tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/tech-sector-40362/articlesTech sector – The Conversation2023-09-12T20:35:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2124272023-09-12T20:35:26Z2023-09-12T20:35:26ZCanada’s digital nomad program could attract tech talent – but would they settle down?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547299/original/file-20230908-15-6flscm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C279%2C5121%2C3166&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digital nomad programs have proliferated in recent years. Now, Canada is seeking to use the idea to attract highly skilled tech workers. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadas-digital-nomad-program-could-attract-tech-talent-but-would-they-settle-down" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Over the summer, the Canadian government unveiled its <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2023/06/canadas-tech-talent-strategy.html">Tech Talent Strategy</a>, which aims to attract global tech workers to come to Canada. Promoting Canada as a destination for digital nomads is one of the four key pillars of the strategy. </p>
<p>Though full details are yet to be revealed, only a well-calibrated policy — attuned to the changing conceptions of work and employment — can help Canada develop a high-skilled workforce and prevent unintended consequences. </p>
<p>Digital nomads are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2023.2190608">location-independent</a> workers who use technology to do their jobs remotely, travelling to different countries for brief periods. Several countries <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104744">have introduced</a> new programs to attract digital workers over the past few years.</p>
<p>Canada’s new digital nomad program is part of the government’s broader vision to fulfil in-demand jobs and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2023/06/canadas-tech-talent-strategy.html">attract the talent</a> necessary to sustain future economic growth. </p>
<p>The government expects that the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/migration/mig/MPD-27-Should-OECD-countries-develop-new-Digital-Nomad-Visas-July2022.pdf">digital nomads</a> coming to Canada will seek employment with <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2023/06/canadas-tech-talent-strategy.html">Canadian companies</a> while here, leading to them eventually seeking permanent residency and help Canada <a href="https://www.oecd.org/migration/mig/MPD-27-Should-OECD-countries-develop-new-Digital-Nomad-Visas-July2022.pdf">retain tech talent</a>. But Canada has work to do to clarify how tax and social benefits programs would apply to digital nomads.</p>
<h2>Canada’s approach at odds with digital nomadism</h2>
<p>The government’s assumption that the digital nomads will find jobs in Canada and become permanent residents contradicts the notion of digital nomadism. It is naïve of the government to take it for granted that while here they would choose to permanently settle down.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Canadian visa in a passport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546760/original/file-20230906-15-m1kxp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The government’s assumption that digital nomads will settle in Canada is out of step with the notion of digital nomadism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The government also expects digital nomads to seek employment with the local Canadian employers. However, digital nomads by definition are either paid employees working for companies based in other countries, or they are simply independent contractors or entrepreneurs. On the contrary, digital nomads are usually not allowed to work for any local employers in their destination countries. The country of residence and the country of work are principally different.</p>
<p>Yet, the decision to migrate — where to go and how long to stay — is often a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12931">complex process</a>. And, some digital nomads may eventually decide to settle in Canada. Again though, Canada may not be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12931">endpoint</a> of their journeys.</p>
<h2>Can Canada be an attractive destination?</h2>
<p><a href="https://nomadgirl.co/countries-with-digital-nomad-visas/">Many countries</a> around the world have introduced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2023.2209825">digital nomad visas</a> — usually some sort of <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-nomad-visas-offer-the-best-of-two-worlds-what-you-should-know-before-you-go-195930">hybrid</a> between a tourist and temporary work visa. Merely creating a new <a href="https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/articles/2023/august/16/how-canada-can-promote-itself-as-a-destination-for-digital-nomads">temporary resident category</a> is not enough to make Canada a desirable destination for digital nomads. </p>
<p>If Canada seriously aims to attract digital nomads, it has leeway. A 2022 report published in the United Kingdom ranked Canada the <a href="https://www.circleloop.com/nomadindex">No. 1 destination</a> for digital nomads among 85 countries.</p>
<p>Digital nomadism exists in a sort of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-020-00177-z">nebulous space”</a> between work-focused migration and lifestyle-related mobility. It goes against the traditional notions of place-based work, migration, taxation and citizenship. Governments must make policies in ways that align with those changing realities. </p>
<p>Canada could set an example for others to follow by co-ordinating its digital nomad program with policies in taxation and social protection.</p>
<p>In Canada, the government should clarify how tax and social benefits programs would apply to digital nomads. For example, the Canadian government taxes any foreigners staying here for <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/determining-your-residency-status.html">more than 183 days</a>. The government would need to clarify whether digital nomads would be taxed or given tax breaks in an effort to incentivize them to stay. If digital nomads are taxed, would they be allowed to access Canada’s social welfare system in the same way as any other resident? </p>
<h2>Caution and clarity</h2>
<p>Not all digital nomads are high-income earning transnational workers in pursuits of the freedoms and privileges that come with remote work. The realities of day-to-day life are complex even for digital nomads who are <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-nomads-have-rejected-the-office-and-now-want-to-replace-the-nation-state-but-there-is-a-darker-side-to-this-quest-for-global-freedom-189835">from the western world, but especially more so for those who are women or from the Global South</a>. A new digital nomad program would need to address such intersectional challenges.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A backpacker carrying a laptop and smartphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546759/original/file-20230906-24-elhnuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital nomadism goes against the traditional notions of place-based work, migration, taxation and citizenship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rhetoric around attracting and retaining tech talent is one thing, but implementing it demands that the government clarify and adjust its policies in many other areas such as taxation, social protection and health care. </p>
<p>The government’s vision for retaining the tech talent in Canada is not straightforward either. Compared to Canada, the tech industry in the United States can offer <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-new-tech-talent-strategy-aims-to-attract-workers-from-around-the-world-208810">high salaries</a>. Digital nomads would potentially consider financial factors before deciding to seek employment with the Canadian tech companies. </p>
<p>If a large number of digital nomads are locally employed as expected, the Canadian tech industry would naturally become more competitive. Inviting international high-tech workers to the Canadian tech industry could inadvertently sideline <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-new-tech-talent-strategy-aims-to-attract-workers-from-around-the-world-208810">local talent</a>. </p>
<p>Research shows that digital nomads tend toward peripheral <a href="https://doi.org/10.5130/acis2018.bl">“exotic” locations</a> with high-speed internet and a lower cost of living than their home country. As seen in places like <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/boon-or-threat-mexico-city-wrestles-with-influx-remote-us-workers-2022-09-13/">Mexico City</a>, the surge of digital nomads can <a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-working-how-a-surge-in-digital-nomads-is-pricing-out-local-communities-around-the-world-200670">price out local communities</a>. </p>
<p>At a time when Canada is facing a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-housing-data-1.6843592">housing crisis</a>, such a program might make the situation even worse if not done with due diligence.</p>
<p>The government appears to be conflating a digital nomad with a high-tech remote worker. The focus on attracting tech workers could embed inequalities into the program. Canada’s preference is only for the <a href="https://www.immigration.ca/new-canada-visa-targets-digital-nomads-to-work-remotely/">high-tech sector</a> where women constitute only 26.7 per cent of the global workforce. </p>
<p>Digital nomads are not all high-tech workers. They also work in a range of digital-intensive sectors, such as marketing, media, writing, tutoring and accounting.</p>
<p>Canada can play a leading role in developing digital nomad policies. In the global competition for talent, an evidence-based digital nomad program could meet Canada’s immigration priorities while showcasing Canada as a destination for global talent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Triandafyllidou receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, as Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hari KC does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Canadian government wants to attract digital nomads to come to Canada. However, to be successful the program requires clarity on issues like tax and social benefits.Hari KC, Research Fellow, CERC Migration and Integration program, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityAnna Triandafyllidou, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038322023-08-07T12:40:44Z2023-08-07T12:40:44ZWhat’s the difference between a startup and any other business?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536333/original/file-20230707-19-h3ttvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C45%2C5089%2C2743&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Between 2012 and 2021, funding to U.S. tech startups jumped to $344 billion.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/diverse-team-of-professional-businesspeople-meeting-royalty-free-image/1363104989?phrase=start+ups&adppopup=true">gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>What’s the difference between a startup and a business, and is one better than the other? – Aditya, age 16, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>All startups are businesses, but not every business is a startup.</p>
<p>Nearly <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/new-business-applications-a-state-by-state-view">100,000 new businesses</a> were formed each week in the United States in 2022. But what sets a startup apart? </p>
<p>As a professor of marketing and innovation who has worked at several startups, including Netflix in its early days, I can share some of the differences between a startup and a more traditional business.</p>
<h2>Startups are inventing something new</h2>
<p>A traditional business generally has an established solution to a known problem and has not developed anything particularly new. </p>
<p>For example, a new sushi restaurant in your neighborhood may be a new business, but it is by no means a startup. However, if a new local company had developed a device that automated sushi-making and tried to get sushi restaurants to try it, that would be a startup. The restaurant is simply trying to satisfy the neighborhood’s needs for sushi, whereas the device company is trying to change all sushi restaurants with its new method.</p>
<p>A startup is centered on an innovation that has never been brought to market before. This could be a product or service, a technology, a process, a brand, or even a new business model. Generally, they have big industry-changing goals about disrupting the market leader or current customer behavior. </p>
<p>Think Uber, an inventive startup that originally operated in San Francisco. It built off the time-tested taxi model – a business – and created a unique ride-sharing app that had never existed previously.</p>
<h2>The goals of startups</h2>
<p>Regardless of their product and location, the main focus of a startup is to figure out if there is a need for their product. </p>
<p>Startups are trying to find and optimize a <a href="https://www.coursera.org/articles/target-market">target market</a> for their new solution. Who would value and buy what they have developed? Startups often think they have a good picture of who would like what they are building, but they’re not always right. </p>
<p>For example, I headed marketing nearly a decade ago at relationship-focused tech startup <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/27/compass-acquires-contactually-a-crm-provider-to-the-real-estate-industry/">Contactually</a>. When Contactually began to promote its services, it aimed for small businesses in several industries, thinking that the product met needs equally across all of them. But subsequently we found out that our offering worked particularly well for real estate agents and brokers, and we started to put all efforts into meeting this group’s needs exclusively.</p>
<p>Part of identifying a target market is establishing a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product/market_fit">product/market fit</a> – the degree to which the innovation satisfies a market need. Startups know they may be on to something when customers from the target market purchase the new solution and are willing to share their positive experiences with others. </p>
<p>Once a startup has passed those stages, it <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/scalability.asp">will try to scale</a>. This means successfully growing the startup so that it’s not limited by funding or staff. For example, once <a href="https://backlinko.com/netflix-users">Netflix launched its streaming platform</a> in 2010, it was able to scale around the globe in an easier and faster manner than if it had stayed with its original DVD-by-mail business model.</p>
<p>Finally, to accomplish the things that would enable it to scale, startups are generally focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-021-00197-w">spending time with and learning from their customers</a>. Once they reach a specific size, most businesses focus less on customer learning and more on making the company more efficient. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A team works together in an office." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research shows around 90% of startups will fail, while thousands begin each week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/team-of-professionals-work-on-a-project-royalty-free-image/586970675?phrase=start+ups&adppopup=true">Kelvin Murray/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Transitioning into an established business</h2>
<p>Amazon, Netflix, Uber and Airbnb are global powerhouses that began as startups. Successfully growing a startup into a prosperous company is extremely hard. Industry data suggests that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/16/90-of-startups-will-fail-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-10/">90% of startups will fail</a>.</p>
<p>Once established within their market, traditional businesses find themselves with a different challenge: <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-hard-truth-about-business-model-innovation/">running more efficiently</a>. </p>
<p>Startups may be able to rely on funding from different kinds of outside investors while they gain their footing. But an established business needs to run smoothly to make a profit from what it’s selling.</p>
<p>Non-startup companies need to figure out how to manage workers better and run the business in a way that solves the customers’ problems while enabling the company to meet all of its goals. </p>
<p>For a non-startup business, specific goals could be how much money or profit the firm makes, how and where to expand to grow more or faster, how much time it takes to create a product, or how to make more products with the same or fewer resources.</p>
<p>While the focus of a startup is to determine if there is a demand for a new and innovative product, the primary goal of a traditional business is to create an efficient operation that can last far into the future. </p>
<p>With luck, a successful startup, like Uber or Netflix, will scale and grow, eventually evolving into a traditional business – one that some future startup may try to disrupt with a brand-new idea.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daughter works for Maven Clinic after working for CNBC and Morning Brew</span></em></p>Traditional businesses operate with an established solution to a known problem. Startups focus on a product or service no one else provides.Joel Mier, Lecturer of Marketing, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2055762023-05-18T20:02:08Z2023-05-18T20:02:08ZIs China out to spy on us through drones and other tech? Perhaps that’s not the question we should be asking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526948/original/file-20230518-15-yttmb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian government agencies’ use of Chinese-made technology has been <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/call-for-audit-as-chinese-dji-drones-join-australian-defence-force-war-games/news-story/b38a1b0b348c543d1ddaebac6a3caeea">making headlines</a> again. This time, the potential threat comes from DJI drones produced by China-headquartered company Da Jiang Innovations. </p>
<p>A cessation order signed earlier this month will see the Australian Defence Force (ADF) suspend its use of DJI products, pending a six-month <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence-chiefs-order-grounding-of-chinas-dji-drones-pending-sixmonth-security-audit/news-story/8b1230b6ae4584d63ecb0aaab53fa233">security audit</a> of the force’s supply chain. DJI drones were being used for <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/call-for-audit-as-chinese-dji-drones-join-australian-defence-force-war-games/news-story/b38a1b0b348c543d1ddaebac6a3caeea">training and military exercises</a>. </p>
<p>DJI joins a growing list of Chinese technology producers spurring anxiety in Australia and among allies. But the disproportionate focus on Chinese-made technologies might not be doing Australia’s national security much good.</p>
<h2>A history of pointing the finger at China</h2>
<p>It is important to note DJI does <a href="https://chinatechmap.aspi.org.au/#/company/dji">have links</a> with China’s ruling political party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has its own branch within the company. DJI also supports public security efforts in Xinjiang. Recent research has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20594364231171013">demonstrated</a> how private surveillance companies in China will keenly adopt the CCP’s language to position themselves advantageously in the domestic market. </p>
<p>All of the above has raised national security concerns in Australia – and not for the first time. In 2018, Malcolm Turnbull’s government <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/huawei-no-way-why-australia-banned-the-world-s-biggest-telecoms-firm-20210503-p57oc9.html">blocked</a> Huawei from supplying Australia’s 5G infrastructure to ensure the security of critical infrastructure. Turnbull <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/16/shameful-turnbull-rebukes-australian-business-for-criticising-china-relations">said</a> Australia must “defend our sovereignty with the same passion that China seeks to defend its sovereignty”.</p>
<p>An ongoing case is also being made against TikTok, with critics pointing to the potential for the CCP to use the app to harvest data. The platform <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/04/australia-wide-ban-of-tiktok-on-government-devices-announced-as-senior-politicians-quit-the-app">was banned</a> from Australian government devices in April.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/even-if-tiktok-and-other-apps-are-collecting-your-data-what-are-the-actual-consequences-187277">Even if TikTok and other apps are collecting your data, what are the actual consequences?</a>
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<p>In another example, the shadow cyber security and home affairs minister, James Paterson, earlier this year <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/chinese-cctv-cameras-removed-from-australian-war-memorial/7f2c4648-d096-43d6-95ea-a23b71e03601">called for the removal</a> of all CCTV cameras at government sites supplied by China-based companies Hikvision and Dahua. This came after an audit that involved <a href="https://www.senatorpaterson.com.au/news/media-release-audit-commonwealth-riddled-by-ccp-spyware">counting</a> the number of Hikvision and Dahua cameras being used on government premises (there were more than 900).</p>
