Feb 12, 2018  - Will robots really steal our jobs?  According to PWC, New Zealand is “among the most prepared countries for the coming waves of automation,” not through any initiatives to plan for robotisation, but simply because it has a very high percentage of the workforce in jobs that will not easily be taken over by robots, writes Stuart Cornor ComputerWorld.

The findings come from a new global PWC report “Will robots really steal our jobs?” It found New Zealand had the sixth-lowest share of jobs that are at high risk of automation.

“New Zealand is part of a small group of countries, along with the Nordic countries and Greece, where the workforce is concentrated in industries with relatively lower potential automation rates, and the roles workers hold are also on average less automatable,” PWC said.

According to PWC, across the 29 countries covered, the share of jobs at potential high risk of automation is around three percent by the early 2020s, but this rises to almost 20 percent by the late 2020s, and 30 percent by the mid-2030s. It estimates the mid 2030s figure for New Zealand will be 24 percent.

Andy Symons, innovation partner at PwC New Zealand said the findings were no cause for complacency. “Both businesses and government should be developing strategies around retraining options for workers and building an education system that allows us to replace jobs that are lost through automation,” he said.

“The data suggests New Zealand has the opportunity to continue creating jobs for people as the world navigates through the coming waves of automation.”

PWC identifies three waves of automation

- the automation of simple computational tasks and analysis of structured data, affecting data-driven sectors such as financial services, which will run until the early 2020s;

- dynamic interaction with technology for clerical support and decision making, including robotic tasks in semi-controlled environments such as moving objects in warehouses, which will run until the late 2020s.

- the automation of physical labour and manual dexterity, and problem solving in dynamic real-world situations that require responsive actions, such as in transport and construction, in the mid to late 2030s.

Source: ComputerWorld   ||  February 12, 2018   |||

Feb 12, 2018  - Research released today reinforces the need to do more to stop people being unnecessarily killed and injured on our roads, says Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter.

Feb 12, 2018  - The government are planning to sign the re-branded Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Chile on March 8th 2018.

“The TPP might have been re-branded as the CPTPP but it's still the same bad deal”, says Professor Jane Kelsey, New Zealand's expert on international economic regulation.

Professor Kelsey will speak on the current situation of the CPTPP at a public meeting today, Monday 12th February at 6.30pm, in the Ellen Melville Hall, 1 Freyberg Place, Auckland CBD.

Rebranding it as "comprehensive and progressive" doesn't make it any better when it still contains the discredited ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) provisions which allow foreign investors to challenge the laws and policies of the New Zealand government in off-shore investor-state dispute settlement tribunals,” Professor Kelsey says." “ISDS is unchanged from the original text; it's only some peripheral enforcement options that have been suspended."

The suspended clauses and more could be reinserted into the TPP-11/CPTPP, as it appears there is interest from the US in rejoining. At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Donald Trump raised the possibility that the US might rejoin the new TPP.

Also speaking will be Dr Burcu Kilic from Public Citizen, Global Trade Watch (US), and Laila Harre, who will speak about the issues confronting the unions, and her assessment of the problems and solutions.

Prior to last year’s election, Labour, New Zealand First and the Green Parties all said that they would not support ratification of the TPP. During the parliamentary examination of the text, Labour cited concerns about sovereignty, secrecy and inadequate economic modelling leading to uncertainty in projected outcomes. The Greens added that the TPP is an obstruction to the imperative of sustainability. New Zealand First focused on the anticipated dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). What has changed?

Local activists remain firmly opposed to the CPTPP. TPP Action Auckland spokesperson Lisa Er says that the concerns about Treaty rights, ISDS, environmental protection, constraints on climate action, and affordable healthcare are issues for all New Zealanders.

In the past there has been much concern from the public. The 3 News Reid Research Poll in November 2015 found, 87 per cent of NZ First voters, 84 per cent of Greens, 73 per cent of Labour, and 23 per cent of National voters opposed the TPP."

"CPTPP is an old-fashioned agreement that privileges multinational corporations over sustainable businesses," Er says, "TPP is not a sustainable agreement for the 21st Century."

Come and hear Professor Kelsey explain what this will mean for New Zealand. There will be an opportunity for questions afterwards.

The Auckland event will also be live streamed from 6.30pm on The Daily Blog at this link for all those who may not be able to make it along to a meeting.

For the details of meetings in other centres, please visit Its Our Future.

Source:  SCoop    ||  February 12, 2018   |||

Feb 12, 2018  - The demand for portable operating departments to ease hospital surgical strain is growing substantially, Mobile Health chief executive Mark Eager says.   Over the Christmas break, Mobile Health’s surgical bus unit was busy working in Auckland at the Counties District Health Board as an extra theatre helping them to get through their elective surgery lists, Eager says.

A “Worldly and Informed Content” powers spectacular growth of New Zealand site.

Forecasts and reports unfiltered by the constraints imposed by the perceived need to adhere to rigid prevailing socio-political ideologies was an explanation for MSCNewswire surpassing one million visits per month.

Feb 10, 2018  -  Haas Automation Inc. has reported that its annual sales in 2017 exceeded 13,500 units for the first time in company history—an increase of nearly 30 percent over 2016.

“It was an incredible year,” said Scott Gasich, vice president of sales and marketing. “Haas Automation performed strongly on all continents, with substantial growth in all markets – especially international markets, which accounted for 55 percent of our sales. Most notably, we enjoyed 41 percent sales increase in mainland Europe, with more than 3500 new Haas CNC machine tools sold in 2017.”

Gasich added that the company is expecting 2018 to be even better, thanks to launch of several new products and updates to existing machines. “In 2018, you will see a Haas UMC-1000 5-axis universal machining center with larger travels; major updates to our turning center line, including an all-new control; a renewed Haas EC-400 horizontal machining center with pallet system; a new 5-axis gantry mill for large parts; a few new tilting two-axis rotary tables; updates to our Drill/Tap/Mill Series machines; and new sidemount tool changers, with up to 100 tools on selected machines,” he said.

The company plans to sell more than 15,500 machines in 2018. “We are targeting continued growth in all markets, and expect to increase our export percentage to 60 percent,” said Gasich. “Our production facility in Oxnard is currently building at a rate to produce more than 15,000 machines this year, and we will continue increasing this output throughout 2018 to meet the growing demands for our products.”

Haas products are distributed worldwide through a global network of Haas Factory Outlets. Currently, there are more than 170 of these outlets in more than 50 countries worldwide.

| A HAAS release   ||  February 10, 2018   |||

Feb 09, 2018  - Exascale computing company, Nyriad, announced that it has completed its Series A investment round, bringing it to a total of over US$11 million raised to date.

 Feb 09, 2018  - There are no second chances with heavy machinery says WorkSafe after the sentencing of Easton Agriculture Limited today in Palmerston North District Court.

Feb 08, 2018  - Green MP Julie Anne Genter announced today that she will put her name forward to be the next female co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Feb 08, 2018  - Statement by Reserve Bank Governor Grant Spencer.  The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 1.75 percent.Global economic growth continues to improve. While global inflation remains subdued, there are some signs of emerging pressures. Commodity prices have increased, although agricultural prices are relatively soft. International bond yields have increased since November but remain relatively low. Equity markets have been strong, although volatility has increased recently. Monetary policy remains easy in the advanced economies but is gradually becoming less stimulatory.