design to optimizing otherwise impossibly complex, large-scale logistics problems. Integrating quantum hardware into state-of-the-art AI supercomputers — forming accelerated quantum supercomputers — helps speed the scaling of today’s quantum processors into helpful devices for solving these complex challenges. At the COMPUTEX trade show, NVIDIA underscored how its work with partners across the Taiwan supercomputing ecosystem is advancing quantum computing toward accelerated quantum supercomputers. Leading hardware developers are working with NVIDIA to equip quantum researchers with tools to make significant contributions in the field. Atlantic Quantum, the University of Edinburgh,, the University of Oxford, Quantum Circuits Inc., QuEra Computing and Yale University anticipate receiving NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips from Supermicro to explore and refine the intersections between AI supercomputing and quantum computing. Compal announced its CGA-QX platform, built using the NVIDIA CUDA-Q platform, to accelerate the simulation of quantum optimization problems. The platform has been adopted by the Taiwanese National Science and Technology Council and made available to researchers from universities across Taiwan. Quanta has employed NVIDIA CUDA-Q to experiment with physical quantum hardware, using the platform’s state vector simulations to verify and validate existing quantum processors. This allows Quanta to understand the details of noise in its systems and assess how well they work for use cases of interest. NVIDIA is also working with supercomputing centers to advance accelerated quantum supercomputing. Taiwan’s National Center for High-Performance Computingannounced a new supercomputer for quantum research. Built by ASUS, the AI supercomputer at NCHC will feature NVIDIA HGX H200 systems with over 1,700 GPUs, two NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 rack-scale systems and an NVIDIA HGX B300 system built on the next-generation NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra platform — interconnected by NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand networking. Announced today at COMPUTEX, it’s expected to go live later this year. NCHC is enabling over 20 companies working in quantum computing — collaborating under what’s known as the National Quantum Team. NVIDIA CUDA-Q is being used at the center to explore quantum solutions for applications ranging from machine learning to chemistry. In Japan, AIST’s ABCI-Q — the world’s most powerful supercomputer dedicated to quantum workloads — integrates an NVIDIA supercomputer with more than 2,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs with quantum processors from Fujitsu, QuEra Computing and OptQC. Increased availability of these quantum-AI platforms is poised to accelerate the breakthroughs researchers can make in quantum computing — including developing new error correcting codes, integrating quantum processors within AI supercomputing and simulating low noise designs of quantum hardware. Learn more about NVIDIA’s work advancing accelerated quantum supercomputing at NVIDIA GTC Taipei, running May 21-22. #nvidia #grows #quantum #computing #ecosystem

In 2021, Unity funded a multi-year, grant partnership with Spelman College to build a gaming degree program and support Spelman’s Innovation Lab. Then, in 2022, with support from Unity, I became the first Expert in Residencein Atlanta to launch a pilot program aimed at underrepresented creators.The goal of the newly established program is to continue to build on Unity’s partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universitiesand Minority Serving Institutions.During my residency, I formed an internal council of stakeholders across the company who invested time in helping to create new opportunities for participants. I also had the chance to meet with faculty from various HBCU and MSI departments, demonstrate tools, provide guidance and resources to students, and give workshops on topics ranging from real-time 3Duse cases for research to career paths for students.Through my work with HBCUs, I continue to be blown away by student and faculty dedication to making the world better and creating more opportunities and pathways to careers that will directly impact how diversity is approached globally.It is one of the biggest highlights of my career to be able to create a program that expands inclusion in gaming and immersive experiences. As I reflect on the past year – especially during Black History Month – here are just a few things I’ve learned that were critical to the successful execution of this pilot program.This work requires investment from leaders within the community, as well as from the industry, so that the two can come together at one table to meet the needs of students and faculty. During the program, I built relationships and established partnerships with nonprofit organizations, government officials, and entrepreneurs, all of whom were dedicated to using emerging technology for economic development. This was helpful in developing success metrics focused on career pathways for students.As a result of this work, I was honored as an inaugural Champion of the Metaverse by the US Black EngineerInformation Technology magazine. The Black Engineer of the Year Awards honor leaders in various engineering disciplines for their technical contributions and advocacy for STEM education in the community.Only 2% of game professionals are Black, and it was critical to understand the systemic issues that contribute to the underrepresentation of people of color in the games industry. Part of that research included looking at the history of STEM education and where opportunities to break into the industry lie. Understanding game engine technology and its use cases is also essential to the future of work, particularly in entertainment.Sharing that message with the technology community at large is important, and the AFROTECH Conference was a perfect place to continue highlighting the intersection of real-time technology and cultural creativity.It was exciting to have Black technologists from around the world attend our Real-Time 3D is the Future panel at AFROTECH. During the panel, we discussed the power of computer graphics and creative tools like SpeedTree and Ziva. We also talked about the significance of technology history by acknowledging the contributions of Black scientists and inventors in the video game industry who have helped make technologies like game engines possible. Being able to connect the dots between STEM education – particularly in art and engineering – to the software that we develop helps demystify the myriad ways you can build a career in the games industry.Creating a strategy to do work like this has to include multi-threaded efforts across teams internally at Unity, including Education, Employee Resource Groups, Social Impact, Inclusion and Diversity, Marketing, Recruiting, and Product Advocacy. Through building this village, we can establish programs that leverage Unity products for future creator success and open the door to new opportunities for our creative communities around the world.I can’t stress enough how important it is to check in often with both your industry and community collaborators. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this kind of work. By listening to your users and actively sharing their feedback, you can create a custom program that meets the needs of students and faculty while helping shape inclusive product design and software development.Although the pilot program is complete, many colleagues within Unity and the broader games industry have reached out to learn how to keep the momentum going. We hope that this EIR model can be replicated with future initiatives; however, whether you’re a Unity employee or not, you can keep up with everything Spelman is doing with our grant by following the Spelman Innovation Lab online.An exciting event coming up soon is Spelman’s HBCU Game Jam, which is being held in Atlanta from February 24–26.If you’re in the Atlanta area and would like to volunteer in person for the Spelman College event this month, email us to learn about opportunities. To keep up with Unity’s own inclusion and diversity efforts, visit our site. #inclusion #starts #here #why #year