<h2>The problems, according to recent debates</h2>
<p>Paterson’s reviews of the use of TikTok, Chinese CCTV camera and DJI drones by government agencies have <a href="https://www.senatorpaterson.com.au/news/dji-drones-linked-to-chinese-military-companies-a-national-security-and-moral-concern-transcript-james-paterson-on-sharri">been accompanied</a> by two key arguments.</p>
<p>The first considers Chinese companies’ links to human rights violations. In 2022, the United Nations published an <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/2022-08-31/22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf">assessment</a> that determined there was evidence of serious human rights violations against Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim-minority people in Xinjiang province.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/even-if-tiktok-and-other-apps-are-collecting-your-data-what-are-the-actual-consequences-187277">Even if TikTok and other apps are collecting your data, what are the actual consequences?</a>
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<p>The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has <a href="https://chinatechmap.aspi.org.au/#/homepage">monitored</a> Chinese technology companies and their sales in Xinjiang since 2019, and curated a list of 27 companies supplying surveillance infrastructure to the region. DJI, Hikvision and Dahua all compete for market share in China, and this includes sales to public security agencies in Xinjiang. </p>
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<p>The second argument considers potential risks to Australia’s national security. In the case of DJI, Australia has acted in tandem with the US since 2017, when DJI drones where first prohibited from use by the US military. The same year, Australian Defence Forces <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/the-adf-requests-talk-of-a-potential-compromise-by-a-chinese-drone-be-made-secret/news-story/0c87c6ddef8392539cc3bc2499c8aa9b">suspended</a> their use of DJI drones for two weeks. A recommendation was then made to use them only in non-sensitive and unclassified contexts.</p>
<p>In 2019, the US Department of Defence <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2706082/department-statement-on-dji-systems/">banned</a> the purchase and use of drones and their components produced in China, and in 2022 <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3180636/dod-releases-list-of-peoples-republic-of-china-prc-military-companies-in-accord/">made</a> DJI a blacklisted supplier – less than a year before the ADF announced its current security audit.</p>
<h2>What should Australia be doing?</h2>
<p>In a 2017 parliamentary hearing that included a discussion on DJI drones, the ADF’s then deputy chief of information warfare, Marcus Thompson, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/the-adf-requests-talk-of-a-potential-compromise-by-a-chinese-drone-be-made-secret/news-story/0c87c6ddef8392539cc3bc2499c8aa9b">noted</a> “there were some concerns regarding the cyber security characteristics of the device”. The conversation continued behind closed doors.</p>
<p>More recently, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director-General Mike Burgess responded to concerns about CCTV camera use by <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/chinese-security-cameras-in-our-halls-of-power/news-story/b316e70c7f2d4702dfda77b87936834e">saying</a>: “There’s nothing wrong with the technology; it’s that the data it collects and where it would end up and what else it could be used for would be of great concern to me and my agency.”</p>
<p>These scenarios suggest, when it comes to China, there are risks of potential foreign interference, espionage and data leaks. Yet, at the same time, we don’t have concrete evidence of Chinese government agencies accessing Australians’ data via tech companies and their products. </p>
<p>Either way, starting a new debate on the use of Chinese technology every few months is not a sustainable security strategy, as much as it is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-a-robust-cybersecurity-overhaul-not-whack-a-mole-bans-on-apps-like-tiktok-203158">whack-a-mole tactical response</a>. Nor is it very useful to conduct audits that merely count the number of Chinese-made devices in use.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-a-robust-cybersecurity-overhaul-not-whack-a-mole-bans-on-apps-like-tiktok-203158">Australia needs a robust cybersecurity overhaul – not whack-a-mole bans on apps like TikTok</a>
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<p>Protecting Australia’s national security interests will require in-depth security reviews of all foreign technologies used, as well as a review of our overall national security strategy. ASIO <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/resources/asio-annual-report-2021-22">has</a> a foreign interference task force, which could consider incorporating the vetting of imported tech. Such an approach would help avoid hypotheticals. </p>
<p>It would also clearly articulate roles and responsibilities within government for whatever new technology comes along next. It is not just China that poses risks to Australia’s national security. Our politically driven focus on China takes away from efforts to weed out potential harms from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/21/asio-chief-says-foreign-spies-trying-to-deceptively-cultivate-australian-politicians-at-every-level">elsewhere</a>, such as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/fake-russian-diplomats-revealed-as-heart-of-hive-spy-ring-in-australia-20230223-p5cmxz.html">Russia</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/14/australia-foils-iran-surveillance-plot-and-vows-to-bring-foreign-interference-into-the-light">Iran</a> and non-state actors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205576/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over the years Australia has been quick to point the finger at China – most recently in relation to DJI drones. Instead, we should look closely at our own tech security policies.Ausma Bernot, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt UniversityPatrick F Walsh, Professor, Intelligence and Security Studies, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1995012023-02-09T00:02:04Z2023-02-09T00:02:04ZBard, Bing and Baidu: how big tech’s AI race will transform search – and all of computing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509041/original/file-20230208-27-4co12h.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C89%2C5405%2C3503&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, if you want to find a good moving company, you might ask your favourite search engine – Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo perhaps – for some advice.</p>
<p>After wading past half a page of adverts, you get a load of links to articles on moving companies. You click on one of the links and finally read about how to pick a good ’un. But not for much longer. </p>
<p>In a major reveal this week, Google <a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/bard-google-ai-search-updates/">announced plans</a> to add its latest AI chatbot, LaMDA, to the Google search engine. The chatbot has been called the “Bard”. </p>
<p>I hope William Shakespeare’s descendants sue. It’s not the job of arguably the greatest writer of the English language to answer mundane questions about how to find a good moving company. But he will. </p>
<p>Ask the Bard how, and he will reply almost immediately with a logical eight-step plan: starting with reading reviews and getting quotes, and ending with taking up references. </p>
<p>No more wading through pages of links; the answer is immediate. To add Shakespearean insult to injury, you can even ask the Bard to respond in the form of a sonnet.</p>
<h2>Welcome to the AI race!</h2>
<p>Microsoft <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/02/07/reinventing-search-with-a-new-ai-powered-microsoft-bing-and-edge-your-copilot-for-the-web/">responded swiftly to Google</a>, saying it would incorporate the ChatGPT chatbot into its search engine, Bing.</p>
<p>It was only recently that <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/01/23/microsoftandopenaiextendpartnership">Microsoft announced</a> it would invest US$10 billion in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, on top of a previous investment of a billion or more in 2022.</p>
<p>ChatGPT has already been added to Microsoft’s Teams software. You can expect it to turn up soon in Word, where it will write paragraphs for you. In Outlook it will compose entire emails, and in PowerPoint it will help you prepare slides for your next talk.</p>
<p>Not to be outdone, Chinese web giant Baidu has also <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/07/baidu_erniebot_generative_ai_chatbot/">sprung into action</a>. It <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/chinas-baidu-launch-chatgpt-style-bot-march-source-2023-01-30/">recently announced</a> its latest chatbot would be released in March. Baidu’s chatbot will be trained on 50% more parameters than ChatGPT, and will be bilingual. The company’s share price jumped 15% in response.</p>
<h2>AI-driven search</h2>
<p>Google, along with the other tech giants, has been using AI in search for many years already. AI algorithms, for example, order the search results Google returns.</p>
<p>The difference now is that instead of searching based on the words you type, these new search engines will try to “understand” your question. And instead of sending you links, they’ll try to answer the questions, too.</p>
<p>But new chatbot technology is far from perfect. ChatGPT sometimes just makes stuff up. Chatbots can also be tricked into saying things that are inappropriate, offensive or illegal – although researchers are working hard to reduce this. </p>
<h2>Existential risk</h2>
<p>For Google, this has been described by the New York Times not just as an AI race, but a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/technology/ai-chatgpt-google-search.html">race to survive</a>.</p>
<p>When ChatGPT first came out late last year, alarm bells rang for the search giant. Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, returned from their outside activities to oversee the response. </p>
<p>Advertising revenue from Google Search results contributes about three-quarters of the US$283 billion <a href="https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2022Q4_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf">annual revenue</a> of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. </p>
<p>If people start using AI chatbots to answer their questions rather than Google Search, what will happen to that income? </p>
<p>Even if Google users stick with Google, but get their answers directly from the Bard, how will Google make money when no links are being clicked anymore?</p>
<p>Microsoft may see this as an opportunity for its search engine, Bing, to overtake Google. It’s not out of the question that it will. In the 1990s, before Google came out, I was very happy with AltaVista – the best search engine of the day. But I quickly jumped ship as soon as a better search experience arrived.</p>
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<h2>Will the AI race lead to cutting corners?</h2>
<p>Google had previously not made its LaMDA chatbot available to the public due to concerns about it being misused or misunderstood. Indeed, it famously fired one of its engineers, Blake Lemoine, after he <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2022/12/chatgpt-google-chatbots-lamda.html">claimed LaMDA was sentient</a>.</p>
<p>There are a host of risks associated with big tech’s rush to cement the future of AI search.</p>
<p>For one, if tech companies won’t make as much money from selling links, what new income streams will they create? Will they try to sell information gleaned from our interactions with search chatbots? </p>
<p>And what about people who will use these chatbots for base purposes? They may be perfect for writing personalised and persuasive messages to scam unsuspecting users – or to flood social media with conspiracy theories.</p>
<p>Not to mention we’ve already seen ChatGPT <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dawn-of-ai-has-come-and-its-implications-for-education-couldnt-be-more-significant-196383">do a good job</a> of answering most homework questions. For now, public schools in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australian and Tasmania have banned its use to prevent cheating – but it seems unlikely they could (or should) ban access to Google or Bing.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/scams-deepfake-porn-and-romance-bots-advanced-ai-is-exciting-but-incredibly-dangerous-in-criminals-hands-199004">Scams, deepfake porn and romance bots: advanced AI is exciting, but incredibly dangerous in criminals' hands</a>
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<h2>A new interface</h2>
<p>When Apple launched Macintosh, it was the start of a revolution. Rather than typing cryptic instructions, we could just point and click on a screen. That revolution continued with the launch of Apple’s iPhone – an interface that shrunk computers and the web into the palm of our hand. </p>
<p>Perhaps the biggest impact from AI-driven search tools will be on how we interact with the myriad ever-smarter devices in our lives. We will stop pointing, clicking and touching, and will instead start having entire conversations with our devices.</p>
<p>We can only speculate on what this might mean in the longer term. But, for better or worse, how we interact with computers is about to change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toby Walsh receives funding from the Australian Research Council in the form of a Laureate Fellowship on "Trustworthy AI"</span></em></p>Will it give Microsoft a chance to overtake Google in the search space?Toby Walsh, Professor of AI at UNSW, Research Group Leader, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984182023-01-25T05:11:51Z2023-01-25T05:11:51ZBig Tech is firing employees by the thousands. Why? And how worried should we be?<p>Tech companies are always in the news, usually touting the next big thing. However, the tech news cycle recently hasn’t been dominated by the latest gadget or innovation. Instead, layoffs are in the headlines.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/18/tech-layoffs-microsoft-amazon-meta-others-have-cut-more-than-60000.html">the last year</a>, more than 70,000 people globally have been laid off by Big Tech companies – and that doesn’t count the downstream effect of contractors (and other organisations) losing business as budgets tighten. </p>
<p>What exactly led to this massive shakeout? And what does it mean for the industry, and you?</p>
<h2>What’s the damage?</h2>
<p>Since the end of the pandemic hiring spree, large numbers of employees have been fired from major tech companies, including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/google-parent-lay-off-12000-workers-memo-2023-01-20/">Alphabet</a> (12,000 employees), <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/18/23560874/amazon-layoffs-18000-january-november">Amazon</a> (18,000), <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2022/12/07/meta-layoffsfacebook-continues-to-cut-costs-by-cutting-headcount/?sh=6c80c2828456">Meta</a> (11,000), <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-plans-further-layoffs-insider-2023-01-18/">Twitter</a> (4,000), <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/tech/microsoft-layoffs/index.html">Microsoft</a> (10,000) and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/10/salesforce-turmoil-continues-into-new-year-as-recent-layoffs-attest/">Salesforce</a> (8,000). </p>
<p>Other household names share the spotlight, including Tesla, Netflix, Robin Hood, Snap, Coinbase and Spotify - but their layoffs are significantly less than those mentioned above. </p>
<p>Importantly, these figures don’t include the downstream layoffs, such as advertising agencies laying off staff as ad spend reduces, or manufacturers downsizing as tech product orders shrink – or even potential <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/01/23/big-tech-layoffs-15-20-percent-next-six-months-top-analyst-says/">layoffs yet to come</a>.</p>
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<p>And let’s not forget the folks leaving voluntarily because they don’t want to come <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/04/01/apple-employees-say-theyll-quit-over-tim-cooks-return-to-office-push/">into the office</a>, <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/08/quiet-quitting-is-about-bad-bosses-not-bad-employees">hate their managers</a>, or aren’t keen on Elon Musk’s “<a href="https://fortune.com/2022/11/16/elon-musk-email-twitter-extremely-hardcore-long-hours-high-intensity/">hardcore work</a>” philosophy.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/elon-musks-hardcore-management-style-a-case-study-in-what-not-to-do-194999">Elon Musk's 'hardcore' management style: a case study in what not to do</a>
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<p>The knock-on effects of all of the above will be felt in the consulting, marketing, advertising and manufacturing spaces as companies reduce spending, and redirect it <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-tech-is-spending-billions-on-ai-research-investors-should-keep-an-eye-out-11646740800">towards innovating in AI</a>. </p>
<h2>So what’s driving the layoffs?</h2>
<p>The canary in the coal mine was reduced advertising spend and revenue. Many tech companies are funded through advertising. So, for as long as that income stream was healthy (which was especially the case in the years leading up to COVID), so was expenditure on staffing. As advertising revenue decreased last year – in part due to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/25/youtube-shrinking-ad-business-ominous-sign-for-online-ad-market.html">fears over a global recession</a> triggered by the pandemic – it was inevitable layoffs would follow.</p>
<p>Apple is one exception. It strongly resisted increasing its <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/18/apple-had-slower-headcount-growth-than-tech-peers-no-layoffs-yet.html">head count in recent years</a> and as a result doesn’t have to shrink staff numbers (although it hasn’t been immune to staff losses due to <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/05/09/apple-exec-ian-goodfellow-quits-over-return-to-office-policy/">work-from-home policy changes</a>).</p>
<h2>What does it mean for consumers?</h2>
<p>Although the headlines can be startling, the layoffs won’t actually mean a whole lot for consumers. Overall, work on tech products and services is still expanding.</p>
<p>Even Twitter, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lensherman/2022/10/24/can-twitter-survive-elon-musk/?sh=11584a7314d6">which many predicted to be dead by now</a>, is looking to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/05/1134561542/twitter-blue-check-paid-verification-elon-musk#">diversify its</a> streams of revenue. </p>
<p>That said, some pet projects such as Mark Zuckerberg’s <a href="https://www.protocol.com/entertainment/meta-layoffs-reality-labs-metaverse">Metaverse</a> likely won’t be further developed the way their leaders had initially hoped. The evidence for this is in the layoffs, which are concentrated (at least at Amazon, Microsoft and Meta) in these big innovation gambles taken by senior leaders. </p>
<p>Over the past few years, low interest rates coupled with high COVID-related consumption gave leaders the confidence to invest in innovative products. Other than in AI, that investment is now slowing, or is dead.</p>
<h2>And what about the people who lost their jobs?</h2>
<p>Layoffs can be devastating for the individuals affected. But who is affected in this case? </p>
<p>For the most part, the people losing their jobs are educated and highly employable professionals. They are being given <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/google-amazon-microsoft-meta-twitter-severance-packages-compared.html">severance packages and support</a> which often exceed the minimum legal requirements. Amazon, for example, specifically indicated its <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1147034858/amazon-ceo-says-company-will-layoff-more-than-18-000-workers">losses would be in tech staff</a> and those who support them; not in warehouses.</p>
<p>Having a Big Tech employer on their CV will be a real advantage as these individuals move into a more competitive employment market, even if it doesn’t look like it will be <a href="https://hired.com/state-of-tech-salaries/2022/">quite as heated</a> as many had feared.</p>
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<h2>What does this mean for the industry?</h2>
<p>With experienced tech professionals looking for work once again, salaries are likely to deflate and higher levels of experience and education will be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/technology/tech-layoffs-millennials-gen-x.html">required to secure employment</a>. These corrections in the industry are potentially a sign it’s falling in line with other, more <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/06/is-big-tech-now-just-too-big-to-stomach">established parts of the market</a>.</p>
