|
The Morning Download: Iron Mountain Aims Data Center Pitch at Corporate Sustainability Programs
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good morning, CIOs. The rise of board-level sustainability mandates has some companies focusing attention on information technology—in particular those power-guzzling data centers.
CIO Journal's Angus Loten reports on a pitch from Iron Mountain Inc., which has built a business around over a dozen data-center facilities running on renewable-energy sources. Companies that move their IT systems to Iron Mountain can tally their renewable-energy consumption, helping meet those board-level mandates. And cut costs. Renewable sources can offer up to 30% in energy savings, according to the head of Iron Mountain’s data-center operations
Mike Mattera, director of sustainability at Akamai Technologies Inc., said the program played a large part in the company’s decision to rent data-center space at Iron Mountain’s facility in New Jersey, with operations expected to go online within the next few weeks. “This is really the first project where we can leverage documentation that can be used for renewable-energy credits,” Mr. Mattera said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Workers at Chinese smartphone maker Oppo in 2017; Officials from various Chinese agencies have reached out to businesses including Oppo to ask about supply-chain structure. PHOTO: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
China studying tech companies’ exposure to U.S. suppliers. The interagency effort is part of China’s longer-term goal of weaning itself off dependence on U.S. technology as a divide widens between the world’s two largest economies.
Some Chinese companies have cut U.S. tech out of their supply chains. Cisco Systems Inc. Chief Executive Chuck Robbins said earlier this month that the company, which in the past has sold products to China’s large carriers and state-owned enterprises, was no longer being asked to participate in bids. (WSJ)
U.S. prosecutors probe Huawei on new allegations of technology theft. The new inquiries overlap with findings from a Journal investigation in May that documented numerous allegations of intellectual property theft against Huawei Technologies Co. throughout its history. (WSJ)
|
|
|
|
Tesla CEO Elon Musk PHOTO: JAE C. HONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS
|
|
|
Life inside the matrix. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Jack Ma debated the pros/cons of AI onstage in Shanghai on Thursday. Below: Summarized highlights.
|
|
Ma:
|
Here comes the 12-hour workweek. (Bloomberg)
|
|
|
Musk:
|
Computers will surpass humans in so many ways. (CNBC)
|
|
|
|
|
A visitor at the Dell booth during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. Dell’s stock jumped over 9% in after-hours trading. PHOTO: RAFAEL MARCHANTE/REUTERS
|
|
|
Dell reports record revenue in PC division. Revenue from its client-solutions group, which sells items such as PCs and notebooks rose 6% to a record $11.75 billion. VMware contributed $2.47 billion in revenue in the second fiscal quarter, up 12% from the same period in the prior year. Revenue from its infrastructure-solutions group, which includes data storage, networking equipment and servers, fell 7%. (WSJ)
California's gig economy faces day of reckoning. The battle over a California bill that could upend the business models of companies that rely on gig workers intensified when Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc. threatened to spend a combined $90 million on a ballot measure if a deal can’t be reached this year. Assembly Bill 5 would classify drivers as employees, entitled to better wages and benefits. (WSJ)
|
|
|
|
WE’VE GOT YOUR FEEDBACK VirtualSpeech’s VR simulations help professionals gain comfort with public speaking, be it in the boardroom or while fielding reporters’ questions. At the end of each session, goggled users see their ratings (shown here) on variables including eye contact, pace, hesitations and tone. PHOTO: VIRTUALSPEECH
|
|
|
Businesses embrace VR training. Irony alert. Businesses are turning to virtual reality to help employees manage so-called “soft skills”—the interpersonal talents workers use to close sales, appease frustrated customers or simply bond around the water cooler.
Training at the employee's pace. “One of the dilemmas with training is you give them too much at one time,” said Dennis Laker, an associate professor at Widener University’s School of Business Administration. Digital training, on the other hand, lets workers practice at their own pace rather than cramming everything into a trainer’s schedule. (WSJ)
HR disaster in the making. Some tech startups attend the annual Burning Man festival as a team-building exercise. (Bloomberg)
Siri, tie my shoes. Nike Inc. has married its self-lacing technology with Siri, Apple Inc.'s voice assistant. (CNBC)
Dating apps are making marriages stronger, say researchers. To be clear, the findings concern couples who first met online and later got married. (WSJ)
Scientists make strides toward post-silicon age. Researchers have developed the first computer chip to use carbon nanotubes as transistors. Scientists say carbon nanotube processors have the potential to one day offer faster performance while consuming far less energy than their silicon-based predecessors. (Science News)
|
|
|
Quit now. The theory that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to hit elite levels of performance isn't quite accurate, according to a study of violinists. It found the merely good practiced as much as—or more than—the excellent. (The Guardian)
|
|
|
CEOs reads. Banished from the bedside table: Titles like "Crushing It" and "The 96-Hour Workday." In a sign of the times, executives are reading "Leaves of Grass" and "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness." (McKinsey Insights)
|
|
|
Computer anthropology. Taking a page from wildlife biologists, machine behaviorist aim to study how AI agents interact "in the wild" with humans. (Quanta Magazine)
|
|
|
|
Everything Else You Need to Know
|
|
|
The decadelong economic expansion has showered the U.S. with new wealth, driven by a booming stock market. But half of U.S. households have seen little gain, as it has become more difficult to buy a first home. (WSJ)
Police arrested prominent opposition activists, including leading pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong, as authorities cracked down on dissent ahead of an anticipated 13th weekend of protests. (WSJ)
Saudi Aramco is considering a plan to split the world’s largest IPO into two stages, offering some shares on the Saudi stock exchange later this year before an international offering in 2020 or 2021. (WSJ)
Global stocks extended their rally on the final trading day of the month on optimism around U.S.-China trade relations, despite impending new tariffs. (WSJ)
|
|
|
|