A global treaty to limit plastic pollution is within reach
Winnie Courtene-Jones, Lecturer in Marine Pollution, Bangor University. Representatives from 175 countries will gather in Geneva, Switzerland, in August for the final round of negotiations on a legally binding UN treaty to end plastic pollution. Non-governmental organisations, academics and industry lobbyists will also be in the room. They will all […]
BLT’s 2024 ESG Highlights: Advancing Low-Carbon Manufacturing with Additive Innovation
As ESG principles continue to reshape the global manufacturing landscape, Bright Laser Technologies (BLT) stands out as a long-time practitioner of sustainable innovation. In its newly released 2024 ESG Highlights, BLT details the progress it has made in integrating environmental responsibility, social impact, and strong governance across its operations. From […]
The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea
Unsettling, amusing, and prescient; a much-needed audit of a consuming idea. This is a study of how the measurement and indulgence of “genius” has changed over time. Over the past couple of centuries, the boundaries of genius have been used to justify eugenics, consolidate power, and excuse eccentric and even […]
Powering remanufacturing with AI
Companies are accelerating remanufacturing as a way to mitigate supply chain shortages, reach new customers through affordability, and implement high-margin alternatives for parts. However, those looking to build or optimise their remanufacturing operations face unique challenges, such as pricing a long tail of SKUs and undertaking accurate core forecasting—that is, predicting […]
Middlebank Consulting Group and Netstock to address supply chain challenges
Supply chain and value chain management consultancy Middlebank Consulting Group, has announced an expanded strategic partnership with Netstock, a global leader in inventory management and demand planning software. This collaboration aims to equip businesses with the tools and expertise necessary to stay resilient against today’s supply chain challenges while optimising […]
SMB manufacturers are cutting costs without cutting corners
Andrew Mamonitis, Vice President – APAC, Manufacturing Division, ECI Solutions In today’s volatile business landscape, small and mid-sized manufacturers (SMBs) are navigating a minefield of cost pressures. Inflation may be easing, however supply chains remain erratic, and the modern workforce demands greater flexibility. Many SMBs, desperate to stay afloat, are […]
What is multimodal AI?
Multimodal AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can understand and process different types of information, such as text, images, audio, and video, all at the same time. Multimodal gen AI models produce outputs based on these various inputs. When you wake up in the morning, you reorient yourself […]
Can reading the news make you richer?
Researchers have uncovered a novel way to forecast stock market volatility using daily business news. Business news can do more than report on financial markets; it can predict where they’re headed. That’s the finding from a new study by University of Auckland finance lecturer Dr Justin J. Case and Queensland […]
Tech Council of Australia and techUK sign landmark partnership
The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) and techUK have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking a significant milestone in technology industry collaboration between Australia and the United Kingdom. Signed during London Tech Week at the UK Department for Business and Trade in the Old Admiralty Building and […]
The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea
By Helen Lewis Unsettling, amusing, and prescient; a much-needed audit of a consuming idea. This is a study of how the measurement and indulgence of “genius” has changed over time. Over the past couple of centuries, the boundaries of genius have been used to justify eugenics, consolidate power, and excuse […]
Your Life Is Manufactured: How We Make Things, Why It Matters and How We Can Do It Better
By Tim Minshall We live in a manufactured world. Unless you are floating naked through space, you are right now in direct contact with multiple manufactured products. How often do we stop to think: where do the things we buy actually come from? There exists a nearly invisible, awe-inspiring global […]
R.PACK Software Suite: The next step in efficiency and control
RECIF Technologies has launched R.PACK, the next-generation software suite designed for RECIF sorters. With an emphasis on usability, efficiency, and innovation, R.PACK introduces a suite of advanced features aimed at simplifying the management of wafer sorting equipment. Built for Speed, Designed for Precision R.PACK enhances operational efficiency for users of […]
Open source technology in the age of AI
With more organisations deploying gen AI across business functions, a new survey finds that leaders are increasingly turning to open source AI solutions to build out their tech stacks. Open source software has long been a critical part of the technology ecosystem. Commercial software typically requires a commercial license or subscription and restricts access to its core technology. However, open source tools are developed collaboratively and made available to the public to use, modify, and distribute with far fewer restrictions. The open source model gives developers the ability to adapt and shape well-tailored solutions to the particular needs of their organizations. The current age of AI is no different. As more enterprises build and deploy AI-driven solutions across their businesses, they are turning to a growing array of open source technologies. Such offerings include Meta’s Llama family, Google’s Gemma family, the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence’s OLMo family, Nvidia’s NeMo family, DeepSeek-R1, and Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen 2.5-Max—many of which are fast closing the performance gap relative to proprietary AI models. Leaders are embracing open source tools as essential components of their technology stacks, citing advantages such as high performance, ease of use, and lower implementation and maintenance costs relative to proprietary tools. Developers, meanwhile, increasingly view experience with open source AI as an important part of their overall job satisfaction. While open source solutions come with concerns about security and time to value, more than three-quarters of survey respondents expect to increase their use of open source AI in the years ahead. Enterprises are using open source models more than one might expect. Across several areas of the AI technology stack, over 50 percent of respondents report that their organisations are using open source AI technologies (often alongside proprietary tools from players such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google). Organisations that place […]