<p>The recent layoffs are eye-catching, but they won’t affect the overall economy much. In fact, even if Big Tech laid off 100,000 workers, it would still be a fraction of the tech work force. </p>
<p>The numbers reported may seem large, but they’re often not reported as a proportion of overall wage spend, or indeed overall staffing. For some tech companies they are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/21/business/tech-layoffs.html">just a fraction</a> of the massive amount of new hires initially acquired during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Big Tech is still a big employer, and its big products will continue to impact many aspects of our lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The numbers are less concerning when viewed in the bigger picture.Nathalie Collins, Senior Lecturer, Edith Cowan UniversityJeff Volkheimer, Senior Director, Collaboration and Continuity Technologies, Duke Health, Duke UniversityPaul Haskell-Dowland, Professor of Cyber Security Practice, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1939942022-11-08T16:03:05Z2022-11-08T16:03:05ZTwitter job cuts: what are digital layoffs and what do they mean for employees and companies?<p>Elon Musk is progressing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/20/elon-musk-twitter-staff-layoff-takeover">plans to slim down Twitter</a> since he bought the <a href="https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/twitter-statistics">396 million-member</a> platform for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html">US$44 billion</a> (£38 billion) on October 27. Musk’s deal has taken Twitter <a href="https://theconversation.com/elon-musk-takes-twitter-private-heres-what-that-means-for-the-company-and-its-chances-of-success-192799">private</a>, dissolved the platform’s board and enhanced his unilateral power as CEO. But mass redundancy announcements made since he took control have been scrutinised globally.</p>
<p>Musk’s plans to restructure Twitter began with <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/11/04/everyone-elon-musk-fired-twitter-employees-directors/">laying off top executives</a>, before notifications were emailed to around half of the Twitter global workforce that they were being made redundant or that their jobs were at risk. In a <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/11/04/twitter-layoff-memo-elon-musk/">memo to staff</a>, Musk defended the firings as “an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path” and “unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward”. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/memo-twitter-emails-workers-shut-offices-before-elon-musk-layoffs-2022-11?r=US&IR=T">widely reported</a> memo also informed employees that they would find out their fate by email. It said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Given the nature of our distributed workforce and our desire to inform impacted individuals as quickly as possible, communications for this process will take place via email. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisYounie/status/1588378781714370560">tweets</a> by some employees showed they <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/11/04/twitter-layoffs-begin-as-staff-prepare-to-be-fired-over-email-17699044/">found out</a> before the email arrived when they could not access their work accounts or other internal systems. And a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/will-twitter-layoffs-violate-us-law-2022-11-04/">class action lawsuit</a> filed in the US on November 3 claims Twitter locked employees out of their accounts, with at least one of the five plaintiffs being “terminated without notice or severance pay”, according to news reports.</p>
<h2>Digital layoffs</h2>
<p>Dismissing staff in this way seems impersonal, blunt and lacking in compassion. Certainly in Ireland, the home of Twitter’s European headquarters, the <a href="https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40998803.html">Taoiseach</a> (prime minister of Ireland) has called out Twitter’s actions as “unacceptable” and pointed out that workers should be treated with dignity and respect.</p>
<p>Unfortunately Twitter’s approach resembles strategies adopted by a growing number of companies in recent years. Klarna, a Swedish financial technology company sent a prerecorded message to inform employees of 700 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/klarna-fintech-unicorn-pre-recorded-message-layoff-700-employees-2022-5?r=US&IR=T">layoffs</a> last May, while P&O ferries dismissed 800 staff over <a href="https://www.newstalk.com/news/po-ferries-sacks-800-workers-over-zoom-call-and-cancels-services-1323041">Zoom</a> in March. Mortgage company Better.com made 900 employees redundant by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/12/06/zoom-firing-better-ceo-mortgage-zw-orig.cnn-business">Zoom</a> in 2021, a year after electric scooter company Bird used a <a href="https://dot.la/bird-layoffs-meeting-story-2645612465.html">Zoom webinar</a> to dismiss more than 400 workers. </p>
<p>Twitter operates globally and employment regulation varies between countries, and even among states in the US. Indeed, the communications sent to Twitter employees differed depending on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/read-blunt-email-telling-twitter-staff-jobs-axed-layoffs-2022-11?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=yahoo.com&r=US&IR=T">where they were based</a>.</p>
<p>In the US, the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide workers with 60 days’ notice for mass sackings. Alternatively, employers can provide workers with 60 days of redundancy pay. After Twitter employees filed their <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/will-twitter-layoffs-violate-us-law-2022-11-04/">lawsuit</a> in California on November 3, Musk tweeted the following night that every dismissed employee will be offered three months of severance pay. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1588671155766194176"}"></div></p>
<p>Twitter is also expected to provide advance warnings of mass redundancies to California’s Employment Development Department. A representative for the agency told the New York Times that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/technology/twitter-layoffs-elon-musk.html">no warning had been given</a> by the evening of November 3. </p>
<p>Under UK and EU law, companies must consult with staff over mass redundancies. This may explain why Twitter employees in the UK and Ireland are reported to have received a slightly differently worded email informing them that their job is “potentially” impacted or “at risk”. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63527336">email</a> sent to UK employees on Friday November 4 said they had until 9am the following Tuesday to nominate someone to represent them in a formal consultation. Twitter has <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/technology/big-tech/2022/11/07/twitter-to-enter-consultations-with-irish-staff-affected-by-lay-offs/">notified </a> employees in Ireland that they should also nominate employee representatives to engage in a formal consultation process.</p>
<p>Twitter did not respond to requests for comment on this process or about its communications with employees concerning these redundancies. </p>
<h2>Reputational risk</h2>
<p>With this level of uncertainty, it’s not surprising that some Twitter employees have been joining unions ahead of the redundancies. In the UK, <a href="https://prospect.org.uk/news/twitter-must-not-become-a-digital-po">Prospect</a> is representing at least some Twitter employees and says it will support members to defend their livelihoods. The <a href="https://www.newstalk.com/news/twitter-treatment-of-irish-workers-has-been-appalling-ictu-1399072">Irish Congress of Trade Unions</a> has argued the case highlights the need for workers across industries to have better opportunities and rights to join unions as a form of collective voice. </p>
<p>Similarly, the United Nations, which <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/">advocates</a> for “decent work and economic growth”, has even felt compelled to comment following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, issued an <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/press/2022-11-05/22-11-05_Letter_HC_to_Mr_Elon_Musk.pdf">open letter</a> urging Musk to ensure that human rights are integral to the management of Twitter under his leadership, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Reports that Twitter’s entire human rights team and all but two of its ethical AI team have been fired this week are not from my perspective an encouraging start. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Civil society groups and alliances were already concerned about the direction Twitter may take following its takeover. Musk has called out “activist groups” for supposedly pressurising <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/elon-musk-to-start-twitter-layoffs-within-hours-and-offices-are-closed-12737849">advertisers</a> to stop working with Twitter. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1588538640401018880"}"></div></p>
<p>Pfizer, General Mills and Volkswagen are some of the companies that have recently <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-elon-musk-general-mills-audi-pause-ads/">paused</a> their advertising on the platform. Others may follow after the redundancy announcements. </p>
<p>Twitter users have also already been moving to alternative social media platforms, and this kind of migration could continue following news of the mass job cuts. One such alternative, Irish microblogging site Mastodon, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2022/11/07/what-is-mastodon-twitter-users-are-switching-social-network/">claims</a> more than 230,000 people have moved to it since Twitter’s takeover deal. </p>
<h2>Worried about digital layoffs?</h2>
<p>The Twitter chaos certainly seems to be far from over, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/some-tweeps-already-being-asked-to-come-back-to-twitter-2022-11?r=US&IR=T">reports</a> indicating that the company is now asking some dismissed employees to return to work.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/27964/number-of-tech-start-ups-companies-incorporated-in-the-us-laying-off-staff-per-month/" title="Infographic: Mass Tech Layoff Wave Rises Again | Statista"><img src="https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/27964.jpeg" alt="Infographic: Mass Tech Layoff Wave Rises Again | Statista" width="100%" height="auto"></a></p>
<p>Redundancies have risen sharply right across the tech sector in recent months, with firms including Facebook owner <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/meta-expected-to-lay-off-thousands-as-tech-job-cuts-mount-12740806">Meta</a> and payments company <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/06/the-fintech-layoffs-just-keep-on-coming/">Stripe</a> recently announcing job cuts, although not all have implemented digital layoffs. </p>
<p>If you face redundancy – whether digitally or face to face – it’s important to know your rights. Unions can provide information about this and can also support and represent employees before and after redundancies are announced. In the UK, you can also contact the <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk/">Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service </a> for information about your rights, while other countries will have equivalent services such as the <a href="https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/contact_us/contact-details/">Workplace Relations Commission</a> in Ireland.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Sara Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a growing wave of tech companies announce job cuts, more employees are being informed by email or video call.Emma Sara Hughes, Lecturer in Human Resource Management, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275032019-12-22T20:21:15Z2019-12-22T20:21:15ZRobots, AI and drones: when did toys turn into rocket science?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307353/original/file-20191217-164437-v0vz9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=121%2C319%2C7227%2C4583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Toys are becoming increasingly advanced, but this can be more of a hindrance than a perk.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/despaired-businessman-business-2261021/">Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’m a geek. And as a geek, I love my tech toys. But over time I’ve noticed toys are becoming harder to understand. </p>
<p>Some modern toys resemble advanced devices. There are flying toys, walking toys, and roving toys. A number of these require “configuring” or “connecting”. </p>
<p>The line between toy, gadget and professional device is blurrier than ever, as manufacturers churn out products including <a href="https://www.t3.com/features/best-kids-drones">drones for kids</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Spy-Nanny-Camera-Wi-fi/dp/B07P7BCYZT">plush toys with hidden nanny cams</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-for-a-high-tech-gift-for-a-young-child-think-playgrounds-not-playpens-108325">Looking for a high-tech gift for a young child? Think playgrounds, not playpens</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With such a variety of sophisticated, and sometimes over-engineered products, it’s clear manufacturers have upped their game. </p>
<p>But why is this happening?</p>
<h2>The price of tech</h2>
<p>Toys these days seem to be designed with two major components in mind. It’s all about the smarts and rapid manufacture.</p>
<p>In modern toys, we see a considerable level of programmed intelligence. This can be used to control the toy’s actions, or have it respond to input to provide real time feedback and interaction – making it appear “smarter”.</p>
<p>This is all made possible by the falling price of technology. </p>
<p>Once upon a time, placing a microcontroller (a single chip microprocessor) inside a toy was simply uneconomical. </p>
<p>These days, they’ll <a href="https://au.rs-online.com/web/c/semiconductors/processors-microcontrollers/microcontrollers/">only set you back a few dollars</a> and allow significant computing power.</p>
<p>Microcontrollers are often WiFi and Bluetooth enabled, too. This allows “connected” toys to access a wide range of internet services, or be controlled by a smartphone.</p>
<p>Another boon for toy manufacturers has been the rise of prototype technologies, including 3D modelling, 3D printing, and low cost CNC (computer numerical control) milling. </p>
<p>These technologies allow the advanced modelling of toys, which can help design them to be “tougher”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-childs-play-the-serious-innovation-behind-toy-making-128211">Not child’s play: The serious innovation behind toy making</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>They also allow manufacturers to move beyond simple (outer) case designs and towards advanced multi-material devices, where the case of the toy forms an active part of the toy’s function. </p>
<p>Examples of this include hand grips (found on console controls and toys including Nerf Blasters), advanced surface textures, and internal structures which support shock absorption to protect internal components, such as wheel suspensions in toy cars.</p>
<h2>Bot helpers and robot dogs</h2>
<p>Many recent advancements in toys are there to appease our admiration of automatons, or self operating machines. </p>
<p>The idea that an inanimate object is transcending its static world, or is “thinking”, is one of the magical elements that prompts us to attach emotions to toys. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307362/original/file-20191217-164454-10m1ehc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anki’s Cozmo (the Vector’s predecessor) is an example of a cloud-connected robotic toy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/robot-makes-origami-1317221207">shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And manufacturers know this, with some toys designed specifically to drive emotional attachment. My favourite example of this is roaming robots, such as the artificially intelligent <a href="https://www.anki.com/en-us/vector.html">Anki Vector</a>. </p>
<p>With sensors and internet connectivity, the Vector drives around and interacts with its environment, as well as you. It’s even <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Vector-Robot-Anki-Hangs-Helps/dp/B07G3ZNK4Y">integrated with Amazon Alexa</a>.</p>
<p>Another sophisticated toy is Sony’s Aibo. This robot pet shows how advanced robotics, microelectronics, actuators (which allow movement), sensors, and programming can be used to create a unique toy experience with emotional investment.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307359/original/file-20191217-164449-1voo3rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sony’s Aibo robot dog is cute, and robotic – it’s a geek’s dream pet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ho-chi-minh-city-vietnam-apr-1095006827">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Screens not included</h2>
<p>Toy manufacturers are also leveraging the rise of smartphones and portable computing. </p>
<p>Quadcopters (or drones) and other similar devices often don’t need to include their own display in the remote control, as video can be beamed to an attached device.</p>
<p>Some toys even use smartphones as the only control interface (used to control the toy), usually via an app, saving manufacturers from having to provide what is arguably the most expensive part of the toy.</p>
<p>This means a smartphone becomes an inherent requirement, without which the toy can’t be used. </p>
<p>It would be incredibly disappointing to buy a cool, new toy - only to realise you don’t own the very expensive device required to use it.</p>
<h2>My toys aren’t spying on me, surely?</h2>
<p>While spying may be the last thing you consider when buying a toy, there have been several reports of talking dolls <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/20/506208146/this-doll-may-be-recording-what-children-say-privacy-groups-charge">recording in-home conversations</a>. </p>
<p>There are similar concerns with smart-home assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri, which store <a href="https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/may/31/ro-khanna/your-amazon-alexa-spying-you/">your voice recordings in the cloud</a>.</p>
<p>These concerns might also be warranted with toys such as the Vector, and Aibo. </p>
<p>In fact, anything that has a microphone, camera or wireless connectivity can be considered a privacy concern.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/just-like-hal-your-voice-assistant-isnt-working-for-you-even-if-it-feels-like-it-is-111177">Just like HAL, your voice assistant isn't working for you even if it feels like it is</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Toys of the future</h2>
<p>We’ve established toys are becoming more sophisticated, but does that mean they’re getting better?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2020/">Various</a> <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/technology/technology-trends-2019">reports</a> indicate in 2020, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will continue to be pervasive in our lives. </p>
<p>This means buying toys could become an even trickier task than it currently is. There are some factors shoppers can consider. </p>
<p>On the top of my list of concerns is the type and number of batteries a toy requires, and how to charge them. </p>
<p>If a device has <a href="https://theconversation.com/nearly-all-your-devices-run-on-lithium-batteries-heres-a-nobel-prizewinner-on-his-part-in-their-invention-and-their-future-126197">in-built lithium batteries</a>, can they be easily replaced? And if the toy is designed for outdoors, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-batteries-have-started-catching-fire-so-often-68602">can it cope with the heat?</a> Most lithium-ion batteries degrade quickly in hot environments.</p>
<p>And does the device require an additional screen or smartphone? </p>
<p>It’s also worth being wary of what personal details are required to sign-up for a service associated with a toy - and if the toy can still function if its manufacturer should cease to exist, or the company should go bust.</p>
<p>And, as always, if you’re considering an advanced, “connected” toy, make sure to prioritise your security and privacy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Maxwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At Christmas shopping, you may have noticed toys are becoming very complex. They fly, hop, jump and follow you around – some even need to be ‘connected’. But why are we seeing such technical advances?Andrew Maxwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1057142018-11-15T11:45:18Z2018-11-15T11:45:18ZSci-fi movies are the secret weapon that could help Silicon Valley grow up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244833/original/file-20181109-116820-1dd6y55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If you don't want to be facing down an angry dinosaur, pay attention to what happens on screen.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/mediaviewer/rm2687618048">Universal Pictures</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If there’s one line that stands the test of time in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/">Jurassic Park</a>,” it’s probably Jeff Goldblum’s exclamation, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” </p>
<p>Goldblum’s character, Dr. Ian Malcolm, was warning against the hubris of naively tinkering with dinosaur DNA in an effort to bring these extinct creatures back to life. Twenty-five years on, his words are taking on new relevance as a growing number of scientists and companies are grappling with how to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/12/tech-humanities-misinformation-philosophy-psychology-graduates-mozilla-head-mitchell-baker">tread the line between “could” and “should”</a> in areas ranging from <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6414/527">gene editing</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/meet-the-scientists-bringing-extinct-species-back-from-the-dead-1539093600">real-world “de-extinction”</a> to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-19/biohackers-are-implanting-everything-from-magnets-to-sex-toys">human augmentation</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/16/17978596/stephen-hawking-ai-climate-change-robots-future-universe-earth">artificial intelligence</a> and many others. </p>
<p>Despite growing concerns that powerful emerging technologies could lead to unexpected and wide-ranging consequences, innovators are struggling with how to develop beneficial new products while being socially responsible. Part of the answer could lie in <a href="https://mango.bz/books/films-from-the-future-by-andrew-maynard-458-b">watching more science fiction movies</a> like “Jurassic Park.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244822/original/file-20181109-36763-1x9u650.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just because you can….</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.throwbacks.com/jeff-goldblum-talks-jurassic-park/">Universal Pictures</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hollywood lessons in societal risks</h2>
<p>I’ve long been interested in how innovators and others can better understand the increasingly complex landscape around the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=b8NhWc4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">social risks and benefits associated with emerging technologies</a>. Growing concerns over the impacts of tech on jobs, privacy, security and even the ability of people to live their lives without undue interference highlight the need for new thinking around how to innovate responsibly. </p>
<p>New ideas require creativity and imagination, and a willingness to see the world differently. And this is where science fiction movies can help.</p>
<p>Sci-fi flicks are, of course, notoriously unreliable when it comes to accurately depicting science and technology. But because their plots are often driven by the intertwined relationships between people and technology, they can be remarkably insightful in revealing social factors that affect successful and responsible innovation. </p>
<p>This is clearly seen in “Jurassic Park.” The movie provides a surprisingly good starting point for thinking about the pros and cons of modern-day genetic engineering and the growing interest in <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130310-extinct-species-cloning-deextinction-genetics-science/">bringing extinct species back from the dead</a>. But it also opens up conversations around the nature of complex systems that involve both people and technology, and the potential dangers of “permissionless” innovation that’s driven by power, wealth and a lack of accountability.</p>
<p>Similar insights emerge from a number of other movies, including Spielberg’s 2002 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/">Minority Report</a>” – which presaged a growing capacity for <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/artificial-intelligence-is-now-used-predict-crime-is-it-biased-180968337/">AI-enabled crime prediction</a> and the ethical conundrums it’s raising – as well as the 2014 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/">Ex Machina</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244824/original/file-20181109-37973-1eh9qw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Movie geniuses always have blind spots that viewers can hopefully learn from.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/mediaviewer/rm1897135872">Universal Pictures International</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As with “Jurassic Park,” “Ex Machina” centers around a wealthy and unaccountable entrepreneur who is supremely confident in his own abilities. In this case, the technology in question is artificial intelligence. </p>
<p>The movie tells a tale of an egotistical genius who creates a remarkable intelligent machine – but he lacks the awareness to recognize his limitations and the risks of what he’s doing. It also provides a chilling insight into potential dangers of creating machines that know us better than we know ourselves, while not being bound by human norms or values.</p>
<p>The result is a sobering reminder of how, without humility and a good dose of humanity, our innovations can come back to bite us.</p>
<p>The technologies in “Jurassic Park,” “Minority Report” and “Ex Machina” lie beyond what is currently possible. Yet these films are often close enough to emerging trends that they help reveal the dangers of irresponsible, or simply naive, innovation. This is where these and other science fiction movies can help innovators better understand the social challenges they face and how to navigate them. </p>
<h2>Real-world problems worked out on-screen</h2>
<p>In a recent op-ed in The New York Times, journalist Kara Swisher asked, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/opinion/who-will-teach-silicon-valley-to-be-ethical.html">Who will teach Silicon Valley to be ethical</a>?” Prompted by a growing litany of socially questionable decisions amongst tech companies, Swisher suggests that many of them need to grow up and get serious about ethics. But ethics alone are rarely enough. It’s easy for good intentions to get swamped by fiscal pressures and mired in social realities.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244961/original/file-20181111-39548-r1p8kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elon Musk has shown that brilliant tech innovators can take ethical missteps along the way.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/SpaceX-Moon/f67fc5d84eb149ba8c1a3c3f059165ea/1/0">AP Photo/Chris Carlson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Technology companies increasingly need to find some way to break from business as usual if they are to become more responsible. High-profile cases involving companies like <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-killing-democracy-with-its-personality-profiling-data-93611">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/uber-cant-be-ethical-its-business-model-wont-allow-it-85015">Uber</a> as well as Tesla’s <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/27/17911428/sec-lawsuit-elon-musk-tesla-funding-tweet">Elon Musk</a> have highlighted the social as well as the business dangers of operating without fully understanding the consequences of people-oriented actions. </p>
<p>Many more companies are struggling to create socially beneficial technologies and discovering that, without the necessary insights and tools, they risk blundering about in the dark.</p>
<p>For instance, earlier this year, researchers from Google and DeepMind <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1807.05162.pdf">published details of an artificial intelligence-enabled system</a> that can lip-read far better than people. According to the paper’s authors, the technology has enormous potential to improve the lives of people who have trouble speaking aloud. Yet it doesn’t take much to imagine how this same technology could threaten the privacy and security of millions – especially when coupled with long-range surveillance cameras.</p>
<p>Developing technologies like this in socially responsible ways requires more than good intentions or simply establishing an ethics board. People need a sophisticated understanding of the often complex dynamic between technology and society. And while, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/12/tech-humanities-misinformation-philosophy-psychology-graduates-mozilla-head-mitchell-baker">as Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker suggests</a>, scientists and technologists engaging with the humanities can be helpful, it’s not enough.</p>
<h2>Movies are an easy way into a serious discipline</h2>
<p>The “new formulation” of complementary skills Baker says innovators desperately need already exists in a thriving interdisciplinary community focused on <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/responsible-innovation-31243">socially responsible innovation</a>. My home institution, the <a href="http://sfis.asu.edu">School for the Future of Innovation in Society</a> at Arizona State University, is just one part of this. </p>
<p>Experts within this global community are actively exploring ways to translate good ideas into responsible practices. And this includes the need for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.196">creative insights into the social landscape around technology innovation</a>, and the imagination to develop novel ways to navigate it.</p>
<p>Here is where science fiction movies become a powerful tool for guiding innovators, technology leaders and the companies where they work. Their fictional scenarios can reveal potential pitfalls and opportunities that can help steer real-world decisions toward socially beneficial and responsible outcomes, while avoiding unnecessary risks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244826/original/file-20181109-34102-1kuntvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People love to come together as a movie audience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/3002426059">The National Archives UK</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And science fiction movies bring people together. By their very nature, these films are social and educational levelers. Look at who’s watching and discussing the latest sci-fi blockbuster, and you’ll often find a diverse cross-section of society. The genre can help build bridges between people who know how science and technology work, and those who know what’s needed to ensure they work for the good of society.</p>
<p>This is the underlying theme in my new book “<a href="https://mango.bz/books/films-from-the-future-by-andrew-maynard-458-b">Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies</a>.” It’s written for anyone who’s curious about emerging trends in technology innovation and how they might potentially affect society. But it’s also written for innovators who want to do the right thing and just don’t know where to start.</p>
<p>Of course science fiction films alone aren’t enough to ensure socially responsible innovation. But they can help reveal some profound societal challenges facing technology innovators and possible ways to navigate them. And what better way to learn how to innovate responsibly than to invite some friends round, open the popcorn and put on a movie?</p>
<p>It certainly beats being blindsided by risks that, with hindsight, could have been avoided.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Maynard is author of the book "Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies" (published by Mango), on which this article is based. </span></em></p>As fictional inventors make terrible choices on the big screen, real-world tech innovators can learn from their example how not to make the same kinds of ethical mistakes.Andrew Maynard, Director, Risk Innovation Lab, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1010302018-08-06T02:40:13Z2018-08-06T02:40:13ZApple, the $1 trillion company searching for its soul<p>Apple has become the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/08/apple-1-trillion-market-cap/566672/">first American company to reach US$1 trillion in market capitalisation</a> – US$1,000,000,000,000 in stockmarket value. Behind this glittering success, however, lies a series of unresolved ethical dilemmas.</p>
<p>The approaches of Apple and the other giant US platform technology companies (Google, Facebook, Amazon) to corporate taxation, concentration and privacy have <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/fair-taxation-digital-economy_en">attracted widespread criticism</a>.</p>
<p>But as a manufacturing company Apple faces a more deep-seated problem. This involves the millions of people employed in its supply chain, which is largely located in China with the major contractor <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Foxconn-Apple-and-the-partnership-that-changed-the-tech-sector">Foxconn</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bloody-decade-of-the-iphone-82974">A bloody decade of the iPhone</a>
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<p><a href="https://rdcu.be/3WF8">Our research shows</a> human rights, environmental and ethical problems persist inside Apple’s vast global supply chains. </p>
<p><a href="https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2763&context=globaldocs">Low pay</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/technology/foxconn-said-to-use-forced-student-labor-to-make-iphones.html">poor working conditions</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/greenpeace-ifixit-report-apple-environmental-problem-eco-waste-2017-6">environmental hazards</a> in supplier factories in China and across Asia are sources of long-running controversies. <a href="http://www.scmp.com/article/733389/struggle-foxconn-girl-who-wanted-die">Suicides of workers</a> subject to the <a href="https://www.somo.nl/workers-as-machines-military-management-in-foxconn/">intensive work regime</a> of these factories shocked Apple into action.</p>
<p>Apple does address these disturbing issues in its <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/supplier-responsibility/">annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report</a>. Progress has been <a href="https://www.somo.nl/foxconn-and-apple-fail-to-fulfill-promises/">uneven and limited</a>, but the company has created the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/opinion-corporate-social-responsibility-is-a-band-aid-for-a-broken-system">appearance of corporate social responsibility</a>. Any reputational damage does not seem to undermine financial results.</p>
<p>Still, for a company as successful as Apple, the failure to find a permanent solution to recurrent environmental and labour issues in its global value chain is not acceptable.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-least-skilled-workers-are-the-losers-in-globalisation-63655">The least-skilled workers are the losers in globalisation</a>
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</em>
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<h2>What makes Apple successful</h2>
<p>Apple is not the largest smart phone manufacturer in the world (the increasingly sophisticated Samsung and Huawei are), it is just <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/07/apple-cash-reserves-greater-than-those-held-by-most-us-industries-combined">the most profitable</a>. Its <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-08-02/apple-aapl-at-1-trillion-honey-i-shrunk-the-profit-margins">profit margins have topped 20% for more than a decade</a>. While its profit has slipped in recent years, it is much higher than its competitors.</p>
<p>The result is a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/news/apple-now-bigger-these-5-things/">huge cash hoard</a>. Apple holds more cash than most American industries combined, and <a href="https://www.cultofmac.com/311876/apples-massive-cash-hoard-makes-richer-141-countries/">even many countries</a>.</p>
<p>Apple’s sustained competitive advantage is not simply due to innovation, superior design and marketing. It’s also a result of its domination of the advanced consumer electronics supply chain. Apple has effectively created a closed ecosystem, controlling every part of the supply chain from design to retail. </p>
<p>Disaggregating the global value chain enables the most profitable activities, including design, finance, marketing and sales, to be retained in the home country. The less profitable labour-intensive activities are given to contractors in developing countries, where wages and conditions are often much poorer.</p>
<p>Apple <a href="http://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-1891314">sources most of its components from manufacturers in Asia</a>. The poor working conditions at the bottom of these value chains gave rise to the term “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8652295/Apple-HP-and-Dell-among-companies-responsible-for-electronic-sweatshops-claims-report.html">electronics sweatshop</a>”.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vs348">According to activist Li Qiang</a>, of US-based China Labour Watch:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Without China, Apple wouldn’t be the company it is today. No other country can provide labour so cheaply and make its products so quickly.</p>
</blockquote>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-businesses-can-do-to-stamp-out-slavery-in-their-supply-chains-82640">What businesses can do to stamp out slavery in their supply chains</a>
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<p>But the interplay between global economic forces and local circumstances <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.04.013">poses challenges</a> for economic security, and business accountability, transparency and integrity.</p>
<h2>Arm’s-length morality</h2>
<p>In its Supplier Code of Conduct, Apple <a href="https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple_Supplier_Code_of_Conduct.pdf">states</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple suppliers are required to provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, act fairly and ethically, and use environmentally responsible practices wherever they make products or perform services for Apple […] Apple will assess its suppliers’ compliance with this Code, and any violations of this Code may jeopardize the supplier’s business relationship with Apple, up to and including termination.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This statement goes a long way in explaining the normative basis on which Apple operates: an arm’s-length morality that imposes responsibility on others.</p>
<p>As Apple shifts the burden of cost and production, its suppliers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html">make the labourers carry the burden</a> through low wages and unsafe conditions. </p>
<p>Regrettably, workers receive little protection from government or regulatory authorities. Independent trade unions are <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-growing-labour-movement-offers-hope-for-workers-globally-39921">forbidden in China</a>. Labour strikes are illegal and considered counter-revolutionary (though they often occur in local disputes).</p>
<p>The result is a degree of labour flexibility that creates a race to the bottom, threatening the most basic labour standards and environmental standards in developing countries.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-can-learn-from-chinas-fight-against-environmental-ruin-99681">What we can learn from China’s fight against environmental ruin</a>
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<h2>Ensuring integrity in the global value chain</h2>
<p>It appears the beauty of Apple’s brilliant design ultimately rests upon the suffering of workers in electronic sweatshops, where human rights, labour standards, environmental safety and business integrity are routinely ignored. </p>
<p>These abuses were first <a href="https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/inside-apples-ipod-factories-14915/">brought to Apple’s attention in 2006</a>. The company has made <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-30/business/sns-rt-us-apple-foxconnbre82s197-20120329_1_chinese-workers-apple-devices-hon-hai-precision-industry">some efforts to eradicate problems</a> and enforce higher standards.</p>
<p>However, there is evidence to suggest the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vs348">intensity of the production regimes</a> being enforced to meet product launches often overwhelms Apple’s interventions to advance audit and management systems and improve standards in suppliers’ factories. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6441102/">Bleak working conditions</a> persist throughout much of the electronics supply chain in Asia. </p>
<p>With Apple’s vast cash reserves, the obvious question is why doesn’t it resolve these problems once and for all? The answer is that to a significant degree Apple is held hostage by the capital markets to control costs and feels compelled to disgorge tens of billions of dollars in dividends and share buy-backs or face the wrath of the hedge funds. The laser focus is on Apple’s share price, not the welfare of its contractors’ employees.</p>
<p>The future innovative capacity (and ethical principles) of Apple <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity">are in jeopardy</a> when <em>value creation</em> becomes defined as <em>value extraction</em>. Boards focus solely upon “returning” cash to shareholders who never provided the cash to develop the company in the first place.</p>
<p>As the market leader, and the most successful consumer electronics company in the world, Apple has a particular responsibility to ensure the integrity and responsibility of its value chain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101030/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The company’s value exceeds the GDP of many countries, but Apple has human rights, ethical and environmental problems to match in its vast supply chain.Thomas Clarke, Professor, UTS Business, University of Technology SydneyMartijn Boersma, Lecturer, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945782018-04-16T20:49:19Z2018-04-16T20:49:19ZTo value companies like Amazon and Facebook, we need to look beyond dollars and assets<p>Investors and business people usually value companies based on the balance of assets and debts at the end of a financial year. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/auar.12184">our research</a> found they should be valuing their employees’ ability to innovate while using their existing physical assets.</p>
<p>This is what actually creates value for our economy. For example manufacturing, an example of using assets to create value, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/23/census-2016-manufacturing-jobs-in-australia-drop-24-in-six-years">is on the decline</a> in Australia. Contrast this to services, using the skills of employees, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/5204.0Main%20Features22016-17?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=5204.0&issue=2016-17&num=&view=">which are increasing</a>.</p>
<p>We came up with a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/auar.12227">modified way</a> to predict the value of companies, removing the emphasis on assets and instead using measures of spending on research and development and copyrights. </p>
<p>We tested this revised model with accounting data from companies in countries like China, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa and Turkey. We also tested it with companies in more developed countries like Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden. </p>
<p>Research and development was positively associated with return on assets in Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, China, South Africa and Turkey, according to the model. This means that companies in these developed and emerging economies use their resources more efficiently because of their investments in research and development and copyrights.</p>
<p>For some of the biggest technology companies like Amazon and Facebook, the unique combination of their people, their invented systems and processes, and their physical presence creates value for the company and their investors.</p>
<p>If we can improve how we predict potential economic value, we can help companies and our economy to grow and become more efficient.</p>
<h2>Traditional accounting methods</h2>
<p>Today, the traditional accounting system has lost its relevance, because many of the resources companies use to do business cannot be owned and become an asset.</p>
<p>Traditionally companies calculate how much they own (assets) and subtract how much they owe (liabilities). The remaining amount, or book value, is what the company is worth.</p>
<p>But people are a key resource in any company, yet companies do not own people. The wages paid to them are an expense, but their value cannot be recorded in the company’s accounts. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-accountants-of-the-future-will-need-to-speak-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency-if-they-want-your-money-91189">Why accountants of the future will need to speak blockchain and cryptocurrency if they want your money</a>
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</em>
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<p>Similarly, accounting rules state that most research and development is expensed when it occurs, meaning it is counted as a cost immediately. The problem is that investments in people and research and development may not pay off until the future.</p>
<h2>What this means for long-term investments</h2>
<p>Amazon, for example, is spending <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/amazon-spends-more-on-rd-than-all-australian-businesses-combined-data61-ceo-20180228-h0ws0u">billions of dollars on research and development</a>. This would involve spending money on intangible resources such as copyrights, market research, branding and designing systems and processes. It will also invest in marketing to potential customers, training staff and hiring managers. </p>
<p>According to current accounting rules, most of these costs are treated as expenses now. It is only physical assets such as buildings, computers, furniture and equipment that are counted as a cost over time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/companies-may-be-misleading-investors-by-not-openly-assessing-the-true-value-of-assets-61801">Companies may be misleading investors by not openly assessing the true value of assets</a>
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<p>However, Amazon’s investment in its new distribution network is likely to reap significant returns in the future. The fact that accounting reports analyse the past year, six months or quarter, shows how accounting is too focused on the short term. In the long term, <a href="https://ycharts.com/companies/AMZN/price_to_book_value">Amazon is actually worth about 25 times more than accounting suggests</a>.</p>
<p>Because investors are interested in the future returns from their investments, not what was spent in the past, the stock market values most modern companies at several times their book value. This makes <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-au/The+End+of+Accounting+and+the+Path+Forward+for+Investors+and+Managers-p-9781119191094">modern accounting even less relevant in explaining economic value.</a></p>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/auar.12184">Our research</a> found that to understand how economic value is created, you need to look at what businesses are spending on long term resources such as research and development and copyright and treat it as an investment, rather than a cost. </p>
<p>Even if a company is not making a profit because it is investing in research and development in the short term, this does not mean it is not capable of making money in the long term. </p>
<p>Many companies like Amazon never made a profit in their early years as they burned cash to create their foothold in the market. But their investors were convinced these companies would create economic value by way of profits and increased share prices in the future. </p>
<p>If we look beyond the book value of companies, we can truly understand how they create economic value.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Traditional accounting calculates a company’s value by measuring physical assets and how much they owe. But we can tweak this for today’s economy by including people and their ability to innovate.John Dumay, Associate Professor - Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie UniversityMaurizio Massaro, Assistant Professor, Università degli Studi di UdineMuhammad Nadeem, Lecturer, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/868762017-11-15T11:51:48Z2017-11-15T11:51:48ZWhy it matters when big tech firms extend their power into media content<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194613/original/file-20171114-26460-1sx4asd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A major shift is taking place in global media. Until recently, tech corporations were mainly involved in distribution rather than production. But now, instead of simply delivering TV shows, music and films onto our devices and screens, major firms are sinking huge amounts of money <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/business/media/tv-marketplace-apple-facebook-google.html">into the content itself</a>.</p>
<p>The herald of this change was Netflix. Here was a tech company <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/21/showbiz/gallery/netflix-history/index.html">from the heart of Silicon Valley</a> which in 2011 began to commission expensive middlebrow fare <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/03/netflix-moves-to-original-cont.html">for its video streaming service</a>. Amazon soon followed, and now Apple are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/06/apple-moves-into-original-tv-programming/531063/">poaching star TV executives</a>, investing a billion dollars a year in production, and almost certainly planning a <a href="https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple/apple-movie-tv-streaming-rumours-release-date-3610603/">new video streaming site</a>. Google and Facebook are <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/business/21727094-tech-firms-are-splashing-out-new-series-facebook-twitter-and-apple-get-television">developing content strategies, too</a>.</p>
<p>However, this shift is not, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-apple-and-google-will-hasten-the-next-era-of-tv/">as some would have it</a>, a case of boring old “legacy” media companies giving way to smart, dynamic usurpers that will give the world better television. </p>
<p>It is better understood as a wholesale media power grab by the tech sector.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194593/original/file-20171114-26448-1jl426b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taking over?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-september-06-2017-netflix-711279193?src=AdK5FhFP3uIhTPcH8fhFeA-2-73">Jesse33/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Blurred boundaries</h2>
<p>There is a precedent for media being dominated by a bigger, neighbouring sector. In the 20th century, many key developments in media and culture <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1340498">were driven by electronics</a> corporations. The recording and radio industries were essentially created in order to provide content to play on electronics devices – where initially the biggest profits lay.</p>
<p>Once content itself became sufficiently lucrative, electronics firms established themselves in production and distribution, forming the heart of vast media oligopolies. Key US broadcasting network NBC was <a href="http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1945408,00.html">an offshoot of General Electric</a>,
big record companies were often subsidiaries of electronics giants, and later, Japanese electronics group Sony became a massive media force.</p>
<p>Boundaries have blurred, but the electronics and tech sectors remain distinct, with their own cultures and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Technology_Association">industry bodies</a>. And the new tech oligopoly has even more power than the electronics corporations and media giants.</p>
<p>It is important to understand where the now ubiquitous tech sector came from. In truth, it grew out of huge Cold War computing and communication <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1fq5">state spending</a> as much as through bootstrap entrepreneurialism. But enthusiasts fervently believed that computers could serve well-being by decentralising communication, and were suspicious of the state. The industry’s rapid growth in the 1990s came as global policy-making decisively moved to the view that markets rather than democratic institutions were best at determining how people’s needs and desires might be met.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194604/original/file-20171114-26448-1enss0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ENIAC performed ballistics trajectory calculations for the US Army.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computing_hardware#/media/File:Eniac.jpg">U.S. Army Photo/Wikipedia</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In this neoliberal version of capitalism, the new breed of tech companies were, unlike their established media and telecommunications peers, very <a href="http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/7051/6124#16a">lightly regulated</a>. This was the case not only in terms of competition, but also in terms of responsibility for what passed through their systems. </p>
<p>Under US and many Western legal systems, internet service providers, search engines and social media platforms have only very limited liability for the content they host and circulate. Compared with media companies, they have minimal obligations to prevent the circulation of problematic content such as hate speech. They also have considerable freedom to collect and sell data about their users. </p>
<p>What’s more, media companies have often been compelled by law and regulation to provide materials that serve <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Communications_Policy_and_the_Public_Int.html?id=wUyaINtt-DsC">the public interest</a>. They have been required to make available information relevant to people’s lives as citizens, and diverse entertainment and cultural programming. Crucially, the new platforms have no such responsibilities. </p>
<p>This minimal burden helped nurture the growth of vast US tech corporations, including eventually the Big Five: <a href="https://presse.ina.fr/les-gafam/">Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft</a>.</p>
<h2>Death sentence?</h2>
<p>The recording industry was the first place where Big Tech disrupted media. Apple of course was crucial, but the key innovation wasn’t the iPod and iTunes, it was the launch of the iPhone and AppStore. These made possible the new music streaming services, most notably Spotify and later Apple Music. For all <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/04/does-spotify-hurt-the-music-industry.html">the criticism it has faced</a>, music streaming did manage to stabilise a struggling business – and laid the basis for the normalisation of paid streaming.</p>
<p>Then Netflix arrived to begin the tech sector’s challenge to cable and satellite for monthly fees, ultimately with its own expensive content. Now <a href="http://www.amandalotz.com/portals-a-treatise-on-internetdistributed-television/">television is transmuting</a> into a system of rival subscription streaming services.</p>
<p>Like the electronics giants of the 20th century, the tech companies initially stayed away from media content. This is why recent developments are so significant. Companies like Apple and Amazon bring vast resources to the world of audio-visual production (though for now they are keeping away from the less profitable business of recording music).</p>
<p>The old media giants should not be mourned – partly because it’s not clear that they’re dying. Profits and revenues have diminished in music, publishing, and some parts of television, but vast businesses remain. </p>
<p>In the US, still the epicentre of global tech and media, there are now two oligopolies in place. Silicon Valley wields its might through software engineering, patents, start-ups and venture capital; Hollywood still deals in stories and images, copyright, and networks of talent management. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/11/08/att-time-warner-merger-trump-dashes-trust-in-media-and-government-at-the-same-time/?utm_term=.51c9f49e379e">Telecoms corporations too</a> are increasingly active. </p>
<p>These sectors <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/08/disney-will-pull-its-movies-from-netflix-and-start-its-own-streaming-services.html">sometimes compete</a>, and often cooperate. But tech will undoubtedly dominate because of their vast resources, international range and monopoly power.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=154&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=154&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=193&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=193&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194610/original/file-20171114-26440-l7f3pl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=193&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sign of the times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/736430206?src=tFDslWkqQjbljT5sxLzqbA-2-36&size=medium_jpg">Bernhard Richter/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Public service media have <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2243-the-bbc">many failings</a>, but were founded on principles of serving citizens with high quality information and entertainment. They will increasingly struggle against the vast budgets of Silicon Valley and their Big Media frenemies. </p>
<h2>Regular regulation</h2>
<p>But should you worry? Yes.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/16/facebook-fake-news-tools-not-working">“fake news” storms</a> have shown how little tech corporations appear to consider their responsibility to society and democracy. They <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41889787">avoid tax</a>. Like the electronics corporations, their business model involves creating cycles of obsolescence and replacement that are <a href="http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/3058">deeply wasteful</a>. </p>
<p>The tech oligopoly is further extending its reach over our experience of the world, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/18/corporations-google-should-not-sell-customer-data">capturing huge amounts of data about us</a> as it does so. For all the <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/amazon-studios-jeff-bezos-roy-price-zelda-1202552532/">sumptuous content</a> that will no doubt be offered, we should heed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/technology/five-tech-giants-upside.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Ffarhad-manjoo&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection">calls from commentators</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/27/google-braces-for-record-breaking-1bn-fine-from-eu">policy-makers</a> for careful critique and stronger regulation.</p>
<p>New laws and regulations <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1329878X1314600116">appropriate for a new era</a> are needed to control tech corporations’ operation of data about users, to make accountable the algorithmic processes <a href="http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/2016/EUParliament.html">by which the platforms operate</a>, and to ensure that in this new communications world, people have access to truly diverse understandings of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007525591/the-peoples-platform">other lives, cultures and societies</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hesmondhalgh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Should you be worried that tech giants are making huge investments in cultural content?David Hesmondhalgh, Professor of Media, Music and Culture, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/870972017-11-09T01:12:31Z2017-11-09T01:12:31ZAustralian companies should cultivate local tech workers not play the 457 visa game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193723/original/file-20171108-6747-ckkwoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mike Cannon-Brookes (centre), and Scott Farquhar (3rd L), co-founders and CEOs of Atlassian Software Systems, smile during its successful entry into the Nasdaq in New York.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>There is a degree of mythology in the tech world surrounding people who have worked in Silicon Valley. </p>
<p>As the birthplace of computing and tech giants like HP, Apple and Google, there is a view that the best developers come from companies located there even though 90% of software developers in the US actually work <a href="https://qz.com/729293/90-of-software-developers-work-outside-silicon-valley/">elsewhere</a>. </p>
<p>According to Australian-made but internationally renowned tech company Atlassian, the skills it needs can only be found from deep in the heart of the <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/atlassian-boss-scott-farquhar-warns-visa-rule-changes-risk-stunting-local-tech-growth-20171101-gzd1vv">Silicon Valley</a> - and not in Australia. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-government-axes-457-work-visa-experts-react-76321">Australian government axes 457 work visa: experts react</a>
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<p>Atlassian co-founders Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes have <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/atlassian-boss-scott-farquhar-warns-visa-rule-changes-risk-stunting-local-tech-growth-20171101-gzd1vv">argued</a> that Australia needs to keep schemes like the 457 visa to enable companies like theirs to bring workers from the United States because they can’t find them locally.</p>
<p>The irony of this is that the founders were reportedly University of New South Wales <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/entrepreneur/from-uni-dropouts-to-software-magnates-20100715-10bsm.html">dropouts</a>. Neither finished a degree before founding a company that is today worth <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TEAM?ltr=1">nearly</a> US$12 billion (A$15.62 billion). And they achieved all of this in Australia with no previous tech experience. </p>
<h2>Atlassian’s staff preference</h2>
<p>About 250 of Atlassian’s 1,000 employees in Australia are on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/atlassians-mike-cannon-brookes-on-peter-dutton-this-bullshit-makes-me-mad-2017-4">457 temporary migration visas</a>. The justification for this has been that it is easier to get senior staff with 10 years’ experience from Silicon Valley than it is to find them locally, or train them from existing domestic staff. </p>
<p>If indeed all of the 457 visa staff are senior members of Atlassian, it would represent a very high ratio of senior to junior staff. </p>
<p>From the company’s short-term perspective, it is obviously better to hire experience that somebody else has invested the money to develop - rather than spend that time, effort and money themselves. </p>
<p>All of the jobs advertised <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/company/careers/all-jobs?location=Sydney">currently</a> by Atlassian are for “senior” staff. There are currently no <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/company/careers/students?tab=development#graduateListingSection">advertised positions</a> for graduates on the Atlassian site in Australia.</p>
<p>From Australia’s employment market perspective, such preferencing denies graduates and entry-level workers the opportunity to get started in the workforce and to develop those skills and experience domestically rather than abroad.</p>
<h2>Graduates face employment barriers</h2>
<p>The challenges for graduates entering the local workforce are highlighted by the Australian Department of Employment, which has <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/information-technology-professions-australia">reported</a> that for IT graduates, full-time employment has become harder to find than it was in 2008. </p>
<p>One of the factors that the Department blames for this <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/ausitprofessions_1.pdf">is the</a> “increasing reliance on the use of 457 visa holders by businesses”. An example of this is the NSW government, which was <a href="http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/work/2017/04/20/457-visa-tech/">accused</a> of bringing in Indian IT workers as part of its outsourcing service ServiceFirst that provides human resources and payroll services. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-startup-employment-dream-the-pros-and-cons-53110">The startup employment dream – the pros and cons</a>
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</em>
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<p>The perceived, and real, prospects for IT graduate employment have driven a massive drop in enrolments in IT degrees from a peak in 2002. The run up to 2000 was the time of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble">Dot-com Bubble</a> where the rapid rise and success of tech firms, even in Australia, was being highly publicised. </p>
<p>When that bubble burst, it left a supply of graduates that have been absorbed into the market with a rapid decrease in interest in pursuing careers in the IT sector.</p>
<p>IT degree completions for domestic students in Australia are about 60% of the levels of their <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economics-australias-digital-pulse-2017-010617.pdf">peak</a> in 2003 and are increasing only slowly.</p>
<h2>457 threat overstated?</h2>
<p>The threat posed by government changes to the 457 visa system have been largely overblown. </p>
<p>IT-related jobs are still covered by the 457 visa’s <a href="http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/457-abolition-replacement">replacement</a>, the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa. The changes are unlikely to have <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/08/10/numerically-insignificant-457-visa-overhaul-unlikely-be-game-changer-local-jobs">any impact</a> on the employment of IT staff for companies in Australia, including tech firms like Atlassian. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-podcast-jenny-lambert-on-the-457-visa-scrapping-76420">Politics podcast: Jenny Lambert on the 457 visa scrapping</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>The <a href="http://www.afr.com/technology/atlassian-boss-scott-farquhar-warns-visa-rule-changes-risk-stunting-local-tech-growth-20171101-gzd1vv">comments</a> from tech firms when there are any threatened changes to this system can reflect their own self interest in satisfying their business priorities in getting talent as easily as possible. </p>
<p>These companies’ social concerns for the development of the local workforce are often secondary to their interest in maximising profits. This in part comes down to the concerns of shareholders who, in Atlassian’s case, are based in the US as it is a US-listed company.</p>
<h2>Fostering local talent</h2>
<p>Companies like Atlassian and other tech firms that operate in Australia could be doing far more to develop experience in the local workforce by scaling up their efforts to offer internships and graduate entry programs from Australian universities. </p>
<p>This is standard practice in other industries but this approach has not been adopted by the tech companies. Instead, tech companies largely rely on graduates applying directly <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com.au/Interview/Atlassian-Graduate-Java-Developer-Interview-Questions-EI_IE115699.0,9_KO10,33.htm">to them</a> for jobs.</p>
<p>Universities teaching computer science and software engineering normally take guidance from industry to shape the content of the curriculum. Usually, the computer languages and technologies taught follow the requirements of the companies that engage with these programmes. </p>
<p>By not engaging with universities across Australia, tech companies like Atlassian are potentially missing out on graduates being trained to meet their needs. The energy being expended on defending the need for temporary skilled worker visas would be better spent on cultivating and providing opportunities for the workforce available on their doorstep. </p>
<p><em>*A representative from Atlassian has pointed out that contrary to the report in the Sydney Morning Herald cited in this article, both Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar graduated from the University of New South Wales with degrees in Information Systems.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Glance does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australian tech firm Atlassian has recently warned that changes to 457 visas threatens to stunt industry growth. But is there more Oz tech firms could be doing to cultivate local talent?David Glance, Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/859992017-10-25T13:32:26Z2017-10-25T13:32:26ZOutdated regulations halt Uber in its tracks, but innovation must prevail<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191728/original/file-20171024-30556-90rl5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C82%2C1940%2C1315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/srgblog/8313393095/in/photolist-dECj8H-q7UNGX-o6ZGVt-6z3FEk-4bqsap-64tFvr-oU33Rr-38wi5W-EMqBV-iTH1wJ-d3grr-53Yd5K-nzouc-qeUK2y-8u1PB-vXCUM-6kvdy2-4MerDc-7447j1-GYyVuA-2ew55T-hZfhvo-eqwopM-nUhCwH-oCH9ee-a4eDcb-dTh5zQ-4cVPEn-ePC45v-baDuk6-CnZWFJ-pbhjy9-9PqquK-75HRjD-atBHQw-bXDrrW-b5YtyX-bfLcza-5qMBev-4cZG1u-bc7UaZ-kzYen3-666zqu-L9MZrN-bguNEv-Wcajfm-4cVDXZ-aWC4qM-97MDSw-rjH1gU">srgpicker/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ride-sharing company <a href="https://www.uber.com">Uber</a> has led a charge by companies who are upsetting applecarts in their respective industries. The power and convenience of mobile platforms can efficiently match assets, labour, or both with those who need them. Established players in regulated markets are on notice, and the regulations, in many cases, have been left looking unfit for purpose.</p>
<p>The modern world has been built on what economist <a href="http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Schumpeter.html">Joseph Schumpeter</a> described as “creative destruction”. When regulations are out of date, or can be circumvented by new technologies or new ways of doing things, new entrants can disrupt incumbents by innovating outside of the reach of regulators. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.skype.com/en/">Skype</a>, the popular voice and video communications service, was first launched, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/8231444/China-makes-Skype-illegal.html">it was illegal</a> in many parts of the world. It has since established a global market for voice over IP technologies, lowering prices for voice and video communications and changing how millions of people communicate. </p>
<p>A new entrant can offer compelling services which attract so many customers, so quickly, that sheer weight of numbers persuades (or even forces) regulators to recognise the new reality – witness the 850,000-strong <a href="https://www.change.org/p/save-your-uber-in-london-saveyouruber">petition</a> that greeted the decision to remove Uber’s licence in London.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191719/original/file-20171024-30596-anf0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Trailblazer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kazan-russian-federation-aug-9-2017-701674423?src=83g37Xo3cz6ZsXM6taEWyQ-1-64">Allmy/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Uberisation</h2>
<p>Uber has been the poster child for a 21st-century sharing economy that challenges 20th-century regulations. The firm has been valued at <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/uber-board-says-it-approved-equality-among-shareholders-and-to-move-forward-with-softbank-deal-2017-10">close to US$70 billion</a>, riding out concerns about the viability of its business model and a series of headlines about poor corporate culture and bad behaviour. </p>
<p>Uber’s innovation inspired numerous other start-ups across different sectors throughout the world – from rivals like <a href="http://www.didichuxing.com/en/">Didi Chuxing</a> and <a href="https://www.lyft.com/">Lyft</a> to holiday letting agent <a href="https://www.airbnb.com">Airbnb</a>, jobs and skills matcher <a href="https://www.taskrabbit.com/">TaskRabbit</a> and <a href="https://www.wework.com/">WeWork</a>, which hooks up gig economy workers with shared workspaces and services. We are seeing Uberisation across multiple industries.</p>
<p>The significance of the sharing economy goes well beyond disrupting a particular regulated market. Uber’s ambition is to eventually make ride hailing so cheap and convenient that many people would forgo car ownership altogether. It has the potential to <a href="http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13879/">reinvent urban transport and transform cities</a> while reducing road accidents and pollution. </p>
<p>The enormous value in the data it collects from the millions of rides every day could potentially exceed ride hailing itself. The on-demand movement started by Uber and co could change our life styles and lead to new ways of living and working. </p>
<p>However, such dramatic innovations inevitably rub up against regulators and encounter push backs from vested interests. The question is how to effectively maintain the balance between regulation and innovation. The refusal by Transport for London (TfL) to renew Uber’s licence – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/13/uber-appeal-london-licence-tfl">an appeal notwithstanding</a> – raises serious questions on whether existing regulations in UK and Europe are killing off promising innovations. </p>
<h2>Failing to compete</h2>
<p>It should be a worry that despite significant research and development investment in digital technologies by the multi-billion euro <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/">EU Framework Programmes</a> and the £150m <a href="https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/themes/digitaleconomy/">Digital Economy Programme</a> from the Research Councils UK, the EU and UK have so far failed to produce many serious digital “unicorns”, private companies valued at US$1 billion or more. One exception is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify">Spotify</a>, the music streaming company started in Sweden in 2008 and valued at US$8.5bn. </p>
<p>There are simply no challengers in Europe to the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/28/fang-tech-market-concern-volatility.html">US-based “FANGs”</a> (Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google) or <a href="http://www.investors.com/research/industry-snapshot/move-over-fangs-chinas-bat-stocks-go-from-copycats-to-fat-cats/">the Chinese “BATs”</a> (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent). Stringent regulations in some EU countries, combined with language and culture barriers, have fragmented the European single market, which make it more difficult – and more expensive – for new entrants to challenge incumbents and scale up operations in Europe.</p>
<p>Uber successfully disrupted a regulated market by circumventing regulations and offering convenient services to 40,000 drivers and 3.5m customers <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/09/26/really-ubers-40000-drivers-35m-users-london/">in London alone</a>. However, its future success in the UK and Europe is by no means guaranteed. </p>
<p>TfL should think again. Despite its various mistakes, Uber is still a young company, and all the issues are fixable, aside from the fury of the incumbent Black Taxi drivers, perhaps. Killing it is not in the interest of consumers and drivers, and it will damage the reputation of London as a place for innovation.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191725/original/file-20171024-30613-7pv7mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We’ve moved on …</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hur/174497674/in/photolist-8MneV3-96aHfj-5yT8AC-gqm5A-paLEU3-pcwQk8">Jin Ho Hur/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Back in 1865, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotive_Acts">Locomotive Acts</a> (also known as the Red Flag Act) was passed in the UK. The law required self-propelled vehicles to be led by a pedestrian waving a red flag or carrying a lantern to warn people about the vehicle’s approach. We can all laugh at how ridiculous this now seems, but the flags served a purpose in their time, before becoming obsolete. </p>
<p>TfL should bear this in mind. Regulations should not stop innovations that improve people’s lives. Uber has clearly improved many people’s lives in London and all around the world, offering employment opportunities alongside affordable and convenient door-to-door transport services for a large number of consumers. If there are issues and concerns, then TfL should work constructively with Uber to address them. The sharing economy is here to stay, and London has a chance to show the rest of Europe what progressive regulation looks like in a world of rapid innovation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Feng Li receives funding from Research Councils UK, Innovate UK and EPSRC</span></em></p>Rules are made to be broken. Innovation stalls when you don’t follow that simple maxim.Feng Li, Chair of Information Management, Cass Business School, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/841422017-09-21T10:14:26Z2017-09-21T10:14:26ZCould Snapchat’s biggest selling point now be its downfall?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186808/original/file-20170920-15005-170riyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C43%2C2810%2C1701&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-usa-june-23-2017-665858341?src=oB1aaxA2hc9beLyrfilUDw-1-82">PixieMe/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Snapchat launched in 2011, ephemerality was its unique selling point. Its self-destructing photo and video messages were a stark departure from established social media platforms, which encouraged users to construct and populate content-laden profiles. Disappearing “Snaps” may have gained traction initially as a discrete <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2013/jun/26/snapchat-self-destructing-message-app-phenomenon">way of sexting</a>, but their transient nature turned out to have a broader appeal. </p>
<p>Users embraced Snapchat as a way to share the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/14/snapchat-sexting-study_n_5574642.html">insignificant, silly, mundane, or simply less polished</a> moments of everyday life. Moments not deemed Instagram-, Twitter- or Facebook-worthy, could be shared as ephemeral Snaps. As Snapchat co-founder, Evan Spiegel, put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Snapchat isn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moment. It’s about communicating with the full range of human emotion – not just what appears to be pretty or perfect.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Things looked promising for Snapchat. In 2013, the company introduced Snapchat Stories, a montage of Snaps broadcast simultaneously to the user’s entire contact list for a 24-hour period. The following year saw the introduction of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-ad-2014-10?IR=T">Snapchat advertising</a>, enabling firms to broadcast to the app’s growing user base, and providing Snapchat with a growing revenue stream. So confident was Snapchat in its future success, that it <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-rejection-why-snapchat-turned-down-facebooks-offer-20354">declined Facebook’s acquisition offer</a> of US$3 billion in 2013.</p>
<h2>Copycats</h2>
<p>Success breeds emulation. In 2016, Facebook-owned Instagram released its own Stories feature, mirroring the functionality of Snapchat Stories. Facebook followed suit in 2017 with its own Stories function. The emergence of such copycat features has <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/05/can-snapchat-survive-if-facebook-copies-all-its-best-features">naturally raised questions</a> about Snapchat’s longevity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186813/original/file-20170920-25115-1rbvlrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muscling in?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chiangmai-thailand-june-19-2017-hand-662534779?src=_MP84akjaYbfMIcg9Vt_fw-3-44">Narapirom/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Snapchat’s monthly active <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/02/slowchat/">user growth rate plummeted</a> from 17.2% per quarter in the middle of 2016 to just 5% at the beginning of this year. Its share price has fallen from a high of more than US$27 and is now trading below its IPO price, <a href="https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/quote/SNAP?ltr=1">at less than US$15</a>. Instagram Stories now has 250m daily users, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/digital/instagram-stories-now-has-250-million-daily-active-users-heating-up-its-rivalry-with-snapchat/">significantly more than Snapchat’s 166m</a>. </p>
<p>How can social media platforms hold onto their user base when their main selling point is emulated elsewhere? </p>
<h2>Ensnarement</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/685474">My recent work</a>, in collaboration with fellow UK academics Mike Molesworth and Janice Denegri-Knott, argues that the longevity of many social media platforms can be attributed to what we term “consumer ensnarement”. In stark contrast to Snapchat, most social media platforms encourage users to continually upload content that becomes part of a lasting profile. In doing so, users simultaneously create the platform and tie themselves to it. </p>
<p>Consider Facebook. There has been speculation for many years that users, particularly younger age groups, <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebooks-so-uncool-but-its-morphing-into-a-different-beast-21548">would soon abandon the platform</a>, yet this hasn’t materialised. The company has faced backlash against layout and functionality changes, <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/net-us-facebook-security/facebook-admits-year-long-data-breach-exposed-6-million-users-idUSBRE95K18Y20130621">data leaks</a>, and increasing commercialisation, and yet still it retains <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/">1.32 billion daily active users</a>. In July 2017, Facebook reported a total quarterly revenue of $9.32 billion, <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_news/2017/FB-Q2'17-Earnings-Release.pdf">up 45% from the previous year</a>. The future for Facebook, it seems, is still bright. </p>
<p>Facebook’s longevity can, in part, be attributed to the value its users attach to the content they have uploaded, annotated and curated. The social media giant encourages users to upload and “tag” photographs and videos, organise them into meaningful albums, and provide up-to-date information in the form of status updates. Collectively, this content holds significant value to users.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186815/original/file-20170920-25115-hob23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hands up Facebook fans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/minsk-belarus-july-2017-concept-many-674905654?src=1iDKkfmBWuKCg9zWcpu0MA-3-87">AlesiaKan/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, though we rarely reflect on it and may be reluctant to admit it, our Facebook profiles have become important digital possessions. They have become unintentional digital scrapbooks, with years of updates memorialising cherished moments and narrating our lives. </p>
<p>This produces a new form of consumer “lock-in” whereby users are not bound by brand loyalty, but by their own uploads. The more time and effort individuals put into their profiles, the more difficult it becomes for them to leave the platform. If such ensnarement is integral to the commercial success and longevity of social media companies, what does this mean for Snapchat?</p>
<h2>Holding on to Snappers?</h2>
<p>Disappearing Snaps create no digital scrapbook of uploaded content. Aside from users’ networks of contacts, which would need to be recreated on other platforms, what does the user leave behind when they abandon Snapchat? Without the ensnarement mechanisms that tie consumers to competing platforms, how can Snapchat prevent its user base from vanishing just as quickly as its Snaps?</p>
<p>Snapchat could focus on creating new, distinct features that provide a competitive advantage. Yet we have seen multiple times in recent years that innovations in social media are quickly emulated. Facebook’s repeated emulation of competitors is argued to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/facebooks-willingness-to-copy-rivals-apps-seen-as-hurting-innovation/2017/08/10/ea7188ea-7df6-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html?utm_term=.a0a961af3985">hinder innovation</a> in the market. </p>
<p>In fact, Facebook has not only emulated Snapchat’s Stories function, but has more recently announced the launch of filters that emulate <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-filters-like-snapchat">Snapchat’s fun lenses</a>, another distinguishing feature of the platform. Without mechanisms of ensnarement, further innovation does not guarantee future success.</p>
<p>One opportunity does exist in Snapchat’s “Memories” function, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/snapchat-memories-feature-what-is-it-self-destruction-store-posts-for-later-a7124811.html">launched mid-2016</a>. In contrast to the app’s initial focus on transient, disappearing Snaps, Memories enables users to keep their Snaps, store Snaps within the app or downloading them to their camera roll. </p>
<p>Snapchat Memories creates a different type of digital scrapbook. While other platforms enable us to remember the polished versions of our lives presented on the likes of Facebook and Instagram, a montage of Snaps may capture the parts of our lives that would otherwise be edited out – the silly, mundane, unpolished, but nonetheless important and valued moments.</p>
<p>With the capacity to download Snaps, how can Snapchat encourage Snappers to create and interact with these digital scrapbooks in-app? The real potential of Snapchat Memories lies in “smart” functions that enrich users’ interactions with their content. Users can search not only by keyword, but also by recognised objects, and are presented with collections of Snaps taken in their current location or posted on the same date in previous years (emulating Facebook’s ‘On This Day’ function). These features have received limited attention, overshadowed in part by the subsequent launch of Instagram Stories, however such features provide value in storing content within the app itself and facilitate the type of ensnarement mechanism utilised by the company’s competitors.</p>
<p>Ephemerality may have been the source of Snapchat’s early success, however its ability to capture an honest, imperfect and <em>lasting</em> picture of its users’ lives may be its best hope for survival.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Mardon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While every other social media platform seeks to tie users in through content-rich profiles, the transient nature of Snaps means the company needs to find a new hook.Rebecca Mardon, Lecturer in Marketing, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/824792017-08-16T01:36:12Z2017-08-16T01:36:12ZDoes biology explain why men outnumber women in tech?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182132/original/file-20170815-6110-1og4pid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=151%2C43%2C2897%2C2140&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who's missing from this picture?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lws/3263880963">Lawrence Sinclair</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s no secret that <a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/diversity-report/">Silicon Valley employs</a> many <a href="http://money.cnn.com/interactive/technology/tech-diversity-data/">more men than women</a> <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/reports/hightech/">in tech jobs</a>. What’s much harder to agree on is why.</p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evzjww/here-are-the-citations-for-the-anti-diversity-manifesto-circulating-at-google">anti-diversity memo</a> by a now former Google engineer has pushed this topic into the spotlight. The writer argued there are ways to explain the gender gap in tech that don’t rely on bias and discrimination – specifically, biological sex differences. Setting aside how this assertion would affect questions about how to move toward greater equity in tech fields, how well does his wrap-up represent what researchers know about the science of sex and gender?</p>
<p>As a social scientist who’s been conducting psychological research about sex and gender for almost 50 years, I agree that biological differences between the sexes likely are part of the reason we see fewer women than men in the ranks of Silicon Valley’s tech workers. But the road between biology and employment is long and bumpy, and any causal connection does not rule out the relevance of nonbiological causes. Here’s what the research actually says.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182138/original/file-20170815-21358-10smx34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is she a computer natural?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zorgnetwerknederland/9423176668">Micah Sittig</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Are girls just born less suited for tech?</h2>
<p>There is no direct causal evidence that biology causes the lack of women in tech jobs. But many, if not most, psychologists do give credence to the general idea that prenatal and early postnatal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.23832">exposure to hormones</a> such as testosterone and other androgens <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-015-0022-1">affect human psychology</a>. In humans, testosterone is ordinarily elevated in males from about weeks eight to 24 of gestation and also during early postnatal development. </p>
<p>Ethical restraints obviously preclude experimenting on human fetuses and babies to understand the effects of this greater exposure of males to testosterone. Instead, researchers have studied individuals exposed to hormonal environments that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022492106974">abnormal</a> because of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2007.05.015">unusual genetic conditions</a> or hormonally active drugs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0923-z">prescribed to pregnant women</a>. Such studies have suggested that early androgen exposure does have masculinizing effects on girls’ juvenile play preferences and behavior, aggression, sexual orientation and gender identity and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.01.022">possibly on spatial ability</a> and responsiveness to cues that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0125">certain behaviors are culturally female-appropriate</a>.</p>
<p>Early hormonal exposure is only one part of a complex of biological processes that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.23884">contribute to sexual differentiation</a>. Driven by both direct and roundabout messages from the X and Y chromosomes, the effects of these processes on human psychology are largely unknown, given the early stage of the relevant science.</p>
<p>Other studies inform the nature-nurture question by comparing the behaviors of boys and girls who are so young that socialization has not exerted its full influence.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.33">Early sex differences emerge mainly</a> on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00254.x">broad dimensions of temperament</a>. One such dimension is what psychologists call “surgency”; it’s greater in boys and manifests in motor activity, impulsivity and experiencing pleasure from high-intensity activities. The other dimension is in what we term “effortful control”; it’s greater in girls and emerges in the self-regulatory skills of greater attention span, ability to focus and shift attention and inhibitory control. This aspect of temperament also includes greater perceptual sensitivity and experience of pleasure from low-intensity activities.</p>
<p>This research on temperament does suggest that nature instills some psychological sex differences. But scientists don’t fully understand the pathways from these aspects of child temperament to adult personality and abilities.</p>
<h2>Is there a gender divide on tech-relevant traits?</h2>
<p>Another approach to the women-in-tech question involves comparing the sexes on traits thought most relevant to participation in tech. In this case, it doesn’t matter whether these traits follow from nature or nurture. The usual suspects include mathematical and spatial abilities.</p>
<p>The sex difference in average mathematical ability that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.1971.tb00807.x">once favored males</a> has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1160364">disappeared in the general U.S. population</a>. There is also a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2016.09.003">decline in the preponderance of males</a> among the very top scorers on demanding math tests. Yet, males tend to score <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.10.011">higher on most tests of spatial abilities</a>, especially tests of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-012-9215-x">mentally rotating three-dimensional objects</a>, and these skills appear to be <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0016127">helpful in STEM fields</a>.</p>
<p>Of course people choose occupations based on their interests as well as their abilities. So the robust and large sex difference on measures of people-oriented versus thing-oriented interests deserves consideration.</p>
<p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0017364">Research shows that</a>, in general, women are more interested in people compared with men, who are more interested in things. To the extent that tech occupations are concerned more with things than people, men would on average <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.09.007">be more attracted to them</a>. For example, positions such as computer systems engineer and network and database architect require extensive knowledge of electronics, mathematics, engineering principles and telecommunication systems. Success in such work is not as dependent on qualities such as social sensitivity and emotional intelligence as are positions in, for instance, early childhood education and retail sales.</p>
<p>Women and men also differ in their life goals, with women placing a higher priority than men on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868316642141">working with and helping people</a>. Jobs in STEM are in general not viewed as providing much opportunity to satisfy these life goals. But technology does offer specializations that prioritize social and community goals (such as designing healthcare systems) or reward social skills (for instance, optimizing the interaction of people with machines and information). Such positions may, on average, be <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025199">relatively appealing to women</a>. More generally, women’s overall <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057988">superiority on reading</a> <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2015.1036833">and writing</a> as well as <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511628191.006">social skills</a> <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0017286">would advantage them</a> in many occupations.</p>
<p>Virtually all sex differences consist of overlapping distributions of women and men. For example, despite the quite large sex difference in average height, some women are taller than most men and some men are shorter than most women. Although psychological sex differences are statistically smaller than this height difference, some of the differences most relevant to tech are substantial, particularly interest in people versus things and spatial ability in mental rotations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182136/original/file-20170815-26751-uke216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Silicon Valley has been faulted for its ‘brogrammer’ culture, which can be unwelcoming to women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zorgnetwerknederland/9423176668">Zorgnetwerk Nederland</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>If not biology, then what are the causes?</h2>
<p>Given the absence of clear-cut evidence that tech-relevant abilities and interests flow mainly from biology, there’s plenty of room to consider socialization and gender stereotyping.</p>
<p>Because humans are born undeveloped, parents and others provide extensive socialization, generally intended to promote personality traits and skills they think will help offspring in their future adult roles. To the extent that women and men have different adult lives, caregivers tend to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.109.2.267">promote sex-typical activities and interests</a> in children – dolls for girls, toy trucks for boys. Conventional socialization can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12569">set children on the route</a> to conventional career choices.</p>
<p>Even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1068/p3331">very young children</a> form <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-6383(94)90037-X">gender stereotypes</a> as <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037215">they observe women and men</a> enacting their society’s division of labor. They <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1128709">automatically learn about gender</a> from what they see adults doing in the home and at work. Eventually, to explain the differences they see in what men and women do and how they do it, children draw the conclusion that the sexes to some extent have different underlying traits. Divided labor thus conveys the message that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1993.1007">males and females have different attributes</a>.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00066">gender stereotypes usually include</a> beliefs that women excel in qualities such as warmth and concern for others, which psychologists label as communal. Stereotypes also suggest men have higher levels of qualities such as assertiveness and dominance, which psychologists label as agentic. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200262001">These stereotypes are shared</a> in cultures and shape individuals’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394281-4.00002-7">gender identities as well as societal norms</a> about appropriate female and male behaviors.</p>
<p>Gender stereotypes set the stage for prejudice and discrimination directed toward those who deviate from gender norms. If, for example, people accept the stereotype that women are warm and emotional but not tough and rational, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199363643.013.7">gatekeepers may close out women</a> from many engineering and tech jobs, even those women who are atypical of their sex. In addition, women talented in tech may falter if they themselves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2014.00075.x">internalize societal stereotypes</a> about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-015-9375-x">women’s inferiority in tech-relevant attributes</a>. Also, women’s <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0012702">anxiety that they may confirm</a> these negative stereotypes can <a href="https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446269930.n26">lower their actual performance</a>.</p>
<p>It’s therefore not surprising that research provides <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xPCQM6g7CQ0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&ots=XKHVbPVdIO&sig=L2ZncU0XyBEph7ujaLq4usXSmTY#v=onepage&q&f=false">evidence that women generally</a> have to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036734">meet a higher standard</a> to attain jobs and recognition in fields that are culturally masculine and dominated by men. However, there is some recent evidence of <a href="https://doi.org/10.17226/12062">preferential hiring of women in STEM</a> at U.S. research-intensive institutions. Qualified women who apply for such positions have a better chance of being interviewed and receiving offers than do male job candidates. <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-preferred-for-stem-professorships-as-long-as-theyre-equal-to-or-better-than-male-candidates-49411">Experimental simulation of hiring</a> of STEM faculty yielded similar findings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182140/original/file-20170815-28398-au0sfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Any career depends on training and education that build on innate interest and talent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/24929786@N02/2367468669">Todd Ludwig</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why not both nature and nurture?</h2>
<p>Many pundits make the mistake of assuming that scientific evidence favoring sociocultural causes for the dearth of women in tech invalidates biological causes, or vice versa. These assumptions are far too simplistic because most complex human behaviors reflect some mix of nature and nurture. </p>
<p>And the discourse is further compromised as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/08/technology/the-culture-wars-have-come-to-silicon-valley.html?_r=0">debate becomes</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-google-memo-isnt-the-interesting-part-of-the-story/2017/08/11/de3f8876-7ecb-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html">more politicized</a>. Arguing for sociocultural causes seems the more progressive and politically correct stance today. Arguing for biological causes seems the more conservative and reactionary position. Fighting ideological wars distracts from figuring out what <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732214549471">changes in organizational practices and cultures</a> would <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/opinion/silicon-valley-women-hiring-diversity.html">foster the inclusion of women in tech</a> and in the scientific workforce in general.</p>
<p>Politicizing such debates threatens scientific progress and doesn’t help unravel what a fair and diverse organization is and how to create one. Unfortunately, well-meaning efforts of organizations to <a href="https://theconversation.com/tech-companies-spend-big-money-on-bias-training-but-it-hasnt-improved-diversity-numbers-44411">promote diversity and inclusion</a> can be ineffective, often because they are too <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415596416">coercive and restrictive of managers’ autonomy</a>. The outrage in James Damore’s manifesto suggests that Google might want to take a close look at its diversity initiatives.</p>
<p>At any rate, neither nature-oriented nor nurture-oriented science can fully account for the underrepresentation of women in tech jobs. A coherent and open-minded stance acknowledges the possibility of both biological and social influences on career interests and competencies.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether nature or nurture is more powerful for explaining the lack of women in tech careers, people should guard against acting on the assumption of a gender binary. It makes more sense to treat individuals of both sexes as located somewhere on a continuum of masculine and feminine interests and abilities. Treating people as individuals rather than merely stereotyping them as male or female is difficult, given how quickly our automatic stereotypes kick in. But working toward this goal would foster equity and diversity in tech and other sectors of the economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice H. Eagly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Here’s what research actually says about differences between males and females – and the question of what’s innate and what’s acquired.Alice H. Eagly, Professor of Psychology; Faculty Fellow Institute for Policy Research; Professor of Management and Organizations, Northwestern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/822362017-08-11T00:55:21Z2017-08-11T00:55:21ZWhat the Google gender ‘manifesto’ really says about Silicon Valley<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181597/original/file-20170809-32154-xnrsxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Oh the terrible irony.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/histoftech/status/876368174480060416">Photo by Mar Hicks</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Five years ago, Silicon Valley was rocked by a wave of “<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/04/silicon-valley-brogrammer-culture-sexist-sxsw/">brogrammer</a>” bad behavior, when overfunded, highly entitled, mostly white and male startup founders did things that were juvenile, out of line and just plain stupid. Most of these activities – such as putting pornography into PowerPoint slides – revolved around the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/web/brogrammers/index.html">explicit or implied devaluation and harassment</a> of women and the assumption that heterosexual men’s privilege could or should define the workplace. The recent “<a href="https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320">memo</a>” scandal out of Google shows how far we have yet to go. </p>
<p>It may be that more established and successful companies don’t make job applicants deal with <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/04/silicon-valley-brogrammer-culture-sexist-sxsw/">“bikini shots” and “gangbang interviews.”</a> But even the tech giants foster an environment where heteronormativity and male privilege is so rampant that an engineer could feel comfortable <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3914586-Googles-Ideological-Echo-Chamber.html">writing and distributing a screed</a> that effectively harassed all of his women co-workers en masse.</p>
<p>This is a pity, because tech companies say they want to change this culture. This summer, I gave a talk at Google UK about my work as a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/memo-to-the-google-memo-writer-women-were-foundational-to-the-field-of-computing/2017/08/09/76da1886-7d0e-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html">historian of technology and gender</a>. I thought my talk might help change people’s minds about women in computing, and might even help women and <a href="http://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-is-non-binary-gender">nonbinary</a> folks working at Google now. Still, the irony was strong: I was visiting a multibillion-dollar tech company to talk about how women are undervalued in tech, for free.</p>
<h2>Facing common fears</h2>
<p>I went to Google UK with significant trepidation. I was going to talk about the subject of my upcoming book, “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/programmed-inequality">Programmed Inequality</a>,” about how <a href="http://listen.datasociety.net/care-failure-british-computing-industry/">women got pushed out of computing</a> in the U.K. In the 1940s through the early 1960s, most British <a href="http://gender.stanford.edu/news/2011/researcher-reveals-how-%E2%80%9Ccomputer-geeks%E2%80%9D-replaced-%E2%80%9Ccomputergirls%E2%80%9D">computer workers were women</a>, but over the course of the ’60’s and ’70’s their numbers dropped as women were subjected to <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/blog/hidden-figures-british-computer-industry">intentional structural discrimination</a> designed to push them out of the field. That didn’t just hurt the women, either – it <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/memo-to-the-google-memo-writer-women-were-foundational-to-the-field-of-computing/2017/08/09/76da1886-7d0e-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html">torpedoed</a> the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2003/may/29/onlinesupplement.columnists">once-promising British computing industry</a>.</p>
<p>In the worst-case scenario, I imagined my talk would end with a question-and-answer period in which I would be asked to face exactly the points the Google manifesto made. It’s happened before – <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/anita-sarkeesian-gamergate-interview-20141017">and not just to me</a> – so I have years of practice dealing with harsh critics and tough audiences, both <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/fionarutherford/people-are-fighting-against-stereotypes-in-academia-with-ilo">in the classroom and outside of it</a>.</p>
<p>As a result of that experience, I know how to handle situations like that. But it’s more than just disheartening to have my work misunderstood. I have felt firsthand the damage the phenomenon called “<a href="http://www.apa.org/research/action/stereotype.aspx">stereotype threat</a>” can wreak on women: Being assumed to be inferior can make a person not only feel inferior, but actually <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/opinion/sunday/intelligence-and-the-stereotype-threat.html">subconsciously do things</a> that confirm their own supposed lesser worth. For instance, women students <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1131100">do measurably worse on math exams</a> after reading articles that suggest women are ill-suited to study math. (A related phenomenon, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/your-money/learning-to-deal-with-the-impostor-syndrome.html?_r=0">impostor syndrome</a>, <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/why-do-some-academics-feel-like-frauds/2010238.article">runs rampant through academia</a>.)</p>
<h2>A surprising reaction</h2>
<p>As it happened, the audience was familiar with, and interested in, my work. I was impressed and delighted with the caliber and thoughtfulness of the questions I got. But one question stood out. It seemed like the perfect example of how the culture of the tech industry is so badly broken today that it destroys or significantly hinders much of its talent pool, inflicting stereotype threat on them in large numbers.</p>
<p>A Google engineer asked if I thought that women’s biological differences made them innately less likely to be good engineers. I replied in the negative, firmly stating that this kind of pseudoscientific evolutional psychology has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(76)90019-6">proven incorrect</a> <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/08/08/the-ugly-pseudoscientific-history-behind-that-sexist-google-manifesto/">at every turn</a> by history, and that biological determinism was a dangerous cudgel that had been used to deprive <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/books/review/a-history-of-race-and-racism-in-america-in-24-chapters.html?_r=0">black people</a>, <a href="http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/detailed-timeline/">women</a> and <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/roots/overview.html">many others</a> of their civil rights – and even their lives – for centuries.</p>
<p>The engineer posing this question was a woman. She said she felt she was unusual because she thought she had less <a href="http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/">emotional intelligence</a> and more intellectual intelligence than most other women, and those abilities let her do her job better. She wondered if most women were doomed to fail. She spoke with the uncertainty of someone who has been <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/04/429362127/sexist-reactions-to-an-ad-spark-ilooklikeanengineer-campaign">told repeatedly</a> that “normal” women aren’t supposed to do what she does, or be who she is.</p>
<p>I tried to empathize with her, and to make my answer firm but not dismissive. This is how <a href="http://s3.computerhistory.org/core/core-2016.pdf#page=30">structural discrimination</a> works: It seeps into all of us, and we are barely conscious of it. If we do not constantly guard ourselves against its insidious effects – if we do not have the tools to do so, the courage to speak out, and the ability to understand when it is explained to us – it can turn us into ever worse versions of ourselves. We can become the versions that the negative stereotypes expect. But the bigger problem is that it doesn’t end at the level of the individual.</p>
<h2>A problem of structure</h2>
<p>These misapprehensions bleed into every aspect of our institutions, which then in turn nurture and (often unwittingly) propagate them further. That was what happened when <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3914586-Googles-Ideological-Echo-Chamber.html">the Google manifesto emerged</a>, and in the media frenzy that followed. </p>
<p>That the manifesto was taken as a potentially interesting or illustrative opinion says something not just about Silicon Valley, but about the political moment in which we find ourselves. The media is complicit too: Some media treated it as noteworthy <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/08/09/dreadful_people_the_google_manifesto_pulled_out_of_woodwork/?page=3">only for its shock value</a>. And others, rather than identifying the screed as an example of the writer’s misogyny, lack of historical understanding, and indeed – as <a href="https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/so-about-this-googlers-manifesto-1e3773ed1788">some computer professionals have pointed out</a> – lack of understanding of the field of engineering, handled the document as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/09/google-fired-engineer-gender-sexism-conservative-reaction">think piece deserving consideration and discussion</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heres-why-im-not-reading-the-google-employees-anti_us_598a05f5e4b08a4c247f262d">many people</a> who said openly and loudly that it was <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2143285-memo-to-all-tech-bros-sexism-not-biology-holds-women-back/">nothing of the sort</a> are to be commended. But the fact that they had to waste time even addressing it shows how much <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/programmed-inequality">damage casual, unreflective sexism and misogyny</a> do to every aspect of our society and our economy.</p>
<h2>The corporate response</h2>
<p>Google, for its part, has now <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/08/07/a-googlers-manifesto-is-the-hr-departments-worst-nightmare/">fired the writer</a>, an expected move after the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/08/08/techs-sexism-doesnt-stay-in-silicon-valley-its-in-the-products-you-use/">bad publicity</a> he has helped rain down on the company. But Google has also – and in the very same week that I gave my talk there – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/07/google-pay-disparities-women-labor-department-lawsuit">refused to comply</a> with a U.S. Department of Justice order to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/dol-google-pay-discrimination/522411/">provide statistics on how it paid its women workers</a> in comparison to men. The company claims that it might cost an estimated US$100,000 to compile that data, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/26/google-gender-discrimination-case-salary-records">complains</a> that it’s too high a cost for their multibillion dollar corporation to bear.</p>
<p>The company will not expend a pittance – especially in relation to <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alphabet-earnings-keep-google-investors-in-dark-2017-07-24">its earnings</a> – to work to correct allegedly egregious gender-biased salary disparities. Is it any surprise that some of its employees – both men and women – view women’s contributions, and their very identities, as being <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/08/08/google-gender-struggle-tech/">somehow less inherently valuable</a> or well suited to tech? Or that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-silicon-valley-so-awful-to-women/517788/">many more silently believe it</a>, almost in spite of themselves?</p>
<p>People take cues from our institutions. Our governments, corporations, universities and news media <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2013.3">shape our understandings and expectations of ourselves</a> in ways we can only partially understand without intense and sustained self-reflection. For the U.K. in the 20th century, that collective, institutional self-awareness <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/review-programmed-inequality-marie-hicks-mit-press">came far too late to save its tech sector</a>. Let’s hope the U.S. in the 21st century learns something from that history. At a time when technology and governance are increasingly converging to define who we are as a nation, we are living through a perfect – if terrifying – teachable moment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82236/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Hicks has received past funding from Duke University and Illinois Institute of Technology.</span></em></p>Five years after a major sexism scandal, Silicon Valley’s misogynist culture remains strong and pervasive – and history reveals the stakes could be as high as the entire US tech sector.Marie Hicks, Assistant Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/795572017-07-04T12:04:19Z2017-07-04T12:04:19ZWhy are companies choosing to steer clear of public markets?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176613/original/file-20170703-15991-1xzmstx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C76%2C2008%2C1266&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thesamizdat/7163968772/in/photolist-bV4djY-pi1Vka-3LzV9D-qVcxXC-4vtmCC-pbWN4H-cVzuHf-hkNDJt-qBjxrU-dn5SKv-j5sGQ3-qoiPyk-ffZ14J-qVxAv-d8qm11-GCqNFA-ivrFSP-s9QvxN-7bLUS7-bNavcR-So1eV4-5nFCDp-nqecG7-3LzJRV-jFcxSa-bXDQyu-dVij31-qnmSxr-nhNgT7-9orSMF-ToqDSf-3LzTqr-oWQb6d-cYyjAL-gyUofm-nZ6tjd-9ELGBE-59UeqF-4UPE8c-cufMkS-bPsWkF-8tEbtz-kLXnn6-3LzPsk-e6vZ4u-58Yjgy-dDxvnv-cYyjdG-fyqA2e-61jsDK">The-Samizdat/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Companies are getting shy about going public. The number of firms choosing to list their shares on UK stock markets hit a decade-long low in 2016. So what, you might think. Well the trend for firms to stay private, outside the glare of public scrutiny, is a worry for us all.</p>
<p>Just 97 UK firms made initial public offerings (IPOs) <a href="http://www.londonstockexchange.com/statistics/companies-and-issuers/companies-and-issuers.htm">last year</a>. This compares to an average of 155 a year over the last decade and a peak of 480 in 2005. These trends are consistent with the US. Over the last 18 years, American IPOs have come in at <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/270290/number-of-ipos-in-the-us-since-1999/">an average of 180 a year</a>. In 2016, it was just 105. In fact, the number of publicly-listed US firms fell from 7,322 in 1996 <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721153-company-founders-are-reluctant-go-public-and-takeovers-are-soaring-why-decline">to just 3,671</a> in 2017. In the UK, it has fallen <a href="http://www.londonstockexchange.com/statistics/companies-and-issuers/companies-and-issuers.htm">to about 2,000</a> from <a href="http://topforeignstocks.com/2012/10/29/number-of-uk-publicly-listed-companies-continue-to-decline/">close to 3,000 in 2011</a>.</p>
<p>IPOs do come in waves. The recent peaks arrived with the tech boom in the early 2000s, and there was a clear and understandable slowdown in the aftermath of the financial crisis. But the latest data from the London Stock Exchange shows the trend at a time of relative confidence in markets. </p>
<p>Staying private essentially means that a company’s shares are not traded on public stock markets, like the FTSE in London or the Dow Jones in New York. The company still has shares, but these are held by the company founders, their families, or a select group of investors. If you want to buy shares in this firm, you have to make a request to the existing owners. The question is, why is this approach becoming so popular?</p>
<h2>In control</h2>
<p>First, founders and bosses get full control over senior executive pay. Because a small group of existing shareholders dictate who buys the shares, it makes it far less likely that activist shareholders will <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f0a65020-2bf2-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7">reject controversial pay awards</a>. </p>
<p>Staying private also avoids the onerous disclosure requirements from stock exchanges. Some companies fear that a small failing in due diligence could lead to troublesome interest from regulators, or even expulsion from a stock exchange. </p>
<p>The costs can be significant too. A firm listing on <a href="http://www.londonstockexchange.com/companies-and-advisors/aim/aim/aim.htm">London’s AIM stock exchange</a> for small companies will have to pay in the region of £350,000-£400,000, with a further <a href="http://www.withersworldwide.com/news-publications/listing-on-the-main-market-of-the-london-stock-exchange-an-overview--2.pdf">6% of any funds raised being paid to brokers</a>. </p>
<h2>Horizons</h2>
<p>Shareholders who buy stocks on the public markets may be in it for a quick buck. That can mean publicly-listed companies get railroaded into strategies that deliver short-term gains so investors can sell up and book a profit.</p>
<p>Private investors, by contrast, will tend to have a more long-term view, and can wait for a number of potential risky innovations or strategies to bear fruit. Some long-term private equity funds have a standard investment timeframe of <a href="https://www.bvca.co.uk/Portals/0/library/documents/EY/EY%20Annual%20report%20on%20performance%20of%20portfolio%20companies%20-%20December%202016.pdf">as much as a decade</a>, meaning they can sit tight waiting for investments in research and development to pay off – family-owned firms have a similar advantage. </p>
<p>Now, all of these disincentives for public listing can be swept away by the incredible fundraising power of public markets. It used to be the only reliable way to raise large amounts of capital. And prior to the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/jobs-act.shtml">Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012</a>, firms in the US had to go public if they had more than 500 shareholders. This is the ruling that <a href="https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/facebook-and-the-500-person-threshold/">forced Facebook to go public</a> in search of more capital. Now that firms can have up to 2000 shareholders, fewer firms need to go to the public markets. </p>
<p>And at the same time, crucially, private markets have evolved to provide sufficient wealth for many firms to remain outside the stock market. Poor returns from bank deposits have sent more large investors <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ec583614-521c-11e7-a1f2-db19572361bb">in search of higher returns</a>, often to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinedrean/2017/01/25/ten-predictions-for-private-equity-in-2017/#3fe2b9f67db9">those private equity funds</a>. </p>
<p>Simply put, if the money is available through private markets, then the appeal of public markets is limited. In fact, public markets can hold you back. The time taken to seek shareholder approval for major strategy changes can slow down a business. Uber founder Travis Kalanick was able to take his privately-held firm through several changes of direction before settling on a virtual ride-sharing service. </p>
<p>It starts to sound like an easy decision to stay private. The trouble is, the shrinking of the public market brings unwelcome effects. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176618/original/file-20170703-16961-1tv7ei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New sources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/4550764222/in/photolist-7W8RE7-e7Rkxu-e9XNLd-e9S3FH-FW7q9-a6oGNn-c4fQ4d-ifXqaC-nMan63-cuu8Jd-e9XSNN-uLZJJ-aANmED-e9YjSb-czE4Po-gb7jCe-9VDo4N-biaL98-e9Sstx-e9XY3j-4KUwVw-eejztc-e9Y2n7-9VAaeR-cJriWq-e9SCSB-e9Y7NJ-e9Soxt-e9Sjer-5mEo2b-e9Y9bh-88gko9-8SuvYA-7QgV9P-8PmDGz-5Wo6ks-6zASWp-71heXn-9kMyo5-q8f1fk-a1kPrb-amYHQD-7NXdCV-4pYt4y-6dk2Fj-e9SBjM-e9Sr8z-e9S4TV-bFjNbT-9Vzsr7">Howard Lake/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Public goods</h2>
<p>The stock exchange has long been a redistributive mechanism of wealth. The general public can buy into new firms and share in their success through dividend payments and shares. Anyone with a company pension scheme gains access to corporate success. Without a healthy market in IPOs, the market gets smaller, capital becomes more tightly held, and in theory, inequality gets worse. </p>
<p>Going public can also be a stimulus to <a href="http://www.workforce.com/2000/05/02/how-to-court-talent-in-the-ipo-age/">recruit top talent</a>. A company preparing for IPO is advised to bring in the best CEO and chief financial officer <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY_-_Guide_to_going_public/$FILE/EY-guide-to-going-public-SGM.pdf">one to two years</a> before so they can build relationships and galvanise staff. And an IPO can be a reward for those patient staff and investors whose hard work and loyalty can now be rewarded with shares. </p>
<p>Companies can also derive a moral benefit from the transparency of public markets. This is particularly true of growing global stars, like Uber and AirBnB, that are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/12/17/are-uber-airbnb-and-other-sharing-economy-businesses-good-for-america/#55a7ce6c5deb">changing employment and social practices</a>. A broad base of public ownership is more democratic than ownership by wealthy and invisible individuals, and opens up boardrooms to the views of more of society. </p>
<p>In truth, the argument that secrecy looks bad, and that more voices should be heard, is unlikely to tempt today’s more retiring plutocrats to go public. Many of these individuals value the privacy and flexibility of private ownership, and are nervous of entering into the costs and publicity of a public market. They will happily ignore the strongest argument of all that companies should share their wealth in what is becoming an increasingly unequal society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79557/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Udeni Salmon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We all miss out when corporates keep themselves to themselves.Udeni Salmon, Research Associate, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.